Category Archives: Health and Fitness

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Arthritis or Tendonitis?

February 20, 2014 betsyjbell 1 Comment

Gentle Reader,

Tendonitis or arthritis? Which is it? My oldest daughter (52) was feeling sprightly one morning in Ecstatic Dance and accepted an invitation to do a cartwheel and round off. Why not? She is fit, exercises daily and used to do them easily when she was a gymnast back in high school. So off she sped across the floor, executing the perfect cartwheel and round off, landing smartly on her heels, arms out in a victory pose. Immediately she felt the sharp pain in her right buttock but went on dancing. That was last August. By December she could not bear weight on that leg, on her sit bone which made walking and sitting painful and challenging. The diagnosis was a torn hamstring tendon, a rare accident usually confined to linebackers. Most orthopedists see a hand full in a life-long practice. She found one who, in twenty years, had repaired twelve such injuries. The operation was successful and she is walking, driving, and sitting comfortably again. This condition is a torn or ruptured tendon. Definitely not tendonitis or arthritis of the hip, which she fleeting believed it might be.

Tendonitis, commonly called tennis elbow, swimmer’s shoulder, trigger finger, is an inflammation of the fibrous, cordlike connective tissue that attaches muscle to bone. Tendons can withstand amazing amounts of force, but they are not indestructible. Witness my daughter’s round off. The pain of tendonitis accompanies stiffness and swelling near a joint. Arthritis presents in the same way. When you get this pain, stiffness and swelling, you usually take some anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen; apply ice and rest the affected joint. But this could be a miss-diagnosis. [information from an article in Johns Hopkins Health Alerts]

Perhaps the inflammation is actually in the sheath around the tendon. Tendons do not contain many blood vessels, so they are seldom inflamed. If you are over 50, it is possible your tendons are degenerating. The collagen that makes up the tendon breaks down, causing multiple microscopic tears. What little blood circulation there is to the tendon also decreases with age, making the healing of these microscopic tears more difficult. This degenerative condition is called tendinosis. Can you tell the difference between tendinosis and arthritis?

It is common to develop tendinosis and have no symptoms until some sudden trauma or the gradual build up of repetitive motion in work, sport or exercise. Perhaps my daughter had tendonosis compromising the tendon’s elasticity. She would not have known that she was at risk for a major trauma to the hamstring tendon.

Here’s a way to tell if your joint pain, stiffness and swelling is tendon related or bone and joint related: try taking glucosamine (Joint Health Complex by Shaklee) for two weeks. If it helps, you likely have osteoarthritis. If not, it is more likely a tendon problem.

Glucosamine has been shown in quite a few scientific studies to help with cartilage formation. Cartilage is what your joints are made of, and what arthritis attacks, so upping the rate of production of cartilage helps your joints. You feel better….if you have arthritis.

On the other hand, glucosamine will not help with collagen formation, and tendons are made of collagen. So it stands to reason that if you feel like you have “joint pain”, take glucosamine, and do not experience any relief, one very likely culprit could be your tendons. Tendon insertion points are often very close to joints and it can be difficult to tell exactly where the pain is coming from.

Taking NSAIDs (anti-inflammatories) using ice and rest can provide temporary relief for either tendonosis or arthritis, but since both are the result of inflammation, using these treatments will not help you distinguish between the two. Knowing which one you have is important if you intend to treat the condition yourself. If you take NSAIDs and they do not help, you probably have degeneration of the tendon.

This information comes from a web site http://www.targettendonitis.com/ by Alex Nordach, who is marketing his ebook (for $29) on how to treat degenerating tendons. I have not purchased this book so I can’t recommend it. If you are interested, follow the link and see for yourself.

What I can tell you about natural healing for both joint and tendon caused pain, is the following:

Acupuncture can relieve pain, stiffness and swelling.

Vitamins C and B Complex, plus Alfalfa help build collagen naturally, reduce inflammation and increase blood flow into the area. And I do not mean one or two tablets. 3000 mgr. of Sustained Relief C and 6 tablets a day of Shaklee’s B Complex can make a difference. I could tell you stories of people who have avoided surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome by taking lots of B Complex. Alfalfa tablets are small pea sized pills and should be eaten by the spoon full, not one by one. We are talking food. Can’t swallow that many pills? Chew them up. Shaklee’s Alfalfa tablets smell sweet when you open the bottle and taste like new mown hay with no sticks or twigs.

Whether your joint pain is tendonosis or arthritis, these supplements will help. Since glucosamine is expensive and NSAIDs mess up your stomach, check out the treatments to see what you are dealing with and then proceed with these three supplements. Their side benefits are legion.

