Is it Woo-Woo?

Posted on February 14, 2013

Gentle Reader,

Climbing up a long snowy track on cross country skis yesterday, my companions and I talked about little miracles, ‘woo-woo’ magic, the unexplained healing that sometimes occurs. The husband of one friend has suffered from arthritis in both ankles for about 5 years, so bad that he could barely walk. He is in his late 50’s. The friend herself worked a stressful tech job that required her to bend over patients. She suffered from excruciating pain from her head down her neck, along her shoulders and down her arms. In time the pain reached down her back.

The man, slim, fit, an avid cyclist who couldn’t walk without extreme pain, got one of his ankles fused, a newish operation for arthritis. They chose the more painful of the two to work on. The operated ankle no longer hurts. The ‘woo-woo’ miracle is that the other ankle no longer hurts. He can walk 5 miles. The x-rays indicated that both ankles were equally damaged by the disease. Hum. . . . . .

The friend with the pain from bending over at work? Her doctor’s diagnosed fibromyalgia and offered drug therapy. After much consideration, she retired from her job. All the pain has vanished.

Were the x-rays wrong? Were the doctors missing something?

In my own case, I hurt my back badly at age 52. By the age of 55, I was diagnosed with a severe condition that my doctor said would put me in a wheel chair. At age 75, I am pretty much pain free. I haven’t had any of the operations they suggested. A check up with more pictures at age 65, the doc said, “If I didn’t know you, I’d say you should be in a wheel chair.”

What’s going on here? These three stories, my friend with diagnosed fibromyalgia, her husband with arthritic ankles and me with a back condition so bad I should be in a wheel chair all have to do with pain and the skeletal structure, nerves and pain messaging. Compelling research has been done with thought, intention and cancer. Here is a short video about this healing work. Do Thoughts Have the Power to Heal? Could similar healing happen with skeletal and nerve problems? Even if you don’t direct intention to the condition such as with my friend’s husband? He’s not interesting in discussing the ‘miracle’ healing of the second ankle.

You can read my story and what I’ve done to be pain free today in past blog posts. Perhaps the most important thing is hope, belief and action, in that order. I seldom miss my morning routine to limber everything up. I listen to a CD meditation that declares night after night that my cells have all the right nutrients to recreate themselves new and healthy, even the ones in my back that are supposed to be all messed up.

Miracles of healing? As the doctor says, “whatever you’re doing, keep it up.” And so I do. How about you?

Fondly,

Be Well, Do Well, Keep Moving

Betsy

Injured at 52. Diagnosed and sentenced to a wheel chair at 55 and 65. Hiking, skiing, dancing and walking at 75. Read my story.

206 933 1889 www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com Betsy@HiHoHealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Are you feeling less alert?

Posted on January 31, 2013

Gentle Reader,

If you are suffering pain from arthritis, osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, the regular wear and tear of life, you need good deep sleep to help you heal. I’ve written about Feldenkris, a therapy that helps with these painful conditions. I’ve mentioned Becci Parsons, who got me on the road to sitting/standing/walking after herniating a disc. Today I am posting her helpful solutions and suggestions for next steps for anyone who suffers from lack of sleep. Read on….

Change Your Sleep. Change Your Life.

Are you feeling less alert?

Are you unable to think clearly or sustain your focus?

Do you have difficulty falling asleep or problems with frequent awakening during the night?

If so, you may be suffering from insomnia.

We tend to think of insomnia as the constellation of symptoms that we experience just before sleep or during the night when we awaken with our mind racing and the bed sheets twisted. The process of insomnia actually begins much earlier in the day for most of us.

How?

Through the choices we make about how we spend our time.

The obvious culprits:

That afternoon pick-me-up latte or caffeinated green tea smoothie.

It could take between 9-14 hours to fully metabolize the caffeine. Even if you have no difficulty falling asleep, the caffeine could undermine the quality and duration of your sleep.

Evening computer use or cell phone email/texting, watching tv or reading using an e-reading device. Blue light from many of these devices is as bright as daylight and activates the nervous system sending the brain and body into “wake up mode”.

And what about the emotional responses that are triggered by these late night, last minute, urgent communications?

