Tag: Stress Anxiety

PREGNANCY MASSAGE

Who better deserves and needs a good massage therapy than a mother to be? I cannot think of anyone, can you? Pregnancy is a very stressful time in a womans life; on the physical level as well as on the emotional. By increasing the blood and lymph circulation, by lowering the heart rate, by relaxing the body and by easing the mind; massage therapy can be very beneficial on both of these levels as it relieves common symptoms of this delicate feminine condition: muscle cramps, spasms and myofascial pain of the lower back, neck, shoulders, hips and legs; the excess stress on weight-bearing joints; the swelling of the extremities (arms, hands, legs and feet); sleep difficulties and the psychological turmoil (stress, anxiety, fear and restlessness). Many independent studies have conclusively shown that the positively beneficial effects of massage therapy during pregnancy also benefit the growing child in the mothers womb as well as resulting in an easier labor and in a less painful delivery.

What is the difference between Pregnancy Massage and any other massage? Well, there are a number of very important differences which should not be overlooked. And due to those differences, therapists who perform massage therapy on pregnant women must be specially trained and certified accordingly, and they must always take those extra few precautionary measures:

* Pregnancy Massage should not be performed until the first trimester of the pregnancy has been concluded because the increased blood circulation may lead to dizziness and a worsening of the existing morning sickness symptoms.

* Positioning of the pregnant woman is detrimental to her safety and the safety of the child she is carrying. If using a massage table for the Pregnancy Massage session, it must be a semi-reclining table. In the event that such an appropriate table is not available, the pregnant woman should lie on her side and switch sides in midsession to make both her hips available for the massage treatment. A wide variety of pillows (body pillows, wedge pillows and extra padding pillows) set in a few strategic places under the pregnant womans body can greatly add to her comfort.

Important safety measures: The pregnant woman must never lie directly on her belly and
the flat, horizontal table with the hole for the belly must never be used as it inflicts too much stress on her lower back.

* There are certain parts of the pregnant womans body that must never be massaged or pressed; both sides of the ankles as well as the webbing between the thumbs and the index fingers are pressure points that can induce early labor when exposed to sustained pressure.

For the great majority of the time, Pregnancy Massages are perfectly safe and much advised. However under certain very specific conditions Pregnancy Massages should not be attempted without consulting a medical specialist and those conditions may be: women who are at risk of preterm labor and women with blood clots or related blood clotting disorders.

How are Pregnancy Massages and any other massages similar to one another? Every human being, (pregnant or not, female or male, young or old, rich or poor) enjoys the touch of anther human being as it conveys comfort, love, awareness, caring, security and too many other wonderful sensations to name in this single short oration. Pregnancy Massage as well as any other kind of massage provides all that and more.

PPPPP

(Word Count 566)

THE HAND AND ARM MASSAGE

From the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep, we all work with our hands, as they are our anatomical tools with which we perform the day-to-day tasks of living; the simple as well as the complex. Some of us use our hands to a greater extent than others in which case they may become painful, tense and stiff. And since the hands are connected to the arms, chances are that the same hard work which applies to the hands also applies to the arms. As a consequence, the arms may suffer similar pains, tenseness and stiffness. A mere five to ten minute Hand and Arm massage can literally work miracles in relieving all these unpleasant indications. However, a good Hand and Arm massage also brings with it a whole battery of other health benefits.

As a matter of fact, our hands and arms have scores of acupressure and reflexology points which are correlated and linked to a number of vital internal organs (appendix, pancreas, gall bladder, kidneys, stomach, brain, spleen, heart, bladder, colon, intestines, lungs) and to other remote parts of the body (sinuses, thyroid and parathyroid, hips, ovaries, testes, uterus, penis, prostate, spine, solar plexus, thymus, shoulders, knees, neck). A Hand and Arm massage, therefore, does not only result in healing the hands and arms but it also provides curative effects for such cases as poor blood circulation, arthritis, headaches, neck and shoulder pains, backache, digestive and reproductive problems, and so on and on.

Hand and Arm massages are one of the easiest massages to perform on oneself and on others, and they can be safely applied anywhere and to persons of all ages and genders; infants, young children, teens, adults and senior citizens. Furthermore, Hand and Arm massages are harmless to people who are dealing with most health issues, whether they are slight, moderate or severe. Hand and Arm massages provide instant relief from stress, anxiety and nervousness as it relaxes the entire body. However, Hand and Arm massages should never be performed on hands or arms that are affected by any kind of skin disease, infection, inflammation, swelling, bruises, cuts or recently broken bones, torn ligaments, ripped tendons or surgeries. If and when oils or lotions are to be used during the Hand and Arm massage therapy, an earnest verification regarding allergies should be made and any pressure applied must be tailored to the clients tolerance level to pain or discomfort.

