TriDosha Wellness

Helping You Recover From Injuries and Improve Performance Using Physical Therapy and Ayurveda.

Wrist And Forearm Stretching

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Effective technique to improve hand, wrist and forearm flexibility. Improves wrist extension and stretches the wrist flexor muscles. A great techniques for people who work with their hands or do a lot of computer work. Can be helpful for those suffering from carpal tunnel or other nerve issues due to muscle or myofascial tightness in the forearm, wrist or hand.

Tweetables:

Stretch to Maximize Hand, Wrist, and Forearm Strength. [Click To Tweet]
Effective echnique Stretches for Wrists and Hands. [Click To Tweet]
Stretches for Wrist and Forearm Pain. [Click To Tweet]

*This information is for education purposes only.  Please consult your Physician, Physical Therapist or Wellness Practitioner before starting any rehabilitation, wellness or fitness program.  These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.  These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Modified Child’s Pose For Improving Shoulder Mobility

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Modified Yoga child’s pose to increase shoulder and upper back flexibility. This is an effective shoulder stretch to reduce shoulder stiffness due to injury, shoulder surgery and to improve mobility for better performance. This is a body on shoulder movement technique where the arm is kept stable while moving the body on the arm to stretch the shoulder and upper back. Also a good technique to improve overall spine flexibility.

Tweetables:

Yoga Pose for Shoulders and Upper Back. [Click To Tweet]
How to Modify Child’s Pose. [Click To Tweet]
Shoulder Stretch to Reduce Shoulder Stiffness. [Click To Tweet]

Shoulder Joint Stretch For Pain Relief

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This is an easy self-distraction or mobilization technique to improve shoulder flexibility and relieve pain. This technique can be effective to relieve stiffness of the shoulder, more specifically the gleno-humeral joint. Shoulder hypomobility can develop after injury, frozen shoulder, shoulder surgery or due to inactivity.

Tweetables:

Home Exercise for Shoulder Joint Stretch. [Click To Tweet]
Mobilization Technique for Shoulder Flexibility and Relieve Pain.. [Click To Tweet]
Home Stretch for Shoulder Pain Relief. [Click To Tweet]

Upper Back Flexibility For Good Posture

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Very effective mobility technique to improve upper thoracic spine flexibility for better posture, neck and shoulder pain. This technique specifically targets the Cervico-thoracic junction (C7-T1) and the upper thoracic spine. This part of the spine is often stiff for a lot of people, especially if you sit for long periods in poor postures. Give it a try and see what you think.

Tweetables:

How to Increase Your Back Flexibility. [Click To Tweet]
Best Posture Exercise for Upper Back Flexibility. [Click To Tweet]
Effective Mobility Technique to Improve Upper Thoracic Spine Flexibility. [Click To Tweet]

Quadratus Lumborum Stretch For Back Pain Relief

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Another awesome stretch to relieve low back pain and improve function. Quadratus lumborum is a deep abdominal muscle that attaches to the iliac spine (pelvis), iliolumbar ligament, the last rib and the transverse processes for the first four lumbar spines. This muscle can often become tight or get adhesions due to poor postures and injury. It’s a common source of low back pain because it attaches to the spine and pelvis. This is a simple quadratus lumborum stretching technique to relieve low back pain.

Tweetables:

The Best Way to Stretch The Quadratus Lumborum. [Click To Tweet]
A Simple Quadratus Lumborum Stretching Technique. [Click To Tweet]
Lower Back Pain: Stretch for Quadratus Lumborum Muscles. [Click To Tweet]

Total Knee Replacement Treatment

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An interesting video showing treatment following a minimally invasive total knee replacement surgery. Unlike most total knee replacement surgeries, this surgery caused less trauma to the knee. The incision site is much smaller and thus the recovery time is faster. I’m going to show you an alternate techniques to improve knee bending after this knee surgery. There’s a lot more emphasis on soft tissue mobilization, incorporating gentle massage to reduce swelling and improve tissue mobility.

Tweetables:

Physical Therapist’s guide to total knee replacement. [Click To Tweet]
Total knee replacement treatment guidelines. [Click To Tweet]
Alternate techniques to improve knee bending after knee surgery. [Click To Tweet]

Lower Back Stretch For Pain Relief

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For lower back pain due to lumbar disc problems, arthritis, joint stiffness and sciatica, often unloading and improving the mobility of the joints and soft tissues can be very helpful for relieving pain. I often find that a lot of patients have a difficult time finding a comfortable position to get rid of the pain and exercise. This is a good technique for self traction and stretching the lower back joints and muscles. It’s helped a lot of my patients relieve their low back pain and it can be a comfortable position to rest.

Tweetables:

Back Pain Relief: Stretching to Relieve Back Pain. [Click To Tweet]
Easy Technique for Low Back Pain Relief. [Click To Tweet]
Technique for Self Traction and Stretching the Lower Back Joints and Muscles. [Click To Tweet]

Simple Fix For Upper Back Stiffness

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Hey guys, this is a quick and dirty fix for those of you who sit for long hours. Easy mobility exercise to improve the flexibility of the upper back or thoracic spine. For those of you suffering from neck, upper back and shoulder pains this is a good technique to work on your posture. It’s easy and all you need is a chair to reduce upper back stiffness and relieve pressure on the neck and shoulder. Enjoy!

Tweetables:

Fix an Upper Back Stiffness. [Click To Tweet]
How To Fix Your Neck, Shoulder, and Upper Back Pain. [Click To Tweet]
Mobility Exercise to Improve The Flexibility of the Thoracic Spine. [Click To Tweet]

*This information is for education purposes only.  Please consult your Physician, Physical Therapist or Wellness Practitioner before starting any rehabilitation, wellness or fitness program.  These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.  These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Simple Fix For Neck Pain And Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

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This a simple cervical self traction technique to help relieve neck pain and pain due to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. If you are suffering from neck pain due to compression of the cervical discs, joints or nerves, this technique can help you decompress the spine. The traction can help relieve pressure on the irritated structures and improves the alignment of the neck over the torso.

Tweetables:

A Technique to Help Relieve Neck Pain or Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. [Click To Tweet]
Relieve Neck Pain due to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. [Click To Tweet]
Self Traction Technique for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Neck Pain. [Click To Tweet]

Upper Back Pain Or Neck Pain

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If you are suffering from upper back or neck pain this is a simple self stretch for the upper back. Neck or upper back pain can be due to poor postures and upper back stiffness. Improving the mobility of the upper thoracic spine can not only improve posture but can also help relieve cervical spine or neck pain. This is a simple technique that you can do at home without using mobility equipment like a foam roller or tennis balls.

Tweetables:

Simple Stretches for Upper Back Pain and Neck Pain. [Click To Tweet]
Improve Mobility of Upper Thoracic Spine. [Click To Tweet]
Improve Posture and Relieve Cervical Spine or Neck Pain. [Click To Tweet]

Standing Quadruped Stretch

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This videos shows you how to do a proper quadruped stretch using good mechanics. Often people tend to do this exercise incorrectly putting excessive stress on the low back while not stretching the front of the thigh effectively.

Tweetables:

Preventing and Stretch for Low Back Pain. [Click To Tweet]
A Proper Quadruped Stretch using Good Mechanics. [Click To Tweet]
Effective Lower Back Stretch. [Click To Tweet]

Self Traction For Lumbar Spine pain

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Certain lumbar spine dysfunctions respond very well to decompression using traction. This video shows you how to do self traction for the low back to relive pain and stiffness. If the spine is load sensitive traction can be very effective for relieving pressure on the discs, joints and nerves of the spine. This technique can be helpful if activities like sitting, standing, and bending, etc. cause more pain and lying down relieves your symptoms.

Tweetables:

Lower-Back Self Traction Stretches at Home. [Click To Tweet]
How to Do Self Traction for the Low Back to Relive Pain and Stiffness. [Click To Tweet]
Relieve a Pressure on the Discs, Joints and Nerves of the Spine. [Click To Tweet]

Improving Shoulder Mobility For Hand Behind Back

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This is a good technique for restoring hand behind back shoulder movement. It helps maintain better shoulder alignment while stretching the joint. If there’s shoulder joint stiffness or other soft tissue restrictions people assume poor postures while doing their mobility exercises. I find it to be very effective for patients to use as a self mobilization with movement technique to improve range of motion.

Tweetables:

A Technique to Maintain Better Shoulder Alignment while Stretching the Joint. [Click To Tweet]
How to a Restore Hand Behind Back Shoulder Movement. [Click To Tweet]
“Hands Behind Back” Mobility Exercise. [Click To Tweet]

Neural Flossing Technique For Sciatic Nerve Pain

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A great technique for lower back and sciatic nerve pain due to tightness or restriction of the sciatic nerve. For chronic low back problems with sciatic nerve adhesions this neural flossing technique can help improve the mobility of the nerve and often relieve low back pain.

Avoid this technique if you have an acute low back injury or irritable sciatic nerve.

Tweetables:

A Technique for Lower Back and Sciatic Nerve Pain due to Tightness. [Click To Tweet]
Improve the Mobility of the Nerve and Relieve Low Back Pain [Click To Tweet]
Best Treatment for Low Back Pain and Sciatic Nerve Pain. [Click To Tweet]

Combo Hip Flexor Hamstring Stretch For A Healthy Spine

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This is an awesome combo stretch for multiple muscles, joints and tissues on the opposite legs. It’s a safe stretching technique to improve the mobility of the hip flexor, anterior hip and quadriceps on one leg and the hamstrings, calf, glutes and posterior hip capsule on the opposite leg. For those of you who have difficulty stretching in standing or kneeling, this supine position is a good way to improve the mobility of multiple soft tissues.

Optimal mobility of the hips and lower extremity muscles is very important for a healthy spine. A word of caution for those of you who have an acute low back injury, be careful when stretching the hamstrings and calf since you will tension the sciatic nerve as well.

Tweetables:

Combo Stretch for Joints and Tissues on the Opposite Legs. [Click To Tweet]
Supine Position is a good way to Improve the Mobility of Multiple Soft Tissues. [Click To Tweet]
Safe Stretch Technique to Improve Mobility of the Hip Flexor, Anterior Hip and Quadriceps. [Click To Tweet]

Ashwagandha Builds Strength, Boosts Energy, Promotes Relaxation, and Enhances Libido

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Ashwagandha is one of the top 10 herbs in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia.  It’s also called the Indian Ginseng, Winter Cherry and Withania Somnifera.  It is an adaptogen (increases the body’s ability to adapt to internal or external stress).  It is used to invigorate and strengthen the whole body while calming the nervous system.  It is said to impart the strength of a horse.

Ashwagandha-Ginseng-Build-Muscle

It is traditionally used in Ayurveda to:

Combat stress:  it is used as an adaptogen (it increases the body‚ its ability to adapt to internal and external stress.)  It’s shown to help lower cortisol levels a powerful stress hormone.

Calm the mind and promote restful sleep, its latin name Withania Somnifera refers to its calming and relaxing properties.  Wonderful for nervousness, anxiety and a sense of being ungrounded.

Gives vitality and strength.  The Sanskrit meaning of the word Ashwagandha implies, imparts the strength of a stallion.   It is a natural strength builder.

Boost energy levels, it helps with general fatigue, improves energy level and general well-being.

Support healthy libido, it is one of the best herbs for strengthening the male reproductive system.  It is also used as an aphrodisiac in Ayurveda.

Buy Organic Ashwagandha from a reliable source of organic Ayurvedic herbs.

Suggested Use:
1-2 capsules or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon once or twice daily or as directed by your health practitioner.

Contra-Indications:
None known. Always seek the advice of a professional Ayurvedic practitioner or your physician before using herbs during pregnancy.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Persons with known medical conditions should consult with their physician before taking this or any other dietary supplement.  Information on this web site is not intended to replace a one-on-one  relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not  intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge  and information from the research and experience of us and others; we  encourage you to make your health care decisions in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

Triphala One Of The Most Famous Anti-Oxidant, Detox and Rejuvenative Ayurvedic Formulas

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Triphala is one of the most important detoxifying and rejuvenative herbal formulas in Ayurveda. It has been used for thousands of years to promote internal cleansing, improve metabolism and nourish tissues.  It is a combination of three fruits Amalaki, Haritaki (haritaki means “that which destroys disease”) and Bibhitaki, which are an important part of many classical healing compounds.

Amalaki (Embellica Officianalis) + Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula) + Bibhitaki (Terminalia Belerica)

Triphala-Detox-Anti-Aging

Benefits:

It tones the gastrointestinal tract to promote proper peristalsis and has a slight laxative value which helps the body to eliminate regularly but without dependency.

It removes ama (toxins) from the gastrointestinal tract and from deep tissues.

Promotes better absorption and assimilation of nutrients and minerals in the GI-tract.

Balances all three doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Herbal antioxidant and rejuvenative for the whole body, it is used to prevent the effects of aging.

Click here for Organic Triphala 

Suggested Use:
2 capsules or 1/2-1 teaspoon or as directed by your health practitioner.

Contra-Indications:
Avoid if pregnant,  suffering from diarrhea or have fever.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Persons unknown medical conditions should consult with their physician before taking this or any other dietary supplement.  Information on this web site is not intended to replace a one-on-one  relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not  intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge  and information from the research and experience of us and others; we  encourage you to make your health care decisions in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

Shoulder Hand Behind Back Mobility

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This technique is to help restore shoulder mobility for hand behind back movements. The hand behind back movement is comprised of three movements, shoulder extension, shoulder adduction and shoulder internal rotation. These movements are often limited after shoulder surgery and injury due to pain, stiffness and guarding. This is a simple technique using a towel or stick to help stretch the shoulder in those ranges to improve shoulder hand behind back flexibility.

Tweetables:

Restore Shoulder Mobility for Hand Behind Back Movements [Click To Tweet]
Simple Technique using Towel or Stick to Help Stretch the Shoulder [Click To Tweet]
A Movement Comprised of Three Movements, Shoulder Extension, Adduction and Internal Rotation. [Click To Tweet]

Improving Shoulder Flexibility Without Pain

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Another technique to help you get better shoulder flexibility without pain. This a body on arm movement technique, where the arm stays stable and you move the body to stretch the shoulder. This is especially effective in the acute stage after an injury or after surgery when you have pain and severely restricted shoulder mobility. Very effective technique to restore your shoulder range of motion for lifting the arm overhead.

Tweetables:

Technique for Better Shoulder Flexibility Without Pain.  [Click To Tweet]
Restore Shoulder Range of Motion for Lifting the Arm Overhead. [Click To Tweet]
Shoulder Flexibility Get Back Overhead Movement [Click To Tweet]

Increasing Shoulder Mobility After Injury

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This video is to help improve shoulder mobility after and injury or surgery. It will help you improve shoulder flexion and shoulder abduction for lifting your arm up and reaching overhead. Lifting your arm up after an injury or surgery can be very difficult due to pain, tightness and swelling. This is a easy technique to work on shoulder passive range of motion, active assisted range of motion and active movement without putting too much stress on the shoulder.

Tweetables:

Potli Treatments to Improve circulation and Stimulate the System   [Click To Tweet]
Potli for Various Neuro-Degenerative Conditions, Weakness, Muscle Wasting, Low Back etc [Click To Tweet]
Navara Kizhi as Special Rice of Herb Bala and Milk  [Click To Tweet]

Ayurvedic Potli Massage To Build Muscle Without Weights

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Ayurvedic Potli Massage To Build Muscle Without WeightsDuring the course of my 28 day Panchakarma (Ayurvedic detoxification and rejuvenation), I received various treatments that are unique Ayurvedic therapies practiced in Kerala, India.  In two earlier posts I shared treatments I received during the first 14 days – Pizhichil (herbal oil massage) and Shiro Dhara (stream of oil, milk or buttermilk poured over the forehead).

For the second half of my Panchakarma I received Kizhi/Potli treatment.  Potli is a therapeutic technique that uses a small poultice filled with various herbs or specially prepared rice which is warmed in milk or medicated oils.  These are used to massage and provide heat to the whole body or specific areas like the low back, neck and joints.

My first set of Potli treatments were using specific herbs to improve circulation and stimulate the whole system.  The therapists would dip the poultice in hot oil and then tap the poultice on the joints.  This was followed by rubbing the poultice up and down the entire length of the body.  The herbs in the poultice, the hot herbal oils, the tapping and rubbing actions are all meant to improve circulation, relieve pain, improve mobility, reduce stiffness and tone the skin.  I found this type of Potli treatment to be less relaxing than the second Potli treatment called Navara Kizhi or Shashtika Pinda Sweda.

Navara Kizhi uses special rice that is cooked in a decoction of the herb Bala and milk.  This cooked herbal rice is placed in the poutice and massaged all over the body.   The fomentation and soothing effect of this Potli is effective for various neuro-degenerative conditions, weakness, muscle wasting, low back or neck pain, Sciatica, etc. I preferred this treatment better than the herbal Potli treatment I received initially.   Felt much more relaxed and stronger after the Navara Kizhi treatment.

After the poultice massage I was asked to rest for one hour before taking a shower.  While I was resting a warm herbal paste was applied to the the neck and wrapped in bandages (addressing some old injuries from years of wrestling and other sports)…more on this in another post.

Benefits of Potli:

1.   Pain relief

2.  Improves circulation

3.  Build Muscle Without Weights

4.  Relieves stiffness

5.  Opens the fine channels within the body

I would highly recommend anyone to experience this treatment.  The sense of well-being and a settled feeling in the nervous system is quite amazing.

Share one thing that you want to learn about Potli massage?

Share one thing that you want to learn about Potli massage to help you recover from your injuries, build strength or improve your health.

Cheers, and here’s to an amazing 2015 for you and your health! Happy New Year!

Tweetables:

Massage For Faster Recovery, Pain Relief and Increasing Growth Hormone  [Click To Tweet]
Pizhichil Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Massage For Detox And Rejuvenation [Click To Tweet]
Ayurvedic Prespective On Joint Pain Treatment  [Click To Tweet]

Pizhichil Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Massage For Detox And Rejuvenation

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Pizhichil Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Massage For Detox And RejuvenationUpdate on Kerala Ayurvedic Hospital Panchakarma (Ayurvedic Detoxification and Rejuvenation) trip…Today I’m at half-way point. The first 2 weeks the treatment involved 3 main therapeutic methods. I’m going to share with you one of these treatments in this post.

Pizhichil (Thailadhara) – This therapeutic massage is a combination of two classical Ayurvedic treatments, Snehana (oleation) and Swedana (sudation). The whole body is bathed in streams of warm herbal oil with simultaneous massage. The warm oil and massage opens the pores and drives the herbal oil deeper into the tissues.

[Read more…] about Pizhichil Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Massage For Detox And Rejuvenation

Shiro Dhara Ayurvedic Rejuvenation Therapy For The Modern Lifestyle

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I hope you are doing well and getting ready for Christmas…for those of you who celebrate.

Shiro Dhara Ayurvedic Rejuvenation Therapy For The Modern LifestyleAs promised I am going to share with you another Ayurvedic treatment I received during the first 2 weeks of my Panchakarma (Ayurvedic Detoxification and Rejuvenation Therapies) – check out my last email from a week ago for more on my trip to Kerala and Panchakarma.

[Read more…] about Shiro Dhara Ayurvedic Rejuvenation Therapy For The Modern Lifestyle

Hip Arthritis Treatment Self Traction

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This a self-mobilization technique to help with hip arthritis pain. For those of your suffering from hip pain due to hip arthritis, this hip distraction technique is great for relieving compression on the hip while relieving irritation and pain associated with the degenerative changes to the hip cartilage. Wear and tear on the hip either due to injury, overuse or obesity can lead to hip arthritis.

Tweetables:

Self-Mobilization Technique to Open up the Hip Capsule [Click To Tweet].
A Simple Treatment Effective in the Early Stages of Arthritis [Click To Tweet]
Resistance Bands that are Heavy-Duty, Fair amount of Pull, and Different Grades Available  [Click To Tweet]

Tools used in the video:

SeriousSteel (Single Band) 41”

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you a technique to open up the hip capsule. This is a self-mobilization technique. A bunch of you guys had asked me about arthritic hips and what you can do to release some of the pain and discomfort associated with that. So basically, if the hip joint is worn out and you have arthritic changes or arthrosis, degenerative changes in the hip causing you pain, this is a simple and relatively effective, especially in the early stages of arthritis, technique to open up that joint space, to stretch out that joint capsule and also relieve some of the discomfort and pain associated with that arthritic hip.

I’m going to use one of these resistance bands. These are heavy-duty, so a fair amount of pull, and they have different grades available. So you need this, and you can use essentially any surface that’s stable that’s not going to move. Now, what I’m going to do is I’m going to use this thing; it’s nice and stable. Now, if you’re able to lie down or get up and down off the floor, you can do that, or the other option is you could do that lying on your bed or couch as long as you have something next to that you can tie the band to.

So I’m going to loop it around, make sure it’s nice and stable, it’s going anywhere. And then let’s say it’s my right hip I’m trying to target. So loop this, so now it’s not going to come off of my foot, and what I’m going to do is I’m going to be lying down. Now, if I want to increase the amount of pull that’s taking place, so basically what I’m doing is I’m just distracting or pulling that hip, doing a little bit of traction in that hip joint in that direction so that opens up that hip joint. So the further I go, the more pull I’m getting in that hip, and I can control that by my other leg and just scooting back.

So initially, when you start off, don’t crank on it. Don’t pull it way out. So go about 50% and just see how that feels to you. And you can hang out there for about 30 to 60 seconds and just test it out and see how that feels. Does it relieve some of that discomfort? If it does, then you can progressively increase the time you’re staying in a traction position. I can even work at doing some pulling that up using some the muscles and then relaxing to do some contract/relax to let sort of these muscles to let go, and I can start getting a little bit more traction.

So, quite effective, and I can just sit here and hang out and just get some traction. I could bring the other leg down too, but if you’re missing some range of motion in your hips, often this is not going to be comfortable to have your legs straight. So I prefer, especially for protecting your back, that you bend the opposite knee. And then hang out here, and then once you’re done slowly work at scooting back down to gradually reduce the traction, the pull that was there. And hang out for a couple of minutes till that load or that traction is taken off the hip so that you don’t just jump out of that position as the traction is being applied. It might be uncomfortable for you. So come out of that position slowly and then you can move around and see if that, one, helps you relieve some pain, or you find that it gives you a little bit more mobility in that hip.

So, pretty easy technique to do. Try it out and see how it feels.

If you have any questions, leave a comment.  Make sure you check out the site. There’s lots of info on rehabilitation techniques.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Persons unknown medical conditions should consult with their physician before taking this or any other dietary supplement.  Information on this web site is not intended to replace a one-on-one  relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not  intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge  and information from the research and experience of us and others; we  encourage you to make your health care decisions in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

(C) Copyright 2016 Manu Kalia All Rights Reserved

How To Improve Upper Back And Shoulder Mobility

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A lot of people suffer from upper back pain, neck pain and shoulder pain due to poor postures and sitting for long periods.  It’s very important to work on improving upper back or thoracic spine mobility and shoulder mobility to relieve neck and shoulder problems.  This is an easy upper back stretch using an exercise ball and a stable surface like a couch.  Try it out and let me know how it goes.

Tools used in this video:

1.  Exercise Stability Ball

Tweetables:

Improve Upper Back Mobility to Get Rid of Neck Pain.  [Click To Tweet].
Shoulder Pain and Upper Back Tightness. [Click To Tweet].
Poor Posture Causing Neck and Shoulder Pain.  [Click To Tweet].

Transcript:

Hey guys, Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you a quick technique to stretch, mobilize your thoracic spine, your upper back, relax, just kind of open up this area. We’re going to use a ball, and you can use essentially anything that’s stable at the other end. You can even use a weight. I’m going to use this couch so you get to see how to do this using anything you have in the house.

So what I’m going to do is I’m laying on the ball and I’m going to lean back and I’m going to grab onto the bottom of this. So as it is, you can see I’m trying to get some extension. I’m opening up this space. Very important for a lot of us who sit for too many hours. We’re always in these rounded postures, so you start getting stiffer and stiffer in your upper back, your thoracic spine, start getting these rounded shoulders, poor postures. So you really need to work on getting more extension, opening up the pec area, getting better mobility in your thoracic spine, your lats, your shoulders. So this is a good stretch.

And what I can do is, what I like about this, I can control how much of a stretch I’m going to get and I don’t feel like I’m going to fall off; I’m stable. I’ve got my hands here, my feet on the ground, and I can use my legs to pull myself back so I’m getting more stretching or mobilization of these tissues and really open up that ribcage too, my shoulder girdle, as well as getting my thoracic spine. And I also like the fact that my neck is supported so I’m not in this hyper-extended position of my neck, which is not comfortable for a lot of people. So my neck is supported and I can really work at hanging out here and I get to end range, take a deep breath, take a few deep breaths in that position and really stretch out all these tissues.

Now, if you want to stretch further, I could roll back here and I could get a little more extension this way too. This is the other way to get at that. It’s almost like a yoga pose that’s in this position. But that’s a bit more advanced in my view because you have to work at balancing; you have to do a lot of things. So this is a good way, a better way to do that.

So work at hanging out in these positions and try to get it from different angles. I go to my right, I go to my left, I might even do one arm. I might take the other hand and place it here to stabilize this area and just sit back. I use my legs to pull myself in that direction. Now, as I do that, I get extension. So for example from this side, you can watch, I’m going to grab on here, it’s my shoulder blade, and I gently stabilize this as I pull myself down in that direction. You can really see how that’s going to open up my shoulder, get that flexion and start getting extension or mobility in my thoracic spine, and then of course you can hang out in these positions too where I can really start getting more pectoral mobility too – front shoulder.

Pretty cool stretch.  I like it and it’s an easy one to do. Make sure you don’t crank on it and work up to positions.  So spend about five, 10 minutes, slowly working at different positions mobilizing yourself there.

Leave a comment if you have questions. I really want to hear from you, guys, so tell me when you try out the stretching technique.  How did it feel? Did you have any problems with it?  Was it easy to do or it really worked well for you?

Knee Arthritis Treatment With Self Traction

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Knee arthritis is due to degeneration of cartilage and results in pain, inflammation, stiffness and swelling. In the US alone, millions of people get treatment for knee pain due to arthritis. I’m going to show you a good treatment technique for knee arthritis. This is self-distraction technique to relieve the stress on the joint, open up the joint space, improve knee mobility and helps relieve pain.

For a comprehensive guide on relieving knee pain click HERE

Tweetables:

Knee Arthritis Treatment Using Self Traction.  [Click To Tweet].
Arthritis relief with knee flexibility exercise. [Click To Tweet].
Powerful technique for knee pain arthritis.  [Click To Tweet].

Tools used in this video:

SeriousSteel (Single Band) 41”

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you a self-traction technique today for arthritic knees. So if you have arthritis of the knee or degenerative changes in the joint and you have pain associated with activities like walking, standing, going up and down stairs, especially load-bearing activities where when you put pressure on that knee it hurts and there are some degenerative changes of the cartilage causing pain, this technique is helpful, and it’s a self-traction technique where you relieve the compression that’s taking place on that joint. So as you distract or open up that joint space, it can relieve the pain or irritation in that joint. So it’s pretty easy to do and you can do it yourself.

I’m going to use this heavy-duty resistance band, and there are different grades you can use with the amount of force that you require. And for those of you who are able to get down on the floor, because I’m going to show this lying on the floor, you can do it on the floor, but you can also do it lying on your bed or couch as long as you have something you can tie the band to, a surface that’s stable.

You need a couple of things actually that makes it a better technique. This is just a regular foam roller. So what we’re going to do is I’m going to use this. I’m going to loop it around. Make sure you test it before you…make sure it’s nice and stable; it’s not going anywhere. And we use this to isolate the knee a bit more.

Now, let’s say I’m trying to target my right knee. Just to kind of show you what I’m talking about, basically what we’re trying to do is near the joint line, your tibia, the bottom bone, your femur, the top bone. If you have arthritic changes between that joint, we’re essentially trying to distract or open up that joint space. So I’m pulling the bottom bone away from the top bone. This is what I’m trying to do. So it opens up that joint space, stretching out that joint capsule a bit too. So that’s what I’m aiming to do. You can do it with your hands, too, but this makes it a little bit easier if you can hang out in that position a longer period.

Now, I’m going to target my right knee. So when you loop the band around, so I loop it this way and then I’m going to cross it; as I cross it, so now it’s not going to slide off my foot. I use the foam roller so I can isolate the knee so I’m not getting as much pulling coming from the hip or further up in the chain when the band pulls me in that direction. I use my other leg to slide myself back. So the further I go back, the more pull I’m getting.

Now, I can lay down in that position. You can see that there is a slight bit of bend in my knee and I’m getting a fair amount of pull in that direction away from me, and I can again use my other leg, my elbows to slide myself back, and I can hang out right here. And I would recommend hanging out initially for about 30 seconds to about a minute or so just to test it out and see how it feels. And you don’t have to lay down. You could be even up in this position so you can go further and further, get more traction at that joint. As you get comfortable, you find like, “Hey, that feels really good. It relieves a lot of pain and tension or irritation in that joint,” you can hang out for longer periods doing that distraction of that joint. And once you get comfortable, you can increase the amount of force or the amount of pull you’re applying on that knee. So as I said, initially, you go maybe about 50% or so as you’re testing out things, but over the course of days and a couple of weeks you can see how much force feels good or the amount of time you can hang out in that position that gives you the optimal results.So don’t crank on it initially. Work up to it.

So when you get done with your treatment for that session, just slowly roll yourself back so that you ease yourself out of that position. So hang out there for about a minute or so once you get done with the traction, and then you slowly get your foot out of there and you get up and move on. So you don’t let it go as it’s being held in traction. Don’t just let go of the band when you get up. So ease out of that position always.

So, quite an effective technique. Try it out and tell me what you found from that technique. Did it help? Did it not help?

There is lots of info on this site for treating knee injuries.  Don’t forget to check our program for faster recovery from knee injuries.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Persons unknown medical conditions should consult with their physician before taking this or any other dietary supplement.  Information on this web site is not intended to replace a one-on-one  relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not  intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge  and information from the research and experience of us and others; we  encourage you to make your health care decisions in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

(C) Copyright 2016 Manu Kalia All Rights Reserved

Hip Flexor Stretching In Half Kneeling

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Hip flexor tightness and hip joint stiffness can lead to low back pain, hip pain and knee problems. This is an advanced hip flexor mobility exercise that also stretches the quadriceps and tibialis anterior. Essentially all structures on the front of the leg. I highly recommend this technique for anyone looking to improve hip flexor flexibility for athletic activities and for preventing injuries.

For additional flexibility and strengthening exercises to improve performance click HERE

Tweetables:

Hip Flexor Stretching To Relieve Back Pain.  [Click To Tweet].
Improve Sports Performance By Freeing Hip Flexors.  [Click To Tweet].
Advanced hip flexor mobility exercise.  [Click To Tweet].

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you a stretch to open up the front of the hip and also get your hip flexors. Hip flexors in the front of your hip that help you bring the thigh up towards you. And we’re going to use a couch. You can use a chair, anything essentially that’s stable and where you can put your foot up on.

Now, what you want to do is you want to start with ideally your knee as far back as possible, but if not, if you don’t have enough mobility, you can bring it forward too. The foot is up here in this position. So I like to stretch because it really gets everything in the front part of the thigh and the leg. And we’re going to do two different variations of it so this way you can get the front hip capsule as well as your hip flexors and you can get your quads also, front of your thigh muscles.

So the first part you want to do once you get yourself set up in the position is, and this also helps protect your low back, you want to squeeze your butt muscles. When I tighten up my glutes, remember your glutes are opposite of your hip flexors and glutes help you do hip extension, bring your leg or thigh bone back, so when I tighten up my glutes I am taking away some of the load off my low back. I’m targeting this area. So as I tighten up and as I get my pelvis into a little bit of a posterior tilt, so when I tighten up my glutesand I’m going to lean forward in this position while I maintain the glutes in a tightened position – so the first variation of the stretch is I tighten the glutes and I shift my body weight forward. So as I bring my body weight forward onto that front leg, I’m really getting a good pull right in the front of that hip and even in this area, the slightly lateral side. So as I bring my weight forward, I’m going to stretch that front capsule, get some of the hip flexors, and I’m going to lean and I’m going to work at finding the sticky spots, stiff areas, and I’m going to oscillate back and forth. So hang out in that position, once again, while you maintain your glutes in tightened position and/or putting the pelvis in a slightly posterior tilt. So that’s the first part of it. And of course, it’s also helping my low back stay in a relatively neutral position.

So the second part is where I want to target and I want to get more my quads, the front of the thigh, too. So for that I’m going to lean back so I’m an upright position. Now, in this position, same thing: I tighten up my glutes again and I bring myself into more an upright position. Now I’m really getting a lot of pulling that’s taking place in the front of the thigh, and as I maintain the posterior tilt or that glute contraction and I lean back further, I get even a stronger pull right in this area.

One other thing that I like to do is I like to take my hand if I want to guide myself to maintain a better position, I’m going to place my hand right here above my glute. So what that does is it reminds me not to hyperextend, not to arch backwards because that’s not going to get you as much range from here. You’re going to be getting it hinging at your low back and getting the range from this region. So when I place my hand here, tighten my glutes and I glide that hand forward, so when I do this, that really hits this area. I’m giving myself a reminder that this is where I’m trying to hinge. This is where I’m trying to get the range. So same thing, you glide yourself forward, hang out, try to hit it from different spots. While you maintain, you might want to lean back a little bit more. So try to get it from different spots. Spend about four to five minutes really searching for those sticky spots so you can work at mobilizing, opening up that tissue. Make sure you don’t feel any discomfort in your low back, so really kicking your abdominals also. So kicking your abdominals, your glutes, your pelvis in a posterior tilt position, that’ll really help you isolate this region.

So spend, as I said, four to five minutes really working on those tissues. Make sure you try out both sides and see how it feels.