In most of my blog posts, I talk about the various causes of arthritis and things you can do to manage arthritis short of medication and surgery. This blog addresses another cause of joint pain, tendonitis and tendinosis. I hope this refinement — arthritis or tendonitis–helps you.

If this information is helpful, please let me know.

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

How flexible should I be?

February 16, 2014 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

How flexible should I be? Should you be? It is amazing to me how much more flexible I am after a weekend Yoga retreat and 3 additional sessions with the instructors; more to come. But in no way do I lean to left or right as far as the others in the class. Nor can I make my shins line up on top of each other in that bent knee sitting position. I sit for opening and closing O-m-m-ms on a rolled up blanket to gain some height.

How flexible show we be? Dr. Pierre Dubois has some ideas that may help. He begins with asking, “How do you measure flexibility?
Man Touching Toes “Watching a dancer her leg to her nose is an impressive sight, and many of us can perform similar feats when we’re children. But we begin to lose flexibility as we age if we do not make a conscious effort to remain limber.

“Inactivity causes muscles to shorten and stiffen, and muscle mass is lost with increasing years as well. However, maintaining flexibility as we get older is of great importance, since it allows us to retain our mobility and reduces the likelihood of aches, sprains and falls as we age.

“How Flexible Should I Be?

“Optimal flexibility means the ability of each of your joints to move fully through their natural range of motion. Simple activities such as walking or bending over to tie your shoes can become major difficulties if your flexibility is limited. Unfortunately, sitting for hours at a desk, as so many are forced to do on a daily basis, eventually leads to a reduction in flexibility as the muscles shorten and tighten.
Dr. Dubois suggests this simple Test For Measuring Flexibility
“There are a number of different tests used to measure flexibility, but the one test that has been used as a standard for years is the sit and reach test. It measures the flexibility of your hamstrings and lower back. The simple home version of the test requires only a step (or a small box) and a ruler.

In Seattle’s Pacific Science Center, there is an interactive exhibit in the Human Body room where you climb on a bench that is set up exactly as described here. I was interested in the flexibility range presented by my own 11 teen-aged grandchildren who were with me. The ones who move a lot in sports were more flexible. I expected that. What surprised me was the lower measure of flexibility in the ones who did not move very much in their everyday school life.

“Before the test, warm up for about 10 minutes with some light aerobic activity and do a few stretches. Then place the ruler on the step, letting the end of it extend out a few inches over your toes, and note where the edge of the step comes to on the ruler.

“Sit on the floor with your feet extended in front of you, flat against the bottom step (or box). With your arms extended straight out in front of you and one hand on top of the other, gradually bend forward from the hips, keeping your back straight. (Rounding the back will give you a false result).

“Measure where your fingertips reach on the ruler. They should ideally be able to reach at least as far as the front of the step. Any measurement past the edge of the step is a bonus. No matter how far you can reach on the first measurement, do the test periodically and try to improve your score every few weeks”.

Increasing Your Flexibility

“If you find that you are less flexible than you should be, some regular stretching exercises combined with visits to your chiropractor can help to restore flexibility and improve range of motion, helping to ensure that you remain limber into older age.”

The Bottom Line

• Optimal flexibility means a full range of motion for all of our joints.

• Age, inactivity and desk-bound work environments all can cause loss of flexibility.

• The sit and reach test is a good measure of flexibility.

• If your flexibility is not what it should be, do stretching exercises every day.”

I am convinced that with gentle, persistent and consistent effort, you can increase your flexibility and that in turn can decrease arthritis pain. I’d love to hear from you, so shoot me an email about how flexible you are.

Be well, Do well, and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Grandmas on the move

January 16, 2014 betsyjbell 1 Comment

Gentle Reader,

The first few moments of a hike and I confess, I do not feel like one of those Grandmas on the move. I feel every twinge in my ankles as they wake up; in my knees as the right one clicks ominously; in my left foot where the old neuropathy pain can flair up. After about 20 minutes and everything works like a well oiled machine, a steady climb or descent. There is no snow to speak of in our Snoqualmie Pass, so the ski bus was called off for the second week. Three of us went hiking on the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. It was a beautiful day for us Grandmas on the move and we loved it.

Down in LA, the Trust for Public Land installed a fitness zone in a neighborhood park. Here is what they found when they went back to check two years later: Grandmas on the move.

Get your self out there and keep moving. It makes a difference. I have the choice of not moving when these twinges tell me my legs, joints and muscles are not working they way they did 50 years ago. Sure, I have severe osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis. These diagnosed conditions might give someone license to sit down. Years ago, my neurologist told me I should be in a wheel chair, if my x-ray images were to be believed. He said my bones were not good enough to operate. “Get strong, Betsy. Let your muscles carry you.”

