The Publishers League

August 27, 2010

Treatment Ideas for Strained Muscles

Filed under: Injury — Tags: , , , , , , — damon @ 6:38 pm

In the last few years, you’ve likely strained your muscles on a number of occasions, more so if you regularly participate in sports like soccer or football. Sometimes, strains can happen without any noticeable form of physical exertion. How many times have you gone to sleep to wake up in excruciating neck pain? This is the result of stiff neck, which is caused by a group of muscles in your neck that have become overstretched. As a result, they become inflamed and make it difficult to move your head around without being subject to intense pain. This pain drives many to scour for where to buy a handheld Hitachi magic wand massager or similar product.

The most common cause of a stiff neck is poor posture during sleeping. Most of us avoid sleeping on our back and instead sleep with our face flat against the pillow or on our sides. Furthermore, some of us make some awkward head movements while trying to find the perfect sleep position. These factors can create perfect storm for a stiff neck. Regardless, you can treat most strained muscles in the same fashion with considerable success.

A handheld massager is one of the best things you can have in your home to quickly attack strained muscles. These come in various shapes and sizes from percussion to oscillating massagers. You can also find them in a wired and cordless variety, depending on your needs. There are even many low price Hitachi magic wand massager attachment reviews available online to help you discover which attachments are best suited for treating muscle strains. Nevertheless, a quick thirty minute massage may be all you need to being moving your head around painlessly again. It’s best to start at a low speed and adjust the intensity as necessary. Apply slight pressure to the massager until you begin to feel it stimulating your muscles.

Some choose to begin treatment with ice. The main benefit to doing so is that the ice can drastically reduce muscle inflammation. Be aware that applying ice cubes directly to your skin is not recommended and won’t in any way speed up the anti-inflammation effect. You should treat the affected area for no more than fifteen or so minutes at a time, depending on how quick the onset of the numb feeling arrives. You should continue treating the muscle sprains with ice and massage therapy for the first few days. After that, you can safely apply warm water to the area to further calm the muscles down. Be sure that the inflammation has first completely subsided. If you pursue treatment for a week and see little improvement, consult with a doctor immediately as something else may be to blame.

July 6, 2010

Little Known Cures for Tennis Elbow

Filed under: Injury — Tags: , — damon @ 10:58 pm


Creative Commons License photo credit: Dripps


Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is a common injury of the elbow. However, there are many ways in order for you to treat it. Of course, there are the usual methods such as icing the inflammation, wearing a support brace and so on. However, do you know what your other treatment options are? Well, people who are searching for ways on how to cure tennis elbow often overlook the wonders that physical therapy can do when it comes to the said injury.

There are basically two ways on administering this approach. You can either perform the therapy by yourself or you can choose to have a professional therapist do it for you. With the D.I.Y. approach, you will be prescribed by a series of stretching and strengthening exercises to perform at home. If you are to go to an expert, some of the therapies will normally include massages (i.e. deep tissue massages, aromatherapy massages etc.), reflexology and there are also some which will involve the use of machines or equipments. Here are some of the different therapies which involve the use of machines. Important note: such methods which are listed below can also help treat a similar injury known as golfer’s elbow or medial epicondylitis.

Ultrasound – When it comes to ultrasound treatment, an ultrasound scanner produces deep heat and it helps increase the flow of blood along the injured part and the damage tissues. This results in greater arm flexibility (mobility), hastens the removal of toxins which are building up along the affected area as well as decrease both muscle spasm and pain.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nervous Stimulation (TENS) – Electrical stimulation with the use of a TENS machine is said to be extremely effective in terms of alleviating the pain induced by tennis elbow. TENS machine generates mild and continuous electric currents that passes through electrodes which are placed along the nerve endings surrounding the afflicted part of the arm.

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