I just showed you a powerful mobility exercise for the hip joint, hip flexors, quadriceps and anterior tibialis muscles.  If you need further guidance on mobility exercises to prevent injuries, my Build Better Knees recovery kit can show you lots more.

Lunge Hip Stretches

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Multi-plane hip mobility exercise to prevent low back pain, hip pain and knee injuries. A very effective stretch to improve hip flexibility from various angles.

Do you have hip pain? Click here to learn more hip mobility and strength exercises.

Tweetables:

Hip Mobility Exercise To Prevent Low Back Pain. [Click To Tweet]

Lunge Multi-Plane Hip Stretch.  [Click To Tweet]

Hip Openers For Optimal Performance.  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, it’s Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’ve got a new video for you, a hip opener, and once again you can do these exercises anywhere, anytime essentially. We’re going to use a couch; you can use a chair, whatever you like. It can be done on the floor, but this is another option for you.

So this is a hip opener and what we’re going to do is start off in a lunge position. So we’re trying to get a couple of different things done. So when I start off in this position, right away I’m getting some hip extension on my right hip. So I’m stretching out the front of the hip on my right side, and I’m going to stretch out the back on the left side. So as I’m flexing that left hip, so it’s a lunge position essentially, but sometimes it’s a little easier for people to place the hand here to support yourself.

Now, if the back is too far back, it’s uncomfortable, bring it up a little bit or place another chair next to you if you’re not able to balance yourself and hold that position. What I’m going to do is I’m going to be in this position and as I shift my body weight forward, as I drive that forward, I get a stronger pull right here in my front of my hip on my right side. If I squeeze my right butt cheek, again I’m going to get a stronger pull in the front, not only in the front part of my hip capsule but also in your hip flexors. We’re trying to open these guys up.

So the other part we’re trying to get at on the other side though is, besides getting that hip flexion, getting a stretch right in this area or bending on that hip, we want to get some rotation, so working on opening up that hip, so some external rotation on that hip. The foot stays planted. So I take my hand, not on the knee, just above the knee or even further up, and I’m going to gently open up that hip. So I push it out a little bit. Now, you can either push out or I can step in too. So as I push out, I step in. So now that really works at opening it up. So I add on another thing to it now. I can do some rotation of my trunk away from it, and that really opens up this whole side, stretches that as well as my groin area, front of the hip capsule, and gets some external rotation done too.

Now, if I want to go the other way, I’m going to bring it inwards – internal rotation, adduction. So work at this position too. And you can adjust how much load you want on that.  If I back off, put less pressure on that, I can still do that movement. And I’m just above the outside of the knee, so this way I’m not pushing my knee. So I do the same thing, glide, hang out, stretch, come back out of it. So I hit it from different angles, maybe in a more flexed position; I can do that with the hip. I do a little bit less flexed position of the hip. I do the same thing or less weight on the hip. So you can really work at different angles and different amount of load on that hip, so different positions.

So besides doing the internal and external rotation, add the body movement to it also, so trunk rotation away from it and as I really work at opening that up, and then in the other direction too. So maybe I’ll do external rotation and I’ll turn to the same direction where I really work at sitting in here and opening up this whole side. So, the point being that really try to get at it from various angles, and this is just one position.

You could do the exact same thing on the floor too. So I could be right here doing the exact same movement out here with my body movement going this way, or for that matter going in this direction, and I can direct how much pressure I want to bring on to this side, how much weight I want on my front leg too.

So try it out, do both sides, see which side is stiffer, and spend four, five minutes at a time on each side, but make sure, try to contract the back leg. So, for example, in this case back leg, if I want to target the front of the hip more and I want to protect my back, tighten up your butt muscles. That stretches the front of the hip a little bit more. Plus, it also protects your low back. So always protect yourself. Try it out for four to five minutes.

Leave a comment if you have questions.

Hip openers and more for optimal performance here…

Massage Treatment For Ankle Sprain

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Cross friction massage technique for recovering from ankle sprain. This technique is helpful in breaking down thickening and adhesions of the anterior talo-fibular ligament following a sprained ankle. This injury often becomes chronic thus requires correction of joint mechanics and soft tissue mobilization techniques to restore normal function.

Tweetables:

Massage technique to help with the ankle sprains [Click To Tweet]

Massage to heal a sprained ankle [Click To Tweet]

Sports Massage for Ankle Sprains [Click To Tweet]

Recommended Ayurvedic oil for massage after injuries:   Mahanarayan Oil

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So in this video I’m going to show you a massage technique, specifically a cross friction massage technique, to help you with ankle sprains. So specifically we’re going to talk about inversion sprains where your foot rolls in, and this is the most common type of ankle sprain where the foot rolls in and it ends up injuring the ligaments on the outside and possibly resulting in the joint alignment being off, as well as if the sprain is strong enough, if you have a severe sprain, you can not only have tears to the ligaments, you can also get trauma or injury to the inside of the ankle too. So this technique is specifically for working on your anterior talofibular ligament, which is the more commonly injured one in this kind of a sprain.

So what we’re going to talk about is that ligament sits right along this area, like this. So this is your fibula and your talus is here. So if I turn my foot inwards, that ligament will be getting stretched. So its job is basically to prevent the over-movement, I guess you could call it, or excessive movement of that motion. So it’s restricting that in addition to a lot of other muscles that are also preventing excessive movement. So if that ligament is injured, if it has some trauma, it can turn into thickening or adhesions that can form or microfibers and tears, and after a while it can become a chronic issue where you end up getting swelling and pain which tends to persist for months, and sometimes I’ve seen patients even after years coming back with that kind of problem.

So besides correcting the joint mechanics, one of the techniques you can do is you can work at doing cross friction massage technique to break down some of the thickening and adhesions that have formed around that ligament and soft tissue. So as I said this is your fibula outside of your ankle, and that ligament is sitting proximately, is the anterior talo fibular ligament, so in the front of the fibula. So it’s in this region right here, and it’s going to be often tender when you palpate it. So if a ligament’s going in this direction, we want to go across the fibers. So what you’re going to do is you’re going to work at, once you find that tender spot, you’re going to work at doing…I can even put my foot in a little bit of inversion to expose it further, and then I’m going to work at doing massage. So I place a little bit of pressure on that, and then I go across the fibers back and forth, back and forth, and cross friction massage. Just rubbing on the skin’s not going to do it.

And it can be tender, so spend about five, 10 minutes initially, don’t put too much force on it early on, and see how you respond to it. So do it once, and then see how you do that day or the next day. If you find out that you’re too sore, obviously back off for a couple of days and then redo it. Each successive time you work on that, you should get better and better or less and less painful, or there’ll be less and less adhesions, plus you’re going to have less and less sensitivity of that tissue. And over time, over a few weeks’ of regular work, in addition to of course correcting the joint mechanics and all the other things, you’ll help at getting that ankle a lot better.

*This information is for education purposes only.  Please consult your Physician, Physical Therapist or Wellness Practitioner before starting any rehabilitation, wellness or fitness program.  These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.  These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Yoga Modified Pigeon Pose For Hip Flexibility

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A modified Yoga Pigeon Pose for hip flexibility. Great exercise to improve hip mobility and help with iliotibial band syndrome, low back pain and for knee injuries. This is a good one to make a regular part of your mobility routine.

Tweetables:

Relieve Tension and Stress in Pigeon Pose [Click To Tweet]

Hip Stretch Exercise Piriformis Flexibility [Click To Tweet]

Stretches to Relieve Lower Back Pain [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a quick hip stretch, how to mobilize and open up that hip. And I’m going to use a couch for this, you can use a chair. It’s like a modified pigeon pose. So in yoga there’s the pigeon pose that you can do on the ground, but we’re going to use the couch for this.

I’m going to do apiriformis stretch and show a couple of different variations. Now, I can start off with my knee relatively in line with my belly button, and in that position what I want to do is my back is nice and straight. So I’m just going to sit back, I slide my back foot backwards and I let it sit down, I start getting a stretch in that hip, in my glutes, my butt, all through this region; my back sits nice and straight. So now this is the basic stretch. If I want, I can work at gliding out towards my left, I glide out towards my right. So try to hit it from different angles and different positions. You might even decide to lean forward a little bit and as I lean forward I sit back, and again I hinge up that hip and that really starts to get that hip and that butt.

You can also try to really get that IT band, that outside thigh, too, with the stretch. Start adding some rotations, so I start to rotate my upper body.  I can go further and further as I get comfortable, get a little flexion in, and start hitting it from various angles, getting more flexion. Go out to the front this way. Go out in this direction.

Now, I also like to, if I really want to target further, I take my right hand, in this case this is my left leg we’re stretching, so I place it right in front of that hip joint, my upper thigh, and I’m going to glide it down so the force is going this way, not too hard, just stabilize it. Now that really focuses that stretch, again, from that hip. So I push down a little bit, again I sit down, and now it takes away any pressure and load off the knee, makes this the target point.

So same thing happens if I want to go, let’s say, in this direction. I can take the other hand and I place it just above my knee and my thigh. So now that opens it up even further. I’m almost doing like a rotation, like an external rotation, so when I rotate outwards and then I open up that hip even further, and then I can again come and sit in various angles and various positions, I could get stretching of that hip.

So once again, I can do the same thing, I can do some rotation with it, I can push down here, I can rotate again and sit back more. I can even place this further out, my foot up more as I get more mobility. Now I can really work at sitting down even further.

If you find that you are starting to get the knee involved more, you can place your hand just above the knee on the thigh. This really allows me to open up that hip further while I’m sitting down. So now I’m getting a good amount of stretch, no load on my spine, it feels comfortable, and I’m also getting some front-of-the-hip stretch. So you get to hit multiple tissues this way.

So the key point is try to go in different angles, different ranges, work your way around, so that way you can really work at hitting the tissue, the joint capsule and the local muscles from various angles. Hang out four to five minutes, don’t force it, and try it out from your left and right sides and see which side is stiffer.

Leave a comment if you have questions and don’t forget to learn more about our recovery kit to treat iliotibial band syndrome HERE.  Thanks.

Self Mobilization For Restoring Knee Flexibility

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This is a self-mobilization with movement technique for restoring knee flexibility.  Very effective for getting bending back in the knee joint.  It’s a partial weight bearing technique for those of you who can bear weight on the joint.  Don’t force it, it’s a relatively pain-free technique.

For additional knee flexibility and strengthening exercises click HERE

Tweetables:

Knee self-mobilization with movement technique. [Click To Tweet].
Self-mobilization for restoring knee flexibility. [Click To Tweet].
Improve knee bending. [Click To Tweet].

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurvedic herbalist. I’m going to show you another technique on how to restore your knee range of motion, specifically bending at the joint, and this is another self-mobilization with movement technique. And for those of you who are not able to do weight-bearing or put pressure on that knee when you’re doing mobilization or trying to do knee bending, do the other technique that I showed in laying down, which is very similar to this one.

So one of the components that’s often missing in that range of motion is internal rotation of the tibia, which is your shinbone. So as a natural part of the joint mechanics, we need to have a little bit of rotation and medial or internal rotation where the tibia is going inwards as you bend the knee. So sometimes that’s missing, and so you might need to work at mobilizing that in that position to restore that range.

We’re going to do weight-bearing using a chair.  You can use anything that’s stable.   I’m going to use my left leg, left knee. So here my left hand goes in the back, on my calf, run my fingers around, and the other hand stabilizes from the front, the shin. Now, remember, you’re not rotating or pulling very hard. You don’t want to knock your knee off-track. You’re trying to keep it in alignment with your foot. So it’s a little bit of rotation to find out how that feels, and then lean on and bring your body weight forward, allowing your knee to bend.

Now, if you don’t have adequate amount of rotation, you go forward – it doesn’t let it bend or it feels stiff or painful, you might need to adjust the alignment a little bit, just the angle. Maybe you need a little bit more force at that point to see if that allows you to bend it further.

So you want to spend about 15, 20 repetitions, nice and easy, rotating and bending and getting to the end-range position and hanging out there and stretching a bit, but don’t do more than 15, 20 times initially. You want to test and you want to see how it feels, and then see if that allows you to get some more range back in that knee, and if you find that it does and it causes you less pain and it improves the mobility of that joint, then you can start to do a little bit more each time. Technique can be done every day and just don’t overdo it or don’t force it.

Now, this is a pain-free technique, so if you find that the joint’s getting blocked or you’re having sharp pains or it just doesn’t want to go when you’re trying the technique or there’s too much pain, you need to get out of that position or avoid that technique. You might want to adjust your angle again, you might adjust your force again, and if you still find that it’s just not working, then don’t force it. There might be something else going to in the joint and you need a physical therapist to look at that joint first.

Hope that was helpful, and leave a comment if you have any questions. Thanks, guys.

For a comprehensive solution on recovery from knee injuries see our program Build Better Knees.

How To Get Your Knee Bending Again

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This video shows you how to get your knee bending again.  If you lost knee range of motion due to injury or following surgery, this is a great self mobilization with movement technique to help you restore you knee range of motion.  This is done in a non-weight bearing position for those of you know are not able to bear weight on the knee due to pain.  Enjoy!

For additional tips on improving knee range of motion click HERE

Tweetables:

How To Get Your Knee Bending Again.  [Click To Tweet].
Knee flexibility technique for common knee injuries. [Click To Tweet].
Awesome exercise for osteoarthritis of knee.  [Click To Tweet].

Transcript: 

Hey guys, Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So today I’m going to show you a technique to improve your knee bending. So I’ve shown a similar technique in the past, which has been more in weight bearing position. So for those of you who can’t stand or put pressure on that knee, this is an effective technique to get your bending back, being able to bend your knee again.

So what we’re going to do is basically we’re trying to address the rotational component of the knee, which it can be missing. So part of the bending mechanism is a little bit of internal rotation on that tibia. This is your tibia, this is your femur, your thighbone and your shinbone. So what we’re doing is your going to grasp here and you’re going to be rotating that inwards or medial rotation. Just a little bit of medial rotation, that’s all you’re doing.

And the second part we’re going to do is you can use your other hand and you’re going to work at doing the posterior glide – I’m gliding this.  I’m going to be gliding the lower bone, your tibia, onto your femur, so in a straight downward direction.  I’m going to do this lying down so you can see, but I wanted to show you guys what this is going to look like.   A little bit of rotation plus glide with the other hand, and then I’m working at bending that knee.

So the way you’re going to do it lying down is you’re going to take advantage of gravity. So basically what’s happening is this is what needs to happen. And let’s say you’re restricted and you can’t go anymore, so one thing you can do is you can work at holding on, so you put your heel in your hand here, your fingers are in front of towards the shin, I grab with the other hand, do a little bit of rotation – medial rotation, and I let that knee drop and left foot drop down trying to get that bending back in that joint so you can go further and further. Now, the second part is, with the other hand I can always place right about the shin and I can do a little bit of glide down. So you’re not rotating, you’re not pulling it down – you’re gliding it straight down and you’re going to add a little bit of rotation and then you work at bending it.

So work at those positions, and this is again in a non weight bearing position for those of you who don’t tolerate standing or in weight bearing positions this kind of self-mobilization technique. So what we’re doing, we’re doing a “mobilization with movement” technique where I rotate and I let that drop down, hang out and stretch and come out of it.

So hope that helps. Try it out, and you can do about 10, 15 times initially just to gauge it, see how it feels. Does it allow you to get some of your bending back? And if it’s helpful, you can increase the number of times you do that. You can do that every day.

Now, keep in mind, if it causes you pain or the joint doesn’t want to go any further, it feels locked, you don’t want to do that technique. It’s a pain-free technique. You might have a little bit of discomfort, some stiffness, soreness. That’s different. But what you don’t want is where the joint is restricted, it’s not going anymore or it gives you sharp pains or it’s locked up. So then there might be some other stuff going on in that joint. You might need someone else to look at it for you, a physical therapist.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. If you’re a someone looking for solutions to treat your knee injury, I can give you expert help inside Build Better Knees Recovery Kit, where there’s comprehensive information on recovery from knee problems.  If some of the information in this video is brand new to you, the program will help you get ahead much faster.  Thanks so much for watching.

Share your thoughts: What treatments have you used to solve your knee problems?

 

 

Ankle Sprain Self Mobilization Treatment

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This video shows you a self treatment technique to correct the joint alignment after an ankle sprain. Specifically following an inversion sprain of the ankle. The distal talo-crural joint can go out of alignment after this injury resulting in pain, swelling and poor joint mechanics for months if not years. It’s important to correct this alignment to properly treat this type of ankle sprain.

Tweetables:

Technique for ankle sprains self mobilizing  [Click To Tweet]

Self-treatment technique to treat ankle sprains [Click To Tweet]

Simple technique to treat ankle sprains  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So today I’m going to show you a self-treatment technique to treat ankle sprains. This is quite a common problem, and recently a buddy of mine called me and he’s had an ankle sprain for a couple of months now and he’s just not getting better. So this is one of the things that’s often overlooked: If there is a positional fault of the joint, alignment is off and it’s just not gliding or working properly, which will cause the person to continually have pain, swelling, weakness, and just things are just not right in that joint. And I’ve seen patients who have come after months or even years sometimes where they had an ankle sprain and the foot just didn’t feel right. So, pretty simple technique but very effective when it works.

So what we’re going to talk about here is we’re talking about inversion sprains. So just to show you guys, and this is a more common type of ankle sprain where the foot goes inwards and most of the time the problem is out through here. Now, if it’s a significant sprain, you can also have pain on the inside of the joint too. Now, we’re going to talk more about the outside of the joint. So then there are various ligaments here that can be affected too, but in this technique I’m going to address the joint-related issues that need to be corrected. So often with this type of a sprain, an inversion sprain, the person will have this bone down here, which is the fibula, will go a little bit out of alignment. So it’s your talofibular joint, and that joint gets a little bit out of alignment, a little bit whacked out, and possibly because even the ligament here or some soft tissues that pulled it out of alignment, and just the force of the sprain itself.

So you need to do some kind of manual technique to get that back into alignment often. So one of the things we’re going to do is, because the bone tends to go forward and downwards a little bit, we want to go the opposite direction to bring it back into alignment. So usually you’ll have your physical therapist or someone else do it for you, but if that’s not possible then you can do it yourself. So you want to use your fingers, and what I’m going to do is I’m going to grasp right about here. So here is that lateral malleolus, so your outside of your ankle. I’m going to grasp right by here. Remember, we’re trying to go backwards and slightly upwards. So I’m going to grasp here, I’m going to stabilize my thumb in the back and I can use my other hand to stabilize the foot too, and all I’m doing is I’m doing a glide back and up. So I’m just doing a glide back and up, back and up. I’m just mobilizing that joint, back and up, getting it back in position.

Now, you might have to change the alignment. So you might find that when you’re going in a certain direction it doesn’t feel smooth, it doesn’t feel like it’s going the right direction, so vary the angle a little bit. Go upwards slightly where it feels more comfortable. And once you get used to it and you’re able to do that, bring it back into alignment, into position.

You can also do some movements. You can do mobilization with movement. So at that point what I can do is I can bring it back and I can do some inversion, bringing the foot inwards. So I maintain that pull-back while I bring that foot back into inversion, or I might go into eversion also, so different directions. So move it back and forth in different positions.

So do about 15, 20 times the first time. See how it feels. Get up, walk, see how the joint feels, how the range is. And I did a video in the past where I showed you guys how to tape that. So after you mobilize it, use that taping technique to keep it in the right position, and that way it gives the joint the reminder to maintain that alignment.

So you might have to do this a few times to see if it’s going to work for you. You can do it every day. Do it about 15, 20 repetitions at a time. Do it a few times but don’t overdo it. So you don’t want to irritate that tissue either.

I hope that helps. If you have any questions, leave a comment. And make sure you check out the site, I have tons of information on it. Thanks, guys.

 

 

Shoulder Mobility Exercise For Overhead Reaching

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This video is to help improve shoulder mobility for reaching overhead. It will help you improve shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction and shoulder external rotation range. Overhead reaching range of motion can get limited after an injury, due to pain or joint and muscle tightness.

Tweetables:

Improve shoulder mobility for reaching overhead  [Click To Tweet]

Flexibility of the shoulder joint in flexion, abduction, external rotation [Click To Tweet]

Improve your shoulder flexion, abduction and external rotation range  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you guys how to do a shoulder mobility or stretching technique. A bunch of you guys have asked me about doing more shoulder videos and specifically for getting range of motion back, overhead reaching. So the technique we’re going to do is more for getting flexibility of the shoulder joint in flexion, abduction, external rotation, so getting these ranges back.

So, often after an injury, or following surgery for that matter, you’ll lose range of motion. So the person will try to raise their arm up and if you’re missing that glenohumeral joint, which is your shoulder joint, if that’s missing that range of motion, you’re going to get into poor patterns. So you start raising that arm up and because you can’t go any further, whether it’s due to missing range in the glenohumeral joint and often sometimes also because of poor strength or motor control in the local muscles—glenohumeral as well as your scapular muscles, your shoulder blade muscles—you’re going to get to a point that you’re going to start hiking up that shoulder, very common presentation. So as you raise the arm up, because you don’t have enough range here, you start hiking up that shoulder, which can often lead to its own set of problems such as impingement. So every time I raise up and if I keep hiking that shoulder up, my humerus, which is this big bone here, the humeral head, which is a ball-and-socket joint, the humeral head keeps butting into and hitting your acromion. So in that subacromial space where your tendons as well as other soft tissues are there, they keep getting pinched, so you start getting impingement and often resulting in pain and problems. So we want to avoid that.

And so if you’re missing a lot of range of motion or if it’s the acute stage after an injury, or for that matter after a surgery, and you want to work at restoring that range of motion back, a much better way to do that is laying down. So this is one technique. There are a lot of other techniques out there, too, to get that range of motion back. This is one of the techniques I’m going to show you today. And you might need, in addition to the mobility exercise that I’m going to show you, you might also need some hands-on joint mobilization to be done by a physical therapist, but for our purposes let’s show you a quick technique.

Now, I’m going to use a broomstick. You can use a broomstick, you can use a wand, any other kind of stick, so essentially anything you can get your hands on. Now, laying down, you can lay down on your bed and do this exercise. So what I’m going to do is, if it’s my right shoulder that’s missing range of motion, I’m going to use my left hand to assist it, to guide it. So with the broomstick, now I have often seen people do it this way also, but that hands-down position causes some internal rotation of that humerus, which just closes down the joint and can also cause some pinching and impingement. So we want a slightly better position for that shoulder.

I’m going to go with the thumbs-up position, which adds some external rotation, opens up that joint a little bit. So you’re going to hold onto that stick right about here and it’s a thumb-up position. Now, my left hand guides my right shoulder, so I hold that stick right here. What I’m going to do is I’m going to gently bring that arm up and I’m pushing with my left hand and I’m going to see how far I can go where I start feeling a stretch. Now, you might feel some stretching in the shoulder joint itself, your glenohumeral joint, but you can also get some stretching in your lats and a lot of the other soft tissue structures.So don’t go just straight up, you want to work at finding sticky spots in various ranges because you’ve got to be able to get all those ranges back. So you work up to getting to a point where you start feeling some stretching and you want to hang out there, possibly even do some gentle oscillations, and then come out of that position.

Now, keep in mind, if you start hiking that shoulder up, so let’s say I get to about here and I really start to hike that shoulder up, now that again is going to possibly result in some impingement, might cause you more pain. So I don’t want you to do that. If you really start butting into that shoulder and it starts to cause you pain, you’ve got to back off. So keep trying for that because then you might really have a lot of soft tissue restrictions or the joint capsule might be really tight and might need more hands-on work. So look for different spots, get to that end range, hang out there, stretch. And then when you want to come out of that position sometimes it’s hard to bring that arm up when you’re stretching out here; use the other hand to bring it back out of there. Same thing goes for in these positions as I get into abduction, I get into some external rotation in different ranges. You might even have to go with that hand-behind-head position, so reaching, so that might have to get out here and I can even do that in these positions out here. So just be careful of causing that hiking of that shoulder impingement.

So, great way, spend about five, seven minutes working in different ranges, holding for 15, 20, 30 seconds at a time, oscillate gently, come back out of it, and then work in all these different ranges. So that’s one way to work on this position and I think it’s quite effective.

Now, keep in mind that if you find that you get a little bit sore, that’s normal especially when you first start out doing this exercise. So don’t overdo it, don’t push it too much. First time, do it five, seven minutes, back off out of there, see how you feel the rest of the day, and then compare the next day. If a little bit of soreness is there but it resolves and you find that, “Oh, I’m getting more range of motion back,” then after a day or so do the exercise again. And then once your soreness starts to go down and you can tolerate more, you can go a little further and further and you can possibly hang out there for even longer durations.

Now, one other thing you can do I forgot to mention is that you can also do, while you’re there in that same position, you can do some contract-relax stuff, which is also another way to really work at getting that mobility back. So what I do for that is, so let’s say I’m pushing down with my left hand, so my right hand is going to resist a little bit so I’m not letting my left hand push my arm down. So I hang out here and I hold, so this hand’s pushing down my left one, I’m resisting here. And you’re not pushing down too hard, remember, maybe about 40, 50% force, as much as you can tolerate, hang out, resist, resist, resist for about 10, 15 seconds, and then I relax and then I let this go further. So I contract it and then I relax and I go further. So this is a PNF technique, so contract and then relax, and I go again, contract and then relax, in different ranges, again working through that whole range to see how it feels.

So I hope that helps. So try it out and see what you think. Leave a comment if you have any questions. Thanks, guys.

Shoulder Flexibility Get Back Overhead Movement

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This video is to help restore shoulder flexibility for overhead range of motion. We are specifically targeting shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction and shoulder external rotation mobility. After an injury or surgery these movements are often restricted due to shoulder joint and soft tissue restrictions.

Tweetables:

Why you struggle to train overhead and what to do about it  [Click To Tweet]

Festore shoulder flexibility for overhead range of motion [Click To Tweet]

Technique for restoring shoulder mobility  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you another technique for restoring shoulder mobility, and this is more for getting once again your overhead movement back, your shoulder flexion, some internal rotation, so these ranges which often get limited after an injury or after surgery. And this technique I’m going to show you, I’m going to use a macebell. There’s essentially a heavy weight at the end of the stick that’s for strengthening, but we’re going to use it for a different purpose though to get that range of motion back.

Now, for those of you who don’t have that, that’s okay. You can use an old-style mop. So get a bucket; you fill it with water or put some form of weight at the bottom to hold that mop stable. So placing that water and then the mop in it allows it to have a stable base so the mop ends up standing up straight, and then you can use it for the exercise that I’m going to show you.

So, once again, you place that next to you in the bed. Again, we’re working on getting this range of motion back, your flexion and then some internal rotation in your quadrant positions out here where a lot of people have limitations. So what I’m going to do is, you have to place it approximately above your shoulder level. Now, what this allows me to do is it allows me to hold on to something, something with a weight at the end, to help me guide myself into getting into positions, end-range positions where I can really work on stretching out that tissue. Sometimes when you’re missing that range of motion or if you have pain or injury, it’s not easy to let that arm hang down here in this position and just work on getting a stretch. It’s very uncomfortable and you might be weak, too. So it’s just difficult to let it just hang because it’s more painful. So something like this gives me a little bit of support and something to hold onto where as I get into that end-range position, when I come back, the weight allows me to bring it right back into a neutral position or back into my starting position.

Now, what I want to do is I want to work at going overheard. So I might get here and I might find like, okay, this is my limit and I can hang out here. I can oscillate gently and I can roll it right back. So look for different spots. So I’m going more towards flexion, but that’s especially towards internal rotation.

So the other thing you can do is you can move it out a little bit further, and now I can really work on not only doing overhead movement but I can really get some external rotation. Now, you can see, this position, that position right here, I can let that hand slide down as well as let that roll back a little. Now I’m really working on getting some stretching and some mobility in that tissue.

Now, if you find that the shoulder tends to hike up or if your humeral head or your shoulder wants to pop out in front because you’re missing that range of motion, you can work at gently stabilizing with the other hand. That’s the other advantage of this thing. So now I can work at saying, Okay, well, this is my limit. I can just go to there, I’m going to hang out here and I’m going to stretch.

Now, keep in mind, don’t force it.  And also, for those of you who have an unstable shoulder, if you’ve had dislocations, do not do this exercise because we don’t want to risk a dislocation of that shoulder, because you have some instability or hypermobility in that shoulder. So be very careful. I don’t want you to do that exercise.

So if theshoulder is really stiff, you can work on gently getting in these positions out here and looking to get that full range of motion back. Work on it about five to seven minutes, nice and easy, hitting from different angles and different ranges, and don’t force it as I said. You might be a little bit sore initially, but as you continue to work on it should start to get easier, start to restore that range of motion for you. And be careful – if it starts to hike up too much and it impinges, causes you more pain or discomfort, you’ve got to back off. You’ve got to get out of there.

If you have any questions, leave a comment. And I hope that was helpful. Thanks, guys.

Shoulder Flexibility Internal Rotation Restoration

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This video is to help restore shoulder internal rotation range of motion. Important for reaching with hand behind back, across to opposite shoulder and for athletic activities. This range is often lost after shoulder injury or following shoulder surgery.

Tweetables:

This stretch can help restore shoulder flexibility  [Click To Tweet]

Help restore shoulder internal rotation range of motion [Click To Tweet]

How to improve Shoulder Flexibility Internal Rotation Restoration  [Click To Tweet]

 Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, another video on getting your shoulder range of motion back, and this one is more specifically restoring your shoulder internal rotation. So this is external rotation, going out; internal is going inwards. So side view, this is your external rotation, this is your internal. And internal rotation is also very important for hand behind back. So again, internal rotation, some adduction and some extension of that shoulder, reach back, tucking my shirt in, right? So if that range of motion is missing, it can cause a lot of problems in that shoulder too. So I’m just going to show you one technique. There are a lot of techniques out there, I’ll show you one technique on how to restore that range of motion.

We’re going to do it laying down in a side-lying position. So what I’m going to do is, if I’m working on my right shoulder, I’m going to be laying and side-lying right along my shoulder. So I’m kind of walking in that shoulder and because my weight is on that shoulder I lock that into place. Now I can focus on just restoring that internal rotation specifically.

So, I take my hand. Now, I’m not going to place it on my hand, I’m going to put it on my wrist, and what I’m going to do is I’m going to gently work on bringing my arm down towards the ground. So I start here and I gently work on bring the arm down, and I work and I hang out there, and I might oscillate a little bit and I might have to move myself over or back a little bit to find those positions where I find there are more restrictions.

Now, I’ve got it at about 90 degrees here but you might find that you might have to bring it down a little bit to get in some other positions, but start here at 90 and work on bringing it further and further. Now, be careful. Don’t crank on it too hard. You don’t want to hurt yourself. So take your time, go easy, slow, hang out, get to the point where you feel resistance, hang out there and gently oscillate 15, 20, 30 seconds, relax, bring it back up.

Now, you can also do some contract/relax where especially my right arm is going in the opposite. This is the way I’m going to be resisting, going upwards. This hand is not letting this hand, my right hand, go upwards. So I contract where this is going here and I’m resisting lightly, maybe about 40, 50% force, and I resist, resist, resist, resist, 10 seconds or so, and then I relax this right arm completely, then I use my left hand to push it a little further. Get to the point and I feel some resistance with stretching, then contract, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, hang out, hang out, and then relax completely, and I go a little further. So it’s a PNF technique, allows me to do some contract, relax, stretching for all of those tissues.

Now, the other thing I can do is, if you find yourself, maybe the shoulder is heightened up too much or it’s moving around too much, it’s not staying as stable, use your other hand. Use your other hand to lock this down further. Now, but I need something else to bring this arm down if I don’t have anybody else, and if you have good control and flexibility I can use my leg to gently bring this down and I stretch. Careful, if your leg is too heavy, you don’t have enough control, you don’t want to crank on that. So take your time, nice and easy, and I work at oscillating and I work at stretching.

But for most of you out there, start with the other hand, just roll over it right onto the wrist and gently work on restoring that mobility in different angles. And like I said, you don’t want to crank on it to the point that it hurts, causing you problems. Nice and easy, spend about five, seven minutes. Might be a bit sore for the next day or so, but the soreness should start to subside as you continue to improve the mobility of that shoulder. So this is for getting that internal rotation back, working on this movement. Good technique, try it out, and you can do it every other day, and as you get better at it you can do it regularly.

If you have any questions, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel. Please check out the website. We have tons of information on it. Thanks.

An Innovative Approach To Treating Knee Injuries

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This is a recent lecture given by me and Lisa Bell (also a Physical Therapist) on “How to recover from knee injury and build stronger healthier knees”

Tweetables:

How to recover from knee injury  [Click To Tweet].
Build stronger healthier knees [Click To Tweet].
Knee Injury: Get the Facts on Diagnosis and Treatment [Click To Tweet].

In this episode:

1.  Discuss knee anatomy: bones, ligaments, meniscus, etc.

2.  Common knee injuries: ACL injury, MCL tear, knee arthritis and meniscus tear.

3.  How long for knee injury to heal?

4.  Types of knee surgery?

5.  Exercising with a knee injury: knee stretches and strengthening exercises.

If you found this lecture on treating knee injuries helpful, you will get a lot out of our program on building stronger and healthier knees HERE.

Low Back Flexibility Exercise Using Tennis Balls

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Here’s another exercise to improve mid back and lower back flexibility. You can use two tennis balls or lacrosse balls to easily self stretch different parts of the low back.

Tweetables:

Exercise to improve mid back and lower back flexibility  [Click To Tweet]

Stretches to improve low back flexibility [Click To Tweet]

How to Improve Lower Back Flexibility  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, in this video, along the same lines as some of the last videos that I did on improving the mobility of the lower thoracic area or even for your lower back or lumbar spine. We use a couple of other things. We used a foam roller and I used a wedge, some of the other videos, and in this video I’m going to show you to do something very similar by using tennis balls. You can also use other things like a lacrosse ball to mobilize those areas also.