Life in the twenty first century is stressful and fast paced. A full, zoom-zoom workday of 8-12 hours is often followed by a long commute and sometimes a cocktail or a glass of wine to take the edge off. We eat late, do a few more email or text messages; watch a movie, read or log on to Facebook in an effort to wind down. Unfortunately very few of these activities actually promote relaxation and set the stage for a good night’s sleep. Most of them tip the nervous system far in the other direction to a state of hyper-arousal.

Hyper-arousal is a chronic over-activation of the body’s stress-response mechanism. There’s no instant ON/OFF switch. When these pathways are repeatedly excited, they become the default setting. We essentially travel a well-worn path leading us in the direction of elevated blood pressure, holding our breath, clinching our jaw and lifting our shoulders, without respite. Many of these sensations fly below the radar of our self-perception and become the background noise of our busy, over stimulated lives.

What to do?

“For fast acting relief, try slowing down”. –Lily Tomlin

On the one hand, we can increase the quality and duration of a good night’s sleep simply by making better choices. Following a good sleep hygiene program is an empowering start. For more detailed information about sleep hygiene refer to the following link:

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene

We also need to hit the pause, re-set button during the day to get off of the cortisol/ adrenaline high that many of us associate with feeling good and being productive. Functioning under the influence of stress hormones is not a sustainable practice. Biological systems thrive with ebb and flow. Metabolically speaking, we need to interrupt the cycle of prolonged excitation and dial things down to a more balanced, calm and functional neutral.

Learning to move more fluidly between states of stress and relaxation is key. It is positive motion in the direction of re-establishing the natural biological rhythms of exertion and recuperation. Think of it as self-regulation with applied intelligence. When we develop the capacity to meet the demands of a stressful moment and the flexibility to return to a state of equanimity in a relatively short amount of time, not only will we sleep better, but we’ll also be a kinder, gentler, version of ourselves.

Becci Parsons offers workshops and private coaching in the techniques of the Sounder Sleep System^® in the interest of helping to create a more sane and peaceful world. Restful sleep is necessary for the healthy function of every system in the body and helps to regulate mood, energy and emotional intelligence.

The Sounder Sleep System^® is comprised of a variety of calming and sleep inducing techniques to be used during the day and at bedtime, taught while sitting or lying down. The simple exercises are designed to restore our natural capacity to rest, recover and heal from the stress of daily life, one breath at a time. They are elegantly simple and simply profound.

For more information about private sleep coaching or to inquire about the introduction to the Sounder Sleep System^® Workshop in February 2013, contact me:

Becci Parsons, Authorized Teacher, Sounder Sleep System^®

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher^®

MotionSense Movement Education

bparsons@seanet.com

206.545.7272

www.BecciParsons.com

206.545.7272

Thank you, Becci. Be sure to leave a comment or suggestion of your own.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

What can help the pain after an accident?

Posted on December 27, 2012

Help for pain after an accident?

Gentle Reader,

A woman I know suffered another bike accident on her commute. She is in her late 40s and this is not her first tumble. It is taking a long time to heal and she is suffering miserably, no fun any time and least of all at the holidays when there is no work to distract her. Most of us can push through pain when we have professional obligations, right?

Stories like hers happen so frequently. I don’t know what her doctor is suggesting. There are no broken bones this time. Typical treatment is ice packs alternating with heat to reduce the swelling plus anti-inflammatories. The swelling seems to be gone, but the deep pain remains.

In my experience the deep healing of joint pain and muscle pain caused by accidents (as well as in arthritic joints) requires extra nutrition, more than it is possible to get from food alone. Here is a list of vitamins that help:

Vitamin C is a natural anti-inflammatory and builds strong cartilage which has been ripped and bruised in the fall. Vitamin C combats the chemical reactions of stress in the body. Vitamin C helps the body absorb minerals which are necessary in joint healing. As much as 6000 to 10,000 mg. of a highly absorbable sustained release Vitamin C would not be too much. Take it as long as necessary. Your body will tell you if you have too much as your stool will get loose.

Alfalfa, found in tablet form, made from organic alfalfa leaves, reduces the acid build-up in the body after accidental injury; this helps with stiffness and increases comfortable mobility. People have found that as many as 30-50 Alfalfa tablets a day or more can make a huge difference in joint pain.

