Pain Free Performance — Posture Alignment Therapy

Live Pain Free!

Egoscue

OH MY ACHING FEET! PLANTAR FACIITIS

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Lately, we have been having more and more people come in with plantar fasciitis pain.   It’s a burning pain in the feet that worsens with every step.  Sometimes the pain is so intense it can even feel like the foot is landing on a nail. 

The plantar fascia is the tough sheath of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the toes like a fan on the underside of the feet.  When you have this foot pain it is because there is inflammation in the fascia.  The question to ask is why is the fascia inflamed?  The answer is because there is improper loading at foot strike.  Plantar fasciitis is not a foot problem, it is a posture problem.  Because you are not appropriately using your big leg muscles and hip muscles, you have left your feet to fend for themselves.  The foot is smacking down on the ground with each step bearing the brunt of the entire weight of the body without the support of your legs, hips and back working as a team.  All of these muscles and joints must work together to keep you out of pain.

If you stand sideways in a full length mirror, imagine a plumb line that starts at your ankles and goes straight up.  Do your ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and head line up on the plumb line?  If they don’t, that’s why you have foot pain (and hip pain, shoulder pain, knee pain and who knows what else)!  Now, turn and face that mirror.  Are the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in parallel horizontal lines and do your feet point straight ahead?  If not, then you cannot use the muscles of your legs, hips and back to help your feet, leaving them at risk for this intense pain called plantar fasciitis. 

You can do something about your foot pain and it’s easy!  You need to get your body’s weight-bearing joints to line up in straight lines and at 90 degree angles which is the intended design of the body.   We are the original all-terrain vehicle!  How do you do it?  The answer is one simple word, one amazing method of pain relief – EGOSCUE.  Call me at Pain Free Performance and I’ll get you started.

 

Do You Have Knee Pain?

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Do You Have Knee Pain?

Do you have knee pain?  One of them is stiff and aches in the morning. Or you get knee pain going up stairs or walking downhill. You don’t cross your legs anymore because that knee hurts.

So, you ask your doctor about it and she says that extra ten pounds puts that much more pressure on the knee. Or maybe, she says it just goes with getting older. My question is this:  how come that extra weight or age only affects one knee??? The answer is: because your knee pain is not the problem—your knee pain is the symptom but the problem is your alignment!

If you stand in front of a full length mirror, look at how your hips, knees and feet line up. Are your hips level?  Do your knees point straight ahead? How about your feet? Do they splay out or point straight ahead?  Probably one foot points out more than the other. If your feet and knees point in any other direction than straight ahead, then at some point you will get knee pain.

It is really very simple; the knee is a hinge joint so if the feet and or knees point off to the side, you’re putting a torque or twist at that joint. With every step you take, you’re asking that hinge joint to take on a twist under a load that it is not designed to handle. A couple of years of that twisting and you’ve got knee pain.

So, they’ll tell you to lose some weight and next they’ll want to replace the knee. I just saw an ad on TV about a new knee replacement—to sell you on a knee replacement! Of course, sometimes it’s necessary, but for most of us that original is just fine—the design has been around for a few thousand years! Either way, new knee or the ones you were born with – the advice is the same: fix your posture and your alignment and you won’t have knee pain!

Are you ready to have a life free of knee pain?  Do you want to get back to doing the things you love to do without pain?  If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, let’s find out what Egoscue can do to help. You can reach us by phone at 434-296-0600 or via email at painfree@painfreeperformance.org. If you aren’t in the Charlottesville area, no problem!  We work with folks from all over the country via Skype. We can get you the help you need without you ever having to leave your house! To free yourself from knee pain, you have to get your body balanced. When you do, you can get back to doing all the things you love to do, PAIN FREE!
QUESTION: What activity have you stopped doing because of your knee pain?

TREATMENT FOR BACK PAIN

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If you have suffered through a severe back spasm you know just how excruciating back pain can be! Treatment for back pain usually takes you to the doctor to get muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory medications and perhaps a referral for physical therapy, massage or chiropractic.  I know….. I spent years in physical therapy treating patients with back pain using hands-on techniques, exercises and other treatments.  Don’t get me wrong… I am not against taking appropriate medication or having hands-on work directly on your symptom.  The problem with that approach is that you never correct the actual underlying cause of the back pain. The real cause of back pain; neck and shoulder pain; hip pain or most muscle pain is musculoskeletal imbalance in the body.

Our muscles are designed to do a certain job.  When muscles are out of balance,  some muscles are working too hard (causing them to get over-developed, tight and painful) and other muscles get weak.  These imbalances can pull our bones out of alignment and cause wear and tear on our joints. So what is the best treatment for back pain, neck and shoulder pain; hip pain or any muscle pain?  The Egoscue Method!
The Egoscue Method focuses on muscle imbalance. Sometimes where you hurt isn’t why you hurt.  Let me give you one example (out of 100’s of possibilities) of how misaligned hips can cause back pain!  Let’s say you sit all day at the computer. This causes the hip muscles to shorten and get tight.  These hip flexor muscles are now pulling the pelvis  into a tipped forward position.  Now, every time you get up and walk, the changed pelvic position causes the muscles of the buttocks and the back of the thighs to become weaker, creating imbalance. This imbalance pulls the low back  into a swayed position, the leg bones and feet are pulled outward  and the upper back will eventually round forward pulling  the head and shoulders along with it. The result?  Back pain!
The good news is you can bring your body back into balance by doing corrective exercises that will allow your injuries to heal.  The key to the Egoscue Method begins with a thorough evaluation of your body.  By examining photos, looking at the way you move and function,  we can determine which muscles are too tight and which ones are too weak.  This gives us the information about your body to design corrective exercises to restore your body to proper alignment.  The result?  Improved function, and NO PAIN!
What a better way to start your New Year than being Pain Free!
In Good Health,
Cindy Meyers
P.S.  –Give me a call @ 434-296-0600 and learn more about how we can help you

CINDY GETS MELT CERTIFIED

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What is M.E.L.T ??
Six years ago everyone was asking……

“What is Egoscue”??   Well…. Here I go again….

In my quest for understanding all that I can to empower my clients with tools that will offer them the best care possible, I discovered a method called MELT. This stands for Myofascial Energetic Length Technique. This technique involves the connective tissue in our body.

What exactly is connective tissue?

If you ever pulled the skin off of a piece of chicken before you cooked it, you will see a thin, white sheath…that is connective tissue. And as our manager so kindly pointed out… vegetarians can think of peeling an orange and seeing the protective coating over the fruit as the connective tissue. Connective tissue covers every cell, nerve, muscle, bone and organ in our bodies.

When the connective tissue becomes dehydrated, it loses its buoyancy and can no longer do its job to support and protect our muscles and joints. In addition, the nervous system becomes over-stressed and the tissues cannot act as a communication network. That leaves you with tissue that is now bound down to the muscles and a nervous system that stays in a state of “dis-ease” (meaning the body can’t rest). When you go to move, the muscles still move but the connective tissue is pulled causing that stiff/painful feeling.

When you MELT you push fluid back into the tissue and your proprioception (how your body senses its enviornment) improves. At PAIN FREE PEFORMANCE, we are combining MELT with Egoscue to enhance the body’s ability to RESTORE POSTURE…. CREATE BALANCE….LIVE PAIN FREE!

We are offering a MELT class on Wednesdays at noon… come try it out. If you want to learn more feel free to call me at 434-296-0600