So in this one I have two tennis balls. So you can see what they look like. So we tape them, tape them lengthwise and tape them in the center so they don’t move. This is where your spine can sit and the balls can go on either side, so it makes it more comfortable to mobilize specific areas.

So now what I’m going to do is basically the ball is going to be placed along this region. So this is my lower thoracic area, which tends to often get quite stiff because of people sitting in these rounded postures. So your hips get tight in the front as well as the back, plus your thoracic spine often gets really stiff because people are constantly in poor postures. So we’re targeting this region. You can also of course get stiffness in this lower area, too, but we’re targeting this area.

So what we’re going to do is I’m going to take these two balls and as I said they’re going to be sitting on either side and all I’m going to do is I’m going to place these guys, I’m going to search and place on either side of my spine, and now I can control… So if I’m really stiff, you might not be comfortable coming all the way down, so you can control how far you bring your pelvis down. So when I bridge up, and so now I control the pressure off of the balls. So when I come back down, it brings up the pressure onto the balls on either side of the spine or segments. So as I come down, now I’m feeling more pressure on those segments as well as it allows me to see if there’s some stiffness in those areas.

So now what I can do is I can go ahead and do some rotations to either side. If I want to mobilize the segments, I can hang out and do those. I can go the other way. And if I want to increase the stretch and mobility throughout the chain, maybe I’ll decide to bring my arm up, too, as I’m stretching the segments. And you can see where the ball is, right? So right now the pressure is on the other side right here, but this one doesn’t have as much as pressure on it because I’m going further out that way. So depending on what segment is stiff, you might decide to raise up, bring it down a notch, so you get to hit different segments and you get to do different positions. I could do some rotations with that. I could do some mobilizing by going up and down on a specific segment.

So, really easy technique to do and it’s a great exercise. Start with the tennis balls first. I showed it with a wedge also on how to mobilize that region. The wedge tends to be a little bit harder especially when you’re starting out. This could be an easy tool to use to help improve the mobility of that region. Four to five minutes, don’t overdo it, don’t crank on it too hard, and each successive time you do the exercise or the routine it should get easier and easier and you should have better mobility.

So if you have any questions, leave a comment. Check out the site, we have tons of information on it, and make sure you subscribe to the channel. Thanks, guys.

Lower Back Flexibility Using Wedge

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Another self mobilization/stretch technique to improve mid back and low back flexibility. The wedge is very specific and can target specific segments of the spine.

Tweetables:

Technique to improve mid back and low back flexibility  [Click To Tweet]

Stretches to improve low back flexibility [Click To Tweet]

Exercise to improve lower back flexibility [Click To Tweet]

Tools used to improve lower back flexibility:

  1.  Mobilization Wedge

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you another technique on how to improve the mobility of your lower thoracic spine or even your low back for that matter. So in the past I’ve shown you a technique on how to improve the mobility of your upper back, your thoracic spine or even your CT junction for those of you who have neck-related issues and you’re really stiff in that upper back, which is resulting in increased stress or irritation of the cervical region. So this one is more for improving mobility of your thoracic spine, so if we get your thoracic spine moving better, especially your lower thoracic region, and it could be your lumbar or your low back also that could be stiff.

The wedge works really well because it tends to isolate the area that you’re trying to target. So it’ll focus in on, so this is where your spine’s processes or your spine’s going to sit, and it’s going on either side of that and on a particular segment to improve the mobility of that segment. Of course, it can also affect the soft tissue, so the local muscles too.

So what I’m going to do is we’re just going to reverse that we did for the upper back. So, actually I’m going to be laying down—you can do it on the floor also—and I’m going to place the wedge, so let’s say if I’m trying to target the thoracic area, so I’m going to place it right on that region that I’m trying to target. Now, I control how much stretching or mobilization I want to do by letting my pelvis drop down onto it. So if I’m really stiff I can’t come down as far, and if I have good mobility I can drop down further, of course. So this is great because the bridging and coming down onto a particular segment allows me to control how much pressure I’m applying at that particular segment. So I’m stretching and mobilizing that particular segment by bridging and just letting myself settle into that position.

Now, you might find one side is stiffer than the other, so then you can of course do some rotation also. I can do some rotation to the side where it applies more pressure or I can go the other way and I can test and see where it is. And you can see where the wedge is right here, right? So as I roll over it, I can feel either direction. So when I go to my right side I feel more my right side now, and when I go to the left side I feel more pressure on my left side where it’s mobilizing or stretching those tissues as well as by dropping down and just letting my pelvis settle down onto the treatment table.

And you can move it around. So I might find, well, I’m not that stiff there and let’s bring it down a notch, so I might find another segment and I might do the exact same thing there. So I can work at, again, raising up and gently lowering down to find a particular segment where I might be stiff.

So most often the issue is in the lower thoracic region or the upper lumbar where you might have some stiffness. The low lumbar region usually is not so stiff and you tend to have more mobility in some of those segments because most people tend to be quite stiff in the hip region as well as the lower thoracic region, or the midback region for that matter, so resulting in more mobility usually in the low lumbar area. But of course, you can be stiff in those areas, and so depending on what you’re trying to target, if you’re really stiff, then you can be more specific and target specific segments or specific regions with this technique and you can really work at mobilizing the segments.

So be cautious, don’t overdo it. Two or three minutes, start with that first, and gentle, don’t crank on it, and then see how it responds. You might get a little sore initially, but each successive should get easier and easier and you can hang out and stretch for longer durations, so you can spend four, five minutes at a time mobilizing specific areas.

I hope you found that useful. Make sure you subscribe to the channel and check out the site.

Lower Back Stretch Foam Roller

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This is a another exercise to improve mid back and low back flexibility. The foam roller is a good tool to mobilize the spine. The exercise can also help you strength the core and glute muscles.

Tweetables:

How to Foam Roll Away Lower Back Pain. [Click To Tweet]

Foam Roller Techniques for Low Back Pain [Click To Tweet]

How to Use Stretching and a Foam Roller for Lower Back Pain  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to show you an exercise to improve the mobility of the lower thoracic spine, so your mid and lower back area. So often because of people sitting too much, you tend to get stiffness in the hip and you get a lot of stiffness in this region. So because of prolonged poor postures where someone is sitting in these positions, you can get a lot of stiffness in this area. So if I’m too stiff here, I’m too stiff here, I got to move somewhere else. So I’m going to start hinging and moving or be getting hypermobile or unstable through the low back, often resulting in low back problems and pain or sacroiliac joint issues.

So one of the things we can do is we can improve the mobility of the lower thoracic area. So if I’m moving better there, I don’t have to hinge or move so much in the lower back. So we’re going to use a foam roller for this one, and this is a really easy technique and almost anyone can do it. You could do it on the floor. I’m going to do it here so it’s easy for you guys to see.

Now, what I’m going to do is, usually a foam roller, you see a lot of the exercises are targeted for the upper part of the upper back and the ribcage and the spine, but we’re going to reverse that. So I’m going to place this around the area where I want to target. So let’s say if I want to go right around here, I’m stiff in this area, I’m going to place this here and I can control how much extension or range I want to get out of this, how much mobility I want to get out of this. So all I do is, if I’m really stiff, I’m going to bridge up. I can get my glutes, my abdominals. So I do two things at once that way. So I get some strengthening done and I can work on mobility.

So now all I’m going to do is I’m just going to drop my pelvis straight down. As I drop it down, you can see I start to get some arching through my mid and lower back. And I want to target my lower part of my thoracic spine more, this region, so I’m going to scoot down a little bit because if I’m stiffer there, now I can let that pelvis drop down further and I can really start to target this area. So I let my body weight do the job. I let it drop down, take a deep breath as I go down, and you can see how the ribcage also expands – inhale.
Or I could do more movement-based stuff where basically what I do is I drop down, stretch, and then I come back up. I drop down, take a deep breath, stretch, tighten my glutes and abdominals, and I raise back up. So now I’m doing more movement-based stuff. And again, you don’t have to stay in one spot. You can move around a little bit. So if I can slide down a bit more, then I can do the exact same thing. So if you hit it from different angles, you might find certain spots are stiffer for you.

And again, you don’t have to go all the way down as I’m doing. If you’re really stiff and it is not comfortable, limit how far you go down. You can control that with your legs and your pelvis. So maybe I go down 50% and I just hang out there, and I take some deep breaths and I come back up. So, another great way to start getting mobility in this region as well as work on some strengthening too, and pretty easy to control.
Now, if you find that foam roller or this size is too big for you, you can even start with a smaller-size foam roller which is not as thick. This is about six inches. You can get one with a smaller band. There are three-inch ones available also. Or, for that matter, you can even roll up a thick towel and then it won’t be as rigid as this but it’ll still allow you to do some of those movements also.

So spend a few minutes at a time working on different spots and you can build to five to 10 minutes. Now, keep in mind, if you’re really irritated through the low back and you do this exercise, and if you find that it starts to irritate the low back further where you continue to hinge at those spots that are irritated, you might have to ease off a bit or you might have to roll back and forth and find a position where it’s comfortable for you.

I hope you found that useful, and make sure you subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment if you have questions, and make sure you check out the site. Thanks.

Shin Splints Yoga Stretch

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Vajra asana or Diamond pose is an excellent yoga pose for shin splints. It can not only help improve the mobility of the muscles but also great for knee and ankle mobility. It’s also a good pose for improving digestion and helps one become more grounded.

Tweetables:

Yoga to heal and prevent Shin Splints [Click To Tweet]

Shin Splints Treatment [Click To Tweet]

Yoga to heal and prevent Shin Splints  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So in this video I’m going to show you how to stretch some of the front muscles of the lower leg, especially your anterior tibialis. So that’s that muscle right here, runs along the shin. So the function of not only the anterior tibialis but some of the other muscles, the extensors, the foot muscles, is to lift your foot up as well as the toes.

So if you get a lot of achiness, a lot of tightness on all these structures or, for that matter, pain, and if those tissues are too tight whether due to too much walking, too much running, any of those of activities, there’s one way to stretch that very effectively, is the yoga Asana which is called Vajrasana, which is diamond pose. So in that pose, remember the function of these guys is to lift the foot up, so now they’re on, they’re activated as I dorsiflex or lift the foot up. So this is the area we’re targeting, which tends to get tightened up.

So the opposite, to stretch it will be the opposite direction, which is essentially going the other way. So an easy way to do that is to place this under you and you can start in this position first, all fours, and slowly work at sitting back down to see how far you can come down. Eventually, your goal is to work at coming all the way down, which is the Vajrasana, when I sit completely in this position. The spine, of course, you want to work at maintaining an upright alignment, and I’m sitting comfortably with my shoulders relaxed, my arms, my hands on my thighs. So not only does this help, of course, stretch all of these structures, the front of the ankle, also some quad stretch, knee stretch.

Now, if you have ongoing issues with your knee or ankle, if you have an injury, you can’t bend the knee, or for that matter have ankle issues, avoid this position or modify it by not sitting as far down. But otherwise, for the rest of you, this is a good way to work at improving mobility of these tissues and this is a great position in yoga to improve the digestion. So it’s a good position after eating to sit in this position for a little while to help with digestion. It also helps ground you and it helps reduce vata, which is settling down of the nervous system. So, great post, five to 10 minutes hanging out here and just relaxing and doing some deep breathing in this position. Very effective.

So I hope you found that helpful. If you have any questions, leave a comment. And make sure you subscribe to the channel and check out the site. Lots of information on the site. Thanks, guys.

Shin Splints Massage Treatment

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This is a good self massage technique for shin splints using a lacrosse ball to mobilize the front and outside shin muscles. Can be easily done by yourself and works really well at breaking down thickening and adhesions that often form with overuse and injury. This problem is very common in runners and can often be quite debilitating. Make sure you rule out stress fractures and other issues before doing this mobilization technique.

Tweetables:

Massage Therapy for Shin Splints  [Click To Tweet]

If You’re Affected by Shin Splints, Massage Can Help [Click To Tweet]

How to Treat and Prevent Shin Splints [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So in this video I’m going to show you a self-mobilization technique using a lacrosse ball to improve the mobility of your muscles in the front part of your lower leg or shin, so especially your anterior tibialis and some of the other muscles that get often bound up and tightened up, and if they get adhesions that form due to injury or due to repetitive strain such as in running or other athletic activities, it would restrict tissue glide. So not only are they tight, they might have knots or sticky spots and you’re trying to get them mobilized. So of course you can use your hands and you can get at spots, but there’s another tool you can use, a lacrosse ball, to really get at those spots and improve the mobility of those tissues.

So one way to do that is we’re going to place this here and what we’re going to is I’m going to look for…so this is going to be right around here and I can control how much pressure I place on it because most of my weight is on my arms and my other leg. So I can decide and I can look for those spots as I oscillate and I search and I go down the entire length of that tissue and I’m going back and forth.

Now, once I find a spot, I can hang out there; I can go in circular movements; I can put pressure on it like an acupressure, sustained pressure; I can oscillate back and forth; and I can glide back and forth over the whole length of that tissue also, so going all along that length of that tissue to see where I want to improve mobility and also where the sticky spots are. It’s a really good way to work at improving the mobility of those tissues.

And you’re not limited to going just through the front, you can also go along the side, too, so it’s depending on where you’re tight. So I could do out here also as I work my way and I look at those spots, and I can search and I can apply pressure, oscillate back and forth, this position all along the whole length of that tissue as I’m slowly and steadily mobilizing those tissues.

Now, you can also use your hands. I could do the same thing, can stabilize here and I can go back and forth. I can search and go all along the length of that tissue and I can work at mobilizing those. So just be careful not to apply too much pressure on certain areas. You have some acupressure/acupuncture points here, so be cautious and slowly and steadily work through this region and improve the mobility of that tissue. Spend about five, seven minutes working throughout those stiff areas, and you can increase the time if you’re trying to get the whole lower leg. Very effective.

And this is a lacrosse ball. Tends to be harder. If this is too hard for you, use a racquet ball, which is a little softer and it’s a little bit smaller, so you can also target some of those tissues and areas.

If you have any questions, leave a comment. Hope this was helpful for you. And check out the site, there’s lots of information there, and subscribe to the channel. Thanks, guys.

Core Strength Pushup Plus

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Pushup plus position is a great exercise to strengthen core muscles. It’s also very effective for shoulder girdle and arm strengthening. Start off by doing the exercise isometrically and then progressing to movements to make the exercise more challenging.

Tweetables:

The Pushup that Blasts Your Core  [Click To Tweet]

Push-ups Boost Core Strength To Build a Greater Body [Click To Tweet]

Core strength – Why it is so Important  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to show you the correct way to do a pushup plus position for abdominal core and trunk strengthening. And a lot of times I find people do this incorrectly. This is done as an isometric exercise for core and strengthening, and I’ll show you first what I often end up seeing as some of the incorrect ways of doing this.

So one of the things I find people do as they go into a pushup position, so as they raise up, often they’re not stable through their shoulder girdle. Pelvis tends to drop down. So even if they do isometric holds, they’re either dropping down and hanging out here or they try to hold themselves up in this position. More often, actually, it’s going to be dropping here, because they’re just not strong and stable through this region and they can’t hold themselves up. And same thing with the shoulder girdle. The shoulder girdle will pop out because, again, they’re not stable in that shoulder girdle.

So, much better way to do that would be—and I would start with isometric positions first before you get into more movement-based stuff where you’re doing kicks and all sorts of other things. So you’re going to have to build a base first. You’ve got to figure out where you are in space and whether you have good motor control to maintain that stable position.

So first thing I would do is as I come up into that position—you can do it with your hands this way or this way, whatever’s comfortable for you—I would raise up to this position and you want to engage your shoulder girdles first. So I’m going to do a pushup plus. So I kick in my scapular stabilizers, shoulder blade muscles. So if I kick those guys in, my upper body’s nice and stable. Now, if my pelvis is dropping down, I’m going to engage my lower abdominals. And you can see what I just did. So my pelvis is dropping down; now I’m going to kick in my lower abdominals and my glutes. I’m going to fire those a little bit and now I’m stable through that pelvis, and I can work at doing a slight dorsal glide or chin tuck to protect my neck. So as I’m in that position, I can do isometric holds. So you want to stay there. You work up to it – 10, 15, 20, 30 seconds.

Now, what you’re going to find is that you start to drop down or your pelvis starts to drift down or one side starts to go down, so you’re fatiguing. So if you find that you can’t maintain those positions, you want to come out of those positions. Now, you want to make sure that you have this stable position and you can really hold it for a while, let’s say 60 seconds, and you’re going to hold a good form and the form doesn’t go. Once you can start holding a good, stable form, then you can start to engage those muscles, keep your abdominals on andget yourself in good position, and then you can start to do more movement-based things, things like that with your legs or arms, or lifts and other things, only when you find that you’re nice and stable in those positions.

So I hope that helped, and please leave a comment, subscribe to the channel. Thanks.

Core Strengthening Plank Position

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Plank position is often used to strengthen core muscles. However this is performed incorrectly by a lot of people by using hip flexors to compensate for weak abdominals. The correct mechancis for doing this exercise are by practicing this position while activating shoulder girdle muscles, glutes and the lower abdominals.

Tweetables:

The Plank Exercise for Core Strength  [Click To Tweet]

How to Do a Plank for Stronger Core [Click To Tweet]

How to Strengthen Your Core with Planks  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, this video, I’m going to show you how to do a prone on elbows, abdominal bracing and strengthening exercise correctly. So, I often find people do this incorrectly. So this is what I normally see when people are doing this exercise. So, often people, when they raise up into these positions and they try to hold this, they’re engaging their hip flexors or they’re doing a lot of hip flexion because the abdominals are weak. So they end up raising up in these positions here. So when I do this, I’m really engaging a lot of my hip flexors to hold that position because I’m weak. My lower abdominals are weak, possibly glutes are not strong enough either, to hold myself in a nice and stable and straight position. And your shoulder girdle might be weak, too; it can’t hold that position.

So two to three things they can keep in mind when they engage, first, before you raise up, we’ll make it a lot easier and allow you to do the exercise correctly. So first thing I would do is I would do almost elbow pushups, meaning I’ll do a pushup plus, so I’m engaging my shoulder blade muscles. So it’s shoulder protraction. So now as I push up, so I’m locking in my shoulder girdle. I’m stable now in my upper body.

The next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to kick in my lower abdominals and my glutes, so I’m bracing those, and then I can work at raising up and holding that position. So this is a much more stable position. It’s a better position. It’s not this. So I’m not floppy and I’m not holding this position because that’s not as effective. If your goal is to work on strengthening the abdominals and your core, your trunk, this is a much better way to do that in static positions.

So, just a couple of simple tips for you to start using that. So make sure you kick in your lower abdominals, your glutes; you’re maintaining that alignment; you’re not hinging at the hips; you’re not using your hip flexors or you’re not flexing at that hip and raising your bottom up; and you also want to make sure you really engage that shoulder girdle as you hold that position. And then you can do isometric holds. I mean, to make it more challenging you can do a lot of other movement-based things, too, but initially you might start with just isometric holds done correctly; start five, 10 seconds, and build up.

If you have any questions, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel. Thank you.

Low Back Pain Yoga Upward Facing Dog

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Protect your low back when doing Yoga upward facing dog pose. These tips can help you if you suffer from low back pain and arching or extension causes you pain while doing yoga. Often hip joint, hip flexor tightness, upper and mid back stiffness can increase the stress on the low back. Resulting in more compression, pinching and pain. The recommendations in this video will help you protect your spine.

Tweetables:

How to Do a Safe and Proper Yoga Upward Facing Dog  [Click To Tweet]
Yoga Poses for the Lower Back  [Click To Tweet]
Beginners Yoga For Back Pain – How To Do Upward Facing Dog  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to show you a slight modification for the up dog position or upward facing dog position in yoga.

Some of you guys asked me that when you do the up dog position in yoga you tend to get some discomfort or pain in the low back because there is excessive compression taking place. This is often…well, you could have of course a pathology or some problem going on in the low back that you’re more flexion-biased – you don’t like extension arching which closes down to the joints and it irritates them.

But some of it can also be because you’re moving too much, hypermobility, in certain segments of the low back because you’re too stiff not moving enough in the front of the hip. Your hip flexors are tight maybe, your front hip capsule is tight, possibly lower thoracic is stiff, upper back is stiff, so you end up moving too much in that low back when you’re going in the up dog position. So I’ll show you a couple of modifications that you can do to want to protect your back, you won’t have pain, as well as to take some of the pressure off that low back so you can continue doing that pose.

So as I said, this is the upward facing dog in yoga. I’m going to do it on the table—it’s easier for you to see—and usually the position is where you come up into an arching position and you come up here. And a lot of times as people come up, they complain of pain in their low back in this region, and because they end up hinging at that spot and because they’re not moving enough or they’re too stiff in the front, they’re not getting that range from here, they’re not getting that range from their midback or upper back, so they end up hinging in their low back, causing compression of pain.

So what we’re going to do is, I recommend if that’s happening, you have a few options but one of the things you can do is you can right away tighten your glutes first. So if I tighten my glutes, it puts me in a little bit of posterior tilt, so that protects my low back, causes less compression. So I’m going to tighten my glutes lightly and I might pull in, and as I come up it takes away some of that pressure in my low back. And the second thing I can do is I can engage my lower abdominals a little bit, by pulling inand that again helps me avoid some of that compression. And then, I can work it as I arch up: I can squeeze my shoulder blades down and now I’m going to engage my upper back also. So that will really help relieve a lot of that compression in your low back.

Those are just two simple tips. There are many other things you could do also. And you can of course limit how high you go up in that position. So try engaging your glutes. Try engaging your lower abdominals, especially your glutes throughout the movement, and before you start the movement kick them on and maintain that through the movement as you’re extending it, holding that position.

So I hope you found that helpful. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment if you have questions. Thank you.

Pulled Hamstring Treatment

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Hamstring injury can result in thickening and adhesions at the site of injury resulting in poor skin glide and mobility. This is a scar tissue mobilization technique using cross friction massage and pump massage to break up adhesions and sticky spots.

This is a very effective technique that can really help restore proper mobility and tissue health of the hamstring muscle.

Tweetables:

Pulled Hamstring: Recovery and Treatment  [Click To Tweet]

The Key to Successful Recovery From a Hamstring Strain [Click To Tweet]

The Best Ways to Treat Hamstring Injuries  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda  herbalist. So, wanted to share a quick video on treatment of hamstring strains and soft tissue mobilization techniques to break up scar tissue and adhesions. Hamstring strains are quite common, and your hamstrings are a group of muscles that is made up of, on the inside you have your semimembranosus, semitendinosus, on the outside you have your biceps femoris.

So of course the strain or pull, which is quite common in athletic activities, can be anywhere along the length of the muscle, the muscle belly or further up at the attachment site at the ischial tuberosity, but we’re going to talk more about the strain along the muscle belly. So you’ll have to palpate and figure out where the strain is along the muscle belly. So movements that either stretch the hamstring muscle or contract the hamstring muscle are going to be painful, and these tend to become often into recurrent problems where it seems like it’s getting better but then the person continues to strain that tissue or irritate that tissue, which causes pain, and it’s often due to the initial injury if there are micro-tears in the fibers, and it ends up getting fibrotic changes, thickening or adhesions that form in the injured area.

So around that area things could be moving well and possibly strong, but that area becomes the weak point. So working at improving that mobility, breaking down the scar tissue so the whole tissue moves well—there’s good tissue between multiple layers—allows that tissue not only to heal but also to start working on strengthening to strengthen that tissue again. So those recurrent injuries, after a while they might form more scarring and thickening, and weakening the whole muscle.

So one of the things we want to do, of course, we want to find out first where along the belly you’re having the problem. So let’s say if we say that it’s—we’re going to pick just a spot in the middle of the muscle belly—so the muscle fibers are running up and down, so once you find those tender and thickened areas, you want to work at doing cross friction massage, you want to work at breaking down the thickening. So muscle’s going this way, I’m going across the fibers, not just on the skin but I’m also putting a little pressure and I’m going to back and forth. And you might find it’s not just across this way. It might be that at different angles you might find restrictions or thickening along that tissue. So I want to find that spot, put a little pressure and work on cross friction work.

So I can use my thumb, I can use knuckles and get a wider area, I can use my elbow where I can put a little pressure here and I can go back and forth. Now, I put the muscle, when I’m holding this here, I put it in a slightly slack position. It’s not as stretched as when the leg comes down, so it’s more comfortable when it’s really irritated. I can put it in a slightly slack position and I can get it in these positions and I can come across fibers in various directions. I’ll apply pressure with my elbow, go back and forth, back and forth. Usually it’s quite tender, it’s not very comfortable, but very effective.

So along different angles, different planes, I want to work at breaking down that expert, but then also lengthwise too. So I might want to work at massaging upwards and downwards direction also so I hit it from various angles. After you’re done with your massage part or especially cross friction massage—so spend about 5 to 10 minutes, that’s about how much time a person’s going to tolerate, I don’t apply it more than that—then I want to work at doing a little bit of tack and stretch, like that tack that tissue down and I stretch, tack and stretch. There’s also a bit of a pump massage technique to just globally stretch out the various tissues and from different angles. So I’m tacking it down and I’m pulling the leg down so I’m stretching that tissue from different angles, and also I’m improving circulation, just getting things moving up and just stretching out tissue from various angles. So I’m not applying too much pressure, just a little bit of pressure, upward direction, tack and stretch, tack and stretch.

And so usually this part is quite comfortable and people like this part and it doesn’t cause as many problems, so quite an effective technique to get rid of those problems. And I would do, starting off, you probably want to do that every other day or even take two days in between. Or, if it gets sore after the treatment, you want to give it a day or two to kind of settle down before you do the technique again. And after some time you’ll find that it won’t get as sore and it starts to move better, and then you can start focusing more on the strengthening aspect of things as well as doing more other stretching and mobility exercises.

I hope you found that helpful. Make sure you check out the site. We have our program on it now, it’s been live, Build Better Knees, and I think it’ll really help a lot of you with various knee injuries and problems. Subscribe to the channel and leave a comment. Thanks.

Interview On Preventing Injuries and Faster Rehab on the CoachXO Show

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For football fans and parents who have kids who play football check out my podcast interview on the CoachXO show.  Coach Shane is doing an amazing job helping coaches and kids excel at football and school.

Football Player

We discuss my program Build Better Knees and a wide range of topics on the show:

  • Ankle sprains, Knee injuries, groin pulls and overcoming shoulder injuries.
  • How to prevent injuries by building a strong foundation
  • Off-season mobility training to prevent injuries and build strength faster
  • Getting back on the field faster after injuries
  • How to build whole body strength
  • Nutrition, supplements and protein shakes
  • & Much More!

What a pleasure it was being interviewed by coach Shane.  He’s doing some amazing work on and off the field.

Check out his Twitter at:  @coachxo

Tweetables:

Injury prevention How to get players back on the field faster   [Click To Tweet]

Rapid rehabilitation and injury prevention [Click To Tweet]

How to Treat Injuries Like an Elite  [Click To Tweet]

Hamstring Strain Mobilization

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Hamstring strain or tears can cause thickening and adhesions at the site of injury. Creating “sticky” spots with poor skin glide and mobility. Self mobilization using a lacrosse ball is one way to help break these adhesions and improve mobility of the hamstring. Once the tissue mobility is restored often much easier to stretch and strengthen the muscles.

This technique can be done for 5-10 minutes every other day. Once the tissue mobility improves and you are not as tight or sore can do the technique more frequently.

Tweetables:

Muscle Mobilization Techniques for the Hamstring [Click To Tweet]

How to Recover Quickly from a Hamstring Strain [Click To Tweet]

Hamstring Strains in Athletes: Diagnosis and Treatment [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to show you another technique to help mobilize hamstrings specifically following hamstring strains or pulls, those injuries which become chronic due to adhesions and thickening that forms around microtears. So I’ve shown a couple of other videos on how to do mobilization of that tissue, how to break down that scar tissue using your hands and your elbows, which are soft tissue mobilization techniques. So this is more of a self-mobilization where you can use a ball, a lacrosse ball, to mobilize that tissue yourself.

So, edge of a chair or a table will work just fine, and what we’re going to do is we’re going to take this and we’re going to find…so let’s hit the strains along the…remember, your hamstrings are the muscle in the back of your thighs, so if the strain is along the muscle belly somewhere, we’re going to search and find the tender spot and put a little pressure on that, and then do some stretching of the hamstring tissue.

So let’s say we find that spot to be right about the area at the midpoint, and so all she’s going to do is she’s going to have her hands here on the side so she can maneuver herself back and forth and see where she’s at. So yeah, move yourself up and down, and so she can find that spot. Let’s say that’s the spot she finds, so now she can bear some weight on that and even control how much weight you bring down onto that tissue by your arms. So once you put some pressure—now, you can move your leg around back and forth, too, to figure out where the spot is, and it’s a matter of extending your leg, your knee, back and forth because that stretches that hamstring as well as maintains the pressure on it so it really helps mobilize that tissue.

And you might have to roll on it a little further or move back depending on where the spot is or a couple of spots are, and you can control the amount of pressure you’re applying on it. So if she leans her body forward a bit more and places more of the weight onto that ball, so that might apply more pressure now, and then she can work at sliding back and forth. And she could technically even apply more pressure with your hand on it, but if you’re doing a soft mobilization technique, so you can work at stretching that tissue. And now you wiggle side to side, go back and forth, really work it, moving in various directions to get those adhesions and the knotted-up tissue, and this will be a really good way to not only help improve that mobility but also to free up multiple layers of that tissue that are bound up. So once that tissue starts to move better, it can also help improve the tissue health, so better flexibility, and then you can start working on the strengthening part if you have less pain and less restriction on that tissue.

So your goal is here to work on getting rid of the sticky spots. I would spend about five, 10 minutes, five minutes initially first couple of times to search and work on that tissue. You could even maintain, sustain pressure on that spot for a minute or two, like doing self-acupressure on that spot to free up the knotted tissue. If you do too much it can get sore, so I would do it every other day initially or every two days till you get more comfortable with it.  Once the mobility improves and you are not as sore, and then you can do it more frequently.

So I hope that helps, gives you another tool to help at self-mobilizing. Make sure you subscribe to the channel and make sure you check out our site. We have tons or resources on the site, and our program, Build Better Knees, is on our site too. Be sure to check it out and make sure you will leave a comment. Thanks.

Build Better Knees program is available now…

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Click on the link to learn more: http://tridoshawellness.com/build-better-knees

Build Better Knees is a complete program that will guide you through the entire process of diagnosing your imbalances, providing you with specific clinical solutions to treat your injury, and getting you back to running pain-free. It’s a action-packed book filled with tons of great information.

Conventional treatments like surgery and medications are expensive, traumatic, and prone to errors. Don’t take those risks. Instead, choose to run and live pain-free by injury-proofing your body in a natural and effective way.

The therapeutic knowhow and techniques contained within this book have allowed my patients and me to continue running at a high level. I know they can help you achieve the same.

After working 15 years as a physical therapist, I felt there was something missing in the current medical system. I saw a lot of patients repeatedly coming back into the system, unable to conquer their issues with chronic injuries. I observed that the current medical system unfortunately focused more on treating patients’ symptoms and often neglected their underlying problems.

To treat my patients more effectively, I combined exercise science, physical therapy, and Ayurveda practices, which fundamentally transformed my practice. Using a holistic approach helps patients recover faster, stay healthier, and remain injury-free.

I created Build Better Knees to give people a comprehensive solution that they can use to take care of their knee injuries. I see this program working every day in my practice. With dedication, it will work for you.

Tweetables:

Pain Free Running | Self-Treatment Techniques [Click To Tweet]

Achieve Pain Free Running with this Simple Self-Treatment [Click To Tweet]

How To Treat And Beat Knee Pain [Click To Tweet]

How To Exercise With Chondromalacia Patellae

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Chondromalacia patellae is degenerative changes or wear and tear of the cartilage under the kneecap. This is often due to repetitive trauma, impact injury, poor mechanics and poor health of the internal system.

It’s difficult trying to figure out what exercises one should do to maintain strength without irritating the joint or tissues further. In my view, the emphasis should be non-weight bearing exercises/activities + massage+ heat+herbal supplements = improve strength/mobility + without irritating tissues + improve circulation for healing + nutrition to injured tissue + restoring balance to the whole system.

Eventually you can progress to weight bearing exercises once the joint can tolerate more loading.

If are looking for a comprehensive solution to treat chondromalacia patellae click HERE

Tweetables:

Learn More About Chondromalacia Patella Exercises  [Click To Tweet].
Chondromalacia Patellae Exercise: Knee pain and knee problems [Click To Tweet].
Best Exercise for Chondromalacia Patella [Click To Tweet].

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia. I’m going to answer a common question by one of my viewers, chondromalacia patellae. And for those of you who don’t know what that is, chondromalacia patellae is degenerative changes to the cartilage underneath the kneecap, so either due to improper rubbing or excessive wear and tear or an injury. Often it’s difficult to work on strengthening exercises without irritating either the cartilage or the other injuries that have developed like quadriceps tendon issues like quadriceps tendinosis or a bursitis.

In my view, in order to work on maintaining the strength of all those structures without aggravating either the cartilage or the quadriceps tendon, all these tissues, an exercise or a mobility routine has to be designed which will focus initially at least on more non-weight bearing activities as well as doing more hands-on techniques like massage, acupressure massage, and cross-friction massage for the quadriceps tendinosis.   As well as more use of heat and other things like herbal supplements to improve the circulation of that tissue so all these tissues heal and to prevent ongoing irritation of that tissue.

So what I mean by non-weight bearing exercises is that you want to focus more in the acute stage or when things are really irritated. I mean, it could be a chronic injury, but it’s so irritated when you get back to trying activities like, for example, could be walking, running, jogging or weight bearing exercises like squats or lunges, any of those types of things, it aggravates the tissue and more. So you have to focus more on non-weight bearing things like exercise in laying-down positions, so for example, straight leg lift. So a simple exercise like a straight leg lift is not doing the repetitive bending and extending at that knee, which might be less irritating for structures under the kneecap or for that quadriceps tendon issue that’s going on too.  Yet it allows me to still work on maintaining the strength of the quadriceps muscle.  So, as well as doing other things laying down, for example, hip abduction movements to strengthen the glutes.