These grandmas on the move have figured that out. I hope you can find a way to do what they are doing.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Digestion: Key to health

January 4, 2014 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Here we are in a New Year. I hear murmuring around me about changes in eating, in exercise, in work habits. People everywhere seek balance in their lives, which seem to be uncontrollably hectic. We interrupt ourselves and forget what we hoped to accomplish in the next hour. There is no peace.

This time of year solutions abound. Your favorite person on Facebook asks everyone to comment on their resolutions and past successes. The radio and TV, pod casts and news articles have the answer if you would just listen, please. Of course, I am going to recommend a better diet, one with supplements. Ha! It just could be that digestion is the key to health.

Years ago I learned a very important lesson that relaxed my need to save the world all by myself. Food, diet and nutrition are one small part of the total health picture. A wise woman, Angela Arriens, lectured on the 8 common threads across all cultures that lead to a health filled life. As a cross-cultural anthropologist, she knew what she was talking about from years of research.

It turns out that our diet per se is only one/eighth of the picture. Other factors–exercise, spiritual practice, friends and relationships, music and color (art), and deep rest are the aspects I remember to this day, 24 years after hearing her speak. What a relief to know what a small part I might play in advising someone’s health picture. My supplement program is not the key ingredient to a healthy life, just one aspect.

Having said that, I want to suggest that digestion is a key to health, one of the most important aspects of nourishing our bodies. We can eat whole foods and never contaminate our bodies with junk food, but if we don’t have a functional digestive system, we may still miss the nutrients we need. If you struggle with acid reflux or bloating and gas after eating, perhaps your digestive system needs some fine-tuning. If you suffer from arthritis, joint pain, or are developing spinal stenosis and osteoporosis, it could be that your nutrients are not doing their job in the body.

Goal of Digestion

Take whole foods and turn them into energy and nutrients to allow the body to function, grow, and repair itself. When we swallow food we have chewed in the mouth, the esophagus carries the mass to the stomach. The first potential problem is the esophageal sphincter, or trap door that opens to let the slurry of food pass into the relaxed upper stomach. If the food is well-chewed, broken down evenly, the weight will easily open the trap door and the mass will pass into the stomach, letting the sphincter close behind it.

Chew your food well to aid this process.

Problems occur when we swallow chunks of food and the sphincter explodes open to let the material pass. Gas results. Flow back of acid results. In time, the sphincter wears out and doesn’t close firmly or quickly.

In the stomach, an acid excretion further breaks down the food into the nutrients that can be absorbed by the tiny cilla in the small intestine. The stomach must be acidic to do this job or food continues down the digestive track un-dissolved and its nutrients are not absorbed.

When people feel discomfort from the escaping acidity up the esophagus into the mouth, called heart burn or acid reflux, the go-to remedy is an antacid. This might give a feeling of relief but the nutrients that need to be broken down into their absorbable components remain unavailable to our system. Antacids neutralize the acid the stomach provides to break down food.

Ideally, the stomach breaks down proteins. When this is not functioning as designed, a better intervention is to increase the stomach acid by drinking warm water and lemon juice first thing in the morning. Not coffee. And chew, chew, chew until the slurry that drops to the esophageal sphincter gently pushes the trap door open.

If there are foods that are hard for you to digest like dairy or refined carbohydrates (cookies, crackers, breads, cakes), the cruciferous foods—broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, or legumes—beans, you might need digestive enzymes to hit the stomach first thing before a meal to help break those things down. (This is where Shaklee’s EzGest comes in handy, Take one before each meal.)

Most of us do not feel the peristalsis—muscle action of the small intestine as the slurry passes on down. When functioning normally, the digestive acids in the intestines break down starches, proteins and carbohydrates. Nutrients are absorbed into the body all along this passage as they become dissolved. Certain vitamins like the 8 different B vitamins become absorbed in specific areas of the intestines whether the B’s come from foods or supplements. When not functioning normally, we feel gas and bloating moving down the intestinal track, often producing pain and even severe discomfort.

Finally, the pancreas introduces pancreatic acid to break down starches, fats and protein and the liver produces bile acid to further break down fats.

Alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream from the stomach. (Eating grapes and other high sugar content foods seems to have the same quick absorption rate for me, but I know there has to be some breakdown beyond the stomach acids. Still the same rush alcohol brings happens with these high sugar foods.)

The most common drugs prescribed by the medical profession and purchased over the counter are meant to correct mal-functions in this digestive process. They often eliminate the discomfort that occurs when the acids do not stay where they belong but they weaken natural digestion. It is possible to return your digestive system to a drug-free, comfortable state. It takes changing your eating habits. Since digestion is the key to health, you’ll be glad you did.