The full spectrum of B vitamins helps deal with the stress of traumatic pain.

Borage oil or GLA reduces joint tenderness, swelling and stiffness and is an excellent anti-inflammatory working deep inside the body.

Zinc promotes tissue repair.

Calcium Magnesium strengthens cartilage and alleviates pain.

After workout smoothies have ingredients in them that repair tears in the muscles. (I know personally of only one brand that for sure works like this, but perhaps there are others) It is the process of repairing torn muscle that recommends these sports nutrition products for building bigger, stronger muscles. The same repair work happens after an accident. I know a woman who in her late 70s fell from the back end of a moving van onto her back. She used a workout smoothie several times over the next hours and had very little pain from the trauma of the fall. Even a long time after the accident, the smoothie can help.

At the Sunnyside Chiropractic Clinic observations were made charting an elderly population whose muscle mass had atrophied and weakened. Over a 3 to 6 month period, men and women 65 – 84 years in age added the after workout smoothie on a daily basis and experienced increased mobility, strength and reduced joint and muscle pain. http://www.healthsachoice.com/supplements/building-muscle-mass-in-the-elderly/ I have not been able to access the actual study from Dr. Brouse and the Health Education Corporation. I know some of you want to see the science before believing.

Whether you are dealing with the pain of traumatic injury or the chronic pain of osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis, these supplements are worth a try. The body does its best to repair. We need to help it along with additional nutrients we just can’t get from our food. Medication alleviates pain but does not heal, repair or build new healthy tissue.

I recommend the supplements made by the Shaklee Corporation as these are the only ones with which I have personal experience. They have helped me endure acute traumatic pain and avoid debilitating chronic pain from the severe osteoarthritis in many of my joints and spinal stenosis in my spine. If you want to research the Shaklee version of these supplements, go to my shopping page and browse the Product Guide. You can call me for a consultation about your particular situation and I’ll be glad to share resources.

Before you go, share our comments on supplements and vitamins that have worked for you after an accident that has put you in a world of hurt.

If this post has been helpful, feel free to share it on your Facebook page.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

The Nutritional Management of Chronic Pain

Posted on November 2, 2012

Gentle Reader
Are you like me, suffering from chronic pain? Do you wake up every morning and check to see which joints are hurting? A friend of mine describes sitting on the edge of the bed wondering if she can actually stand and walk to the bathroom. I’m better off than that, but the first ½ hour each day is loud, you know the groaning and moaning. Too bad there’s no one around here but the cats to sympathize.

I when it was announced that Dr. Frank Painter would give a seminar on Chronic Pain management. This post contains careful notes from that seminar.

Dr. Painter is a major research and practicing chiropractor and maintains the research pages for the Chiro.org online resource for his profession. It gets thousands of hits a month and is the most go-to site for alternative health care regarding chiropractic treatment. You can look him up here.

He began with shocking statistics (sometimes I glaze over with too many statistics, but I know professionals quantify results so bear with me.) Chronic pain causes UNBELIEVABLE suffering, disrupts careers and lifestyle, and brings about unimaginable financial drains on our society. It’s now estimated that 24 percent of Americans (or approx. 48 million people) suffer from chronic pain. More than one-third of them regularly take pain medicine to manage their suffering. Those statistics are very frightening.

Pain is caused by tissue injury, surgical procedures, and a variety of illnesses. The common pain we experience from a cut or bruise is very well understood. It is referred to as acute pain, and is accompanied by the inflammatory response, which involves local swelling, increased temperature, redness, and loss of function.

Damage to cell membranes during an injury releases two substances that initiate the inflammatory response. They are called prostaglandins and bradykinins. These molecules cause nearby nerve cells to transmit pain information to the brain. Following the formation of a stable clot, fibroblasts migrate to the site of injury to repair the damaged tissues. That is when acute pain is normally extinguished. This explains how the acute pain and swelling when I hurt my wrist hiking gradually stopped hurting. The body rushed repair mechanisms to the place where it was most damaged and in a few hours the acute pain was gone; in a few days all pain was gone.

Chronic pain is different, because chronic pain persists.

Dr. Painter focuses on safe supplementation as an alternative to pain medication. He also talks about our diet and why chronic pain is so much more common today than in the past.