You might be able to get away with some bridging activities, too, as well as doing a lot of mobility exercises to work on maintaining the mobility of that joint as well as the local soft tissue, the muscles, the quadriceps, the tendons. But focus on non-weight bearing stuff first, which allows you to maintain the strength and mobility without irritating the joint.

So the first rule always is avoid activities or things that continue to exacerbate or irritate your symptoms. So, for example, if I had rotator cuff problems and when I do overhead things, if I grab a hammer and I go overhead and I’m doing overhead movements, it irritates that rotator cuff, possibly compresses it, pinches it. But I persist, it hurts, I bring it back down, and then I go back and try it again. If I keep doing that movement, it’s going to keep irritating that tissue.

So, rule number one, avoid that specific activity. So in your routine, avoid the weight bearing things. No squatting; I think activities like walking in water, for example. Possibly, you can get away with doing a little bit of stationary bike, but sometimes that’s irritating for this also. But focus on the strengthening there, work on massage, use of heat or doing Epsom salts. So all of the things and various herbal supplements, things can be taken to improve the health of the internal system as well as provide nutrition for the joints to help the tissue heal. So that would be a much better strategy to get through this.

And once the tolerance is there, can do the loading, and the tissue’s not as irritated, then you transition to the weight bearing tasks. And if it’s severely irritated, sometimes you might have to wear a knee brace. You might have to do some Ace bandage to support the joint. You might have to use a cane or crutches or a walker. It all depends on how severely irritated the tissue is and how much it wants unloading.

This training protocol can help people too who have chondromalacia patellae and are trying to figure out how they can design an exercise program without continuing to irritate the tissues under the kneecap.

For a step by step treatment protocol for chondromalacia patellae follow the Build Better Knees Program.

How To Correct Kneecap Alignment

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Patella Alta or high riding patella is a condition where the kneecap alignment is off. The kneecap sits too high possibly resulting in knee pain, patellofemoral syndrome, knee stiffness, etc. This problem can be structural or due to tight quadriceps, quadriceps tendon and patellofemoral joint restrictions. Mobilizing the patellofemoral joint and improving the mobility of the quadriceps muscles and tendon can be helpful in correcting the alignment and relieve knee pain.

Tweetables:

Strengthen knee and Re-Align Kneecap  [Click To Tweet]
Fix Kneecap Alignment [Click To Tweet]
Mobilizing the Patellofemoral Joint [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. I’m answering a question by one of my viewers, and this is also a question that’s been asked by a lot of other people. The question is about kneecap position, and the person mentioned that he’s having, as per x-ray, kneecaps are riding higher up, they’re positioned higher, then they’re not aligned where they’re supposed to be, which is causing some crunching sound especially when getting up from a squat position, or with bending and straightening of the knee there’s some clicking and crunching sound. So it’s patella alta – that’s the technical name for it or the medical name for the problem. And both kneecaps are riding higher. They’re aligned higher.

So here’s a model of your knee. Here’s the kneecap, and if the kneecap sits too high, with bending or straightening the irritation that it causes, the rubbing that it causes, could be causing the crunching sound, possibly wearing down of the cartilage or just irritation of that tissue. And the question was, “Is there a way to improve the mobility in a downward direction because it sits too high or it moves too much in the upward direction? Can you improve the mobility and possibly affect the alignment a little bit so it moves better in a downward direction also?”

So we have to also consider whether these are anatomical differences, so this is just the way the kneecap is or that individual’s kneecap is, just the way it sits, that’s the way they come. The second part is, of course, tightness of a lot of these structures. Maybe the quadriceps is so tight; the quadriceps tendon is so tight. Maybe that’s affecting and pulling things up more and limiting the downward movement of the kneecap. So we have to also consider that part.

And so once you consider those things you have to say, “Okay, well, what are some of the things that this person could do to improve the mobility of that kneecap?” So one thing of course would be to work on improving the flexibility or the mobility of the quadriceps, the front thigh muscle, so improving the mobility of the quadriceps tendon by doing mobility or stretching exercises and also by doing massage or breaking down thickening or adhesion that might have formed along that tissue. Maybe it’s too tight. Maybe there could be restrictions and it’s just not letting that kneecap glide down.

And finally also, improving the actual joint mobilization techniques, so improving mobility of that joint. So I’ve shown some kneecap or patellar mobilization techniques in the past. This is the kneecap. So let’s do this one. So a simple thing to do would be, so if the kneecap sits too high, you want to work at gliding it down. So you’re going to grasp just above that with your…heel of my hand and my fingers right on my kneecap, I could just do downward…I’m not compressing the kneecap, I’m gliding the kneecap parallel almost.  So I’m just gliding that tissue down to stretch a lot of these structures or mobilize a lot of those structures.

So this is a joint mobilization technique. I can get to the end range. I can holdandcan oscillate gently and work on improving the mobility of that tissue. If there’s a lot of tightness and thickening around here, you could also do cross-friction massage techniques, which I’ve shown before for quadriceps tendon issues or tendinosis-type problems, but you can get in there. You can also use a lacrosse ball or a tennis ball and do mobilization of that quadriceps tendon as well as quadriceps muscle to improve the tissue glide also, and then of course doing actual stretching or mobility exercises to improve the mobility of the quadriceps muscle too.

So consider a lot of these things and they can be done to improve the mobility. They’re easy enough to do, to figure out. If the joint is stiff and maybe the muscle is tight and the tendon is tightened up, if you improve the mobility and the kneecap starts to glide better in a downward direction, see if that does affect the crunching sound or you have less discomfort or stiffness with squatting to standing up, or for that matter, when you are bending and straightening that knee you have less of those issues. Easy enough thing to do to test and see whether when you do these things it improves the mobility of that tissue, you have less crunching, clicking sounds, and for that matter, you have less stiffness or discomfort.

I hope that answers your question, and I hope this helps a lot of other people who have similar questions about kneecap alignment also, especially in a patella alta upwards position. Please share the video if you think this can help someone else and subscribe to the channel. Thank you.

Hip And Inner Thigh Stretch

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Another awesome exercise to improve hip mobility. More specifically hip internal rotation and stretching the inner thigh muscles. It is important to restore hip internal rotation for walking, running and athletic activities. This exercise can be done on the ground and using a chair or bed.

Tweetables:

Hip And Inner Thigh Stretch  [Click To Tweet]
Hip And Inner Thigh Stretch [Click To Tweet]
Ways to Stretch Your Hip And Inner Thigh  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. In this video, I’m going to show you a hip mobility technique, another way to stretch or mobilize the hip as well as some of the inner thigh muscles. So this is an easy exercise you can do and it’s important to restore hip internal rotation as well as stretch some of the adductors, the inner thigh structures. So easy, and you can even use a chair. We’re going to use this treatment table here.

In this technique I am trying to get internal rotation of the hip.  So this can be done on the floor also, but I’m going to use this.   I’m stretching my left side and my weight is on my right leg on the ground. Now, what I want to do is I’m going to place my knee in about a 90-degree angle. Now, I am targeting…this is the area I’m going to get a stretch on the inner hip, as well as some stretching on the inner thigh, too, primarily through here. Now, all I do is I’m going to bend my right knee. As I bend my right knee, I drop my body down and I get a stretch right in here. So it’s internal rotation I’m trying to get in this hip. Just by virtue of my leg being in this position, it kind of opens up everything on the inner side as well as the inside of the groin. So the hip capsule also is getting the stretch in this position.

What you want to do is you want to work at dropping down and you want to try to hit from different angles. So I’m working on going backwards. So I’m trying to see where I feel more restrictions, and when I get to that spot I can hang out there and I can oscillate. I can go back and forth nice and easy. So I’m stretching my capsule as well as the inner structures – my adductors and other thigh muscles.

I use my left hand, I place on the upper part of my thigh, and I stabilize and I actually maybe apply a little bit of pressure doing a glide in the downward direction or an angle. So maybe that glide, it gives me a stronger pull to that capsule. So I’m maintaining that and I’m mainly trying to keep my torso nice and straight. So I’m not bending forward to do that. I’m not going to get as much of a stretch then. We want to maintain an upright position. This is the area you’re targeting. You’re trying to get that internal rotation.

So in addition to dropping down and kind of hitting it from various angles, now you can move your foot up too, the front foot, and I can go further, or I can drop back and I can sit back here and try to hit it from different angles.

The next thing you can do is I want to work at doing a little more internal rotation so I can control that stretch of my pelvis also. So when I do and I roll my pelvis forward a little bit, so you can see I’m using my hand to kind of guide my thigh more into internal rotation. Remember, we’re talking about internal rotation of the hip. So I’m gliding that forward, come down, roll here, so the pelvis does this. My left pelvis is going forward slightly and I’m applying some pressure here and I’m trying to stretch, internal rotation at the thigh, stretch, internal rotation, stretch, internal rotation, stretch. So you can see I can really get to hit it from various angles. It’s a pretty strategy. Now, as I say, you can do this on the floor too, but this is one way to get at it.

I hope you found that helpful. Please share if you think it can help someone else. It’s important for getting that internal rotation at the hip and important for walking, for running, for various things. If you have any questions, leave a comment. Make sure you check out the site.

Shoulder Rehab Exercises

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This is a good shoulder rehab exercise for improving shoulder flexibility for reaching overhead. It can help reduce shoulder stiffness caused by tight muscles, joint and myofascia.

Tweetables:

Training Tips: Shoulder Rehab 101  [Click To Tweet]
These Shoulder Rehab Exercises will Improve the Overall Health [Click To Tweet]
How to Shoulder Rehab  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. This is another technique you guys can use to improve the flexibility or mobility of the shoulder, and more specifically, for being able to reach overhead. So some of you guys asked me to show you some other techniques to get that shoulder mobility better, so especially being able to reach overhead, and if there are soft tissue restrictions and possibly even the joint is a bit stiff, this can help with that, getting that ribcage structures, your lats and your triceps, to help mobilize and stretch those structures so you have restriction when you’re reaching overhead.

This is a relatively easy way to do that. So you can use a chair, anything that’s stable, and the different ways to do this is one position. So what I’m going to do, I’m going to stretch my right side so I lock in my right elbow, and all I do is I’m going to work at sitting down. So I could be in full kneeling position if I want and I could even do both at the same time, too, but we’re going to do one.

So the first part is just being able to sit back. As I sit back and I bring my chest down, I get to stretch a lot of these structures here, this area. I can use my hand here if I need to stabilize and bring my body down and I can go to the left, I can go to the right side, and you can hang out and oscillate and see which structures are tighter. So you can see how this works at improving the mobility of that full region.

So if I decide I want to hit more of the triceps you could even bend the elbow, and then I could…down here, so now I might get some more stretching in this region too. And if I sit back further, I’m going to start opening up a lot of these structures. And as I said, oscillate side to side to see what areas are tighter so you can hit it from different angles.

The next thing you can do is if you want to just isolate and you want to say, “Okay, maybe I want to get the upper part more, I don’t want hit these structures as much,” same position, I could lock it down, and I’m going to reach over with my left hand, I’m going to grab my shoulder blade, I’m going to tack it down so it doesn’t move or hold it in place, and I’m going to do the same thing and I’m going to sit down, and now I get a bit of a stronger stretch in this area. And I’m going to sit down and again oscillate, hang out, mobilize, go to the right a little bit, go to the left. So you’re hitting your different directions.

I can go down so I can come even further, a good way to get at that shoulder to get a lot of these soft tissue structures, bend that elbow, and now I can really hang out here. And I can even use my hand to glide down a little bit to mobilize that tissue.

So it’s a good way to work at getting that range back, get that mobility of that shoulder. You just have to be cautious and make sure there are no other joint issues happening, joint restriction. For that you have to be more specific. You’ve got to mobilize that joint, the glenohumeral joint, the shoulder joint, to make sure that joint mechanics are correct, so if it’s not impinging or it’s not getting caught. So sometimes if you get to the top and you get an impingement or pinching, it can also be of course the joint mechanics are not correct, so the joint capsule is too tight and it’s not in the right position and it’s resulting in impingement or pinching of either the rotator cuff or some of the other subacromial or other structures that are getting compressed in that space. So you’ve got to be careful about that when you’re doing this movement, but otherwise you just have to get that mobility back and get some of the…your ribcage, a lot of these other soft tissue structures, mobilized and just improve the length of those tissues. It’s a good way to get at that.

So I hope you enjoyed that video. Please share it if you found it helpful, and make sure you subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment if you have any questions. Thanks.

Should You Stretch Before Running

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Why you should not stretch before running? Stretching before running or an athletic activity can increase the risk of injury and impair performance. It’s much better to warmup with a series of exercises like the Sun Salutation or other functional mobility exercises before your run or sports activity. Stretching should be part of your long term strategy done after your run or on days when you are not running.

Tweetables:

Is Stretching Before a Run Bad?  [Click To Tweet]
Should I Stretch Before or After a Workout? [Click To Tweet]
Stretching and Flexibility: How to Stretch, When to Stretch [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. I’m going to answer a question that a lot of you guys have asked me, is whether you should stretch before a run or an athletic activity. So in my view you should not stretch before a run or an athletic activity. You’re lengthening a tissue. So let’s say if you’re hanging out really doing a lot of stretching before your run or athletic activity, you’re really lengthening that tissue, and then you’re going to ask yourself to contract that tissue when you go out and you decide to run or a high-level athletic activity, which can increase the risk of an injury and possibly will affect your sports performance.

So, a much better strategy is to work on a warm-up routine, a routine that helps you improve circulation within the system. It kind of gets your joints, muscles and all those tissues warmed up. It gets the blood flowing. It’s also a way to get your neuromuscular system, your system ready for that specific activity, so mental and physical warm-up which you’re doing. So you can do various activities for that. I’ve posted a bunch of videos on this, on warm-up routines also for runners, and athletes for that matter. But you can do like a routine, like a sun salutation yoga routine was a great routine to do before you get out there and run, which will get you ready mentally and physically, your neuromuscular system ready for that specific activity you’re going to do, you’ll get warmed up, circulation, and it’ll help reduce the risk of injuries.

So, mobility and stretching exercises to actually increase the length or the mobility of that tissue, whether you’re doing functional mobility exercise and stretching the joint capsule or the actual muscle, myofascia, all these other tissues, that’s your long-term strategy. You want to focus on doing that possibly after your run or your exercise routine or your athletic activity or your off-day routine. That’s part of your long-term strategy. So you spend time doing that every day as part of your long-term strategy to improve the mobility, length and proper glide within multiple layers of tissues as well as the joint capsule itself.

So spend time doing those things on off days or not immediately before your run, possibly after your run. You’ll do much better with the run or the athletic activity if your tissues are warmed up and mentally and physically you kind of geared yourself and prepped yourself for that specific activity you’re going to do, and then focus on improving the length of the tissue, the mobility of that tissue, on your non-run days or after the athletic activity. That’s a much better strategy to not only improve your performance, to do better at the specific sport or athletic activity you’re going to do as well as prevent injuries.

So if you found this useful, please share the video so others can find benefit from it. If you have any questions, leave a comment and subscribe to the channel. Thank you.

How To Improve Flexibility, Mobility And Suppleness?

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In this video I discuss the 4 main components of mobility, flexibility and suppleness. Proper joint, muscle/tendon/myofascia length, tissue glide and proper functioning of internal channels (for flow of energy, chi or prana and circulation).

Tweetables:

Ways to Improve Flexibility [Click To Tweet]
4 Main Components of Mobility, Flexibility and Suppleness [Click To Tweet]
Exercises to Improve Flexibility, Mobility And Suppleness  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

In this video, I’m going to share what it means to have good mobility, being flexible or supple. There are four major components of having good mobility throughout your system, so when you design your mobility program, you want to consider these major factors.

So, first one, and let’s get some of the external ones first or the more obvious ones first, so the first one is good mobility at the joint. So you want to have good joint range of motion, good mobility at that joint capsule. So, for example, if it’s my elbow, I need to have good mobility at that elbow joint whether for flexion, bending or extension, and for that matter, for rotational movements and side-bending movements too. So that’s the first component you have to restore first, so joint mobilization techniques or techniques to improve the joint’s mobility so you have full range of motion in that joint so that that specific joint can function properly.

So the second part is thinking about the flexibility or mobility of the length of the local muscles and tendons and tissues around that joint. So, for example, does my bicep muscle have or the bicep tendon have good range of motion or good mobility? Or is it too tight or shortened, it’s not long enough? So it’s going to restrict my ability to extend my elbow completely if the muscle is shortened.

The actual tissue glide in between layers of tissues where there are adhesions, where there’s thickening, there’s scar tissue, where things are just bound up whether it’s the myofascia, the actual muscle, the tendon, any of those soft tissue structures, are bound. Again, it’s not going to allow for proper mobility of that specific muscle or that tendon. So you have to make sure the lengthening, stretching, for example, or mobility exercises, you have to make sure that there are no restrictions. The layers or tissues are gliding properly. So they’re gliding properly. If there’s good glide in between layers of tissues, there’s good movement there, it will be able to lengthen or move properly.

So that’s the third component you want to consider. You’re looking at the joint, you’re looking at your length of that muscle or tendon or that unit, restrictions between layers of tissues. So that’s your third component.

From a holistic medicine standpoint, is the proper flow of chi, prana or energy as well as circulation. So if the channels are open and chi moving properly, there’s going to be proper movement of energy as well as circulation in that particular region and there will not be blockages. So if there are blockages in those channels and various organs that are affected by those channels or are related to those channels, it’s going to also cause poor functioning or for that matter restrictions or lack of mobility in certain joints or tissues.

So this is a different perspective you have to consider. It’s the internal perspective, internal functioning of the various systems. This is how you want to think about mobility and when you’re trying to work on a program, a flexibility or a joint mobilization or a massage or various things you’re incorporating into your program to improve the mobility of a tissue.

Share the video if you think you can help somebody else. And we’ve got our program coming out, it’s almost there, it’s launching very soon, and if you’re interested make sure you go to the site and you sign up for it. Subscribe to the channel, and if you have any questions leave a comment.

 

Ayurvedic Prespective On Joint Pain Treatment

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Ayurvedic Prespective On Joint Pain TreatmentAyurveda treats musculo-skeletal problems holistically, taking into account the whole physiology, psychology and physical presentation of the person and the problem.

The goal of the treatment is to restore balance and to bring the person back to their natural psycho-physiological baseline or constitution.

Joint pain treatment is based on bringing the disturbed Dosha (Energetic principles that govern all biological processes in the body – Vata, Pitta and Kapha respectively) back into a balanced state.

[Read more…] about Ayurvedic Prespective On Joint Pain Treatment

How To Treat Chronic Quadriceps Tendon Injury

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Proper treatment of chronic quadriceps tendon injury or quadriceps tendonosis / quadricep tendinopathy by mobilizing or breaking down scar tissue and improving circulation.   A lacrosse ball and cross friction massage is very effective at improving mobility of this tissue.  The techniques can help improve circulation allowing the tissue to heal properly again.

Tweetables:

The proper treatment for a Chronic Quadriceps Tendon Injury [Click To Tweet]
Quadriceps Tendon Problems and Treatments [Click To Tweet]
Quadriceps Muscle and Tendon Injuries  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to talk about quadriceps tendon problems and a couple of treatments for that. More specifically, we’re going to talk about quadriceps tendinosis. The term that’s used for this problem most often is quadriceps tendonitis, which is incorrect. It’s incorrect because it is not a tendonitis of the tendon, and so the tendon is not inflamed. It’s a tendinosis, which is degenerative changes, weakness, thickening of that tendon. So I’m going to show you a couple of treatments for that, but first of all let’s get a better sense of where the tendon is and what’s happening.

So if I look at a model of the knee, so this is your femur, your thigh bone, and this is your shin, the bottom of your tibia, and your kneecap is sitting on top of these, and your quadriceps tendon is the upper part, which attaches basically just above your kneecap. This is where a lot of people end up having pain, in this region. So looking at my knee, so this is the area where people complain of pain all along this border. It can be a little bit higher up, too, but mostly right about the attachment above the kneecap. So any activity which requires you to squat, run, jump puts a lot of load through there, a lot of strain, and it causes pain.

So a couple of treatments that you can start doing to break up that thickening and adhesions and scar tissue that’s formed, we can use a ball. We can use a lacrosse ball to work on improving the mobility of that tissue and breaking down the adhesions and thickening. So what I’m doing is I’m just above my kneecap and I’m putting a little pressure on it, I’m laying on it, and I can go side to side, I can even hang out in a certain spot, and I can roll in various directions. So I’ll spend time. It can be tender, but if you do it consistently it really helps. It works.

And the next thing I might do is I might just hang out in that position, put some weight on it, and just bend my knee and straighten in back and forth so I’m stretching the quadriceps muscle as well as the tendon when I bend my knee, which helps mobilize that tissue too. So go all over all along that tendon as well as further up into your quadriceps muscle too and do the same thing to improve the mobility of that tissue.

So the second thing you can do is I’ll show you a cross friction massage technique. So the second thing I want to do is I want to work at breaking down the thickening and adhesions all along that border, the superior or the top border of that kneecap. So a couple of ways to get at it, so here’s my kneecap, is the bottom of the kneecap, this is the top of the kneecap – I’m going to push down the bottom part of the kneecap which pops up the top part, which allows me to get under the kneecap a little bit easier or along the quadriceps tendon at the attachment site. So then I’m going to work at searching for thickened or tender areas or sore areas and I’m going to do work on applying pressure and moving back and forth, and this is a cross friction massage or scar tissue mobilization. You’re working at breaking down the thickening and adhesions so that normal tissue lays down, and then you can work on strengthening easier. And mind you, yeah, this can be painful, you’re going to get a bit sore, but if you do it consistently over time it’ll not only help the tissue recover and heal, you can start getting stronger and much faster too. So as I said, push down and get in there and work along the top border of the kneecap, really try to get all along and start to see where you’re most tender.

Now, I’m using my thumb. The other thing you can do is you can also use the heel of your hand and I can get in and I can do something similar, again working on… So you want to spend about 10 minutes at least working all along that tissue, sometimes even a little bit longer, but spend at least 10 minutes working on that to free up that tissue every other day. Don’t overdo it. Or if you get too sore, take a couple of days off in between.

So try those techniques out, and same thing with the ball, spend five, 10 minutes working on that tissue and see how it does. I think it’ll really help you, really help improve the mobility of that tissue so that you can get rid of these problems easier.

So if you found that information helpful, please share it so other people can find benefit from it too. And we got our knee injury recovery program coming up and it’s going to be really awesome. It’s probably the most comprehensive program. It incorporates physical therapy, exercise science, and holistic medicine all combined. So if you’re looking to not only heal faster from these injuries to prevent knee injuries, and especially if you want to improve your performance, yeah, the program is awesome. So I recommend you guys go to my site and make sure you sign up for it. Thank you.

Upper Back Mobility To Relieve Neck And Shoulder Pain

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Upper back or thoracic spine stiffness can cause neck, upper back and shoulder pain. Poor postures can lead to upper back stiffness which can also result in poor neck, shoulder and spine mobility. Foam rollers, lax balls or tennis balls can be very helpful in improving mobility and relieving neck and upper back pain. Also helps improve shoulder mobility and function.

Tweetables:

Treat your Upper Back to Relieve Neck and Shoulder  [Click To Tweet]
Neck and shoulder pain treatment [Click To Tweet]
Treating Neck andShoulder Pain: Easy, Effective  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I shot a couple of videos on posture standing and sitting posture, and some of you guys asked me about neck-related problems, shoulder issues, and so what kind of things you need to do to improve the posture not only to prevent those problems if you have those issues, what other things you want to think about for improving mobility so you have less of those issues.

So some of the things you have to think about are, for a lot of people, because of being in prolonged poor posture, so as I mentioned in some of the other videos, if I’m constantly in these rounded postures and I’m always sitting here, I’m going to get stiff through my upper back. My upper thoracic spine is going to get stiff. So if I’m not moving well enough in my upper back, my thoracic spine, it will affect what happens at the neck. So it makes it much harder for me to maintain a better position with my neck and head if I’m getting stiff in my thoracic spine.

And that will also affect what happens at the shoulder. So my shoulder girdle, my shoulder blade sits on my ribcage and ribcage is attached to your thoracic spine, which is these vertebrae here. So if my thoracic spine is in a poor posture, if it’s too stiff, it’s not in proper alignment, it sets up a poor base for the shoulder to sit on and also restricts the shoulder mobility. So if I’m rounded in these positions, I just cannot mechanically lift my arm past this point. It just won’t happen because I need to have better thoracic mobility in order for me to do that. So I didn’t lift my arm up further. All I did was I straightened up my thoracic spine or my upper back. So if I’m sitting upright, I can bring my arm up higher.

So if you look at a lot of elderly people in their 70s, 80s, 90s, so some of these things have to do with hereditary, what your mom and dad gave you in terms of your posture and in terms of your structure. And other things are lifestyle choices, what you have done throughout your life, whether you’re a bit more aware and you’ve exercised or you’ve worked on maintaining good posture or you have not, which has resulted in these poor rounded postures. But if you look at the elderly population, you’ll see as a person loses a lot of this range of motion, they get stiffer and they get more rounded. They also lose a lot of this range of motion of the arm as well as neck mobility too. I just can’t move around as easily if I don’t have enough range of motion. So these imbalances affect not even just the local area, they’ll affect everything else in the chain.

So one simple thing, and I shot a few videos on this before, you can work on is work on improving your upper back, your thoracic spine mobility, which will help with shoulder issues, which will help with neck problems, also help with low back problems too. And you can use foam rollers, you can use…these are two tennis balls that you basically tape and tie, you can use lacrosse balls. So you can use different things to improve the mobility of that spine, and I even shot a video on using a wedge to work on, more specifically, mobilize the joint so that you can get in better postures easier.

So the target areas we’re going to go for, especially your CT junction, which is where your last cervical spine neck vertebrae meets your first thoracic vertebrae. So that area tends to be quite stiff on a lot of people. And below that area your T1, T2, T3, T4, those are your thoracic vertebrae, these ones up here, further down too. And you’re not limited to that area, you can even work and you should work on improving mobility throughout the whole chain, but that area tends to be often quite stiff and it contributes to a lot of these problems that I’m discussing.

So in order to mobilize that, let’s start with just the foam roller first, which will be just getting gross mobility of that region. So some of the things you can do, the simplest one would be just to get on a foam roller and we want to work at getting some extension. So I could roll down, let’s say about here. Now I’m going to work at getting some extension, meaning going the opposite direction, stretching out that thoracic spine. Even my ribcage, the local muscles in this area are tightened up, and I usually recommend people that they support their head. So support your head, so I’ll take this one off so you could see, so I support my head.

And what you don’t want to do is you don’t want to do this. This is not what we’re targeting. This is not going to get you the range of motion back. You’re just hinging at your neck. What we want to do is we want to support our head and we want to work at coming from the chest/thoracic spine. So I’m going to go over the foam roller and I might hit different spots, and I roll over the next spot and I’m going to go work at stretching. Hang out, take some deep breaths, sink into it, stretch, mobilize, hang out for a couple of minutes, take some deep breaths, go to the next spot. I roll to the next one and I do the same thing and I work at it, different positions, and I might go a little bit higher.

Now, as you get better, yes, once you get better mobility here and you can open up and you can stretch and go all the way back, you can take your hands off and you can do other things like reaching up with your shoulders and doing these kind of things. But at the beginning I would suggest you work at just getting that thoracic mobility better at different ranges, and so you can open up the ribcage as well as the thoracic spine.

So something more specific is going to be using tennis balls or lacrosse balls. So these are two tennis balls that I’ve taped, and you can get more specific on specific segments. So basically what we’re doing is we’re going to be almost as if you’re putting this on either side of your spine. That’s what you’re doing. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to lay or ride on it on either side of my spine and I can roll back and forth. So I want to go a little higher. So right now it’s right here in the upper part, either side of my vertebrae, and it’s more specific now. I can do the same thing, I could lay on it, take some deep breaths, or I can lay on it and I can work on some shoulder movements going back and forth different positions, up and down. And I might go to the next spot and I’d do the same thing. This is much more specific.

Spend about a minute or two on each one, each position, just working at stretching. So I’m mobilizing those segments, those joints while I’m doing some shoulder mobility in different ranges. I might go out here. I might even do some side-to-side movement in either direction to really—and you might be sore in that region, you might be stiff too, but it’ll really help loosen up a lot of those tissues.

So that was doing on either side of the spine. You could put it lengthwise too. If I want to target just my right side, I could do the exact same thing and I could just lay on just the right side and I could just work on that. Now, that’s a little bit more specific now and I can feel it. So I might move around. And I’m also doing some self-acupressure. So I could roll back and forth. So if there are some knotted tissues, some adhesions, some thickening that’s there because of chronic irritation of that tissue or just tightness and just stiffness, I can work at rolling and breaking down those restrictions, so not only improving the mobility of their joint but also freeing up that tightened up tissue.

So work on those spots and you can get sore. So when you’re first starting up, I’d go a little easy. Don’t overdo it because you’re going to get sore. But as you do it regularly, you’ll start to improve the mobility of that tissue and you won’t get as sore either, and you’ll find that will really make a big difference in your mobility and you will sit up straighter, neck being in a better position, shoulder movement being better too. These are a little bit softer, the tennis balls. The lacrosse balls work really well but they’re pretty hard. So I will start with these and then work your way up.

Please share the video with others who you think might benefit from this. We’re launching our knee recovery program next month. Please check out the site and put your name down if you want to hear about it.

Calf And Achilles Tendon Mobilization

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Mobilization of the calf to improve tissue glide of the gastrocnemius and achilles tendon. Using a lax ball to break down adhesions and improve flexibility. This technique is helpful for achilles tendonitis or Achilles tendinopathy / tendinosis (degeneration of the tendon), ankle and knee problems too. This is a common area of problems for runners. It’s also a good way to do self acupressure.

Tweetables:

Achilles Tendon Stretch and Mobilization  [Click To Tweet]
Best Calf Achilles Tendon Mobilization [Click To Tweet]
Treating Calf and Achilles Injuries  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you another technique on how to mobilize the calf and the Achilles tendon. This is an easy way to improve the mobility of that tissue. So if you have things – adhesions or you’ve got scar tissue, or it’s just stiff through that area, you have poor tissue glide – things are just not moving well, and you have done stretching and it’s not quite getting you the results, so this might be another way to get at it.  Definitely helpful for Achilles tendon problems or essentially anything in the knee or ankle.  So, essentially helpful for anything that’s affecting knee-related problems or ankle/foot problems and we want to work at mobilizing this tissue and getting it moving better or improving the tissue glide.

So we’re going to use a lacrosse ball here and all I’m going to do is actually two directions. So I’m going to take this. I’m going to put it right on my calf. So what I’m doing is I can apply a little pressure by bending my knee. So as I bend my knee and bring my weight onto it I get sustained pressure on it.  So I can move my knee back and forth and now I’m moving the ball side to side. I’m mobilizing that tissue. I can go side to side, and as I bend and I straighten and I’m doing some pressure and I come off of it.

And if I want to target more on the inside, the medial head of the gastroc muscle or the soleus underneath it, I put it more on the inside and I can do the same thing. I can bend and I can straighten, and you can see how it’s going to put some pressure there as I do that. I can bring it lower if I want to start getting more towards my Achilles tendon. Let’s say we’ll put it right here, and I can do the same thing and I can go back and forth, bend it, straighten it. I can do these positions.

Now, if I want to go to the outside, all I do is I switch and I place it out here, same movement, bend, straighten, bend and straighten. So, bending, and I can sustain the pressure. I can oscillate a little bit. I can do side-to-side movements. I can put it here. I can even use my hand if I want a little more pressure applied. I can do this to make it easier. Go down, same thing I can do.

So now the other option is I could always go in this position. So, same thing. I could place this here. I can work at bringing my foot up and down, which is when I bring my foot down I’m tightening up my calf muss and that’s again putting some pressure there. So, going back and forth is going to hit those muscles, my calf as well as my Achilles tendon, so I’m mobilizing that with sustained pressure. And again, I could apply pressure with my hand too if I want a little bit more pressure when I’m doing that movement. You could technically go back and forth this way too, you can do side-to-side movements, but I think I find in that kneeling position a little bit better, a lot easier for me to control and apply pressure and do side-to-side movements.

You can be a bit sore, so be careful. Don’t crank on it too hard. Spend about five, seven minutes on it hitting different spots, and if you find that is too sore don’t apply as much pressure. Over time, it should get easier and easier. So this will really help improve that mobility of the calf as well as your Achilles tendon.

So if you enjoyed this video, please share it so others can benefit from it. And we’re launching our Knee Injury Recovery Program next month. It’s going to be an awesome program. It combines physical therapy, exercise science, and holistic medicine, so it’s a really comprehensive program. It comes with a book, it’s got tons of videos, and it can really help you recover faster from knee injuries. It helps prevent knee problems. And if you’re looking to improve performance, it’s awesome. It’s really amazing, the program that we’ve put together. So go to the site, click on the link below, and sign up for the program. Thanks.

Why You Should Strengthen Your Hip Muscles

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Strong hip muscles should be an essential part of your injury recovery program. Especially for runners and athletes it’s essential to have good core stability and hip strength for optimal performance. Hip stability is important for all activities requiring walking, running, squatting and athletic activities. Without proper hip stability you are setting yourself up for knee injuries, low back pain and other pelvic instability problems.

Tweetables:

Hip Strengthening Exercises for Runners [Click To Tweet]
Strengthening Your Hip Muscles Exercise [Click To Tweet]
Hip Strengthening and Mobility Exercises for Runners  [Click To Tweet]
Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So this is another video in our continuation of our series with knee-related problems and injuries, and in this video I’m going to discuss another important component of when you’re designing your rehab or an injury prevention program specifically having to do with strengthening exercises.