These supplements help:

Ez-Gest digestive enzymes

Optiflora pre- and probiotics for maintaining a healthy digestive balance Healthy bacteria

Herb Lax for constipation and blood cleansing Healthy colon

Fiber Advantage Bars, and Fiber Tablets Promote colon health and regularity

Changing your digestive process may be the key to losing weight along with the other benefits. Many of us take on the goal of getting to our healthy weight by summer time. The Shaklee 180 Turnaround is an excellent program to help you on your way. It could be that dealing with the digestive issues will make all the difference.

Remember, just losing 10 pounds will ease up on those aching joints, the arthritis in your knees, hips and feet. Could better digestion help? Didn’t we say that digestion is the key to health?

Let us know your solutions to the struggles you have with digestion.

Be well, do well and Keep Moving,

Love,

Betsy

Betsy Bell’s Health4u

206 933 1889

betsy@hihohealth.com

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis, Scientific resources

Vitamins are no damn good. Is it true?

December 20, 2013 betsyjbell 1 Comment

Gentle Reader,

Even on the beach in Nuevo Vallarta, news filtered down that, once again, some gurus warn us that vitamins are no damn good. How does that news make you feel? Like a fool for spending all that money on worthless pills? Here you have been trying to avoid the chronic diseases of life-style so many Americans develop in their late 50s and 60s, and you are told that multi you have been taking will not do the job. My vitamins should protect me from cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or else. Is it true? Absolutely. Otherwise why would I be taking all these pills?

Dr. Jamie McManus, medical director at Shaklee, asks us to take the 30,000 mile high view. Vitamins are meant to supplement a diet that does not provide optimal nutrition. They are not intended to substitute for a healthy diet rich in vegetables, lean protein and fresh fruit. Ninety-seven percent of us do not get adequate nutrition every day. Vitamin supplements help bridge that gap.

So what do these three studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine say about preventing chronic disease?

Perhaps we should be begin by questioning the premise of the studies: that multivitamins can prevent chronic disease. Do you believe you take your vitamins for that express purpose and leave everything else to chance?

Dr. McManus says “Prevention of any disease is a multi-factorial process that has to include diet, weight management, and lifestyle. To expect to see disease prevention accomplished by virtue of taking a daily multivitamin is a flawed premise. So, why are these large-scale (and very expensive) studies undertaken? It is simply the model of research that scientists and physicians understand – studying a single drug to determine what effect it may have on a single disease. Studying nutrition is far more complex.

These studies were conducted the way scientists study specific drugs. Let us question that approach.

While a drug has a primary effect (usually something positive), they also have a myriad of side effects (which are usually negative and even life threatening). Every year pharmaceuticals are removed from the market because of these serious side effects. A study published in JAMA in 1998 showed that as many as 125,000 Americans die each year of properly prescribed pharmaceuticals – wow! When was the last time a vitamin was removed from the market?

Have you ever played around with stopping your vitamin intake for a week or so and then going back to them? Could you tell the difference in how you felt with and without the supplementary nutrition?

Vitamins and minerals all have multiple positive functional roles to play in our bodies – which is why so many Americans pop a multi each day. People simply feel better when they take a multi because they are filling in those all too common nutrition gaps.

All three of these studies showed that multivitamins have an excellent safety profile. Well, of course they do! The only “potential harm” that continues to be mentioned every time we have a study such as this published is the slight increased risk of lung cancer in smokers who took beta carotene. My response to that is – smokers: stop smoking!

Let me quickly summarize these studies. The largest one is another report from the Physician Health Study – previous publications of data from this large government funded study did show an association of reduced cancer associated with multivitamin usage.

The next study looked at cognitive decline in physicians – who are at the upper end of the intelligence scale and pretty well nourished. Showing a significant change in cognitive decline in this population is going to take some intervention beyond a multi – as this population is most likely doing lots of the right things to protect their brain function.

In other words, the presence or absence of a multivitamin can not be the deciding factor in declining brain function.

The third study tried to show that higher doses of specific vitamins decrease the likelihood of a second heart attack in folks who have already had a heart attack. Hmmm. Maybe we should look at weight reduction, cholesterol, blood pressure lowering, and blood sugar management as opposed to putting the burden of prevention of a second heart attack in someone with heart disease on vitamins!

