Men's Wallets: Source of Your Hip Problem?

Most men stick their wallets in their back pockets.  They just put it back there and don't give it a second thought till then need to get something out of it.  Some of these wallets can be quite thick with credit cards, money, pictures, receipts and more.  I've seen some that are probably about 2 inches thick!  However, like the post I wrote about women and their purses, these wallets can cause problems to men without their even knowing what's going on.  And you men probably thought you were getting off easy since you don't carry a heavy purse around. :)

Let me use the example of the 2" thick wallet.  A man places this wallet in his back pocket.  Then he sits down, he gets in and out of his car, he sits back down at his desk and through out the day this process is done multiple, multiple times.  Each time you sit down you are sitting on this extra 2".  Now visualize how this displaces your hips...it will bring one hip up higher then the other every single time you sit down.  This obviously wrecks havoc on your body.  You may not feel it directly in your hip, it could be radiating up through your back without knowing a direct cause.  So now you know what might be causing you some pain.

For you men you have two easy solutions.  One being put your wallet in your front pocket.  The other being to make sure you take your wallet out of your back pocket each time you sit down.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Is Your Purse the Source of Your Pain?

I had a conversation recently with a client who realized how heavy her purse is and how much it is adding pain in her arm and shoulder.  It's a conversation I've had with many women, as well as men with their wallets.  So let me explain more in detail as this simple thing us females do everyday that gets so overlooked and could be the major source of your pain.

For many women, they carry large over-sized or overstuffed purses.  Most of them will carry this on one arm or shoulder without ever changing to the opposite side.  What seems to be an almost mindless daily activity can wreck havoc on your body without you knowing it.  If you think about it, a purse with all it's contents can weight as much as 25 lbs.  So everyday you are picking up a 25 lb weight with the same arm, same shoulder.  Then you might complain every day about that particular arm/shoulder and don't know what you are doing to make it hurt so much.  The thing is, it's we usually look for the *big* issues of what happened?  Did we fall? You can't remember what you did to cause this pain and it doesn't have to be a big thing such as a fall to have your body in pain.  Pain tells us something is wrong.

So a few solutions would be to make sure you switch your purse back and forth between the left and right sides.  Vary the sides every time you pick up your purse and switch back and forth when you are out for long periods of time.  Go through your purse and purge out contents that you really don't need...get rid of the excess weight.  Lastly, use a 'backpack' type purse, a purse that has straps to go over both shoulders for even disbursement.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Post-Op Massage Rx

According to the Archives of Surgery, they have concluded that "Massage is an effective and safe adjuvant therapy for the relief of acute and postoperative pain in patients undergoing major operations."   The controlled study showed that patients in the massage group experienced a faster rate of decrease in pain intensity.  They also found that massage therapy improves postoperative anxiety and pain management.  After surgery a patients muscles become very tight and sore for a variety of reasons.  The main reason, of course, being the surgery itself.  Rather graphically, the body is cut into and things are spread out and moved in ways most of us don't want to think about.  This puts a lot of pressure on the whole body, not just the area that is having the surgery.  There is also the recovery of laying around being dormant in a hospital bed that can play havoc on your body.  The muscles can start becoming atrophied, even in small ways that will make you sore.

So the next time you know someone getting ready, or who has had recent surgery, consider getting them a massage instead of the get-well cards, balloons and flowers.  

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.