So in the last video we talked about core stability, what is the core, what’s the importance of core stability, and why it’s important to work on core stability at first before working on a lot of the other muscle groups. So in this video I’m going to talk about hip stability or hip strength and we’re going to talk about a few of the muscle groups which are important in providing good stability and strength for the hip and why that is important for the knee. So it’s extremely important to work on hip strengthening exercises if you have knee issues, but for that matter even down the chain, knee issues, foot problems or low back issues.

So the hip muscles play a vital role in providing good stability and strength to your pelvis and your leg, and so the muscle groups we’re going to talk about are your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, even your TFL, tensor fasciae latae, even your IT band, a lot of these structures, and of course some of the minor muscle groups. These muscles are essential for providing stability to your pelvis and they’re very important for balance and also for single-leg activities, even double-leg activities, but single-leg activities like walking, running, any of these things, going up and down stairs, any of these things you need to have good hip and pelvic stability. If those muscles are weak, it’s going to change the alignment of your leg, your thigh all the way down to your foot. They’re going to increase the amount of work that’s being done by other muscle groups. They can increase the risk of problems like IT band issues, patellofemoral problems, inside knee pain as well as compromising your performance when you’re running, when you’re walking, all those types of things, and for that matter resulting in low back injuries or other problems.

So, very, very important to work on your pelvic and hip strength and stability when you’re working on recovering from injuries, even if it’s knee injuries, or if you’re looking to prevent a lot of these problems. And very often I’ll find a lot of people are quite weak through those muscles. Remember, running, it’s pretty much a forward movement, so your body’s moving forward, your working a lot of your quadriceps, hamstring, calf, a lot of these other movers, these muscles, but in rotational planes you’re not getting enough work for your other muscle groups. Work on improving the strength and stability of your hip muscles. This is very important for providing good stability to your pelvis and also preventing problems, imbalance and biomechanical problems down the chain which put more stress on your knee or ankle or anywhere along the chain.

And you can design your program so that when you do have a problem, for example if I have knee pain in weight bearing activities where you load the knee like squatting, lunges, those kind of things will aggravate my knee and I can’t tolerate loading yet, I can work on non-weight bearing strengthening of my hip muscles. So work on your hip abduction, extension, various exercises, bridging, single-leg bridging, all these things to strengthen your pelvic and hip muscles in a non-weight bearing position first. So I strengthen them there, and then once I can start tolerating more loading in my injured tissues, once they have healed a bit more, then I start loading the joints more. So then I can do the same things and squatting, single leg or both legs, and many other exercises too.

So work your way up in terms of focusing on your core and then working on your hip muscles so that you’re designing your rehab program to cover everything above and below the injured area and not just strengthening things immediately around the injured area. So if it’s my knee, yes, I’m going to strengthen my quads and my hamstrings and the calf, but I’m also going to focus on really strengthening and figuring out what’s happening with my foot, get my foot muscles stronger, get a better stability, more control of those muscles. And up the chain, I’m going to really focus on building a good strength in my hip muscles, too, as well as my core.

So I hope you found that helpful and when you’re designing and thinking about your rehab or for preventing injuries. Now, I discuss a lot of this information in our upcoming program. Go to the website and sign up for it, especially if you want to hear about it early. It’s going to have a lot of information. We’re really combining a lot of physical therapy, exercise science techniques. There’s a lot of mobility/strengthening exercises, motor control exercises, balance exercises in addition to a lot of holistic stuff that I’m including in there too, which is more of the herbal formulas, dietary solutions as well as yoga. So there’s a lot of information in this program.

So if you think someone might benefit from this video, please share. Subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

 

Core Strength For Knee Pain Relief

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Core strength is essential to build a strong stable base.  Core stability should be the foundation for a good rehab program.  Strong core muscles with good neuro-muscular control lead to less injuries and proper movement patterns.  Focus on core stability for proper rehab of knee injuries.

Tweetables:

Core Exercises to Strengthen your Knee Pain  [Click To Tweet]
Core Strength For Knee Pain Relief [Click To Tweet]
Strengthening the Core Helps Knee Pain  [Click To Tweet]

 Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So this video is a continuation of some of our videos where I’ve discussed about various knee injuries and problems. This particular video, I’m going to talk about what you want to think about when you are designing your strengthening program, whether when you’re recovering from those injuries or if you’re trying to improve your performance or just do better at certain sports or running or cycling or anything—and this is just not limited to knee injuries, this applies to all sorts of problems, it could be low back problems, could be hip problems—to give you the framework how you’re thinking of designing your rehab or specifically the strengthening part of the rehab program.

And I’m going to talk about one component of that in this video, and what we’re going to talk about is we’re going to talk about poor stability or strength. What does it mean when you say core strength or core stability? What area are we talking about? So, specifically we’re discussing the midsection area, but more specifically we’re going into the deeper muscles which are responsible for giving strength, stability to your low back and in your midsection of this whole region.

And we’re talking about your deep stabilizers, that’s what we’re talking about, which are giving support, stability and dynamic control to your spine. So we’re talking about transversus abdominis, which are deeper layers of your abdominal muscles; we’re talking about your multifidi, which are low back muscles; we’re talking about your pelvic floor muscle; we’re talking about your diaphragm; we’re talking about your natural corset which covers this whole midsection and which not only gives it the stability and support but also gives it that dynamic control to stabilize your base before you initiate a movement so you can perform a movement more effectively. So, proximal stability before distal mobility. So what it basically means is stabilizing the proximal area, this midsection, before you start to do something away from your body. So before I initiate a movement, I kick a ball, I reach for something, I need to stabilize my core, my midsection, so I can perform that movement effectively. Otherwise, it’s going to be a poor movement pattern and I won’t be able to perform that movement effectively. Extensions will not be able to work properly unless the base is stable and secure. So think about it that way.

So when you’re thinking of designing that rehab program, you want to focus on working on that midsection and back core. And it’s not just necessarily the muscle size or the strength of those muscles. More than that, it has to do with the timing of those muscles. So the motor control, the neuromuscular control that needs to take place, these muscles need to fire and stabilize my spine and my midsection before I initiate a movement.

Now, some of these patterns are built into our system. We learn these as kids. But following an injury, poor habits, poor postures, they stop working properly. The timing, the coordination, goes off, in addition to getting weaker too. So, for example, low back injuries or pain will usually shut down a lot of these muscles. They won’t be firing as effectively. So not only do they get atrophied or weak, but also the timing is off. The motor control is off. They don’t fire before I decide to reach for it and grab something or before I go from sit to stand or before I kick a ball or run, which causes low back problems or other injuries to continue, to persist, because that timing and that control is not there in the system anymore.

So that’s why you have to work on these muscles, your core stabilizers, first, before we start to hit, work on other groups. I mean, you can do things simultaneously but this needs to happen also. This needs to happen actually first to build that base before you start to really focus on the extensions, the other muscles. And we’re talking about core stability; we’re not necessarily talking about your six-pack, how many sit-ups can I do.  Those are your prime movers, the muscles that move my trunk up and down, sideways and do all those things. Yes, they’re important too, they also give strength and stability and hold your posture up, but the deeper muscles are the ones that are a bit more important. That’s what we want to focus on first.

So the program should be geared towards working on your stabilizers first, those muscles first, and then you progress to working on your prime movers. It might be your rectus, which are your obliques, and your back, a lot of the other back muscles like your lats, your other spinal muscles, all these other muscles next. And then, of course, working on the outer muscle groups, so of your extensions, so whether your hip or glute muscles, your thigh muscles and all these other things.

So when you’re planning your program, always focus on this section first, and then you work your way up from there. And not just strength – we’re thinking about motor control, timing of these muscles, and a lot of that is trained by awareness, not just why you’re doing the exercise but also postures. Just because you might go spend a half-hour or an hour doing your strengthening exercises before the rest of the eight, 10 hours a day, you’re hanging out on your computer screen like this, so that one hour of workout and working on strengthening those muscles sometimes doesn’t translate over to poor postures for eight, 10, 12, 14 hours a day. So it’s the awareness of maintaining those good postures whether or not you’re going from sit to stand, whether or not I’m sitting, whether or not I’m picking up something off the ground, whether I’m bending to grab something off the floor. All those things need to be incorporated in order for you to have better success in training a lot of these muscles.

Once my base is strong, it’s much easier to work on all these extensions. And as I said, this is essential to work on this even if I have that knee problem that’s going on, because I got to have a strong core for my extensions to work effectively. So keep some of these principles in mind and refer to some of the videos I have on core stability, and I’ll be posting new stuff for you guys, too.

So a lot of these concepts I’m going to be discussing in our program. Go to the site and sign up for it. It’s a holistic approach to treating chronic knee issues and it has not only physical therapy exercise science solutions but mobility/strength exercises, soft tissue mobilization techniques, massage techniques, but also the holistic perspective where I discuss a lot of herbal formula as we go over dietary solutions, so yoga – there are a lot of things in that program. It’s a comprehensive to addressing a lot of those common knee-related issues. So make sure you check it out and please share the video if you think other people might find it helpful, and subscribe to the channel and leave a comment if you have a question.

 

All About Quadriceps Tendonitis And How To Treat It Holistically

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Quadriceps tendonitis or better yet quadriceps tendinosis or quadriceps tendinopathy is a common sports injury. It affects jumpers, runners and activities requiring acceleration and deceleration. Chronic micro trauma to tissues turns into thickening and weakness of the tendon. Over time the person has pain, swelling, tightness and difficulty running, jumping and squatting.

Treatment should focus on improving tissue mobility, breaking down adhesions, improving circulation and strength. Ice and anti-inflammatories are not helpful for chronic tendon injuries.

Tweetables:

A Patient’s Guide to Quadriceps Tendonitis and Treatment [Click To Tweet]
Quadriceps Tendonitis Injury Treatment & Management [Click To Tweet]
All About Quadriceps Tendonitis And How To Treat It Holistically  [Click To Tweet]

Outside Thigh Stretch For Iliotibial Band Pain

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Great stretch to improve the mobility of the outside thigh – especially helpful for Iliotibial band pain. IT Band pain and patellofemoral pain can be due to tightness of outside thigh structures. Regular practice can help correct alignment of the patella.

Tweetables:

Iliotibial Band Stretching Exercises  [Click To Tweet]
Stretch It: Iliotibial Band and Outer Thigh [Click To Tweet]
Iliotibial Band Stretching Exercises  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you pretty cool stretch mobilization technique to get better mobility of structures on the outside of your thigh. So, essentially, from outside of the hip all the way down to right outside of the knee we’re going target to mobilize and stretch those tissues. For those of you guys who have IT band problems or IT band syndrome or pain, this works really well, and even for patellofemoral problems. With a lot of stiffness on these outside structures, this is a really good way to steadily mobilize or improve the mobility of that tissue on the outside of that knee.

So we’ll start in a half kneeling position. This can be done in standing also using a chair, but in this video I’m going to show you in half kneeling. So make sure you have something next to you that you can lean on. You need something stable that it won’t move, that it provides some support. I’m trying to stretch my right side, outside of my right thigh and right knee, these structures. So what I want to do is start in this position.

So the next step is going to be I want to bring my left foot past midline more towards my right so that automatically what it does is it puts my right thigh, you look at my right thigh, it brings my right thigh relatively more towards my left. So as I lean towards my right side, I can use my hand to glide my hip to the right. Now I’m going to get more stretch on all these outside structures the moment I bring my pelvis out to the right. So I’m going to lean towards my right. My trunk stays relatively straight. It’s just my pelvis; I’m using my left hand to glide it to the right. So as I’m gliding it, I’m already starting to feel a stretch on these outside structures right through this area and a little bit here on my hip too. So I’m going to glide so I’m getting a stretch, and of course I can lean forward a little bit, I can go further. So you want to hit it from different angles, so make sure you target, so hang out in a position and oscillate. So I stretch, stretch, stretch, and mobilize there, then I go into the next position, next position. So you spend time hitting it from different angles to stretch out all of those tissues.

I’m going to make it a stronger stretch now. What I’m going to do is I’m going to lift my left foot up, I reach back with my left hand, and I grab just around my ankle. So now I’m in this position, I’m going to pull that foot up, my heel up towards my butt, so what that does, it bends my knee and I’m going to get a stretch, even a stronger stretch along my quads of course and along the outside of that knee. And as I do that, I want to make sure I’m not going straight up, I’m going to at an angle, so I’m doing a little bit of rotation here with my leg. So as I hit it from different angles, I’m going to glide it, I’m going to check and see what areas are stiff, and I can again maintain that glide as you bend from different angles trying to stretch that tissue, mobilize that tissue. The body, of course, the trunk stays relatively straight.

Now, that position, most of that stretching was done all along this area. So I’m going to show you from the other position so you get a better sense of what’s happening if you look at it from the back.  If we look at it from the back, I’m going to try to stretch my opposite side, my left thigh, and that’s because this is on my left side. So, same position, half kneeling position, and what I’m going to do is I’m going to bring my right foot towards my left and I’m going to use my right hand to glide my pelvis towards my left, and that automatically puts more of a stretch on all these structures, especially here. So the moment I glide this, now that I’m in this position I’m going to rock back and forth and I’m looking for positions to stretch. And now what I want to do is same thing – I use my right hand, reach back, grab onto my ankle, and I’m going to oscillate. So I’m going to bend and I’m going to hold it there and I’m going to oscillate back because I’m feeling a good stretch on that outside of that knee, my quadriceps, and I’m going to hit it from various angles. So that really gets a lot of mobility, a lot of pulling along that region. Over time, it can improve mobility of that tissue and it can help in a lot of the patellofemoral issues if you have a lot of tightness that’s causing the alignment of the kneecap to be off. So that really helps with that too.

So if you enjoyed this video, please share it so others can benefit from it. And we’re launching our knee injury recovery program next month. It’s going to be an awesome program. It combines physical therapy, exercise science and holistic medicine, so it’s a really comprehensive program. It comes with a book, it’s got tons of videos, and it can really help you recover faster from knee injuries, it helps prevent knee problems, and if you’re looking to improve performance it’s awesome. It’s a really amazing program that we put together. So go to the site, click on the link below and sign up for the program. Thanks.

 

Patellar Tendonitis Treatment – Why Ice and Anti-inflammatories Don’t Work

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What’s Patellar Tendonitis? Why it’s not tendonitis but Patellar tendinosis. This knee injury is also known as Jumper’s knee and often affects athletes and runners. It’s a degeneration of the patellar tendon due to overuse and poor healing.

Tweetables:

Guide to Patellar Tendonitis Treatment [Click To Tweet]
Why Ice and Anti-inflammatory Medication is NOT the Answer [Click To Tweet]
The Facts about Patellar Tendonitis Treatment  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So this next video I’m going to talk about patellar tendon problems. And the problem is commonly known as patellar tendinitis, which is incorrect, and I have posted a few videos in the past discussing why it’s not tendinitis, why it’s actually tendinosis. And I talked about and had videos up on treatment also, some scar tissue mobilization or cross friction massage technique videos on how to treat this issue, but I wanted to give you a little bit more detail on the problem because a lot of you guys ask me about this issue.

And this is one of the problems I’m going to discuss in our upcoming program, as I mentioned in some of my other videos. The program’s going to be launching pretty soon, so make sure if you guys are interested and you want to be one of the first to find out about it, go to the site and sign up and I’ll be giving out some free copies also, and I’m going to go over all of these knee-related problems in that program as well as discussing a lot of treatments, both holistic treatments for the problems as well as physical therapy and exercise-science-related treatments.

So let’s talk a little bit about what the problem is exactly and what are some of the contributing factors and then treatment. So a little bit of anatomy. Your patellar tendon sits below your kneecap. Here’s your kneecap; it sits below that kneecap. It attaches to your shin, the upper part of the shin. It’s an extension of your quadriceps muscles. So your quadriceps muscles are your thigh muscles in the front of the thigh and your quadriceps tendon is just above the kneecap, and it all comes down and attaches here. So its function is to help you extend or straighten out that leg, the lower leg or your knee.

So this problem is commonly referred to as jumper’s knee or patellar tendinitis, but tendinitis is an incorrect term for this problem. And that’s why a lot of people, what is the standard treatment prescribed for a lot of these issues? You rest it, you ice it, you use anti-inflammatory medications. So if it’s not an inflammatory problem, what is the point of doing anti-inflammatory medications then? Will the anti-inflammatory medications or icing help the problem? No, it won’t help the problem.

So histological studies, and this has been documented for some time now, that when they have looked at these problems there are no inflammatory cells present, none to very few inflammatory cells present in these types of problems, so thus it’s not an inflammation. Anything that has an –itis ending has to do with inflammation, so tendinitis, conjunctivitis, bursitis, any of these things. Anything that has -itis is an inflammation. So in this problem, though it’s listed as tendinitis, it is not a tendinitis because there are no inflammatory cells present in this problem, and these are usually chronic problems that are due to overuse/overstrain injuries.

There might have been one incident where let’s say you were playing a sport, you jumped up, you came down hard, and you felt a sharp pain there. But there’s a microfiber damage, you tore some microfibers and after a while that tissue, because it was injured and you kept playing on it, kept doing things on it and the tissue didn’t heal properly, it turned into a tendinosis type of problem. There might have been some inflammation initially, a little bit of inflammation when you had the initial injury, but normal inflammatory process heals itself. Your body has its processes and inflammation is a normal part of healing, so it needs to take place. So your body initiates the process and it heals itself.

But if the process doesn’t move along properly or you continue irritating the problem, then it turns into an abnormal process and it’ll turn it into a problem that is a tendinosis.  The ending -osis, in tendinosis means degeneration. So it’s a degenerative problem. Because of repetitive strain or initial injury and then not healing properly, it’s turned into a tendinosis or degeneration of the tendon, which makes the tendon weak. It can become thickened. It can have disorganized alignment of the collagen fibers. Remember, collagen makes up the tendon, so normal collagen in normal tissue lays down smooth patterns, parallel fibers that are laid down in smooth fashion. In a disorganized pattern, they’re all jumbled. They’re all knotted. So not only does that compromise the strength of the tendon but also it causes pain. It might restrict the mobility of the tendon. So because they’re all jumbled up, the tendon’s not strong because they’re not aligning properly. The second thing is they’re all jumbled up; when you do move, it might cause pain, it might be tight, and so it compromises the strength of the tendon. So a lot of these issues, not only can the tendon be thickened, the tendon can be swollen and it can be weak as well.

So the problem tends to persist for quite a while unless you treat the problem properly, which means the treatment has to do with specific things like promoting proper alignment of those collagen fibers, so cross friction massage techniques, which are to break down the adhesions on the thickening that’s formed along the tendon so the fibers realign and lay down properly. So once they lay down properly, then you can work on strengthening those fibers. Then you strengthen it so that the tendon gets stronger as well as the fibers are in proper orientation where they need to be.

What are some of the causes or contributing factors? Of course, as I mentioned, you could have an injury. If you came down wrong on that leg or repetitive strain or overstrain of that tendon, you kept playing the sport, you kept jumping or running, after a while it got irritated because it was just overworked essentially. The healing couldn’t keep up with the amount of work that tendon was doing. Keep in mind, mechanical things are going to change the amount of force that that tendon is handling, too. So what’s happening at the foot in terms of the strength, mobility of the foot, or the ankle or further up in the chain, the hip as well as even further up going into the core, for example, so anything that’s happening above and below can be affecting things biomechanically.

Then, the other thing you want to consider is internally what’s going on within the system, which makes one person more prone to getting injured than the other person – overall internal health of the system, which is causing one person to have irritation of the tendon or slowing down of the healing process. So consider from a bigger perspective internally what’s happening. Sometimes people are on medications. Are those medications affecting the healing of the tendon too? Circulation is compromising that area, so this is not facilitating the healing process, and by icing it you’re not helping any either.  Same with taking anti-inflammatories. A lot of studies show that anti-inflammatories actually will decrease the healing time of a lot of these tendon-type problems or these issues.

So consider that there are multiple issues that are contributing to the problem, and so a treatment has to be multipronged. So you’re working on breaking down that scar tissue, you’re improving the strength of that tendon and the surrounding muscles – not just here, your thigh muscles, your foot muscles, your hip muscles, all these areas, improving circulation to that region to promote the healing process, facilitate the healing process, improving the internal healthy of your system so it helps the tendon heal faster.

IT Band – Why It Hurts and How to Heal it, Fast

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Iliotibial band syndrome is the probably the second most common knee related pain which affects runners. IT Band pain is also a common injury for cyclists. The most common complaint is outside knee pain which can be from mild to excruciating. People often complain of soreness, burning, shooting and sharp pains. Can also have thickening and swelling of the band. IT Band pain often presents with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Tweetables:

Iliotibial Band Syndrome Symptoms  [Click To Tweet]
IT Band Problems: Why Does it Hurt? [Click To Tweet]
IT Band Pain Causes, Treatment, Symptoms  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So this is my next video on some of the knee-related problems a lot of you guys have been asking me about. And before I get into it, I want to remind you that we have our program coming up and it’s going to be launching very soon. So if you’re interested, get onto the site and make sure you sign up so you’re one of the first to hear about it. And as I mentioned I’ll be giving out some free copies, and the program is on knee injuries and how to get better, how to rehab, so combine both the holistic as well as the physical therapy and exercise science components together. It’s going to be a pretty awesome program. We’re very excited. We’re on the final phase. We’re getting the program done.

So the problem that I’m going to talk about today is IT band issues. So I’ve tried a bunch of videos in the past and I’ve discussed some of the treatment methods. I’m going to give you a little bit more in terms of the anatomy and what are some of the contributing factors to the problem.

So let’s just look at the knee model here and let’s kind of get a sense of what’s happening. So this is the front of the knee, this is the side view, your femur is the thigh bone on top, tibia is the shinbone at the bottom, and then you have your fibula – it’s that small bone that sits on the outside of your lower leg. So IT band issues or iliotibial band problems are very common in runners and cyclists, but again it can affect anybody, any athletes or even people in the sedentary population get affected by this problem, but definitely much more common, probably the second most common knee-related issue for runners, I would say.

The first one is the patellofemoral pain or runner’s knee or anterior knee pain that I discussed in my last video. This is probably the second most I would say common issue. And often, the patellofemoral pain, which is the kneecap and surrounding tissues causing the problem, and the IT band issues come together often or they definitely can come together.

Okay, so the IT band is that thick band that goes along the outside of your thigh. It’s that thick band that’s going on the outside of my thigh. It’s coming below that knee and attaching down on your tibia, on the upper part of your tibia, which is your shinbone right here. But you have fibers also of the IT band coming and attaching on the outside of your kneecap too and the IT band, it’s a thick connective tissue, so facial tissue, which attaches even on the bone itself, the thigh, going deeper and attaching. So it has few attachment points, and of course further up in the chain it’s attaching at your pelvis as well as some of the local muscles through here too.

So attachment site is here, it’s coming on the outside of your thigh, and the most common area of pain referral is going to be outside knee pain, so generally a person will point to pain on the outside of the knee, and most often the lower part of the IT band. You can have some stuff further up by the hip, too, on the outside of the hip or along the chain, but majority of the time the problem is indicated as pain is right here on the outside. So, can have a lot of tenderness along that region, can have some swelling, can have irritation, can be very sensitive to touch, burning sensation – so sharp pain/shooting pains. So all these things can be caused.

Now, underneath the IT band you also have fat which is highly innervated, so a lot of compression and irritation of that fat tissue. The bursa is basically a fluid-filled sac that sits underneath the IT band as well as the bone to prevent the band from rubbing into the bone. But some of the studies show that it’s not a bursa, so it is a little bit inconclusive. But nevertheless, all those structures, the IT band itself, and all the surrounding tissues, the highly innervated fat underneath it, all these structures can, if there’s repetitive rubbing and irritation of that tissue, can cause pain. Not only will it refer pain here but it can sometimes radiate in the outside of the upper part of the lower leg, too. It primary affects the outside knee, but then some of the fibers are attaching on the outside of that kneecap, so lateral patella pain is also not uncommon. So very often when you start digging in, you start checking the kneecap, the person can be very tender along that border, too, in addition to that band that’s running on the side.

What are the contributing factors?  Overtraining is one of the big ones. Repetitive strain or overtraining can cause irritation of the tissue. And why is that happening? One, because you’re doing more than your body or that tissue can handle. Second, due to mechanical factors such as alignment of the kneecap, it might have to do with hip tightness, hip weakness resulting in change in alignment of tissues, excessive pronation or flatfeet.  So by itself, one of these things is not the contributing factor, but when you combine all of them together they can definitely throw the biomechanics off, the alignment off, which can cause more stress and strain on that tissue, and of course it can get very tight after a while too and thickened.

So you have to consider that there are a lot of these factors that are affecting this problem. You might be missing an ankle range of motion. You might be missing your big toe range of motion, so your foot, you can’t bring your body over that foot let’s say when you’re walking or running. So you change the alignment of that foot, the foot drifts up; you have flatfeet for that matter. You might be changing your alignment because of that. You change the alignment of the knee. You get knee valgus or the knee drifts medially or the knee is drifting inwards, which is again changing the alignment of that knee in relation to the thigh and even relation to the pelvis or, for that matter, down to the foot. And further up in the chain, you might have stiffness at that hip. Maybe your hip flexors are too tight, your glutes are too weak—your gluteus medius, gluteus maximus—so they’re not stabilizing the pelvis when you’re walking and running, and after a while you get fatigued and then they’re not stabilizing the pelvis in walking and running or any of those activities, and that again starts to change the alignment of the thigh in relation to the pelvis, in relation to the knee. And for that matter, anatomical differences, so wider hips, Q-angle for women – larger Q-angle, have been cited as some other contributing factors. So as I said, not one thing by itself but multiple things combined will often result in an unfavorable environment where there’s excessive irritation of the tissues, which will set up a process where you’re overstraining or overworking that region and that can set up an inflammatory process, constant irritation, sensitivity, so that then after a while even a little bit of activity sets the thing off.

So treatment has to address all those mechanical things, and then of course, remember, treat always above and below the chain to address the problem. This gets irritated because there’s something going on along the biomechanical chain.  So address those issues. Then of course, locally also, manual stuff, hands-on techniques, soft tissue mobilization, stretching all those tissues on the outside of that thigh, getting better alignment of that kneecap. Maybe all these tissues have gotten so tightened up constantly being pulled to the outside, so now you have a patellofemoral problem that’s being set up too. So address those issues. So all these things have to be accounted for and addressed. Taping and correcting the foot mechanics, strengthening exercise and flexibility exercise, all these need to be done to get rid of that problem. So all these things need to be addressed. Correcting biomechanics up and down the chain as well as treating things locally by massage or manual therapy techniques or joint mobilization, taping, and then internally taking herbal formulas are different things that can be done to address the problem effectively.

So I hope that gives you a sense of what’s really going on and what’s happening with this issue and why it becomes such a chronic problem for a lot of people and they have a really difficult time getting this under control. But it can be, you can treat it very effectively once you correct all these imbalances, and this is what I am discussing in my program.

Alright guys, please share the video if you found this information helpful. Thank you.

Safe Hip Flexor And Front Hip Stretch

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This is a safe hip flexor and front hip stretch for anyone who is unable to kneel or stand due to knee pain or hip pain. This stretch is helpful for improving posture, low back pain, hip pain and improving iliopsoas and rectus femoris muscle mobility.

Tweetables:

Ways to Stretch Your Hip Flexor  [Click To Tweet]
Understanding Hip Flexor and Front Hip Stretch [Click To Tweet]
An Easy, Effective Hip Flexor Stretch  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a hip flexor stretch, especially for those of you who have knee pain or are not able to get down on the floor in half kneeling or just can’t put any weight on that knee to get a hip flexor stretch, or standing is difficult to do a stretch.  So this is another alternative position that you can use to stretch out the hip flexors and just kind of open up the front of the hip.

So what we’re going to do is, bed will work just fine. I’ve had patients do it even on a kitchen table, but bed usually works just fine as long as the bed is not too high. So what you want to do is you want to think about, so I’m going to be stretching up my left hip flexor.  So this is my right side. It’s the side that’s on the mat, is the one were stretching. So what I’m going to do is the other leg is on the ground; bring that leg forward. So if I can, I want to make sure my foot is flat on the ground. So just by getting in this position, it ends up allowing me to stretch my hip flexor a little bit easier on my left side.

So next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to tighten up my left glute, this one. When I tighten up this left glute, it protects my low back, it flattens out. And the same thing, by bringing this right leg down on the ground and forward, what I’m doing is I’m changing the alignment on my pelvis, I’m locking it out a little bit through here, and that allows me to protect my low back. We want to get the stretch from the front of the hip. Your hip flexors are muscles right through this region and they are doing this function. Your iliopsoas, your rectus femoris – these are your hip flexors. So when they’re tight, they cause all sorts of problems. So what we’re going to do is I want to bring my leg down first, the other leg is on the bed, I’m going to tighten up my glutes on my left side – that protects my spine and allows me to get an easier stretch for my hip flexors on my left side too.

So next thing I can do is I’m going to work using my arms to raise myself up. So just getting to this position will allow me to get a stretch in the front of the hip on the left side. So throughout the movement as I’m raising up, you want to make sure you keep your glutes tight. You could even tighten up your abdominals. So I might tighten up my lower abdominals almost doing like a posterior pelvic tilt. So I’m tightening up my lower abdominals, I’m squeezing my butt muscles on my left side, and I’m going to use my arms to bring myself up.  As I raise up, I’m targeting the front of that hip to stretch out that front of that hip. And I can go higher up. As long as you’re comfortable, you’re not hinging at your low back or you’re not feeling discomfort in the low back and I keep my butt tight, I can raise up and I can get a good stretch in the front of the hip. But the whole time I want you to make sure you maintain tight abdominals as well as tight glutes on your left side, and I come up and I can get a good stretch in the front of that hip.

Now, let’s say if I want to go a bit further, I want to get a stronger stretch, so yes, I can come up here into an upright position and I can still work on bending my knee, and I might even decide to reach back and grab back so now I’m getting my quads also, my rectus femoris definitely, and I’m going to open up everything on my left side. But, again, keep in mind, keep your glutes tight, abdominals are tight.

 

Proper Standing Posture To Get Rid Of Neck And Back Pain

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This video discusses some strategies to improve your standing posture, prevent neck pain and back pain. It is important to build more awareness so you can develop a better standing posture.

Tweetables:

Common Posture Mistakes and Fixes  [Click To Tweet]
Restore Your Natural Sitting and Standing Posture [Click To Tweet]
Simple Exercises to Get Rid of Back Pain [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So in this video I’m going to go over tips on figuring out better standing posture just to build more awareness. So last video I shared I talked about sitting posture and I gave some tips on setting yourself up so you’re able to maintain proper alignment, better sitting posture. So we’re going to talk a bit about standing and standing posture in this one and why it’s so important.

So it’s very important not only for avoiding injuries but also just better performance in your day-to-day activities and definitely for athletic activities or sports. So most people don’t tend to be aware of their postures and I often find people, especially in standing, will have weakness in their lower abdominals where they’re shifting their weight forward; they’ve gotten tight in the front of the hips; they have rounded shoulders; they’re starting to get stiffness, a bit more rounded through their upper back, through their thoracic spine, which is resulting also in a forward-head posture.  And that didn’t happen over a course of a few days – it happened over a lifetime of assuming poor posture, whether in sitting for long periods of time, whether or not being aware when they are standing where their body needs to be in space. So assuming these positions and postures, over time that results in all sorts of imbalances in the chain; so not just here, further up in the chain and down the chain too. So a lot of weakness off in the lower abdominal region, and you’re going to get a lot of tightness in the front of the hips and you’re going to get weakness in the glutes. So, weak here, weak here, tight here, and some stiffness starting to come in the low back as well as some compression taking place andI’m constantly shifting my weight forward and tightness in the pecs because I’m always in these rounded positions. And upper part of the neck gets stiff, and also a lot of weakness in the shoulder girdle and upper back region.

So, building more awareness and figuring out where I am in space is essential. And this doesn’t happen over one day; you have to constantly work on this, just like the sitting postures that we talked about, constantly have to work on this to improve the ability to maintain good positions and postures. Now, yes, you might have to do some mobility exercises, some strength exercises, but awareness – very, very important. Where am I in space? What am I doing throughout my day? And if you maintain really crappy postures eight hours a day and then you go and say, “Well, I’m just going to stretch out for a half-hour and that makes up for that crappy posture,” doesn’t work that way. So it’s much more efficient to work on better postures throughout the day, and then you have to do as many mobility or strength exercises in your exercise routine to get better posture.

So when I’m standing, think about, where is weight on my feet? Is it more in front of the foot or is it in the back, towards the heel? So you get a sense of, is my weight centered? Are my lower abdominals on, so meaning are these tight? Is my pelvis pulled under me instead of shifting forward or being more weight on one leg or the other side. So if I tighten up my lower abdominals, tighten up my glutes and I bring my pelvis under me to create a more stable position, and I might relax my shoulders and my chest a little bit here, so this is in a better position. It gets me in a slightly better alignment further up in the chain, too, and you can see it automatically corrects a lot of forward-head and rounded shoulder postures too. So then it’s a lot easier to bring my chin into dorsal glide or a double chin, to put myself out of these positions. So same thing, I do a little chin tuck and that aligns things a bit better so I don’t have to work too hard through here the moment I correct what’s happening at the bottom part of my base ofthe chain.

So think about rocking back and forth, figuring out where your weight is, pulling those lower abdominals, tightening your glutes so you bring your pelvis under you a little bit. That automatically sets up a stable position and base and it sets up a better position of my spine. So try that out and see what you think, whether you’re able to get in a better position, and then it also gives you a sense of, well, is this too tight? Are these really weak? Is it really hard for me to contract my glutes, tighten up these muscles, the lower abdominals? And then you can work on those specific things – is my upper back too stiff? Maybe I need to do more on the foam roller or rolling on the ball to get my mobility better for my thoracic spine, my upper back, because then it allows me to straighten up a bit better for my upper back. So it gives you better awareness and you can figure out what things you need to work on and what things you can improve just by adjusting your position and being more aware.