I have been recommending a multivitamin (and beyond) to my patients, and consumers in general, for my entire 30 years as a physician – and nothing in these studies changes my mind. The statistics on inadequacies in our American diet are clear – most everyone is deficient in multiple nutrients. Here at Shaklee, we have the Landmark Study, published in the journal Nutrition in 2007 that showed a nice correlation of better health with multiple supplement usage, starting with a multivitamin. We have over 100 published studies that validate the connection of nutrition and health. I urge you to continue taking your Shaklee supplements – but also, to remember the importance of eating healthfully, avoiding fast foods, and getting to a healthy weight on your journey to better health. Dr Jamie McManus.

I couldn’t agree more. The turnaround to Vitamins are no damn good could be vitamins are good. Another could be my vitamins are not supposed to prevent cancer, heart disease or diabetes. I prevent these diseases as best I can through my life-style choices. My vitamins help. I may develop these diseases anyway, no matter what I do to avoid them. What is more true for you?

I wish you good health and happy consumption of the healthiest diet you can muster in any given day, supplemented by the vitamins that fill in the gaps. I wish you success in finding your healthy weight, your top level of fitness, your most peaceful spiritual happiness, satisfying work and family relations. If you have questions about a supplement and diet program to help you achieve these prevention goals, I’d be honored to help. The New Year is upon us. A good time to begin.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving.

Betsy

206 933 1889

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Alternative cures

December 5, 2013 betsyjbell

Are you a seeker of cures? Alternative cures?

I have a friend who is a seeker of alternative cures. She has studied the back story of her blood and skin and their reaction to the environment and foods. She knows she has a bad reaction to anything with sulfur in it. A doctor had prescribed a medicine with a form of sulfur. An over-the-counter supplement someone recommended had a form of sulfur in it. Both gave her the negative reaction she feared. It turns out nature’s bounty is full of plants with sulfur. However, some forms are benign while others are active. This girl knows these things and as I read the label of a product she was interested it, we both discovered the Shaklee scientists had included a form that was not active or harmful.

Even as I open the document with the ingredients, she lets out a happy sigh, “Thats perfect. I think I’ll try some.” She is rattling everything in the kitchen as we speak. I can picture the lake with all its homes and docks out side her sweeping picture windows, a mist rising off the still water. She is probably putting away the groceries, unpacking one cloth bag after another.

My friend is beautiful, a cosmotologist with a tiny waist and perfect features. She is a mother of grown teenagers and she has taken great care to raise her children on an organic diet, helping them recognize the consequences to their health of poor eating . Her own mother raised her on Shaklee supplements. She remembers rebelling against “so many pills”. For year she didn’t take any vitamins, but her yearning for knowledge led her to seek alternative products and procedures. She has taken lots of Shaklee over the years, cycled away from “so many pills,” again and just recently came back. The search for pure products, ones made from the part of the plant that will react well in the body brings her back again and again to Shaklee.

I am so happy to have found a product line with a solid scientific foundation. Products that work every time. Products that are safe. Products that are cost effective. My task is never to argue or persuade, only to present information that is true and reliable. You decide.

If you are the sort of person who seeks to both prevent illness and to heal yourself with alternative cures, I’d love to explore the possibilities with you. Results vary and not every vitamin or herbal supplement works for every person the same way, just like in medicine. Let’s talk.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Making foot pain go away

November 8, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

How many of you have suffered from chronic foot pain? You’ve been to the doctor, the chiropractor, the massage therapist – and nothing seems to help for very long. Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. In today’s GrandmaBetsyBell/blog post Julie tells you a very simple technique you can use at home to experience dramatic pain relief. Thanks for Dr. Steve Chaney for this information.
If you find value here, please forward this email to a friend.

You Can Make Your Foot Pain Go Away — Heal Your Plantar Fasciitis Naturally

Author: Julie Donnelly

Just a couple of weeks ago I taught you how to make your hip pain go away. Today’s topic is foot pain. And, yes, you can make your foot pain go away as well. But, let’s start at the beginning.

How Does Foot Pain Get Started?

You feel it coming on gradually. Maybe your lower leg aches a bit, but you’re busy so you ignore it. After a while every time you take a step you feel a burning that spreads along the entire lower leg and into your arch. Still you ignore it. But it doesn’t go away, in fact, it gets worse.

You Can Make Your Foot Pain Go Away — Oh, my aching feet. Make the pain go away!

[I’ve had foot pain many times over my life time of hiking and walking several miles at a time on the city streets. The most recent was a few weeks before setting off for Switzerland to hike 50 miles in the Engadine Valley. At the first slight twinge, I went to my podiatrist for an adjustment to my orthotics and avoided misery on the 6 day hike, or worse, cancellation.]

Now your arch just doesn’t feel “right.” Then it starts to hurt, but not every time you put pressure on your foot. Again, you ignore it until finally you are experiencing foot pain all the time. Then eventually you can’t ignore it any more, it’s like a knife being jabbed into your arch. Now it’s not just hurting when you run or drive your car, your foot hurts with every step.