He reports on a recent study involving hundreds of patients who underwent surgery on their ankle or knee. The patients who took 1000 mg. of vitamin C for 46 days after their surgery reported 80% reduction in what is called complex regional pain, compared to patients who did not take vitamin C. If you are planning surgery, especially in a limb (knee or hip replacement for example) begin taking 1000 mg of Sustained Release Vita C before surgery and continue for at least 46 days to prophylactically avoid pain.

Can you believe that more than a 3^rd of all people with pain take medication? When we suffer acute pain from surgery or an injury, the inflammatory response, loss of function, redness and damage to the membrane is alleviated by medication. And then you stop taking it. With chronic pain, the wound never heals. Chronic pain keeps on going. Any pain that lasts more than 6 months and has no end in sight, like arthritis, cancer is chronic.

A chiropractor once explained to me that injury sustained in a car wreck creates a pain path in the nervous and muscular system. The next fender bender is nowhere near as traumatic, but the pain is worse. This pain path is reactivated, familiar and more challenging to cure. Believe me, I had a series of car accidents each one less violent than the previous one. Funny how the pain increased with each one.

How does our diet contribute to chronic pain?

Because of radical changes in the American Diet since the 1950’s, our diet is now pro inflammatory and contributes to both chronic pain and autoimmune system diseases. I’ll remind you what these changes were: milling of wheat and other grain to make a ‘whiter’ end product, ie. refining our food; manufacturing foods with high amounts of hydrogenated oils.

Let’s see what’s going on here. In a plain food diet (no processing), the oils—omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are in equal balance. Dr Painter points out that there are 49 known essential nutrients—nutrients our body cannot make but must get from food. These two oils are among them. They work in concert in the body regulating thousands of functions through the prostaglandin pathways. I created a link here in case you, like me, are curious about these babies, prostaglandins, which I’ve been hearing about for all these years of studying nutrition’s effect on our body. Check it out. Fascinating.

Omega 3 (we eat salmon and buy fish oil for this one) helps the prostaglandins with inflammation, cardio health, allergies, immune response, mylin sheath protection, hormone modulation, and behavior. Omega 6, found in borage oil, evening primrose oil, initiates the chemical cascade in the inflammatory response to any injury or infection.

Here’s the problem with this duet. We used to eat a balance of the omegas 3 and 6, short and longer chain fatty acids: one to one. Now, with all these refined foods the balance has changed to twenty to one, omega 6 over omega 3. Think of the Omega 6 as the gas pedal on your car i.e. body, and omega 3 as the breaks. Omega 6 turns on the inflammatory response. Omega 3 (fish) turns it off.

The car is headed for the cliff, folks and the brake pedal is too weak to stop us from hurtling into a world of pain.

We need both Omega 3 and Omega 6. We need them in the correct ratio. Omega 6 comes from hydrogenated oils which are found in virtually all processed foods. Removal of the grain coatings (brown rice, wheat), increased sugar consumption (sugar interferes with synthesis of these fatty acids) and the increase in consumption of deep fried foods and margarine prevent with the healthy marriage of the two fatty acids. The 1:1 synthesis isn’t happening.

What’s the ratio in your life between corn, sunflower and sesame oils (which appear is most processed foods as hydrogenated oils) and cold water fish, sardines, salmon and anchovies? Too many Omega 6’s = chronic pain.

Impact of chronic pain

People hurt too much to get up and go to work. We lose $3 billion in income each year because of pain. Stuff doesn’t get done because we hurt too much to do it. $60 billion a year in lost productivity. Sixty million of us have arthritis, 1 in 3. Family members living with someone in chronic pain have to deal with the frustration, anxiety and misery of the suffering person. How disruptive to family life it is to have all this depression and a sense of helplessness caused by pain!

How do we manage this pain?

Standard medical management: pain meds, the most popular, aspirin, NSAIDS. We spend $2.6 billion a year on prescription NSAIDS and another $6 billion on over the counter pain meds. Most of us are unaware of the lethal side effects of these pain killers. Stanford University reviewed Inflammatory rheumatoid Arthritis (IRA) drug use in 15,000 patients. Projecting the findings from this well controlled study to the entire US population, they found that 107,000 rheumatoid Arthritis patients were hospitalized for complications from these drugs, a large number of whom never left the hospital alive. They bleed out before anyone can help them. 16,500 a year die this way. That’s only the IRA sufferers. What about everyone else who takes these meds?

