Pain Free Performance — Egoscue Certified

Posture Alignment Therapists, Certified by Egoscue University

joint pain

The Best of Both Worlds

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We humans are social creatures, so we love doing things in groups.  We learn better in groups so any kind of class is a wonderful idea to most of us!  That is especially true for exercise classes. Having people around is stimulating, encouraging and helps us go beyond what we think our limitations are.  This is also true for our classes using the Egoscue Method for postural alignment.

Some of you know about Egoscue from coming to Pain Free Performance because you were in pain and could not find a way out.  Back pain, neck pain, ankle pain, shoulder pain, knee pain – we’ve seen it all!  That is the essence of Egoscue – total body alignment that restores function and relieves pain! 

Egoscue class is a great way to connect with other folks who are enjoying the benefits of a pain free aligned body.  Keep in mind class cannot be specific to each participant’s particular issues.  Most classes meet a couple of times a week and your body needs more training to re-adapt to proper muscular balance for posture.  You guys that have your Egoscue exercise menus know that a body needs the daily reminder of what those muscles are designed to do!

For those of you who haven’t visited us, this postural alignment work is individualized and specific to you, your body, your pain and dysfunction.  Exercises are prescribed (called menus) that have a sequence of muscular activation and/or deactivation best suited to your body.  There are no two bodies alike and there are rarely identical menus.  Class should not be viewed as a “one size fits all” approach to body alignment and pain relief – it should be another fun activity that you participate in because you’re feeling great after doing your menu!

Doing your individual menu gives you a wonderful opportunity to tune into your own body and inner self.  Listening to your body while performing your Egoscue menu is a perfect meditation time or just simply quiet alone time.   If you’re going to class but you don’t have a menu…let me encourage you to get one.  It will change your life and it will make all of the other stuff possible.  

Going to class is great!!!!  Keep at it!  Class, hiking, biking, running, swimming, tennis – move and enjoy what you love to do — your body will like the extra movement and extra attention.  And, do your menu also.  You can have the best of both worlds!  

 

ARTHRITIS

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Perhaps you’ve visited your physician lately because of joint pain, and she tells you that you have arthritis.  Maybe she mentioned “degenerative joint disease” – which sounds even worse!  Well, these two things are basically the same thing – inflammation of the joint.  Many people think that the arthritis diagnosis is inevitable especially as we get older, not realizing that there is something to do to correct it, not just mask the symptoms with pain relievers. 

There are several different kinds of arthritis but we are talking about Osteoarthritis (OA).  This is the most common form of arthritis.  It is often called “wear and tear” arthritis and happens when cartilage in the joint breaks down creating the painful symptoms and joint swelling.

Sometimes OA presents on just one side of the body and not the other.  You might wonder why since both sides of the body are the same age! It all has to do with joint position.  When we are out of alignment (perhaps due to an injury) then we “load” one side of the body differently than the other, favoring the injured side.  When this happens, then that side will “wear” differently and faster which begins the arthritic process.  Sometimes people with osteoarthritis experience pain in all of their joints.  When joints are not lined up, the surfaces of the joints wear unevenly creating friction.  This friction causes inflammation, pain, and stiffness ….arthritis

One of my clients has arthritis in her hands…stiff sore inflamed joints-ouch!  But it’s not really about her hands at all.  Her shoulders are rounded forward, causing her elbow and wrist to be out of alignment.  All the joints are not moving well together and there is friction in every text and email she sends.  So, we’ve got to get her shoulders back into proper alignment, which will get her elbows in place and on down to her wrists and fingers. 

At Pain Free, we teach people how to get their bodies back to the original design – joints back in an equal bilateral position and the rest of the body aligned in strait lines, at 90 degree angles to the line of gravity.   So, don’t despair if you are experiencing arthritis pain – the healing power of your body is amazing!  You just need to know what to do and we’re here to help.