Common Conditions and Treatments

Attention deficit disorder is epidemic in our society and is an organic (physiological) as well as social phenomenon. One useful modality for attention deficit is to get your awareness into your body and your grounding. Exercise, meditation (especially with a teacher or group to keep focus) and bodywork can be of tremendous help in grounding and focusing.

There are many types of arthritis. Most types of arthritis respond beautifully to gentle movement and massage. Appropriate exercise is also very helpful. Counseling, support, answers to questions and work to increase the pain-free range of motion in the joints affected can be extremely helpful in increasing the ability to move and decreasing the pain.

Training to support the carpal tunnel, realignment of the small bones of the wrist to open it up, and education about wrist health and wrist movement (most wrist pain originates from repetitive stress, not from the carpal tunnel) are very useful and often prevent the need or desire for surgery.

The most important thing to know about sitting is that finding the perfect position and staying there is as bad for your health as anything you could do. Relief requires not just muscle and joint treatment of the affected area, but developing awareness of one’s body position, correcting the position of one’s chair, keyboard and monitor, and learning counterstretches and exercises to perform during breaks or at the end of the day.

The feet are the foundation of the body, and often, they can develop problems from callouses to bunions to plantar fasciitis to flat feet. Simple exercises, foot massage and realignment, and postural retraining can help you resolve all of the major foot, ankle and arch problems people face.

Are you so loose you can’t stand up straight? Or so tight you can hardly reach your shoes to tie them? Movement analysis, easy stretches and strengtheners, and work to help activate or release muscles and joints can be very helpful in normalizing motion and getting you back in comfort and in action.

A lack of tone and strength in the pelvic floor can affect genitourinary function, the ability to support the upper body, and injury prevention. The pelvic floor is a key factor in core strength of the lower back. It is possible to strengthen the pelvic floor and to use the legs to increase pelvic stability. Release and coordination of leg, pelvis and abdominal muscles is actually more important than strengthening per se.

Posture is habit, and habits are hard to break without help. Coaching, stretching, realignment, imagery and manual feedback can help you stand straighter, walk more efficiently, and move in any sport or activity with more grace and agility.

Scoliosis is a side to side or twisting distortion of the normal shape of the spine. It can cause pain, leg problems and poor balance. Learning the cause of the scoliosis and stretching the short side of a scoliotic curve, as well as realignments and muscle treatments to create movement in stuck areas of the spine, can help people with scoliosis function and feel better.

Sinus problems are more and more common in our culture. The sinuses are open chambers inside the skull, and small adjustments in the shoulders, neck and skull can drain the sinuses and improve breathing.

Stenosis occurs primarily when extra bone is laid down on vertebrae so that nerve function is impeded. Nerve gliding, muscle work, and gentle traction, as well as mobilization of joints, is the general course of treatment.

The jaw is the tensest voluntary muscle in the body. It is important in balance, and of course in eating and talking. Many things can cause a tight or imbalanced jaw. And a painful, tight jaw can ruin not just your day but your joy of life. Mobilization, realignment of the jaw, home exercise and specific muscle release techniques can help resolve this painful syndrome. The most commonly helpful things are a self-massage you can teach a 9 year old, and guided imagery, which he provides in session and on podcast.