You get no warning signs for the stomach trouble that results from taking these medications. You just bleed to death.

People with osteoarthritis and IRA are more likely than the regular population to be hospitalized because of GI bleeds. The risk of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS is constant but increases over time with continued use. The longer you take these drugs, the higher the risk becomes. Drugs used to coat the stomach do not lower this probability. The only way to prevent this stomach damage is to stop taking the non steroidal pain medication. Dying from bleeding to death because of taking too many NSAIDS is the 15^th cause of death in America.

By the way, when’s the last time you picked up a bottle of aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen and stopped by to chat with your pharmacist about possible interactions with any other drugs you are taking? No? You are not alone. Of all the readers of Consumer Report magazine who answered their survey, only 38% who picked up these drugs when prescribed by their doctor talked to the pharmacist about dangers or interactions. Only 29% who bought the OTC versions checked with their pharmacist. We used to be more cautious, before usage became so common. Eight years ago, Consumer Report did the same survey and over 50% of the people purchasing these medications checked for side effects, dangers and interactions with other medications. Our pharmacists are trained in drug, supplement and food interactions (not our doctor) and should be used for their expertise. Avoid risk.

Two neurosurgeons at U of Pittsburg Medical Center decided to explore natural substances to use as a substitute for NSAIDS. They gave their IRA patients fish oil and after 75 days, 60% of the people had been able to completely discontinue their NSAID usage and were also able to drop off their other pain meds. 88% were extremely satisfied with their pain reduction from taking fish oil. They would continue to buy fish oil even though it costs more than the medication.

Natural relief

I am going to shamelessly talk about Shaklee’s pain management products. Dr. Painter is specific about Shaklee as the manufacturer in his presentation. This company’s large staff of medical scientists studied the problem of prostaglandins and pain, created biochemical models and searched until they found herbs and safe substances that would interrupt the pain path. I was blown away by the slide presentation Dr. Les Wong made at the annual conference the year Pain Relief Complex was introduced.

Pain Relief Complex. A compliment of medicinal herbs designed to treat pain. The primary ingredient Boswellia extract has been used in India for a long time for joint and arthritic pain as it contains very powerful analgesic properties. In a study people with severe osteoarthritis knee pain where able to get more flexibility and much less pain with Boswellia extract, and thereby increase their walking distance dramatically. The frequency of swelling in the knee joint decreased. Boswellia has also been used to heal the stomach from ulcerative colitis. In other words, it helps heal a stomach damaged by Celebrex or other NSAIDS.

Jt. Health Complex. When in pain we develop pain avoidance behaviors like limping. Other daily activities are avoided because you know its going to hurt too much to do it. I know I leave stuff lying on the floor and put off raking leaves because I know I’m going to hurt when I bend over too often.

When we stop moving to avoid pain, we actually increase the likelihood of increased pain. Why is that? Joint tissue—ligaments, bone, have no blood supply of their own. They eliminate their waste products through a pumping motion when the joint moves. Nutrition to the joint also depends on pumping, or moving. Waste products out, nutrition in, through motion. Without motion, waste products build up around the joint which inhibits the nutrition from being absorbed. Nutrients move from the high concentration in the blood to diffuse themselves into the joint. This process requires movement. If your joint is smothered in waste products, the nutrients don’t go there—too crowded—and the cells start to die because there are no nutrients to feed them. The cartilage begins to degrade and then the bones start to get closer and closer together. The body tries to stabilize that joint by importing minerals like calcium and magnesium to build extra protection around that joint. If you took an x-ray of the joint, you’d see little growths where they should not be. The objective is to reduce the pain so you get more motion in the joint and clear the waste and allow nutrients to enter. Joint Health Complex provides dramatic and speedy pain relief to get you moving again.

NSAIDS actually accelerate the deterioration of cartilage. 36% of liver failure is being cause by acetaminophen (Tylenol) toxicity. One out of three liver transplants is because of the use of acetaminophen. This research and the death of children from Tylenol drove the search for anti-inflammatories with no side effects.