A full Hand and Arm massage should ideally begin with the biceps, the muscles in front of the upper arms and those should be pressed and stroked upwards along the biceps from the elbows toward the shoulders and then back and forth across the tendons. When the biceps have had their thorough workout the triceps, the muscles in the back of the upper arms, should be approached with similarly gentle pressing and stroking movement but this time moving downwards from the armpits down to the elbows. Moving on down the arms by kneading the flesh, pressing the muscles and stroke the tendons; the massage therapist should slowly make his or her way toward the hand that is awaiting its turn for a therapeutic workout. The hand portion of the Hand and Arm massage treatment should begin by gently pulling each finger and thumb away from the palm it attach to, while applying firm pressure to any painful or aching areas and then soothing them with moderate rubbing and rolling. The four fingers and the thumb should then be pushed upwards as far as they will go without causing undue discomfort. The thumbs should be used to massage the palms of the hands by applying firm circular motions through the entire palm while intermittently stopping in various areas, particularly those which are sore, to apply steady and direct pressure for a number of seconds. For a soothing effect on the palms and in closing of the Hand and Arm massage therapy session, the thumbs should stroke the surface of the palms in an up and down movements.

A therapeutic Hand and Arm massage can display love, appreciation and devotion more explicitly than any other free gift that anyone can think of. Just ask anyone who has ever been on the receiving or giving end of one.

PPPPP

(Word Count 718)

Anxiety And Nervouse Breakdown Tie In Together

How do anxiety and nervous breakdown tie in? The term anxiety is an umbrella term which encompasses panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder. The term nervous breakdown is no longer used by the medical profession. It is now referred to as situational depression or anxiety disorder.

While clinical depression and anxiety disorders can be triggered by something that happens in your life, their causes can often be linked to something biological, genetic, neurological, or that occured in your childhood. In contrast, a nervous breakdown could describe the sudden onset of a mental illness, or it may just be your way to process something that happened in your life. The term nervous breakdown conjures up terrible, scary images. But while it is upsetting, it’s important to keep in mind that this anxiety disorder is just your body’s way of saying “Hey, you’re ignoring some feelings here that need to be dealt with.” Panicing in the face of anxiety and nervous breakdown only makes matters worse.

One key to getting through a nervous breakdown (or preventing one) is to stop fighting it off. If you’re starting to feel that everything is just getting to be too much, just try to identify some areas in your life where you can reduce some of your stress and causes of anxiety. The typical reaction when you feel like your are losing control is to get it back again. But getting it back by ignoring what you are feeling is not the way to go about it. In the case of a nervous breakdown, taking back power means actively seeking out rest and peace. If you try to just push through and force yourself to continue beyond what you can mentally or physically take, you actually give your anxiety more power. If you can allow yourself a little patience and space to actually feel what you need to feel, you offset the reasons your mind and body brought you to the point of a nervous breakdown in the first place.

Seek help. Many people look at getting help as a sign that they have lost the battle with their anxiety and nervous breakdown. It is actually the opposite. The fact that you are seeking help means that you are taking a step to being able to take care of yourself and others if necessary. Look at it this way: if you were physically hurt one day and bleeding profusely, you would run stratight to the emergency room. It’s the same with whatever anxiety you’re going through. Professional help and therapy does not have to be a lifelong commitment. Once you have worked out the cause for your pain and suffering and have the tools to prevent it from happening again, you no longer need the help of professionals. But if you avoid seeking them out in the first place, the anxiety and nervous breakdown may have already caused permanent damage.

This information does not substitute medical advice given by a health professional.

Anxiety In Children-Whats Normal And Whats Not

Children will often experience things that make them anxious. However, there is a difference between normal, occasional bouts of anxiety and long-term, ever-present anxiety. The former can be dealt with as it happens, while the latter requires treatment of some kind.

Many parents are surprised to learn that children can suffer from anxiety disorders. Just knowing this can help you to spot potential problems in your own child, and that is the first step to treating the condition. That doesn’t mean that every little thing should be taken as proof of a disorder, but rather that you may wish to consider an anxiety disorder as a possibility when you see a series of symptoms.

Children can be afraid of many different things, and that makes recognizing their problem as a disorder more difficult. For example, they may be afraid of going out of the house, they may have separation issues, or they could be afraid of animals. All of these can be normal, but if they interfere with the child’s quality of life, then it’s time to consult a professional.

There is more than one kind of anxiety disorder, but they all come down to how the sufferer thinks. That’s not to say that they can control their thinking, but rather that they look at the world differently than other people.

Just what is anxiety? Early in our collective history, things that we now label as stress, fear, and anxiety were useful survival mechanisms. If you heard a growling predator, then your body needed to react quickly. It would instantly release chemicals and get ready for fight-or-flight mode. Those threats have largely vanished from daily life, but the reaction can be the same. To put it another way, children with anxiety perceive threats that really aren’t that threatening.

Fortunately, once it has been properly diagnosed, anxiety in children is highly treatable. Some parents are afraid to take their children to a psychologist, or to give them prescription medication, but it’s a good idea to get the anxiety under control as soon as you can. Children need to be able to fit in with their peers, and this stage in their development should not be hindered by anxiety. Besides, taking care of the problem now means that they won’t have to suffer the effects of anxiety when they become adults.

Apart from being afraid or apprehensive, anxiety in children has other symptoms. These symptoms can be difficult to recognize because they are so often symptoms of other common health problems. Here is a partial list:

Dizziness
Heart palpitations
Rapid breathing
Headaches
Nausea
Diarrhea
Constipation
Sweating

It’s possible that these are symptoms of other health issues, so they should be taken seriously. Consult your child’s pediatrician to see if there are physical health problems, or if it may be anxiety. You should not make this diagnosis on your own.

Anxiety in children is a bigger problem than most people realize. However, there are many treatment options that you can use to make your child better.