 

How To Sit In Good Posture To Get Rid Of Back Pain

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Poor sitting postures can cause low back pain, neck pain and shoulder pain. This video discusses some strategies to improve your sitting posture and avoid injury.

Tweetables:

Improve your Posture and Ease Lower Back Pain.  [Click To Tweet]
How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain [Click To Tweet]
Restore Your Natural Sitting and Standing Posture  [Click To Tweet]

Most Common Cause Of Knee Pain In Runners

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Anterior knee pain and Runner’s knee are the common terms used to describe Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. This is the most common cause of knee pain in runners and cyclists. There are a few structures which are the pain generator in this problem. There are many contributing factors ranging from biomechanical alignment issues, repetitive strain and poor health of the tissues. Treating needs to address alignment, improve tissue mobility, break down scar tissue and adhesions, improve circulation, improve strength and internal health.

For runners this is a great video to learn about runners knee pain, since this problem affects a large number of runners.

Tweetables:

What’s Causing Your Knee Pain?  [Click To Tweet]
Knee pain and other running injuries [Click To Tweet]
Experiencing Knee Pain? Here are the Common Causes  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So in this video I’m going to talk to you guys about patellofemoral pain syndrome. A lot of you guys have asked me questions about this problem and how to treat it, and I’ve posted a bunch of videos in the past on treatment, but I wanted to give you a little bit more detail regarding this problem. So I’ll go over some of the anatomy behind it and what are some of the contributing factors as well as what are the pain generators, so what structures or what are the sources causing the pain. And as I mentioned in some of the other videos, this is one of the most common anterior or front knee pain problems in runners. Of course, it affects cyclists and other athletes, and even people in the sedentary population get affected by this problem, and I’ve treated a lot of patients with this issue.

So anytime something has a syndrome at the end of it, it usually implies that there’s not one cause, one contributing factor. So there might be a host of things that are causing this issue. So that’s why they call it patellofemoral pain syndrome. And there are biomechanical issues, anatomical issues as well as training and internally what’s going on within the person. So all these things can be contributing to the problem also. So why don’t we go over a little bit of the anatomy, and then we can go into more some of the pain generators and some of the causes?

By the way, before I go into more detail, I just want to give you guys an update and let you know that our program that we’re putting together on knee injuries will be coming up soon, and so stay tuned and keep checking the channel. Go check out the website and I’m going to be posting more details on when the program launches. If you guys want to be added to the list, to be one of the first to find out about the program, make sure you get to the website and sign up for that and I’ll be issuing a bunch of free copies initially, too. So if you guys are interested, make sure you get in there and check it out.

Alright, so regarding patellofemoral pain, so first of all, looking at the knee here to give a little bit of anatomy, the patellofemoral joint is the joint that the kneecap makes with your femur, which is your thigh bone. It is the kneecap sitting in the trochlear groove, which is that groove at the bottom that’s created by the bottom part of your femur or your thigh bone, and it works by gliding back and forth. And to the top of the kneecap, you have your quadriceps tendon, which is part of your quadriceps muscle, your thigh muscle, and the bottom part is your patellar tendon, which comes in attached below the kneecap. So the kneecap, the bone itself, is helping transfer all this force that’s generated by your big muscles or quadriceps to extend or strengthen out that leg.

Now, this problem is commonly known as runner’s knee. That’s one of the common terms that’s used for it, but the correct term is runner’s knee or anterior knee pain, which is basically front knee pain. So any kind of pain that’s generated around this area is called runner’s knee pain or anterior knee pain. There could be some other causes too, but we’re going to be discussing more the patellofemoral issues. So anything that’s going to be essentially along this region, front of the knee, even down through here, is related to patellofemoral pain. Occasionally you will have patellofemoral joint referring pain to the back of the knee also, but most common is anterior knee pain.

So some of the structures that can be causing the pain are medial and lateral retinaculum, which is basically your fibers that are coming from your vastus medialis, which is your inner quad muscle, vastus lateralis, the outer quad muscles, fibers coming off of that and attaching on the border of the kneecap, on the outside border here and the inside border. So a lot of those, if they’re irritated, they can refer pain or cause pain. The synovial tissue, the tissue that covers the joint itself, if it’s irritated it can cause pain too. So any of the tissues that are surrounding this area or sitting underneath the kneecap, could be cartilage here too, synovial tissue which is the covering around the joint. You also have the subchondral bone, which is underneath the cartilage you have bone, if that’s irritated, so that can also refer pain. So any of these structures, if they’re irritated due to compression or repetitive strain, or an injury for that matter, can cause pain.

Now, this is a repetitive strain injury, so poor mechanics, too much loading of that joint. Repetitive strain, so constant movement of that joint whether I’m running or cycling, can cause that area to get irritated and set up a process where it’s so irritated that you can have pain with even day-to-day activities, and one of the classic signs is the movie goers sign.  So when you sit for a while you start having pain in that front of that knee, and when you go to get up and it’s irritated it can be patellofemoral pain.  And other activities like squatting, going up and down stairs sometimes, definitely kneeling, can cause pain too. Running, jumping, any of these things can cause pain as well.

So what are some of the reasons that cause these problems? So as I mentioned, biomechanical things are some of the things you’ve got to consider, which basically means that, what is the alignment of the patellofemoral joint? Is the kneecap tilted to the outside? Is the alignment off the kneecap? Is it too hot? Is it not only just tilted to the outside, is it gliding to the outside? Or, is it that because of the anatomy of your tibiofemoral joint, tibia and femur, it throws off the anatomy of the kneecap? Maybe the groove is too shallow where the kneecap sits in. Maybe the hip is too tight further up in the chain. For women, a lot of times it’s cited that there’s a larger Q-angle, which is the width, so wider hips, which cause the alignment to be off between the thigh bone and the pelvis and which results in the kneecap’s alignment being off. Flatfoot or excessive pronation at the foot has also been cited as one of the reasons.

So I don’t think one specific thing is the cause of the problem. Now, all these things combined can, yes, set up an environment which mechanically the kneecap is off alignment and cause more problems. So the flatfeet combined with possibly excessive valgus or medial drift of the knee where the knee is drifting inwards can change the alignment of the kneecap, can contribute to that problem. So, as I said, not one thing, multiple things combined with repetitive strain will cause this problem to come up.

Now, regarding treatment, you have to address all of those factors. I might have to address the foot mechanics. Am I missing my ankle range of motion? Am I missing my big toe range of motion, which is causing my foot to go more into a flatfoot position or the foot to drift out more, which is mechanically changing what’s happening up the chain? For that matter, is my hip too tight or my glutes too weak, which is again causing my knee to drift in more, my thigh to drift in, which is resulting in a change in mechanics? And this might not happen necessarily when you’re just walking, but once you’re starting a higher-level activity like running or other athletic activities, once that muscle fatigues or some of the other muscles fatigue and you don’t have enough stability in that pelvis and the leg starts to drift in, that’s when you start having those problems coming about.

So think about it from a much broader perspective. What’s happening up the chain? Is my core strong enough? Am I able to maintain a good solid position? Are my hips strong enough?  Same with your foot. Are my foot stabilizers, foot muscles, strong enough for not only shock absorption but controlling the foot motion and mechanics? So all these things can contribute to the issue. So it requires a bit more in terms of management, and management will be addressing those things by joint mobilization techniques, by strengthening, mobility exercises; also by hands-on cross friction massage techniques should break down that scar tissue, improve the mobility of that kneecap. It’s too stiff on the outside direction, I’ve got to make sure that kneecap’s working better; maybe making sure the joint mechanics, you have full extension in that knee joint, you have good range of motion in the tibiofemoral joint, the main knee joint so that there’s less load on that kneecap too. So you have to consider all of those factors when you’re looking to address this problem.

So I hope this gives you a better understanding of what’s happening at this joint, some of the pain generators we discussed such as the medial and lateral retinaculum fibers that are catching on the inside and outside, the cartilage underneath it, the subchondral bone – bone underneath the cartilage. The cartilage is worn out, there’s more irritation. So try to consider all of those variables when you’re thinking about treatment, and I will be posting more videos on treatment but I wanted to give you a much better understanding of what’s really going on and what we’re talking about in terms of the problem. This gives you a global and better understanding of the issue, and then we’ll do specific treatments to address the problem.

Soft Tissue Mobilization For Low Back Pain

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This is a great soft tissue mobilization technique for low back pain, low back stiffness, stiff facet joints, muscle and myofascial restrictions. It’s a good technique for gaping or opening up painful joints, doing manual traction for disc problems, low back arthritis and sciatica.

Tweetables:

What Is Soft Tissue Mobilization Therapy?  [Click To Tweet]
Lower Back Pain – Mobilization & Treatments [Click To Tweet]
Treating Soft Tissue Injuries Low Back Pain  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a technique. This is more for low back issues. I know I’ve been putting out a lot of videos on all sorts of knee, IT band, and foot related and low back issues.  This is more of a hands-on manual therapy technique and we’re going to do segmental gapping, opening up the joint space, and especially if you’re having either the joint capsule is tight or if you have some compression going on in the spine causing possibly nerve-related conditions where there are radicular symptoms, pain coming down the leg, but just a general technique and this is quite effective.

So this is a gapping technique and we’re going to be targeting, so let’s say if the problematic area is on that right side, upper part through here with low back pain.  And remember, most of the time low back issues are your L4-5, L5-S1. Low lumbar spine is where most people have problems. You can have some SI joint/sacroiliac joint issues that are down to this region, and of course they can refer down to, just like your low back problems, can cause pain down in the hip, the butt, down the leg all the way down to the foot.  If there’s some nerve involvement with numbness/tingling, or ligamentous irritation, irritation of the joint it can cause referral pain coming down too.

It’s a pretty easy technique.   A simple way to do that is you always have the knee slightly bent here and I can use my body to mobilize that tissue also. So all I’m going to do is first we’re just going to start with gapping.  And remember, I can always put a towel through here to raise this area up a little bit.  And for women who tend to have wider hips, you want to make sure there’s better alignment of the pelvis, and because of wider hips the spine’s going to drop down or even have more compression in this position through here and opening or stretching on the other side. So we’re trying to open up this side. I’m trying to gap this side right here. That’s what I’m trying to aim for in this position.

Those of you guys who are massage therapists, physical therapists or manual therapists who do a lot of work, this is a great way to work on mobilizing the spine.  I can do a couple of things. I can just lock through here, my body, my elbow right here, stabilize that pelvis, use my other side and I can use my body to stabilize, and you can see my fingers on either side and I’m just gapping.  I open up that joint and stretch.  So I can even target specific segments.   Lets say L3 and L4 segment, I want to gap and open up this segment here, so I’m going to work right on that segment. I can open up that tissue and I could hang out there and just stretch if I need to, or I can just oscillate.  Then I can go back and forth, I can add some rotations to that, I can do some rotations through there. So you can hit that from various angles to stretch out the joint capsule, open that up as well as do soft tissue mobilization.

So if I want to do a very specific segment that’s problematic, let’s say down through here, I can hang out right on that segment and I can just stretch and I can hold that position, and here I’m going to use my body and I can stabilize through there and I can use that pelvis to open that tissue up.

If I want to really get in there and use my body, I can lean right on this tissue and I can just rock back and forth and I can stretch out that tissue. Same thing applies on this side – I can even use my elbow to open up. Remember, not only are you addressing the erector spinae, you’re also going to get the quadratus lumborum through here, which can be often bound up and tightened up in a lot of people. So I can get in there and I can really start to stretch out a lot of those other tissues also, and I can use my body on this side as well to open that up.  So, general soft tissue mobilization or massage to open up those tissues, specific – getting right on the segments, and then targeting and opening up and just kind of hanging out, and then adding different directions and rotations.

And you can also do, if you want to do, you can even do segmental gapping or traction in that position, or I can get on top of two different segments and I can just use my body to open up the spine. So I’m doing traction. Remember, gapping that segment, opening it up, decompression to relieve that pressure on that disc or that nerve or that nerve or some of that soft tissue through there.  All I have to do is I just got to lean into it and I hang out there and I stretch. I’m using my body and I just stretch. So I’m gapping. I’m doing that segmental traction.

How long you can hang out there depends on how acute the condition is, how severe the problem is, which requires a bit more in terms of assessment. You’ve got to know what you’re doing. But as a general technique, this is a great for mobilizing tissues that are really stiff through that area. And remember, you can work all the way up – I can go all the way up to here.  I don’t have to just hang out here. I can go all the way up to the thoracic spine, your mid back, and I can work through the tissues there, too. I can even use my elbows and I can lean into that and I can do a lot of other things through here too.

Hope you found that helpful. Leave a comment if you have questions. Make sure you subscribe to the channel, and click on the link to check out my site – tons of information on it. And thanks, guys.

Heel Pain Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

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Heel pain and plantar fasciitis are common injuries in runners, athletes and in the sedentary population. There are many causes of heel pain, but in this video I am going to show you treatment method for medial or inside heel pain. Inside heel is the origin or starting point of the plantar fascia and is often painful in plantar fasciitis pain. Thickening or scar tissue can form due to repetitive irritation of the fascia and scar tissue mobilization is effective for breaking down adhesions and freeing up tissue. This is a good massage technique to treat plantar fascia and medial heel pain.

Tweetables:

New Techniques For Treating Plantar Fasciitis  [Click To Tweet]
Plantar Heel Pain Treatment and Management [Click To Tweet]
How to Fix Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Pain  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I wanted to show you another video today. We’re going to talk about heel pain and, more specifically, medial heel pain or inside, inner side of the heel, so plantar-fasciitis-type issues. You can also have sometimes bone spurs in that area or just irritation of tissues on the inside of that heel. So, very often the inside—and this is quite common in all the runners and in other athletes too—so on the inside of that heel right in there, here’s your calcaneus, okay? Here’s the inside of the foot, the outside of the foot right there. So, very often, you’re going to have pain along this medial border right up through here. Here’s your calcaneus, your heel bone, and so right in there, this area on the medial side, it’s often very painful for people suffering from heel pain, but it’s different than the area back here, posterior part where you people get heel pain also. We’re talking about this region and also from here farther down, the plantar-fasciitis-type issues where there’s inflammation or irritation of that fascia or connective tissue and thick band which supports your arch.

So this technique is just to show you how to do that cross friction massage or scar tissue mobilization to break down any thickening or adhesions that might have formed in this area. Of course, you have to address the underlying cause of the problem also, which has more to do with strength and motor control of your foot muscles, your big toe muscles as well as having good or adequate flexibility. If the ankle joint is stiff or the big toe is very stiff, it’s going to impact what happens in the foot and further up in the chain and it’s going to affect those mechanisms and also predispose you or cause some of these problems. So, missing that ankle range of motion, don’t have that dorsiflexion, if I can’t get that down far enough I’m going to change my mechanics the way my foot hits. I might do more pronation, maybe more towards a flatfoot posture, possibly. Or, the foot might want to drift out more, which is going to cause problems, possibly loading up that inside of that heel calcaneus and inside of that foot too. So not only local problems – further up the chain too.

So for this technique, what I’m going to show is pretty simple. I’m stabilizing through here. And you can lay down, too, if you need to. So I’m going to get in here, and again, we’re doing scar tissue mobilization to break down thickened, adhesed tissue, which is due to chronic irritation, possibly inflammation – the tissue gets all thickened and it’s not moving properly and it’s adhesed or scarred down. There’s lack of circulation in that area and it’s causing pain. So we are going to do scar tissue mobilization. I put a little pressure, I find those painful spots there, apply pressure with my thumb, and I’m going to back and forth – pretty small area that I’m moving back and forth. Remember, it’s not just moving on the skin. That’s not going to do anything for us. We’ve got to put some pressure there and go back and forth.

So find sticky spots, painful sore spots, and you work along those areas. You might even sometimes find further up through here, you might find some areas. So get in there and not just there, search further down through here, other parts of the fascia, and work your way all the way through. So hang up five minutes, 10 minutes, work through those regions.

So next thing you can do is, of course, I can tack it down a little bit and do some tack and stretch. I can press, stretch the foot, tack and stretch, so free up any tissue that’s been kind of bound up through there. I can stretch, tack and stretch. So I’m going to look at different areas along the length of the fascia that might be all tightened up through there that can possibly restrict mobility also and proper mechanics. So I might put some pressure here; with my other hand, I’m going to do some track and stretch, tack and stretch, tack and stretch. Of course, this is a two- person technique, so you are going to need somebody else’s help to do that.

So I’ve shown some other soft treatment techniques or one-person techniques in the past for that area as well, so check those videos out. But this one, you do need somebody to really get in there and break that tissue down and then improve the mobility of that tissue.

So I hope you found that useful and it helps you. If you have any questions, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel. Share the video, guys, if you think somebody else will benefit from it.  Alright guys, thank you.

Achilles Tendonitis Treatment

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Achilles tendon treatment using scar tissue mobilization and massage. Achilles tendonitis or Achilles tendinopathy / tendinosis (degeneration of the tendon) can often occur after an injury or because of overuse. Keep in mind this is not an inflammation of the tendon and there are little to no inflammatory cells present.  It’s wear and tear with excessive thickening and weakness of the tendon. A common problem for runners and is often due to poor foot mechanics, weak foot muscles and weakness of hip muscles. This is a two person technique to break down scar tissue or adhesion which often form with chronic overuse injury to the achilles tendon.

Tweetables:

Achilles Tendon Problems Home Treatment   [Click To Tweet]
How To Beat Achilles Tendonitis [Click To Tweet]
Achilles and Other Tendon Injuries Treatment  [Click To Tweet]

Amazing Iliotibial Band Treatment

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Iliotibial band syndrome treatment using cupping technique. This is an amazing treatment for those of you suffering from Iliotibial band pain…common injury for so many runners and cyclists. Ilitibial band pain is not a friction injury, it’s a compression injury with irritation of fat between the iliotibial band and thigh bone. Cupping can really help improve circulation, remove blockages, stretch and decompress the injured area.

Tweetables:

The Best Iliotibial Band Stretch Ever  [Click To Tweet]
Treat Your Own Iliotibial Band [Click To Tweet]
Iliotibial Band Syndrome Treatment Using Cupping  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a technique for improving the mobility of the IT band. It’s a treatment technique for IT band pain or syndrome. But just to review, IT band is the thick band that goes along the outside of your thigh and will attach just below the knee on this area on your shin bone, your tibia, in the upper part of it, and most of the time people complain of pain on the outside or lateral side of the knee along this region. It could be further up, too, but most of the time the complaint of pain is right around this area. It’s most common in runners and people who do a lot of biking, and contrary to popular opinion it’s not a friction syndrome. So just the bending and straightening of the knee does not cause the IT band to rub back and forth on the bone, causing a friction and inflammation or irritation.

The band itself is part of the connective tissue and myofascia, what attaches around the layers of muscles along the thigh. So it’s too thick to be able to move back and forth, contrary to popular opinion, as I said. So the issue is more of compression and irritation of the fat pad as well as the connective tissue that’s underneath the IT band. That’s where the irritation is taking place. Because it’s too tight, it’s causing compression and irritation of a lot of those structures. The fat underneath the IT band, it’s highly vascularized and also innervated, so irritation to that and the other surrounding tissues, which causes all this pain along that region as well as the thick band fibers themselves who might get inflamed and thickened.

So a lot of that pain that’s coming there, we want to work at improving the mobility of that tissue. We want to improve circulation. We want to remove any thickening or adhesions that have formed along that region, free up that tissue so it moves a little better with less compression through there, and for that we’re going to use cupping techniques. So you see in some of my other videos that I’ve done, we use cups for quadriceps tendinosis or tendinitis issues, patellar tendon issues, and it can be used for lots of other things. So cupping treatment is very effective and traditionally used in Chinese medicine and in other Eastern medical systems also. So cups are really effective to improve circulation, to remove blockages and just promote blood flow, lymph, and other fluids to move through that area, an injured area.

But the other reason we’re using it also is because the suction’s that’s created with the cup, we can help separate layers of tissues, some myofascial stretching too, and free up adhesions along that tissue, which is very difficult to do with my hands. I can’t really grab a tissue and separate it this way. And remember, the IT band is too tight, is too stiff.  You can stretch some of the surrounding tissues around it further up in the chain, but the actual band fibers are just too thick and it’s difficult to do that.

So we are going to use actually different-sized cups that I have here. Remember, you can go all along this region. So the first thing you can do is just to kind of apply a little bit of oil, herbal oil or some other oil you can apply there, so the tissue glides a little bit better. So one of the simpler techniques, first thing we can start with is, and as you can see I have suction when I pull back, skin tissue gets pulled straight up, I could work at gliding that back and forth, different parts of the thigh, and we can tighten it to tolerance. So again, when I tighten it up I can leave it there too, but I’m going to do just some movement back and forth here to free up that tissue and various layers of surrounding tissues.  Pulling it back and forth also promotes some circulation in that area. So even though I’m having pain here, I’m still going to work at freeing up tissues all the way up through here because that’s going to impact what happens down here too. But that’s the first part, just to go along there to free that tissue up.

Second thing we can do is then get more specific. So this region just below the knee on the outside through here I’m going to suction to get good amount of pull with the cup. Next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to up to the next level. I’m going to tighten that up. Again, it’s to tolerance. And finally, the last thing we’re going to do is we’re going to go up through this one. So you can see it’s got pretty good pull on that, and I can leave it there for about five to 10 minutes. When I release, I’m going to pull this down and I do, and you can see how it gets a little bit of that redness through that area.

So, hope you found that helpful. Remember, five to 10 minutes maximum. And you want to make sure you’re not doing this on open skin, or if you have increased sensitivity of the skin, you have diabetes or some health issues, or if the skin is really fragile, you have someone who’s elderly, you don’t want to do that cupping there either. Now, no more than about five minutes initially. You can go up to about 10 minutes or so leaving that cup there, to tolerance, and see how it does. And I really, really find this very effective. It’ll free up all of that tissue here and really help improve mobility of that tissue, promote circulation, and help with getting that IT band issue under control.

So I hope you found that helpful. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

How To Treat Tendonitis The Right Way

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This video is continuation of my video on Tendonitis vs. Tendinosis. In this video I will discuss the fundamental principles for treating Tendinosis. I would recommend you check out the Tendonitis vs Tendinosis video to learn why most repetitive strain tendon injuries are not a tendonitis.

Emphasis on treating these injuries is on breaking down the scar tissue, improving circulation, removing blockages and providing the right nutrients to heal tendon injuries.

Tweetables:

How To Treat Tendonitis The Right Way  [Click To Tweet]
The Best Ways to Treat Tendonitis [Click To Tweet]
Tendonitis: Treatment and Information  [Click To Tweet]

Tendonitis vs Tendinosis

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Tendonitis is incorrectly used to describe chronic or repetitive strain tendon injuries. In order for an injury to be called tendonitis there has to be presence of active inflammation. Anything with an “itis” means inflammation. There are very few to no inflammatory cells present in repetitive strain tendon injuries.

The correct term to describe repetitive tendon injuries to the Patellar Tendon, Achilles Tendon and Quadriceps is tendinosis or tendinopathy. Anything ending in an “osis” means degenerative changes. Tendinosis is caused primarily by chronic overuse of the tendon and by not giving the tendon enough time to rest and heal.

Tweetables:

The Difference Between Tendonitis And Tendinosis  [Click To Tweet]
Symptoms and Information about Tendonitis And Tendinosis [Click To Tweet]
Tendon Injury: Topic Overview of Tendonitis and Tendinosis  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So today’s video is a little bit different. It’s not an exercise or mobilization technique that I’m showing you. I wanted to go over something really important and that’s a major misunderstanding regarding tendon injuries. So the common term that most people know about repetitive tendon injuries or repetitive strength-type injuries to the tendons is tendonitis. So the term tendonitis, which is more popular, and I know even in some of my old videos, for example when I’m talking about patellar tendonitis or Achilles tendonitis, I’ve said the word tendonitis, but that’s just so it’s easier for most people to understand and because most people are familiar with that term.

But the correct term is actually, for those types of injuries, is tendinosis. So tendonitis, though it’s used more commonly, is incorrect, and the reason is because for repetitive strain injuries like patellar tendon issues for runners or athletes or quadriceps tendon issues of volleyball players or people who are doing a lot of activities that require jumping or Achilles-tendonitis-type problems, in a lot of studies I’ve seen this, when they really looked at it, there’s no actual inflammation going on at that tendon. And remember, and I mentioned this in some of my old videos, acute inflammation that takes place after an initial injury is a normal response of the body. It’s not a bad thing. It needs to happen for the tissue to heal properly. So first of all, regarding the tendon, there is no inflammation and they found that there are no inflammatory cells present in these injuries, and a lot of these injuries are very chronic problems. So remember, anything that has “itis” at the end of it means inflammation.

And now we look at tendinosis, which is actually the correct term for those types of problems, which are even caused more due to repetitive strain. Yeah, you can have a quick movement or an injury where is a forceful movement taken or load going to that tendon which causes micro-tears or ruptures or even a partial or complete tear – that’s something different. And in initial stages you might have an inflammatory process that takes place, but for chronic problems that come on over time the correct term is tendinosis. Anything that has “osis” at the end of it is degeneration, which means that it’s due to excessive wear and tear. The body basically just can’t keep up with the repair process and so the load that’s being placed on it, stress that’s being placed on that tendon, this just can’t keep up and heal that tendon.

So that’s a major distinction between these problems. And that goes for all sorts of repetitive strain tendon-type injuries, and that’s why use of anti-inflammatories or, in my view, ice and all those things, is not helpful for these injuries. It’s not going to take care of that problem.

So the normal tissue—tendons remember are made up collagen, collagen is protein—and normal tissue, normal alignment of the collagen and tissue is in a parallel fashion. They’re parallel bundles that are laid out, which give the tendon its tensile strength. So, normal fashion, they are laid out in an organized fashion, but once you start having these degenerative problems or degeneration and wear and tear of that tendon, and like we said there are no inflammatory cells present in tendon-type injuries, tendinosis, or tendinopathy is another term that’s used for that, so the collagen fibers are laid out in a disorganized manner. They’re not laid out in parallel bundles. They’re kind of jumbled and haphazardly laid out. So the normal healing process didn’t takes place properly. As the collagen was being laid down, as repair was taking place, it kind of went off and it gets laid down in a jumbled, disorganized fashion so that doesn’t give it it’s proper tensile strength to that tendon.

So you will see things like weakness and you’ll see things like swelling. You’ll see thickening of that tendon just because things are not organized and laid down properly. They don’t move properly. A lot of studies have shown there is more vascularity, so there are more blood vessels that are formed, but again they are formed in a haphazard manner, not laid down properly again. So they’re not necessarily helping the tendon in terms of the healing process.

So like I said, the cross-linking that’s taking place, which is that jumbled formation, they increase vascularity and there’s even more ground substance, which is the substance that’s surrounding the cells which supports the cells. So all these things kind of give it that thickened, swollen-type appearance to a lot of those tendons. So, one, they’re going to be thickened and swollen, they’re going to be weak, and of course you’re going to have pain and you might have some tightness along that tissue too.

So think about it from this perspective when you’re looking at treating these problems. So as I said, it’s not an inflammation type of problem. That’s incorrect. The understanding that most people have, “ice it and take anti-inflammatories, it’s going to take care of the problem,” it’s not going to take care of the problem. So it’s more of a degeneration that’s going on and so we need to do other things to get it better. So as in a lot of my other videos, you’ve seen cross friction massage techniques that I have done, heat application, and internally you’ve got to do things to help the system heal too, and of course backing off on the aggravating activity that’s taking place.

So I hope it kind of gives you an understanding of what’s going on, and we’ll keep talking more about shooting videos on treatment options. You’ve seen some of the treatments, and I’ll go more in-depth into some of the external factors and internal “within the body” factors that are taking place and causing these problems, why some people are more susceptible to those issues than others. Also, stay tuned, we’ve got our program coming up pretty soon—very excited—and it’s going to be awesome. For those of you guys who are runners and athletes, you’re going to love it, and we’re in the process, we’re building it up, and we’re going to get the editing and those things done pretty soon and it’s going to be out. And if you have any questions, leave a comment, and make sure you subscribe to the channel and click on the link below to check out the site. Thanks, guys.

Injury Proof Your Run – Achilles Tendonitis Treatment

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As soon as man was able to walk, he ran.

Injury Proof Your Run – Achilles Tendonitis Treatment

About six million years ago, since the day humans first rose from all fours, running has become a pleasurable and beneficial pastime for millions of people worldwide.

Thousands of road races, marathons and fund-raising walk-a-thons and run-a-thons are held each year, making running the sixth most popular exercise in the United States.

Though there are many health benefits from this great cardio-vascular exercise, there are also risks.

No matter how well-fitted your running shoes with the latest in shock-absorbing technology– the body does take a pounding.

And one of the main areas of the body to feel the shocks of every stride hitting the track, pavement, grass or even soft sand, is the Achilles tendon– eventually causing the painful condition known as Achilles tendonitis or tendinosis.

Chronic Achilles tendon injury is one of the most common injuries with sports requiring running and jumping.  For elite long distance runners studies have shown that there’s a 52% risk of sustaining Achilles tendon injury.

Before we get into causes and treatments let me clarify an important point.  Most people incorrectly describe this injury as a tendonitis.   In order for an injury to be called tendonitis there has to be presence of active inflammation.  Anything with an “itis” means inflammation.  There are very few to no inflammatory cells present in repetitive strain tendon injuries, but there is presence of degenerative changes.

Thus the correct term for this problem is Achilles tendinosis or Achilles tendinopathy.  Anything ending in an “osis” means degenerative changes.  Tendinosis is caused primarily by chronic overuse of the tendon and by not giving the tendon enough time to rest and heal.

The Achilles Tendon

This Calcaneal tendon of the heel bone, is named after the Greek warrior Achilles, who was shot with an arrow in the only weak area of his body— his heel.

The myth continues to plague today’s warriors, since many super athletes and runners have chronic injuries to this tendon.

The Achilles tendon is the large tendon that connects the calf muscles to the back of the heel.  Achilles tendinosis occurs as a result of repetitive trauma or from a sudden forceful contraction resulting in injury to the tendon.

Tweetables:

Achilles Tendonitis and Home Treatment [Click To Tweet]
How To Beat Achilles Tendonitis [Click To Tweet]
Treating Achilles Tendonitis Injuries  [Click To Tweet]

Common areas of pain and injury along the tendon:

1.  Insertional Achilles Tendinosis: located at the insertion or attachment of the Achilles tendon on the calcaneus (heel).  Bone spurs and calcifications are often present at the attachment – seen as thickening, bumps or nodules.

2.  Mid-portion Achilles tendinosis: injury along the mid portion of the tendon.  Could be anywhere along a 2-3 inch area above the attachment.  In my experience injury is more commonly on the medial side (inner side) of the tendon.

Contributing Factors Of Achilles Tendinosis / Tendonitis

Mechanical Factors

Training errors or when the FIT principle goes wrong.  FIT = Frequency, Intensity and Time.  How often you train? How hard you train? And how long your train?  If you train, run or overload the tendon past it’s ability to recover you risk injury.   This applies to too much training or running and also to rapid increase in training intensity.  A sudden increase in intensity or amount of training is often trigger for tendon injuries.

Mal-alignment or poor biomechanics along the foot, leg and pelvis chain are major contributor to this problem.  Imbalances are often caused by weakness, lack of flexibility, poor neuro-muscular control (motor control, balance, coordination, etc.)

  • Over pronation or under pronation while running can cause more stress to Achilles tendon.
  • Inadequate ankle dorsiflexion – Limited ability to lift foot up towards shin or bring shin over your foot for pushing off while running.
  • Missing big toe extension – Inadequate big toe extension will prevent you from loading your foot and big toe for the push off phase.  Often resulting in the over pronation or the foot drifting outwards.
  • Weak hip muscles – gluteus maximus weakness will result in decreased push off putting more stress on the calf and Achilles tendon.  Gluteus medius weakness will result in poor stability of the pelvis and hip.
  • Tight front hip capsule and hip flexors – is responsible for all sorts of running injuries.
  • Weakness or poor motor control of foot muscles – will result in an unstable lever which is unable to provide dynamic stability when accepting load or pushing off while running.
  • Weak core muscles – poor strength of the core muscles will result in a weak base with problems throughout the chain.
  • Shortening and lack of flexibility in the calf muscle—Achilles tendon unit.
  • Running shoes, that do not provide adequate stability and sufficient shock absorption for the heel.
  • Running on hard surfaces, such as asphalt, concrete or cement.

Non-mechanical Factors

  • Inflammatory and autoimmune Disease
  • Infection
  • Diabetes
  • Poor Digestion or absorption of nutrients

The contributing factors above are accompanied by varying degrees of pain. Tenderness and swelling are also usually present.  Chronic conditions will result in thickening and adhesions along the tendon at it’s attachment on the calcaneus (heel bone).

Sprains? Strains? Or other pains?

First, let’s be sure we have diagnosed and are treating the correct condition.

If the pain and tenderness is about 2 to 3 inches above the bottom edge of the heel, and we can rule out:

  • Bursitis (inflammation of the bursa around the back of the heel)
  • Sciatica (prolapsed disc) causing referral pain down the leg to the heel or foot.
  • Osteomyelitis (a bone infection)
  • Deep-vein thrombosis (blood clot)
  • Buerger’s Disease (circulation problem)

Treatment for Achilles Tendonitis / Tendinosis

No pain, no gain, doesn’t apply here.

Those four words are probably the most-damaging in a athletes vocabulary.  Whatever validity lies in this practice of many body-building routines, it doesn’t apply here. We are not going through the painful breakdown of muscle tissue to rebuild muscle mass. This is different.