Almost every day you do something that causes you to lift the front of your foot while your heel is still resting on the floor. For most people it comes from straining your lower leg muscles when you are driving a car, especially if you drive often. It is even more evident if you are doing any type of city driving because you are off and on the gas and break constantly, repetitively straining all of your lower leg muscles. You just know that your foot hurts and it’s affecting your life. You must find a solution!

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

You’ve been told you have plantar fasciitis, and you may have been told you need expensive orthotics. Perhaps you’ve even tried them and while they worked for a short time, eventually the pain returned and then it started to hurt worse. Now you’re told you need to replace the orthotics, but you’ve come to realize that isn’t the answer. And it’s not the answer. The orthotics are focusing on the symptom, but totally ignoring the source of the problem.

[Julie has some great advice in this article, and, in my experience, orthotics can make a difference. It depends on the doctor. Mine is an auto mechanic with his attention and expertise directed to the foot. If you are the Seattle area, I suggest you see him http://www.footankle.com/ Drs. Huppin and Hale. Dr. Huppin has terrible bedside manner, but I got his full attention and he worked with my plantar fasciitis and a metatarsal swelling over time to get the orthotics adjusted to address the root problem. Find a doctor who is not just putting an band aid under your sore feet.]

The good news is that you can heal your plantar fasciitis naturally. Most people, including too many medical professionals, don’t realize that foot pain is frequently coming from outside the foot. The muscles of your lower leg actually are there to move your ankle and foot, not to move your lower leg (that comes from your upper leg).

The reason is simple. First let’s use an analogy that I use all the time because it’s so perfect to explain how muscles work to move a joint. If you pull your hair at the end, it hurts at your scalp. You don’t need to massage your scalp, you don’t need to take pain medications to stop the tension in your head, and you certainly don’t need brain surgery, you just need to stop pulling your hair! Now substitute the muscle for your hand, the tendon for your hair, and the joint for your scalp.

Muscles originate in one place, they merge into a tendon that crosses over a joint, and then the tendon inserts into a point on the other side of the joint. When the muscle pulls, the tendon tightens and the joint moves, but if the muscle is tight it will continue pulling on the joint even when you don’t want it to move. In the case of the lower leg muscles and the foot, the muscles are pulling your foot up from the ground, but you are pressing it down and causing the tendons to put a strain on the insertion points, which in this case are all in your arch.

How the Muscles Get Strained

Every time you take a step you are using all of the muscles of your lower leg. As you work you contract these muscles every time you step on the pedal. Lifting the front of your foot up you are using your tibialis anterior and then you press down on the pedal you are using your calf muscles. If you walk a lot, or you are a runner, you are causing a repetitive strain on the same muscle fibers. Also, while driving your car your foot is picked up in the front to go from the gas to the brake, again straining the same muscles. You do this over and over until you have strained the muscle fibers. Eventually the fibers shorten due to a phenomenon called muscle memory.

Muscle memory will hold your muscles in the shortened position even when you don’t need them contracted. This puts pressure on the insertion point, in this case, the arch.

The Result is Arch Pain

The two primary muscles that cause arch pain are the tibialis anterior and the peroneals. They originate at the top of the lower leg, merge into tendons where your ankle begins to slim, and then insert into the bottom of your foot.

The tibialis anterior goes along the outside of your shin bone, crosses over the front of your ankle and then inserts into your arch. When it contracts normally you lift up the inside of your foot so you are resting on the outside of your foot.

The peroneals originate at the top/outside of your lower leg, run down the leg and merge into a tendon that goes behind the outside of your ankle and inserts in two places; the outside of your foot, and under your arch to the inside of your foot. When it contracts normally you pull up the outside of your foot so you are resting on your big toe.

An Easy Treatment that Works

The goal with this Julstro self-treatment is to force the toxins out of the muscle fibers, drawing in blood to nourish the muscles. As the blood fills the muscle, the fibers lengthen and the strain is removed from the arch.

Begin by treating the tibialis anterior on the front of your leg.

Foot_Pain_1 — natural healing for plantar fasciitis

#1 – kneel on the floor and put a ball just outside of your shin bone.

Foot_Pain_2 — using a tennis ball to relieve the foot pain of plantar fasciitis

#2 – Move your leg forward so the ball rolls along the outside of your shin bone.