Sudden, sharp pain that persists until the swelling begins– is the body’s way of telling you something’s definitely wrong. So stop. Do not pass go. Do not try to work through it. Stop running, in fact stop walking too much.

This is not to be taken lightly. It could be more than just a strained tendon.  It could be a more serious form of Achilles tendon injury, a rupture of the muscle-tendon junction.

Achilles tendon rupture is the most severe of the injuries, often ending the careers of professional athletes, and making walkers out of runners in spite of successful repair surgeries.

Getting Back On Track

Here are some effective treatments for Achilles Tendonitis / Tendinosis

  • Avoid running or excessive loading of the Achilles tendon. To allow for adequate recovery, after all it’s an overuse or repetitive strain injury.
  • Cross friction massage of the Achilles tendon – to break down adhesions and thickening along the tendon and improve circulation.  Use herbal oils like Restore or Chinese tendon liniments or soaks to stimulate circulation, reduce swelling and stiffness and relieve pain.    Spend 10 mins every other day for 3-4 weeks.

  • No ice – Ice is not nice.  Use heat:  warm water soak+Epsom salt+baking soda to relieve pain, improve circulation, reduce swelling and stiffness.
  • Supplements for faster healing: Turmeric, Omega 3 fatty acids (krill oil, fish oil, flax seed oil), Guggulu formulations.

This will help get you up and running again in no time.

And now, if anything like this ever happens again– you’re better prepared.

But just in case, there’s always your health care provider.

Slow improvement can be expected in most cases. But, if things get worse despite self treatment, or if there is little progress after a month, it may be time to see a professional.

Additional Posts You Might Find Helpful…

1.  Pain Relief Without Meds…

2.  Top 5 Running Knee Injuries

3.  Runners Guide To Hip Flexor And Quadriceps Stretching

4.  Ankle Flexibility Test

5.  Modified Pigeon Pose For Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Calf And Achilles Tendon Stretch

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This is simple, safe and very effective stretch for improving your calf and achilles tendon flexibility.  Most people do the traditional runners stretch or a calf stretch off the edge of a step. There are often done incorrectly and not the best calf ankle stretches.

The calf stretch keeps your body in good alignement and doesn’t strain your low back.   This stretch can be part of your achilles tendonitis recovery program.

Tweetables:

Stretches for Calf and Achilles Tendon Problems  [Click To Tweet]
Are You Doing the Wrong Calf and Achilles Stretches? [Click To Tweet]
Exercises That Stretch the Calf And Achilles Tendon  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey everyone, my name is Manu Kalia. I’m a physical therapist and an Ayurveda herbalist. I’m here with my friend and colleague, Eric, who’s also a physical therapist, and he’s helping me shoot this cool video for you guys. And today we’re going to talk about calf stretch, and I’m going to show a very simple way of doing a calf stretch that’s much more effective than the traditional runner stretch that everybody else does.

So when I say a calf stretch, we’re targeting a couple of different muscle groups and tendon and a few different things. So one is we’re going to target your calf itself, we’re going to target your Achilles tendon, and then also the ankle itself. So if things are tight through here or the ankle’s stiff, this stretch can be helpful.

The usual or the traditional way of doing a calf stretch or the runner stretch that most people do is you see people leaning against the wall and they put that back foot down, the foot they’re trying to stretch, and they’ll end up leaning forward. I think this is not as effective and for a few reasons. One is they end up bending their upper body or their back too far forward when they’re doing that, so you never really get a stretch from the calf – you’re just bending at your spine. And the second thing, or for that matter they go the other direction, so where they might be leaning too far back, which is not as good for your spine; your hinging more at your spine and you’re not targeting the group that you’re trying to get to.

So I think what’s more effective is to use a towel roll or a sheet or something rolled like this, and I’m going to place this here. So if I’m trying to stretch my left calf, I’m going to put my forefoot, the front of my foot, on the towel roll. The heel stays down on the ground. Front leg, my right leg goes here with the knee slightly bent. Back heel stays down and I strengthen out my knee – back knee straight.

Now, I’m already getting the stretch and this way I don’t have to lean as far forward to get that stretch in that calf. But if I want a stronger stretch, all I need to do is I need to shift my weight forward. I’m not bending forward at my spine or my waist, I’m shifting my weight forward. So I’m bending my front knee and I shift my weight forward. Back stays nice and straight. If I want a little bit of that extra stretch on that, I tighten up my butt or my glutes on that side that I’m stretching. So when I tighten those guys up, I get a stronger stretch down there on my calf because it makes my hip extend or go backwards.

So you want to hang out and you want to hold this position for about 60 seconds or a little bit more even, but you want a moderate stretch. You don’t want a very strong stretch so you won’t be able to hold that position. So I think this is much more effective to do your stretch in this position than using some of the other traditional ways of stretching.

Now, I hope you guys find this helpful, but I want you to make sure that if you have any low back issues, any hip problems, knee, ankle, any other sort of these problems, make sure you get those checked out by your physical therapist or your physician before you try any of these stretches.

So don’t forget to leave a comment and please subscribe to the channel, and I’d love to hear from everybody. Thank you.

 

Shin Splints in Runners – Causes, Prevention and Treatment for Runners

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shin splintsThe New York City marathon is one of top 10 marathons held in the US every year. In preparation many aspiring runners and competitors had to scale-up their training. From personal experience, with an increase in training frequency comes an increased risk of injury.

[Read more…] about Shin Splints in Runners – Causes, Prevention and Treatment for Runners

Intermittent Fasting – Is it Good To Starve Yourself?

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For thousands of years various cultures have practiced fasting for religious or health reasons.  Over the past decade or so, fasting has been gaining popularity again in the medical and fitness community.   Intermittent fasting is not dieting; it is a life style and lots of people are using it to lose weight.  Weight loss is not the only potential benefit of intermittent fasting, increase in growth hormone, reduction in blood sugar levels and better heart health are amongst some of the other health benefits.

 

Intermittent fasting – how does it work?

[Read more…] about Intermittent Fasting – Is it Good To Starve Yourself?

Foot Exercises For Plantar Fasciitis

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How to strengthen foot muscles to treat plantar fasciitis permanently. Weakness of foot muscles or poor motor control is a major cause of a lot of foot problems and injuries. Plantar fasciitis is such a common problem for a lot of runners and athletes. In order to treat plantar fascitiitis you need to work on improving the strength of various foot muscles and specially your big toe muscles – flexor hallucis brevis and flexor hallucis longus to support your arch. This video shows you how to strengthen foot muscles, improve motor control and awareness of your foot.

Tweetables:

Guide and Easy Solutions for Plantar Fasciitis  [Click To Tweet]
Plantar Fasciitis: Exercises to Relieve Pain [Click To Tweet]
Techniques For Treating Plantar Fasciitis  [Click To Tweet]

Massage For Achilles Tendonitis

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Cross friction massage for Achilles Tendonitis. Achilles tendonitis or Achilles tendinopathy / tendinosis (degeneration of the tendon) can often occur after an injury or because of overuse. This is such a common problem for runners and is often due to poor foot mechanics, weak foot muscles and weakness of glute muscles. This is one technique to break down scar tissue or adhesion which often form with chronic irritation of the achilles tendon. You still need to address the factors causing this problem so it doesn’t reoccur. But for helping the tissue heal, this is a great techniques.

Tweetables:

Self Massage for Achilles Tendonitis  [Click To Tweet]
How to Fix Your Own Achilles Tendonitis [Click To Tweet]
Treating and Recovering Achilles Tendonitis  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a cross friction massage technique for those of you who have Achilles tendon issues. So if there is an injury or a partial tear, sometimes you end up forming scar tissue or adhesions that form along the injured area, and sometimes also tendinosis which ends up turning into tendinopathies and other problems in that Achilles tendon. So if there is thickening or adhesions or tender points and things get painful and irritated, or it’s scarred down with some minor tears or those things, you’re going to work at breaking down the scar tissue and improve the circulation in that local area.So usually I do a technique, it’s a two-person technique and I’ll usually do it on a patient of mine, but I’m going to show you how you can do it yourself. And so there are a few different ways to do it, and so I’m going to show you one way to self-mobilize that tendon yourself.

So, first of all, Achilles-tendonitis-type issues, for that we’ll look at…here’s your Achilles tendon. This is the area we’re targeting right here. So your gastroc, your calf, turns into Achilles tendon which goes and inserts or attaches right at your calcaneus, which is your heel bone, so right at this point. So now, what are some of the sites or areas where you can have problems? So you can have issues essentially anywhere along that tendon, and more commonly you’re going to find problems around this area, less in the upper part through here or on the upper part of the tendon, more commonly right in here. Now, you can have problems on the medial side, which is the inside part of the tendon; you have them on the lateral side. It doesn’t have to be on exactly one spot. You can have it more posterior or even the back of the tendon. You can also have it anteriorly sometimes, in the front of the tendon, and that’s where people end up missing it sometimes and they can’t get to it because they can’t get to it, they can’t mobilize it or break down the scar tissue. And lastly, you can also have it at the insertion point right here where it attaches. A lot of times you’ll find people who end up getting bone spurs or thickening right at that point because it’s been constantly getting irritated through that area.

So when you think about doing scar tissue mobilization and breaking down those adhesions, you want to look at finding those tender spots. So let’s say this is the painful area. And sometimes it can be a little bit difficult locating the exact spot. You might find that you’re on the right area, you’re working on it, and you say, “Well, but I don’t feel that there anymore. Oh, but I feel it in another spot.” So you might have more than one spot. You might have to work through the range of that tendon to get things moving again.

So what I like to do is, let’s say I find this particular spot, so I’m going to grab on either side of the tendon and I’m going to work at it in different directions. So I might go up and down first. So remember, I have a little bit of pressure applied through here and I’m going back and forth. Now, if I had more of the issues let’s say on the inside than outside, more posteriorly, more on the back, I might even do a little bit of dorsiflexion, which is bringing my foot up. So you can see how that tightens up that tendon there just a little bit, and now I can work at…this is more exposed from the back, so I can get to that tender spot, I put a little pressure on that and I move back and forth, up and down. And I can go side to side also, put a little pressure. I can move side to side.

So it’s not pleasant, obviously—it’s tender—especially if you’re working on a thick spot. So it’s not comfortable, but over time it gets easier as the area gets softened up, you break down the adhesions and it’s much easier to move. So I look for it and I work on it, work on it, work on it. Spend about five to 10 minutes if you can. Ten is the max. And you can do that two to three times a week. You want to work on it almost every other day.

Now, you might find that, “Okay, well, I can get to this spot, but how do I get to that anterior part right here, which is usually hidden?” For that, what you want to do is you want to relax the foot more. So I do some plantar flexion, bringing that foot down. Now, you can see it puts a little more slack, so it allows me to get behind that. So I’m trying to get basically behind that or in the front of that tendon.

So let’s say if we’re more on the medial side, we use my finger and I can stabilize with the other finger and I can get in here and I can do stuff this way too.  I’m on the front side of that tendon. I’m working on it doing cross friction work. Or I can grab with my thumb and then I can get in the front and I go up and down, and then I can go back and forth also to break down the adhesions.

And if it’s down through here, same principle, I can use my thumb and I can go across and I can look for tender spots and I can work through there, or I can go up and down. So you’re basically applying pressure and you’re moving back and forth, firm pressure. This doesn’t do any good if I just do this. It doesn’t really help it at all. I’m just moving the skin.

So as I said, find those tender spots and get in there and work on those, and it’s going to be a bit tender but over time it gets easier and easier. And make sure you compare it, left versus right side, and see if you’re having issues, whether both sides are as tender. It might not be that you have ongoing issues necessarily, but it might be just that the tissues are just really tight and they’re just not moving.

If you have any questions, make sure you leave a comment.

Moxibustion Eliminating Pain Without Drugs

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Moxibustion Eliminating Pain Without DrugJust read on the news FDA is looking to implement stricter controls on use of Vicodin and other hydrocodone-based painkillers.

Nearly three out of four prescription drug overdoses are caused by prescription pain medications, according to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, which is a 300 percent increase in sales since 1999.

Deaths from prescription painkiller overdoses have risen 400% for women and 265% for men since 1999.

In 2010, 2 million people used prescription painkillers without a prescription and for getting high.  These number are very alarming and I have treated lots of patients who were addicted to pain medications because of chronic injuries.

There are much safer alternatives for pain relief and healing injuries. A good friend of mine who’s a holistic medicine practitioner introduced me to Moxibustion which is steadily gaining popularity in the US.

If you suffer from chronic pain, Moxibustion is a natural therapy for pain relief that can help ease discomfort without the side effects of medications and surgery.  I find it to be really helpful for treating low back pain and knee  arthritis.

It’s a traditional therapy used in Chinese medicine that involves burning an herb over or near an acupuncture point to improve circulation and stimulate flow of Qi or energy for pain relief and faster recovery.

Dried leaves of the herb Mugwort (Folium artemisiae) are ground into a paste called Moxa. This mixture is then heated on the patient’s skin or on acupuncture needles.

Tweetables:

Benefits And Uses Of Moxibustion  [Click To Tweet]
Types Of Moxibustion Therap [Click To Tweet]
Physiological Effect Of Moxibustion  [Click To Tweet]

History of Moxibustion

The practice of moxibustion was first seen in China around 500 BC and according to some authors it was extensively used by the legendary Chinese doctors Bian Que. It was a way to treat chronic conditions without use of acupuncture for patients who were too weak for the traditional needle-based therapy.

The practice has become common throughout Asia, particularly in Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand. While moxibustion is often considered a form of acupuncture, experts actually think that moxibustion came about first. Acupuncturists often combine the two therapies for maximum pain relief.

Benefits And Uses Of Moxibustion

Moxibustion was first used to prevent illness and promote healing. Today, practitioners use it more for pain relief by increasing blood flow to areas damaged by injury, balancing flow of Qi (energy) and stimulating specific acupuncture points along meridians.

The heating effect of burning moxa is similar to using a heat lamp or heating pads that are often used to ease stiffness associated with arthritis; the heat also provides a soothing effect while relaxing the muscles and improving circulation.

Moxibustion is also used in combination with other substances like ginger to treat abdominal pain, menstrual cramps, and diarrhea. Since it’s used to treat all sorts of different health problems and injuries, it is important to choose an experienced practitioner.

Types Of Moxibustion Therapy

There are two types of moxibustion therapy: direct and indirect. Direct, in which the moxa is burned directly on the skin, is rarely used in the United States because of the potential for a burn injury. Though the traditional Chinese practitioners consider the burn and resulting scars as an important part of the therapeutic effect.

With indirect therapy the herb mixture is wrapped into a cigar-like stick called a moxa pole, which is lit and held an inch or two from the skin. The tip of the pole is moved in small circles above the acupressure point till the areas gets a little red and warm. This is done for 5-10 minutes to slowly build a sensation of heat, allowing for the therapeutic effects of heat and oils from the mugwort to penetrate the skin without risk of burning. The oils have penetrating and blood activating properties independent of the radiant heat.

A third method combines indirect moxibustion therapy with acupuncture. The herb is burned on top of an acupuncture needle while the needle is inserted into an acupuncture point. This method is used to deliver heat to a specific acupressure point via the acupressure needle. Moxibustion combined with acupuncture is one of the most common methods used by Acupuncturists to use this therapy for pain relief.

For best results, heat should be applied to the specific acupressure point for a specific length of time. Though some people notice relief right away, you may need to have several sessions to get lasting benefits.

Physiological Effect Of Moxibustion

Heat from the burning herb increases warmth, helps with pain relief and stimulates specific acupressure points resulting in overall well being. The herb mugwort is a natural emmenogogue, meaning it increases blood circulation.

Chinese practitioners believe that the burning moxa increases a specific frequency of infrared energy, which supplements the life force, or “qi,” that your body needs to heal. They also note that applying indirect heat to specific pressure points can raise the body’s immunity and metabolism.

Moxibustion For Pain Relief

Moxibustion therapy is very effective for treating all sorts of injuries. It’s generally done after the acute stage of injury, once the heat and swelling has gone down. I have had good success using moxbustion in combination with acupressure points for back pain, knee arthritis and other joint, muscle and tendon injuries.

It’s also a wonderful treatment for relieving muscle stiffness and menstrual cramps. For back pain, most experts recommend that moxibustion should be used with acupuncture. I have also seen good results when it’s combined with acupressure or cupping therapy.

It is used to:

• Reduce swelling, pain and stiffness.

• To remove blockages and congestion due to accumulated blood and fluids after an injury.

• To warm the injured area which is cold to touch (Vata and kapha condition in Ayurvedic medicine). This is often seen in chronic injuries where pain is worst in cold or damp weather.

Contraindications / Precautions

Indirect moxibustion therapy is very safe as long as the hot elements are handled safely in a controlled setting. For maximum safety without reducing effectiveness, a small slice of ginger can be placed on the skin to shield it from the burning effect of the heat.

Avoid if you have a fever.

Avoid if you have active inflammation, redness and heat.

Avoid over the abdominal area and lower back during pregnancy.

Avoid over open skin lesions or ulcerations.

Avoid if skin sensitivity is poor, eg. diabetic neuropathy.

For patients with sensitivity to smoke or those with respiratory problems, smokeless moxa sticks are also available.

Additional Posts You Might Find Helpful…

1.   Joint Pain Relief Using Natural Solutions

2.  Acupressure – Pain Relief Without Meds

3.  Ayurvedic herbal remedies for joint pain – treatment for hip pain and injury

4.  Magic Of Cupping Therapy

5.  Stop Using Ice Bad For Healing Injuries

 

Big Toe Flexibility And Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

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How to treat plantar fasciitis? Lack of big toe flexibility is a major cause of a lot of chronic injuries like plantar fasciitis, heel pain, patellofemoral pain, inside knee pain, hip pain, Iliotibial Band syndrome and low back pain. You need to make sure you have good flexibility of the big toe so you can walk and run properly. If you are missing big toe extension range or the ability to lift big toe up towards your shin, it’s much harder to bring your weight over your foot keeping the foot, shin and knee alignment. In this video I am showing two tests checking for: big toe extension range and plantar fascia tightness. Also, how to breakdown adhesions and loosen up sticky spots along the plantar fascia.

Tweetables:

New Techniques For Treating Plantar Fasciitis  [Click To Tweet]
Plantar Fasciitis Exercise Treatment [Click To Tweet]
What is Plantar Fasciitis and how do I treat it?  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to answer a question that a bunch of you guys have been asking me about foot-related problems, so plantar fasciitis to Achilles tendon issues. And especially for you runners, I got a few of you runners who have asked me this question to go over some key causes of these problems.

So I’m going to go over one major component that I often find is overlooked when looking or assessing for these problems, and not just these foot-related issues but lower leg problems and all the way up the chain, and we’re going to talk about mobility of the big toe and just more specifically your first MTP joint. So we’re talking about this joint right here, which is your metatarsophalangeal joint. So this is right here. So the big toe, this is not the part we’re talking about – this joint here. This is what we’re talking about, this joint right here. How much extension does this joint have? So if you’re lacking extension in this joint, it’s going to impact how you are able to walk and how you are able to run.

So, for example, if I am standing and I’m going to bear some weight through that joint and I shift my weight forward, I need to have enough extension in that big toe. If you pay attention right here, if I’m missing that range of motion in that big toe, what am I going to do? I’m going to work at, as I’m trying to go over I don’t have enough range, I’m going to change the way I move. So I might bring my foot outwards, inwards, more often than not I’m going to bring it outwards. So I might get a little bit possibly even more pronation or over-pronation or possibly a flatfoot position where I’m going to change mechanics all the way up the chain, loading up the tendon differently, more inside knee issues, patellofemoral problems, so all sorts of things, and just reducing efficiency and your performance because I just can’t get over that foot properly.

And a couple of components having to do with that are, one major part first is I’ve got to make sure that I have enough extension in that joint range of motion. So normal is around 80 degrees or so, so I have more than enough range of motion at that joint. So first you’ve got to make sure, do I have enough range of motion at that joint, enough flexibility at that joint, so joint mobility? And the second part is I’m going to see, does the plantar fascia have enough mobility too or are there restrictions along that fascia? So your plantar fascia is this thick band that runs at the bottom of your foot or through this area which is giving your arch support with your muscles, all your foot muscles too as well as big toe muscles. It gives stability to that foot, shock absorption, ability to accept load as well as push off. So if this is too tight, it’s going to change things also up the chain.

So for testing it if the plantar fascia is too tight, we’re going to look at, if I’m going to sit down right here, all I’m going to do is I’m going to shift my weight forward a little bit. So I loaded up the foot, especially that forefoot right through here. Now that forefoot is loaded up and all I’m going to do is I’m going to grab my big toe and I’m going to see if I can raise it up, if I can lift it straight up. How much tension is there as I’m lifting up that big toe? You compare it to your left versus your right side. So in this position, remember as the foot is loaded up, a lot of the restrictive structures are that plantar fascia because it’s too tight. It’s not going to let that big toe come up as easily. Because remember we checked it already, when I am in passive position I had good range, so another structure that could be limiting it is my plantar fascia possibly, possibly some of the other soft tissue and some other structures too. So I checked and I see that, okay, when I bring it forward, load it up and I try to raise it up, I’ve got to get about 30, 40 degrees, so if I can’t and if I’m stuck down here somewhere just can’t even bring it up, then you know once you’re standing and walking and running, you’re loading it up, it’s just way too stiff through there.

So third thing I’m going to do is I get in here and I kind of feel around and I see, do I have any sticky spots? Is it tight somewhere? Is it painful? Is it sore? When I find those spots, those tight spots there, I’m going to use a lacrosse ball. All I’m going to do is put this here and just kind of work at freeing up that tissue. I might go up here, different spots. And let’s say if I find a spot, maybe I find a spot on the inside, and I’m going to work at bearing some weight on it and just roll back and forth or in circular fashion or out through here and just kind of break up the thickening in that, or scar tissue that might be there, free up that tissue, mobilize it—it’s just too hard to stretch that tissue—and that will help relieve some tension also.

For the joint itself you might have to mobilize that joint. That’s a whole other video. And for strengthening and motor control, balance issues with the foot and the muscles, that’s another video. So I’ll post some more of those also for you guys.

Alright, hope you found that useful.

Core Strength Exercise For Athletes

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Core strengthening exercise all athletes must have as part of their training routine. It’s a more advanced technique, builds dynamic core stability and shoulder strength. Make sure to keep the form, focusing on keeping the abdominals tight, squeezing the glutes and setting your scapular stabilizers while doing the exercise.

Tweetables:

The Best Abdominal Exercises for Athlete  [Click To Tweet]
The Best Exercises for Complete Core Strength [Click To Tweet]
What Is The Best Workout To Strengthen Core Stability?  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you another core strengthening exercise and we’re going to use a ball for this one, too. Remember, I mentioned in quite a few of my other videos that you want to work on building a solid foundation whether you’re engaging in athletic activities, you’re a runner or just stability and strength.

So what we want to do is, for this exercise, we’re going to use this ball. This is similar to one of the other exercises I showed you guys earlier; we’re going to add one more component to it. So what I’m going to do, and I’m going to start here, ball’s going to be under me, I’m going to walk myself out in a pushup position. Now, here’s where you have to work on getting positioning down. So what you want to do is you want to work on pushing up with your…doing a pushup. I set my shoulder girdle there, my scapular stabilizers.

Next thing I do is I want to pull my lower abdominals, my belly button, up towards the spine. So I kick in my lower abdominals. I’m not doing hip flexion, which is this movement. That’s not what I’m doing for this exercise. That’s bending at your hips. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m kicking in my lower abdominals, I’m setting my stomach muscles, my core, and the next thing I do is I squeeze my butt muscles, my glutes. So now I’m set and stable in that position. Once I’ve got that position, I can maintain it and I can work on, I can either hold the position, and do static holds, work up to 60 seconds at a time. And so this is an easier position. As I step out further, it gets more challenging, so I work the exact same thing. I kick in my lower abdominals, my glutes, and I set it and hold that position. So as you get better you get further and further up.

So now the other thing you can do is you can work on walking back and forth as you’re maintaining that position. So I come out here, and then I might go out here. Now, I’m holding that position again in this butt here, and so what I can do is I can also say, “Okay, well, maybe I’ll walk up to the side a little bit.” Then I’ll go up to my right side, I go to my left side, you go to your right side, so back and forth and forwards, and you work at going backwards. So you’re just working on stability and you’re working on maintaining your balance as you’re holding that position throughout that movement.

So, great way to get really strong and work on good stability for that core. So the ball, because of the unstable surface, it forces you to work on multiple planes while you’re maintaining that core stability. And work on increasing the time. If you start noticing your form starting to go and you’re starting to arch at your low back too much, you’re losing your lower abdominals, you can’t keep your glutes tight, and you start to shake too much, move too much, and you really start losing your form, maybe it’s time to back off and stop. So as you get better at it, increase the time.

Alright, hope you enjoyed that video. Make sure you leave a comment, and if you have any questions you can also shoot me an email through my site. I respond to all my emails. And subscribe to the channel. Thanks, guys.

Pain Relief Without Meds…

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acupressure for lower back pain

Acupressure is an ancient therapeutic method used to relieve stress, promote good health and treat various diseases.  It is similar to Acupuncture except that it’s done without use of needles.

Acupressure involves application of physical pressure on trigger points that lie along the Meridians.  Meridians are channels within the body where Qi or energy flows to maintain equilibrium and health.

[Read more…] about Pain Relief Without Meds…

Hip And Core Strengthening Exercises For Running

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Here’s another really cool glute and core strengthening exercise. It’s a bit more advanced, but those of you looking for something more challenging you are going to love it. It’s also one of the safest and most effective exercises to get stronger for running. It’s don’t put pressure on the joints and builds dynamic stability.

Tweetables:

Best Strengthening Exercises for Endurance Runners  [Click To Tweet]
Hip annd Core Strengthening Moves Every Runner Should Be Doing [Click To Tweet]
How to Build a Runner’s Core  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I want to show you another hip and core strengthening exercise similar to the one that I did in my last video using this ball, but we’re going to, basically, I’m going to use a kettle bell here that’s stable and doesn’t move you could use for this exercise at the other end to hold on to. So, once again, the purpose of the exercise is to strengthen your glutes, your hip extensors, which will help you bring the leg backwards, kick the leg back, as well as working on core stability, your low back muscles. So, very, very important for good pelvic control and stability whether you’re playing sports, running or just day-to-day activities to have really strong glutes—glute med, glute max—as well as good lower abdominal and core stability through that area.

So what we’re going to do is we’re going to use the ball again and this time—last time the way we did that was we did a pushup position and then I had you work at lifting your leg up. So you had a wider and more stable surface. Now, if I want to make it a little more challenging for myself, I can roll back on the ball a little bit back and hold on to this here, the stable surface, and I can do the exact same thing. I would tighten my stomach muscles and I would squeeze my glutes and I’m going to work at lifting up again and I will hold that position. Now, of course, the ball being an unstable surface, it wants to move. So I will work at, I can hang out here, I can do hip abductions, bring my leg out, I can do hip extensions there, I can even work at rolling back and forth in that position, keeping that control and staying on the ball. So that way it’s a lot more challenging for me because I have to maintain stability on the ball as well as working at doing hip extensions with that.

So, really good way to get strong through all these muscles here. As I said, you don’t need…this is a kettle bell, you could use anything that’s stable, you could even grab onto the leg of the kitchen dining table or something, essentially anything that’s stable and you can hold on to and then work on some extensions with it. So try it out. It’s a great exercise.

And if you have any questions leave a comment. Make sure you subscribe to the channel and click on the link below to check out my site. I have tons of stuff on it and we’ve got some new stuff coming on the site, too, soon. So, thanks guys.

Strength Training For Runners Strong Core and Glutes

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It’s essential to improve core and hip strength for athletic activities and day to day tasks. Strong core and glutes are the foundation for avoiding chronic injuries and pain free running. This is a great non-weight bearing exercise to work on core and hip strength. It doesn’t cause load on your knees or hips and is a safe exercise to become really strong.   Check out the video below….

Tweetables:

Hip And Core Strengthening Exercises to Improve Your Runs  [Click To Tweet]
Exercises to Make You a Stronger, Faster Runner [Click To Tweet]
Core and Glute Exercises for Runners  [Click To Tweet]

Single Leg Bridge Test For Core And Hip Strength

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Single leg bridge test is a great way to test strength and stability of the core, pelvic and hip muscles. If you are an athlete or runner you want to make sure you have a solid foundation with good core strength and glute strength to prevent injuries and for optimal performance. You are setting yourself up for injuries if you don’t test and work on building a strong foundation before running. All sorts of different injuries: patellofemoral pain, Iliotibial Band Syndrome, hip injuries and low back pain can be due to weak core and hip strength.

Tweetables:

Single Leg Bridge Test  [Click To Tweet]
Using the Single Leg Squat to Test Core And Hip [Click To Tweet]
How to Do the Single-Leg Bridge Test  [Click To Tweet]

 Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a quick test to determine if you have core and pelvic stability and whether you need to work on strengthening your core muscles, and then your glutes also or your pelvic muscles. So this is important not only for day-to-day activities, walking, but definitely for athletes and runners especially if you want to have good core as well as that pelvic stability. And if that’s not there, and often this is the case with a lot of injuries whether it’s low back injuries, hip-related issues and knee problems—so a lot of stuff is going on further up in the chain in the foundation as we’ve talk about of course in the other videos—that needs to be corrected first. So we’re going to work at figuring out if you have good stability at that pelvis, can you maintain the alignment, and if you’re not, well, what are the things that are happening and what do we do about it?

Alright, so this is a simple…it’s a bridging test and we’re going to do a single-leg bridge. So the first part of the test is going to be just rising up. So as she lifts up there, we want to see, is she able to maintain alignment of the pelvis? Does the pelvis stay level or does one side drop down? So if this side drops down, we know some of the muscles are not firing in those glutes. So that’s the big one we want to have in mind for this specific exercise. We’re targeting the glutes. And if the glutes are not strong or if there’s not enough stability of the core muscles, you’re going to have your low back muscles, the erector spinae or your hamstrings kicking in to compensate for that movement. So you might feel some cramping or excessive fatigue in the hamstrings or the low back muscles because the glutes are weak and they’re not able to maintain that alignment. So if I had a dollar or a stick or a ruler and I placed it here, this would be nice and level. It would not be tilting to one side or the other.

So what she’s going to do is going to come back down. So now when she lifts up this time, so we’re going to raise up, a little bit lower, so right about there, okay, so that is just stable, so we have to make sure the glutes really tighten up the butt muscles so you’re stabilizing. And now she’s going to lift one leg up. So we want to make sure she can maintain that alignment, the whole side doesn’t dip down when she lifts the leg up. Okay, good. Bring it back down. And she’s going to always compare and check with the other side. So as she lifts up, same thing, and she’s really firing these glutes on this side right now to hold that pelvis stable so it doesn’t drop down on that left side. Good, go ahead and bring it back down and come back down.

So you’re checking to see, one, the alignment of the pelvis, does it stay level; second thing is whether your hamstrings start to work more, they start cramping or tightening up by getting more strain on them, or your low back starts to really feel it, whether there’s a strain or cramping of those muscles, which means that they’re starting to overcompensate and the glutes are not firing to maintain that bridge position, and also to not to work at maintaining the alignment of that pelvis. Then, if that’s the case, then you go back, you’ve got to work on strengthening the glutes, and of course your core muscles too, always, to work on getting that good stability. And that’s important especially when you’re walking, single-leg activity; you need to have muscle stability on that pelvis so it does not drop when you’re walking and running and doing things because otherwise it’ll cause a lot of mechanic problems up and down the chain causing all sorts of issues for you.

So pretty good test, simple test, so test yourself and how long you want to hold it. Let’s see, work at holding for 30 seconds to a minute, see if you can do it for a minute. Can you really hold that position or do you really start shaking all over the place and you start to cramp in the spots that we mentioned trying to compensate because you can’t hold that position? So test yourself, and if you have weakness then you go back and you work on those glutes, and I’ve shown in some of the videos, other videos that I did, working on glute strengthening. So you work on those guys and you come back and retest yourself.

If you have any questions, leave a comment. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. And go check out my site. I have tons of information on at the site and we’ve got a pretty cool program coming up on recovery and injuries, specifically for athletes and runners. So stay tuned and keep checking out the videos. I’m going to keep posting information on how the program’s coming up. I think you guys are going to love it. So if you have any questions, leave a comment. Thanks, guys.

[Read more…] about Single Leg Bridge Test For Core And Hip Strength

How To Remove Kinesio Tape?

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Quick video on how to remove Kinesio tape from skin. If you are using tape after injuries and for pain relief, here’s quick video on do’s and don’t of removing tape safely off your skin.   Click below to check out the video.

Tweetables:

Kinesio Tape: Get the Facts on This Taping Method  [Click To Tweet]
Kinesio tape: What Is It and How To Remove [Click To Tweet]
The Kinesio Taping Method  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So, a quick video on…I’ve been showing you guys some taping techniques, so I wanted to shoot this video just to let you know how to take the tape off. It’s a common question a lot of my patients ask, “How do I remove the tape?” So, just so you don’t irritate your skin. And there are different types of tape. This is a Kinesio tape we have on. This is a bit easier to remove than some of the other tapes which are stickier, such as the Kendall Wet-Pruf, and usually those tapes you don’t leave on for more than 48 hours. Kinesio can be left on once you know that the skin tolerates it. If it doesn’t cause any itching, redness or irritation and you tolerate it well, you can leave it on for four to five days.

But for taking it off, regardless, we try to follow the same principles so you don’t irritate the skin, you don’t rip the skin. So what you want to do is, now she’s going to do it, so remember you don’t want to grab the tape and you don’t want to yank it. You don’t want to pull that tape hard like people with Band-Aid. That’s not what you want to do, because remember the tape’s been on there for a few days and the glue that’s holding the tape there, it can sometimes rip or irritate the skin. So you hold this, you tack the skin down, pull the skin away from the tape, and you gently work at peeling the tape, and then you come down to the next point, tack it down, and you pull.