Then treat the peroneals on the outside of your lower leg, sit on the floor with the leg you are treating bent and resting on the floor. Put the ball on the outside of your leg (so it is actually on the floor and your leg is on top of it) and then press the outside of your leg into the ball. Move your leg so the ball starts to roll down the outside of your lower leg. Your intention is to do the same as you did for the tibialis anterior (above)
Or, sit on the floor or a bed and position your leg as shown in picture #3. While using either a dowel or a length of PVC pipe, slide the pipe from just above your ankle bone to just below your knee joint.

Foot_Pain_3 — Use a dowel to relieve foot pain caused by plantar fasciitis

#3 – Using a dowel or piece of PVC pipe, put pressure on the outside of your leg and slide along the peroneals muscle from your knee to above your ankle bone.

The treatments will feel sore but that’s because you’re forcing H+ ions through the muscle fibers, and acid burns. But, it’s better to have the toxins out of the muscles and fill the fibers with blood, plus the lymphatic system will pick up the toxins and eliminate them from your body.

[Supplements that help are Alfalfa and Lecithin. Alfalfa tablets—eat them like peas, a teaspoonful at a time—moves blood, infusing the hard-to-reach area with nourishment and acting as a diuretic, flushing the region. Lecithin is nature’s emulsifier. You find soy lecithin in many tablets and other products. The task lecithin performs is liquefying sticky material so it can flush through the lymph system.]

There are several other treatments that work to eliminate arch pain and plantar fasciitis, but I’ve found these to be the most productive, and they may be all that is necessary to eliminate the problem completely.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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Blog post : Making Hip Pain Go Away

Again, my thanks to Dr. Steven Chaney for his research and leadership in the field of alternative approaches to health issues. If you would like to be on Dr. Chaney’s mailing list, go here to sign up for his weekly Health Tips from the Professor.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Leave a comment or email me! I love to hear your solution to the problems presented in this blog.

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

How important is organic?

October 25, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

A new customer is determined to make changes in her habits so she is supporting better health for the future. She worries about the high cost of eating organic. Not every fruit and vegetable is equally laden with pesticides and herbicides. When you are working toward an organic diet, you can expect your food bill to go up. You expect that. But is there a way to move gradually to organic.

Why bother going organic? For the arthritis sufferer, the joints are susceptible to toxins that come into our body in processed and fresh non-organic foods. The joints have poor blood flow so it is harder to flush these toxins. If your arthritis is crippling, painful and keeps you from exercising, the build up of toxins in the joints can cause inflammation and be difficult to alleviate. By all means, keep walking, keep moving those joints if at all possible to get a flow into them which will flush toxins out.

For the rest of us, pesticides are not a good thing. They create stress on the immune system and could even cause cancer. The toxic chemicals coming along for the ride on our fresh fruits and vegetables are especially harmful to children whose bodies are small and can not handle the stress.

I share this web site which includes two videos for your consideration.

Not all fruits and vegetables are bad for us.
The harmful effect is greater on children and adults with compromised health.
Stick to foods that can be peeled: watermelon, cantelope, pinapple, corn, and peel the non-organic apples, potatoes, peaches.
Avoid the dirty dozen. You’ll find them on the web site above where you can down load the infomation and carry it in your purse when you shop.

Here is more good information for you http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/dirty-dozen-foods-list-2013_n_3132788.html

Another way to get past the cost (and check carefully, sometimes the price difference isn’t that great.) is to prepare half an apple for the kids. Quarter them and that way they will have the great benefit of the organic fruit without the pesticides. Serve less. Make the organic item go farther.

Good luck with this change. You will be amazed at how wonderful the organic produce tastes. Treat yourself. Have fruit for dessert and forget the ice cream. Yummy.

Be well, Do well, and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Moving and Shaking

October 19, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

These beautiful fall days have many of us moving and shaking. Great time for working in the garden, chasing our soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, football, field hockey playing school children and perhaps you are among the older adults who play geezer basketball and master’s tennis. My favorite thing to do in the fall is hunt chanterelles. Eight of us hikers recently had a successful day. We were lifting legs, stooping, reaching, climbing steeply through giant sword fern, around old stumps, over huge fallen fir and cedar trees. This is exercise. Well rewarded.

I am having such a consuming time writing the story of my courtship with my first husband that I haven’t been taking time to workout at home. Perhaps some of you over 65 have found Silver Sneakers, the Medicare Program that encourages Active Older Adults (AOA) to remain flexible and independent. I tried my first class this last week. When I saw all the chairs set out, I thought this class would be way too easy. Not at all. The chairs were for balance when standing behind them on one foot. They also gave us a platform for 80 repetitions of getting up and down out, standing—sitting, standing—sitting. We used weights and bands for increasing upper body strength. What fun to be in a room full of smiling gray haired men and women having a great time.

On Friday mornings I go to an AOA salsa dancing class, led by a gorgeous, slim older woman who can lead the rumba, salsa, cha-cha-cha, and mambo to Cuban and Brazilian music. We trill our tongues, clap the flamenco and sweat. Fabulous.

I brought 3 new hens home from my grandson’s birthday celebration on his family’s farm an hour north of Seattle and these young ladies are not being welcomed into the established coop of 3 Rhode Island Reds. They flew over my 6 foot fencing and scattered into the neighborhood. Picture this old lady trying to corner a frightened chicken and having to climb a rockery with a blanket in my hand. We did lose one little black hen, which broke my heart. They are not settled yet. I’m pleased that I have the energy and stamina and flexibility to chase chickens. Take those classes. Life in the suburbs! You may have to use all that strength moving and shaking in some unexpected ways.

A little Araucana is not accepted by the Rhode Island Reds.

How about you? What classes are you taking to keep fit? Let us know. While you are responding, “like” my fan page on Facebook, www.facebook.com/betsybellshealth4u

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving (and Shaking)

Betsy

206 933 1889

www.grandmabetsybell.com/blog/

Arthritis, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Making Hip Pain Go Away

October 9, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

How many of you have suffered from chronic hip pain? You’ve been to the doctor, the chiropractor, the massage therapist – and nothing seems to help for very long. Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. Thanks to Dr. Chaney, I received this excellent article written by Julie about a very simple technique you can use at home to experience dramatic pain relief.

If you enjoy today’s post, please forward this email to a friend.

How Can You Relieve Chronic Hip Pain?

Making Hip Pain Go Away

Author: Julie Donnelly

Julstro self treatment — the ball releases the tightness in the muscle

Do you have joint pain or stiffness? Does it hurt when you’ve been sitting and you try to get up and walk? Have you tried to stretch and either it feels good for a few minutes and then you’re back to square one, or maybe even worse, it hurts more than it did before? Do you sometimes feel like your joints are just tied down and you’re no longer flexible? Do you maybe even blame it on “old age?” The odds are extremely high that all that’s happening is your muscles are in spasm.

If any of these statements fit you, you’ll really love today’s message. As a bonus, at the end of this blog you’ll learn a self-treatment technique that you’ll love if you ever have hip pain.

I’ve mentioned many times that a tight muscle pulling on a tendon will cause joint pain, just like pulling on your hair will cause your scalp to hurt. And, just like the only way to stop the pain in your head is to let go of your hair, the only way to stop the pain in your joint is to release the tight muscle.

Another analogy that I use frequently has to do with stretching and why you may feel worse AFTER you stretch than you did before you stretched. If you took a 12″ line and tied enough knots in it so it is now 11″, and then you try to stretch it back to 12″ without first untying the knots, you can see what would happen. The knots would become tighter and the fibers on either side of the knot would be overstretched and could possibly even tear. If the line was attached to a fixed point on either side you can imagine the strain that is happening to the attachment points. This is exactly what is happening to you when you when you stretch a muscle that is tied up in knots (spasms). You can see how important it is to first release the spasms before stretching.

Today I’d like to share with you how to do one of the Julstro self-treatments that we teach on the Julstro self-treatment DVD. So many people have hip pain that I’d like to explain how to treat the tensor fascia lata muscle which is located on the outside of your hip, between your hip bone and the top of your thigh bone:

Using a tennis ball (hollow in the center so it is a bit less intense) or a Perfect Ball (solid in the center so it gets in deeper) place the ball right where the side-seam of your pants is located – between the two bones. If you are in a lot of pain, start by leaning into a wall. If you want to go deeper into the muscle, lie on the floor on top of the ball. You may need to move an inch or so to find the “epicenter” of the spasm, but you’ll know immediately when you locate it. Always make sure you keep your pressure to a “hurts so good” level, you’re in control so don’t over-do.

Once you find the spasm, which is also called a “trigger point,” just stay still on it for 30-60 seconds. Lift your weight off the ball for a few breaths and then press into the ball again. This second time you’ll find that it won’t be as painful as the first time because you have already pressed out some of the H+ ions that are causing the spasm (and the pain).

Keep repeating this for a few minutes and then slightly move your body so you can find other trigger points that are around your hips. You’ll probably find points that are a little bit toward the front of your hip, so make sure you rotate your body so you’re facing more toward the wall or the floor, and then rotate your body so you’re back is more toward the wall or the floor.

This one simple technique has saved several of my clients from thinking they needed hip surgery! It will help you move easier and with less discomfort – and often it will totally eliminate the pain from your hip completely.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Thanks to Julie for this advice. For those of you who have sciatica, try this method to get rid of hip pain. Let me know how it works for you.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving

Betsy Bell

206 933 1889

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