Sometimes after taking a hot shower it’s easier to remove that tape. I even had people use oil to get some of the tape off, rubbing either even vegetable oil for that matter or mineral oil, different types of oils, and it helps get the glue off easier too. So the big thing is don’t yank on it, don’t irritate your skin, tack your skin down, hold it with the other side and then gently continue to remove the tape.

So I hope that helps, and of course, remember, even if the tape feels good but you’ve started noticing that it’s causing itching or irritation of your skin, you want to ideally switch the type of tape you’re using or avoid using the tape. That’s not a good strategy. Your skin’s just going to get irritated.

And the second thing is you want to give your skin also time to breathe. So let’s say you’ve been using tape for three or four days and now you take the tape off but you decide you want to get the tape back on because you’re going to be up on your feet. Again, it’s probably better to give yourself a day or two for your skin to breathe again before you apply that tape again.

And yeah, that’s it. I hope that helps. And if you have any questions, leave a comment, and make sure you subscribe to the channel. Thanks, guys.

Kinesio Taping Patellofemoral Pain

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Kinesio taping for patellefemoral pain, after knee injury, chondromalacia patella, knee arthritis, etc. This is a very effective taping technique for all sorts of different knee injuries and pain. Helps restore normal knee joint mechanics to relieve knee pain, swelling and restore movement. It helps support the joint and unloads irritated tissues while providing some neuromuscular feedback to local muscles. Tape can be left on for 1-5 days to teach the joint to stay in the correct alignment.

For quicker recovery from patellofemoral pain access Build Better Knees Recovery Kit.

Tape used in this video:

  1. Rocktape Kinesiology Tape :
  2. KT Pro Tape Pre-Cut Strips : This is another Kinesio tape.  Available in pre-cut strips so makes it easier to apply.

Tweetables:

Kinesio Taping: Knee Injury, Chondromalacia Patella, Knee Arthritis  [Click To Tweet]
How to Kinesio Tape a Patella Knee? [Click To Tweet]
The Effect of Kinesio Taping on.Patellofemoral Pain  [Click To Tweet]

Beat Knee Injuries With Side Plank For Core And Hip Strengthening

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Side Plank position is great exercise to strengthen the core and glutes for low back pain, hip strengthening and knee pain. Good core stability and hip strength is a must if you are recovering from knee injuries or trying to want to prevent knee injuries. For all you runners out there, building a strong foundation with core stability and glutes medius strength is must if you want to do perform at optimal level and prevent chronic running injuries. This is also a good non-weight bearing strengthening exercise which won’t put pressure on an injured knee or hip.

Click here to download free report “5 (easy) Exercises To Beat Knee Pain And Run Stronger.  (Hint: It’s Not The Ones You Think)”

Tweetables:

Side Plank Hip Strengthening Exercise  [Click To Tweet]
Side Plank position Exercise to Strengthen the Core and Glutes [Click To Tweet]
Knee Pain: What You Need to Know About the Core and Hip Strengthening  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I want to shoot another video for you guys on core stability. We’re going to do two variations of the side plank position to strengthen your core muscles, but we’re going to add another component to that which is really focusing on your deep layer, your transversus abdominis, for core stability. Not just lifting up and not maintaining that forcibly while you’re in that position, but it also allows to work on your hip muscles too. So the way we’re going to do that is—and this is important for essentially if you have any old low back issues, you have hip problems, a lot of knee-related problems. For those of you who are athletes and runners, remember I talked about it in some of my other videos that the first rule is building that foundation where you have a good trunk or core stability, and then number two is getting those hip muscles stronger so your base is strong. When the base is strong, extensions all would work well.

So the way we’re going to do that is, again, this is the side position, so for the side plank we’re going to do the easier version first. The easier version, what you’re going to do is you’re going to have your knees bent till you get the positioning and the form down, you’re able to get stronger, and then we’ll go over the leg straight. So remember you’re working on this hip, so she’s working on her left hip, so glute strength, because she’s raising it up, she’s doing hip abduction effectively on that side to get those glutes stronger, glute medius especially which is essential for pelvic stability when you’re walking, running and all sorts of single-leg activities.

And the second part is working on the core. And since the elbow is bent and she’s bearing off of that left side, pushing off of that, doing a lot of scapular stability, shoulder girdle stability too to hold that position, that’s very important. So if you have shoulder issues, then you want to obviously be a bit more careful with that position, or if you’re not strong enough to hang out there, so modify the…or actually, if you have those shoulder issues, avoid that specific movement.

Okay, so what we’re going to do is, first step, remember, you fire your lower abdominals, your core. So we want to get those transversus abdominis firing. So the way we’re going to do that is take a deep breath, as she exhales she’s going to pull that bellybutton straight back and she gets to feel with her own hands those muscles firing and pushing up into her fingers. So she’s stabilizing through there. But once she kicks them in, she has to continue breathing normally. I don’t want you to hold your breath while you’re doing the exercise.

So now she’s got those on, so her base is fired, right? Those guys are working. The second step is now she’s going to raise up and she’s going to hold that position. Now, that is the easier version because the knees are bent. So she has to work on kicking in her shoulder girdle muscles, her abdominals are on, and she’s raising up that position and she’s working on her glutes firing too. Go ahead, come back down. So that’s the kind of position you want to work at maintaining the alignment is important. If you start noticing you start shaking too much, your form starts to go, you can’t hold the abdominals, you start arching your back to compensate, to hold that position, you start fatiguing, time to come back down.

Your goal is to progressively work at increasing the time. So let’s say we start with a goal of 10 to 15 seconds first, get up into that position, and as you get better at it increase the time to 30 seconds or even more for that matter. And the reps you can work up – you can go from eight to 10 repetitions. That’s going to be plenty. If you’re doing 10 repetitions, holding about a minute each one, that’s quite a bit for holding that position.

So at that point you want to progress, you want to go to that next level, which is the harder part, which will be with your legs straight. So now she’s going to have her legs straight. So in this position, feet are together. Same setup, basically. And she’s going to fire these guys first, set your base, and then the next step she does is she pushes up and she raises up into that position, and she’s going to hold that spot again. So, good way to fire these guys, core is on, shoulder girdle is working, and come back down. And control the descent down, too; don’t just plop back down.

As you get better at it, you can even work at, as you raise up, you could lift that arm up to increase the challenge. You can even work at lifting the top leg up. So a lot of variations that can be done once you get the basics down, you can hold the position. And there are a lot of other positions where you can even add some movements with that arm, the top arm, too, but let’s start with this first and you guys get these steps down, and we’ll progress from there. So as I said, essential, very, very important for athletes, runners, and anyone who’s trying to get stronger, a lot of those core muscles stronger for even day-to-day activities.

Alright guys, so make sure you subscribe to the channel, and if you have any questions leave a comment. You can click on the link below and you can go to my site and you check out lots of information there. And we’ve got a pretty cool product we’re working on; it’s coming out pretty soon for those of you who are athletes and runners. A lot of you guys have sent me questions and with things you want included in the program. I think you’re going to love it. It’s going to be quite awesome for it has tons of information on all sorts of physical therapy, holistic medicine techniques, for injuries and all sorts of other stuff we’ve got on it. Alright, talk to you guys soon. Bye.

Core And Hip Strengthening For Iliotibial Band Syndrome

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In this video, I am going to go over how to strengthen core and glutes for IT Band Syndrome. Whether you have low back pain, hip pain or knee injuries, it’s essential to work on core stability and hip strength. Your transversus abdominus, multifidii, pelvic floor and diaphragm muscles make up your deep core muscles. Gluteus medius, gluteus maximus and other hip muscles are very important for pelvic stability.

IT Band Syndrome is a very common problem especially in runners. This is a good strengthening exercise to correct mechanics involved in IT Band pain.

Tweetables:

Exercises to Treat IT Band Syndrome  [Click To Tweet]
Knee Injuries: Strengthening Exercises for IT Band Syndrome [Click To Tweet]
How to Aggressively Treat IT Band Syndrome  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. We’re working on a pretty cool project and it’s a program we’re designing for runners and athletes and it’s going to be really cool. I think you guys are going to love it. So it’s going to be coming up soon, so make sure you keep checking on the channel and also on the site to figure out when the program’s going to come out. And especially those of you who are runners, I think it’s going to really benefit you.

So I wanted to show a quick video for you guys for some running-related injuries as well as if you have some low back issues; we’re going to talk a little bit about strengthening. More specifically, we’re going to talk about some core strengthening and then also some hip strengthening, which is extremely important when you’re suffering from low back injuries, and for that matter a lot of knee-related issues too. And especially for those of you who are runners, you have those IT band issues, patellofemoral problems taking place. So a lot of that stuff is related to what’s happening further up in the chain, right about your core and your hip.

So think about it as you’re working on building a foundation first, and your foundation comprises of your core, your abdominal stability, and the second part is we have to work on hip stability, hip strength. So this region is stable and strong. It sets a good foundation and a good base for the rest of the system to work effectively. And this is not just for hip or knee or ankle issues or injuries but I’m talking even further up the chain too, so shoulder-related or arm stuff. So you have to have core stability. And when I say core I am talking more not about the rectus abdominis or your obliques. It doesn’t matter if you can do a thousand sit-ups. That doesn’t necessarily translate over to good solid core stability. Those are your prime movers, your flexing, your trunk, your side-bending. So a lot of those muscles are working at that point. So we’re talking about your deep abdominal layers, your deep low back musculature, so your deep abdominal layer being your transversus abdominis layer and your multifidi in the back. You have your pelvic floor muscles, and on the top you have your diaphragm. So you’re creating this force couple for working on stability.

And it’s not just the strength from those muscles, the more important component is the firing pattern, so feed-forward loop. So what that means is that these guys need to fire first. It’s a timing issue. So a lot of people have chronic low back issues or chronic issues going on down the chain, knee-related stuff too. The firing isn’t taking place at the right time. So before I initiate a movement, before I reach out with my arm, before I run, before I kick, if I do any of these movements I have to stabilize the center, the core. So once this is stable, I have a good base to take off and perform my movement. So your base has to be strong in order for the extensions to work properly. So think about it that way.

So I find that when I treat a lot of runners, or for that matter other athletes or people suffering from various types of injuries, I find that they’ll spend a lot of time, for example, working on their quads, their hamstrings, a lot of these other groups which are around that whole region, which is important, but they neglect the more important part which is getting this stability down first. You get this down, this is not going to be as much of an issue. This will take care of itself too.

So let’s start with…this is one simple exercise I’m going to show you, yet very effective, and then we’re going to hit a couple of different things. We’re going to hit your core, transversus abdominis, and multifidi, we’re also going to work on the hip muscles. So the first part we’re going to do is, so this is a side-lying position, and clamshell exercise we’re going to call it. So what we’re going to do is you’re going to have your knees bent and you’re going to have your feet on top of each other. First, we’re going to kick in your core. So what you’re going to do is, we’re going to pull this up. What you want to think about is that when you’re pulling these guys in, it’s almost as if you’re sucking your gut and your bellybutton is going straight back. That’s how you’re activating those guys to stabilize that region. But I don’t want you to continue holding your breath as you’re holding that stability or that position.

So the way we start off with this—and when you do yourself you can feel. So you could put your hands…so here’s your anterior superior iliac spine, ASIS you call this, that bone right in front. So go about an inch above that point and maybe out to the inside a little bit, so you can gently put your own hand right about there. So take a deep breath as she takes a deep breath, and when she exhales, breathes out, is when she’s pulling your bellybutton straight back. And so she actually pulls that back, you’re going to find that transversus abdominis is going to be pushing out at your fingertips. So do it again. So she takes a deep breath, and as she exhales she’s going to fire those guys and she’s going to stabilize and strengthen the lower abdominals in this base right here. So now those guys are on, and then you resume your normal breathing while you’re holding that position. You’re stable through there. You’re also becoming more aware of this region firing and kicking in before you perform another movement.

So second part that you’re going to do is then you’re going to work on, your feet stay together, you lift your knee up. So she’s working on her glutes now. She’s doing hip abduction, external rotation. So you’re really firing that glute medius. Very, very important for pelvic stability when you’re walking, running or any kind of single-leg activity – have to have good pelvic stability. So if that’s not there, your pelvis is going to keep collapsing and you’re not going to do well down the chain.

So she’s going to work on working at…so it seems like an easy exercise but when you do it properly you really work on those muscles. So as you get better at it, you can add some resistance to it. So she could technically even put her hand right here so as she lifts up she could resist with her other hand. But even better might be we might use one of these bands, the Thera-Bands. So I’m going to loop it around. I’m going to go just above the knees right around here, maybe right around that level. So now when she does that, same thing, fire those guys first, and then you get to the top and you hold it there.

Now remember, you don’t want to kick so far off that you’re starting a lot of rotation, a lot of movement through here. You want to keep this stable, and then work on this, isolate those guys. Good exercise, especially in the beginning stages of rehab and you’re just getting going and you can’t do a lot of weight-bearing stuff because it hurts here or you can’t tolerate for your back. Good way to start getting those guys working.

So in the next part you can add to it is when you get to that top, you’re hanging out there and you can do some oscillations, so one, two, three, four, five. Now you’re really firing because you’re kicking those guys in. So you got this on, stable base, and you’re really firing those glutes through there. So, great way to do that.

Make sure you do both sides, you compare always and you see which side is weaker, which side is stronger. And were going, in terms of reps, I want you guys to work progressive work up to 15, 20 repetitions. You’re really going to start to feel a burn here. And in between reps you can come down and relax through there, and then fire it again and then do it again. Or, if you get really good at it, you can keep it on throughout that whole movement, throughout all your repetitions. So now you’re really working at stabilizing the whole time you’re working on these guys.

So I hope you really find benefit from that exercise and it’s a really good one. Start adding that as part of your routine especially you guys who are athletes and runners, which often neglect that fine motor control type of component that needs to happen.

Subscribe to the channel, and you guys can click on the link to the website. Go check out a lot of stuff there. And don’t forget, we’ve got that pretty cool product coming up, so keep checking on the channel and on the website and you’ll find information on it. Alright guys, thanks.

Magic Of Cupping Therapy

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cupping therapy for low back painCupping therapy is an ancient treatment that has been around for thousands of years and is still used in Traditional Chinese Medicine today.

It’s an under utilized treatment which can help with all sorts of different health problems.

 

What Is Cupping Therapy?

Just like the name suggests, Cupping therapy involves use of a cup or cups, which are applied over the skin and a vacuum is created inside the cup.  This is done using either heat (fire) or a suction device (manual or mechanical) to pull and hold the skin and underlying muscles inside the cup.

[Read more…] about Magic Of Cupping Therapy

All You Need To Know About High Intensity Interval Training

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High Intensity Interval Training

When it comes to fitness and weight loss, there is an overwhelming amount of information on the internet.  For most people this information overload is too much to handle and prevents any action at all.  For those who do start a fitness program, sticking with a program that gets slow results can be very frustrating.

 The right program shouldn’t require hours and hours of exercise and should get results within a reasonable time.  There is a lot of research supporting the use of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as a fitness program to get rapid results with little time investment.

Though I personally follow a more complementary approach to exercise and fitness – incorporating Yoga, weight training and some aspects of cross fit, I wanted to share more about interval training since it’s becoming a popular form of exercise.

What is HIIT?

HIIT is an enhanced form of Interval Training which improves fitness, boosts weight loss while building strength and stamina.  It has a unique approach which combines very intense exercise with intervals of rest and recovery to achieve optimum workouts. Not only does it build muscle strength but it also improves cardiovascular endurance.   It’s intense, fast, requires less time and gets rapid results.

How To Do HIIT Workouts?

Though there are lots different HIIT programs, the basic protocol is alternating high intensity workout followed by low intensity or short rest periods for a total of 20 minutes.

To prevent injury, it’s best to do a light warm up before starting the high intensity exercise.  A high intensity bout of cardio or strength training can last anywhere from 20-60 seconds, followed by a low intensity or rest period ranging from 10-75 seconds.

A period of high intensity training is designed to achieve maximum muscle fatigue, which translates to maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 Max) by the body.  Basically, the maximum amount of Oxygen your body can use during exercise.  This is used as one of the most important measurements of overall cardiovascular fitness and aerobic conditioning.

Exercising close to the VO2 Max will result in an after-burn effect – even after the end of the workout session, intense oxygen consumption will continue in the body for 24-48 hours. Higher oxygen consumption means more calories are burned.  Since one liter of oxygen consumption burns about five calories, intense training is a sure way of shedding off extra pounds really fast.

Interval training also helps boost metabolism much faster than a steady intensity workout.  It helps build lean muscle much faster than steady intensity training.  Due to the high demand on the body, HIIT workouts should be done only two or three times a week.  It’s ideal for someone who’s looking for an intense work and has limited time for exercise.

HIIT Programs

In the last 20 years or so HIIT has been undergoing an evolution with modifications and improvements in training methods. Here are some of the more well known HIIT programs.

Tabata method – This protocol came into being in 1996 following a study done by Professor Izumi Tabata of Japan. The study was aimed at finding the most ideal protocol for aerobics. This protocol consists of twenty seconds of high intensity exercise, upwards of 170% of VO2 Max.  Which is then followed by 10 seconds of recovery. The entire workout lasts 4 minutes, covering 8 cycles. Training by this method is done two to four times a week.  This is a really tough workout routine, so best for someone who is really fit.  If you are just starting out, some of the other methods might be better to start with.

Turbulence method – Developed by a former athlete, Craig Ballantyne, this method combines cardio and weight training.  It alternates between 1-2 minutes of cardio and 8 repetition weight training sets.   Recommended for 3 times a week, each workout session lasts 45 minutes.  This is great for people who are interested in building strength but also want cardio as part of their routine.

Little method (also known as Gibala method) – This HIIT method was created by Drs Johnathan Little and Martin Gibala in 2009.  It is based on cycling at max intensity (at 95% of VO2 Max) for 60 seconds, followed by cycling at a low intensity for 75 seconds.  These fast/slow bouts are repeated for 12 cycles, which takes 27 minutes to complete the workout.  This is done three times a week. This method requires about 30 minutes so better for those with a little more time and who are at least at an intermediate level of fitness.

Timmons method – By Professor Jamie Timmons, where you can pic any activity (bike, running, etc.)  Start with a 3 minute warm up.  Followed by 2 minutes of light exercise and then 20 seconds of all out exercise.  Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 sets.  Finish with a 3 minute cool down at the end.  It is done 3 times a week with the warm up and cool down at the end.

Research Supports HIIT

According to research HIIT has a powerful effect on improving overall fitness and very quickly. It helps burn calories faster, during the workout and for up to 48 hours after the workout.  It boosts metabolism and builds lean muscle mass while promoting fat loss.

Boosts Human Growth Hormone Production

Unlike other exercise methods, HIIT has been shown to boost Human Growth Hormone (HGH) production….aka “anti-aging hormone”.

Improve Insulin sensitivity

It improves the body’s ability to utilize insulin.  Insulin works to convert blood sugar into stored sugar (glycogen) in the liver and muscles.  Improved insulin sensitivity means better utilization of blood sugar and less sugar (calories) being stored up in the body as fat. The Journal of Obesity published a study report in 2011 by Boutcher and showed that HIIT decreases insulin resistance while promoting oxidation of fat in skeletal muscles.  This study may even point to the positive effects of HIIT in helping prevent Diabetes.

Weight Loss

By pushing the body to workout at such a high intensity level, HIIT helps with faster weight loss by burning more calories during and after the workout.

Boost Metabolism

HIIT affects the body’s metabolism in a number of ways.  It has a positive effect on both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. It increases the resting metabolic rate during training and for more than 24 hours after the training bout. It also boosts VO2 Max or cardiovascular fitness much more in comparison to long workouts.  Shown in study by King, East Tennessee State University, ‘comparison of effects of interval training versus continuous training’.

Better Endurance And Athletic Performance

HIIT also increases the body’s lactate threshold.  This is the level at which lactate builds up at a rate faster than it can be removed from the body.  Usually, people reach this threshold at about 50-80% of their VO2 Max.  HIIT training pushes you to workout above the normal lactate threshold level, resulting in a higher lactate threshold.  A higher lactate threshold means being able to exercise or train harder and longer…often translating to better performance.

Tweetables:

All About High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)  [Click To Tweet]
Guide and Benefits of High Intensity Interval Training [Click To Tweet]
Hiit it! What you need to know about High Intensity Interval Training  [Click To Tweet]

Pros And Cons Of HIIT

There are lots of health benefits of HIIT listed above, ranging from faster weight loss, increased metabolism, reducing insulin resistance, boosting Human Growth Hormone levels and overall health and fitness.  It is also really powerful training method for athletes looking to enhance sports performance.   If you have limited time and are in fairly good shape, HIIT is a good option to get in better shape.

I my view HIIT is not appropriate for a number of people due to risk of injury and the demands it places on your system. From pregnant women, obese individuals, those with previous injuries (knee, ankle, etc.) and serious medical conditions like heart disease, etc.   Also, if you are really out of shape, might be better to get to a moderate level of fitness before starting HIIT.

If you are looking to start HIIT, better to get cleared by your doctor before you start.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Don’t forget to leave a comment or question.

Share it with loved ones and friends who might benefit from this info. Also share it on Faceboook and also tweet it on Twitter as well and feel free to plus one on Google Plus as well, too. This article is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your physician, physical therapist or medical practitioner before starting any exercise program or trying any of the herbal products/recommendations mentioned in this video/article.

What are the Top 5 running knee injuries?

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What are the Top 5 running knee injuriesRunning related knee pain is a very common repetitive strain injury that affects a large number of runners.

There are a lot of structures around the knee that can get injured and painful with running and athletic activities.

5 most common running related knee injuries

1. Anterior Knee Pain or Runner’s Knee  (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) / Chondromalacia Patellae

2.  Jumpers knee (patellar tendinopathy / tendinosis / tendonitis)

3.  Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)

[Read more…] about What are the Top 5 running knee injuries?

Natural Secrets For Knee Pain Relief

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Natural Secrets For Knee Pain ReliefKnee pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems I see in my clinic.  Studies indicate that almost 25% of the US population suffers from this problem and it’s one of the most common injuries which brings people to their doctor.

These numbers are even higher for athletes.  If knee injuries are not treated properly they can turn into chronic problems often resulting in people taking medications or having surgery.

[Read more…] about Natural Secrets For Knee Pain Relief

Front Split Hamstring Stretch

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This is an advanced hamstring stretch in a front split position. Not only will this get the hamstring muscles it will also stretch the iliopsoas and the front hip capsule. The opposite direction of the legs locks the pelvis making sure the rang doesn’t come from the low back and allowing you to stretch the hamstring more effectively. Don’t force this movement, work up to to prevent injury. Or start by doing the easier hamstring stretches and work up to this advanced hamstring stretch. 2-3 mins rocking back and forth to gently stretch to get the sticky spots.

Tweetables:

How to Stretch Your Hamstrings to Be Able to Do Splits  [Click To Tweet]
Great Stretch To Loosen Up Your Hamstrings [Click To Tweet]
How to Do Half Splits Pose [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you an advanced hamstring stretch technique. This is quite powerful and you might want to work up to this position, but it’s a really good way to stretch out, not only hamstrings, you can really get the opposite-side hip flexors also. So, like I said, this is an advanced technique, so kind of work up to it and try out some of the easier ones that I’ve shown before you build up to this one, but definitely very effective.

It’s basically instead of a side split you’re doing a front-back split. So you can use a stool on the side if you need support initially, but as you get better at it you don’t need anything else, and you can have two of them if you need to initially, too. What I’m going to do is I’m targeting stretching out my right hamstring on this side, and as I get better I can go further and further down. So I’m going to start here first, and I like to keep a slight bend in that knee. So that protects my back a little bit too as well as allows me to control the movement a bit better. So the stool is right here next to me. I can support myself on that. I can put my other hand here. Putting that left leg with the opposite leg back not only stretches up my hip flexors on this side—it’s a really good stretch on this side—but it also locks my pelvis so that this hamstring will get a better stretch as opposed to if I have this leg further up and I’m bringing that leg forward. So now that locks it in so you’re going the opposite direction, so it’s going to really give that hamstring a much stronger stretch.

Always maintain upright posture. So if I want a stronger stretch, I can just shift my weight forward a little bit, sit into it a little bit. Now, I could even lean forward a little bit. Now, when I lean forward, make sure you’re hinged at your hips, you’re not rounding at your back. That’s not going to get you the stretch. That comes from the low back. You want to hinge at your hips and you want to lean forward – same principle as some of the other stretches we’ve used before. So the hip hinging, that really gets that hamstring all through here, the back, even the butt, and even some of the calf muscles too. If I bring my foot up, I’m going to get some of the calf too. Very effective. As I lean forward, I hinge forward and I sit in and shift my weight down, I’m going to get a really good stretch, my hamstrings and my hip flexors opening up the front of my hip on my left side.

A very effective stretch. As I said, as you get better and better at it, you can bring your hands down further, you can get rid of the stool and you can be in this position. So work up to it and be careful as you’re getting to these positions. Take your time. Don’t force that movement. And as I said, it’s a much more challenging, much more difficult and advanced stretch.

Leave a comment. If you have any questions, make sure you subscribe to the channel, and click on the link below.

Oh, by the way, make sure you can hang out in those positions for a couple of minutes oscillating back and forth. So you don’t have to be in a static position. You can move slightly back and forth, leaning forward and hinging back, just so you can hit those sticky spots. So try both sides.

Quadriceps Tendonitis Treatment With Cupping

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Quadriceps tendonitis or quadriceps tendon injury treatment using cupping. Helps remove congestion and blockages, improves circulation, stretches scar tissue, muscles and fascia. Cupping has been used for thousands of years and is still practiced throughout the world and routinely practiced in TCM to heal injuries. Quadriceps tendon injury can be as a result of direct trauma to the muscle or tendon or after a forceful contraction of the muscle…usually an eccentric contraction while coming down onto the leg when jumping. It can also be due to overuse of the quadriceps tendon from too much running or over training. This has really helped my patients get better much faster. Can do cupping for 5-10 minutes with or without movement.

Tweetables:

Cupping and Quadriceps Tendonitis Injury  [Click To Tweet]
Knee Quadriceps Tendon Inury Treatment [Click To Tweet]
Advanced Cupping Techniques  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you something pretty cool to treat quadriceps tendonitis issues and I use this a lot with my patients. We’re going to do some cupping, and cupping is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncturists use it is used by a lot of different health practitioners throughout the world.  It is very effective for improving circulation to the local tissue.  It opens up and removes blockages, removes stagnation and congestion in a tissue as well as promotes circulation to that area.   If you have stagnation and blockages that are remo
ved and you have better circulation to the tissue, the tissue is going to heal better.

Second thing it does is the suction that holds the tissues up and separates layers, so stretching the tissues – different layers of muscles, fascia and connective tissue get stretched as well.  It’s a great way to get at that quadriceps tendon.

I like to use an herbal oil first to massage the tissue first.  I get right in that area and massage that area, and I’ve also shown some cross friction massage techniques in the past in some of the other videos that help to break down scar tissue and adhesions that form all along that quadriceps tendon. Remember that it sits just above your kneecap and that’s where a lot of times people get these injuries.  If you come down too hard while you’re jumping and runners also often get these quadriceps tendon issues due to overuse, or due to a forceful landing of the leg causing a strain or micro-tears in the tendon, that develops into a tendonitis or tendinosis or irritation of the tendon.

So after doing your cross friction massage techniques I’ll use cupping.  You have to pick the right size cup from the setdepending on the size of your leg and your thigh muscle.  I’m going to place it right above the knee here and I’m going to suction that straight up. As you can see, it pulls that skin right up. I’m doing it in this partially bent position. You can also do it with the leg straight too. So it works quite well, and if you notice I’m trying to pull that up and it doesn’t really come off. Here’s my kneecap and it’s stretching out all those fibers.

Now, you can leave it there in static position.   Just leave it there for five to 10 minutes and it stretches all the tissues and opens up channels there. But the other thing I like to do sometimes with my patients is that I like to put the cup on and then I like to have them do some movement.   Gentle movement back and forth as they’re moving while it’s maintaining that pull there. Now, we’re not doing any squatting or loading of that tendon. We’re just doing gentle oscillations and movement to see if we can promote circulation there while we’re stretching it also and relieving that tension there.So I’ll just have them do 10, 15, 20, 30 times, moving back and forth, and then we’ll just leave it there for about five to 10 minutes to stretch the tissues.

After you do that, follow with heat. So I always use heat. I don’t use ice. My patients put heat there. You can also do a warm water soak with Epsom salt, baking soda, even ginger water sometimes. Depending on the condition, I’ll use various combinations. So, great way to do that, and you can remove the suction by pulling this up. You can see a little bit of that redness there. You can get some redness in that tissue where you’re doing that. Obviously, be cautious first time you use the cups. Don’t suction it too tight and make sure that your skin is not too sensitive. If you have thin skin, if you’re diabetic, and if you have open wounds or a cut, don’t do the cupping. And first time you’re doing it, don’t pull it up too tight. Test it out five minutes or so and then see how it does.

Like I said, you can have a little redness and usually some people get more red than others depending on the severity of the condition and how much congestion or blockage is going on in that area, and it can last a couple of days sometimes or even a little bit longer but it should go away. And so do it every other day or two in between your cupping sessions, so you can do it every other day or every two days and then do that again for about five to 10 minutes.

It’s an awesome technique. I love it and I use it for a lot of my patients and it works great with these conditions. I use it with tons of runners and it works really well.

So if you have any questions, leave a comment. Thanks.

Kneecap Mobilization For Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

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Restoring proper patellofemoral mechanics is essential for optimal functioning of the knee joint. Kneecap stiffness or patellofemoral joint hypomobility is often a problem with patellofemoral pain syndromes or runners knee pain. I also find this to be a major issue after knee surgeries: arthroscopic knee surgery, total knee replacement, etc. Any type of strain or injury which results in knee swelling, tightness, pain resulting in adhesions of muscles and connective tissues can cause impaired mobility of the kneecap. This is a physical therapy joint mobilization technique to improve the flexibility of the patellofemoral joint. Caution: avoid if you have history of knee dislocations or hypermobility of the kneecap.

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you guys a mobilization technique specifically for the kneecap. It’s a physical therapy technique to stretch out the kneecap or actually stretch the fibers around the kneecap. So we’re addressing the patellofemoral joint. Patella is your kneecap and femur is the thigh bone where the kneecap sits on. So often post injury if there’s swelling, there are adhesions that are formed around that joint, you can have things…the kneecap gets kind of bound up and it doesn’t move as well. It could also be due to the tibio femoral, the other joint, the main knee joint, which is your femur and tibia, the bottom bone. That not moving effectively also can affect this joint. For our purpose, we’re going to try to mobilize this joint.

Post surgically I see this a lot after arthroscopic surgeries, total knee replacements and a lot of other types of injuries, and then definitely runner’s knee, patellofemoral issues – people often are bound up through here and the kneecap is not moving effectively. So more often the quadriceps being really tight or quadriceps tendon, or the lateral structures, IT band and a lot of these other structures, some quadriceps expansion inserting into the outside border of the kneecap, getting bound up. So all these tissues are tightened up and that’s why often there’s that lateral drift of that kneecap. Alignment is a little bit off. So that mechanically affects the transfer of force and load through that joint and can cause problems.

So we want to get that joint moving better so it moves good, up and down moves properly, side-to-side movement is good too. So the way we’re going to do that is you’re going to basically look for the sticky or tight spots, and then we’re going to get in there and we’re going to stretch out that tissue. So let’s look at the top and bottom. So here’s the top of the kneecap. I’m going to grab on with the heel of my hand and the bottom part is held with my fingertips. Now, remember, I’m not pushing down into it, I’m going at parallel planes, I’m doing this movement. I grasp it and I move it back and forth. I go down and I hang out here and I stretch. I might go out to the side a little bit. So remember, you’re looking for not just straight down, you’re looking for different angles to see where things are tighter. So I’m going to hang out there, oscillate, I’m stretching— one, two, three, four, five—for about 20, 30 seconds, and I come back out of it. And I go to another spot and I’m oscillating it and I stretch, stretch, stretch. I’m going to go to the side now and I’m going to grab it here and glide from the lateral to medial going inwards, so from outside to inside, and I’m stretching. So really a lot of time people feel pretty strong stretch along this whole border here when you do that.

So let me give you a closer view. Come on over. Don’t be shy.

So now what we’re going to do is just to show you guys a top view. So here is the kneecap that I was showing, top of the kneecap, the bottom, up and down movement. So I grab through here and I’m just moving that up and down, just hanging out here and just stretching. Just hold and you will pulling all along this border. Right up here—this is the outside border—grab it in a diagonal. I’m stabilizing with the other hand so the leg doesn’t move as much from this side and I’m stretching that tissue again 20, 30 seconds, move to the next spot outside here, grab the kneecap, and I’m gliding it inwards so it’s going essentially this way. So I’m basically hitting all these different spots to see where I’m tight through here. So as I said, often this top and the whole outside area can be quite tight on runners. IT band issues, patellofemoral issues, with a lot of these problems you can really stiff and bound up.

So try that and do that about…spend four to five minutes or so in that position just kind of working through that whole tissue to free it up. You get a little sore initially. Do it like every other day and as you get better at it, as it gets easier and easier, you can mobilize it a bit more. And the soreness should subside as the mobility improves in that tissue.

Now a word of caution. So if there’s hypermobility, excess mobility or if you’ve had dislocations of the kneecap, you obviously don’t want to do that. You don’t want to mobilize the joint further if you’re already unstable through there, there’s a history of dislocations of that kneecap whether due to anatomic positioning of the joint or other issues. So don’t do that if that’s the case. But the rest of you, for your runner’s knee issues, IT band issues and patellofemoral issues, you want to get a lot of this stuff moving better. Get in there and mobilize that joint and get yourself moving well.

Alright, hope you find that useful. Subscribe to the channel, click on the link below, and leave a comment. Thanks.