Jt Health Complex leads the way. Boswellia seratta has a long use as an herbal anti-inflammatory. It works. It can be used to treat osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, RA and asthma. Boswellia was first introduced in Shaklee Pain Relief complex in 2003. It is so powerful they decided to add it to the Jt. Health Complex. Joint Health Complex includes as a major ingredient glucosamine. It has been shown in clinic studies that combining chondroitin with glucosamine reduced the body’s ability to absorb the glucosamine. In redesigning the Jt. Health Complex, Shaklee scientists made sure there was no chondroitin mixed in with it.

Testing

Once they had the new formulation completed, they tested it head to head with the leading pharmacist recommended product, Walgreen’s Osteobyflex. In a clinical trial they found that Jt. Health Complex was 28% faster acting than byflex for providing pain relief. If you were beginning for the first time to take the product, it took only 5 days to get relief with Jt. Health Complex as opposed to 7 days with Osteobyflex. With the addition of boswellia, Jt. Health complex gave 45% better pain relief than the Walgreen product. Shaklee found a vegetarian source for glucosamine. Most glucosamine on the market is sourced from shell-fish. They also made use of a carrier molecule that does not have salt (some products on the market are as much as 30% salt!) which, if you had high blood pressure could be bad—1 third of a tablespoon of salt? I don’t think so. Jt. Health Complex uses hydrochloric acid instead of sulfate to deliver glucosamine. It also contains zinc, manganese, copper and Vita C to nourish the developing cartilage. Glucosamine has been researched extensively since 1970’s and has been found to be at least as effective in relieving pain and NSAIDs without any dangerous side effects. In one study it was shown that there was an actual increase in the cartilage with glucosamine.

Joint and muscle pain cream. Helps with pain from over use during exercise. Active ingredient is menthol. Shaklee improved on the healing characteristics by improving on the delivery of the menthol with a liposome delivery system. This liposome delivery provides prolonged release and deeper penetration. If you’ve used Flexall 454, Icy Hot and JointFlex, your may get temporary distraction from pain, but you are probably throwing your money away. Topical local anesthetics, topical capsaicin are basically aspirin in creamy form and could affect your stomach the way taking aspirin does.

I strongly recommend this trio of pain relief products for chronic pain. I use them to great advantage. Dr. Painter provides the scientific back drop to prove the effect is no placebo.

If you suffer from chronic pain that does not seem to associated with a joint, Omega guard is the #1 nutrient solution. Shaklee’s OmegaGuard, DHA, EPA and 5 other naturally found omega 3 fatty acids provides the missing link for halting diet induced inflammation. Get the balance back between omega 6 and omega 3, supplement with Omerga 3 so the ratio is 1:1 and you will have less pain. OmegaGuard naturally balances the prostyglandins that prolong the inflammatory response to pain stimulus. Rather than using drugs to suppress the inflammation, re-balance the body’s own ability to handle pain by changing your diet to eliminate hydrogenated fats and excess sugars plus taking enough OmegaGuard to change the Omega3:Omega6 dance back to 1:1.

That’s it. Thanks for reading all the way to the end. May you be well, pain free and able to keep moving.

What’s next?

Tell us

Do you check your meds and OTC drugs with the pharmacist?

What pain relief rubs have your tried? Results?

Have you given up hope or are you willing to try another way to get relief?

If you decide you want to try these products, go to my blog page, http://www.grandmabetsybell.com/shop-shaklee-products/ and browse the product guide.

Get in touch via the comment section.

If you have found value here, feel free to share on your FB page or with your friends and colleagues suffering from chronic pain.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis, travel

One more injury hiking the Engadin

Posted on October 26, 2012

Gentle Reader,

The 3^rd and most dramatic day of my hiking-in-the-Alps adventure this past Sept. occurred on day 5. Pedie Jolly and I left the other two hikers at the Via Engadina junction above Grevasalvas where they would pass the “Heidi” house. We trudged on up beyond the tree line to a high lake just below a dramatic escarpment, at 8261 ft. The trail was far more exposed than anticipated with shear drops to the left of us and uneven boulders to climb over. We were both dangling our hiking sticks from the left hand while clinging to rocky outcroppings with the right. There was no looking down. It reminded me of climbing Mt. Shasta in 2006 when my right foot crampons had only the inside 5 spikes engaged with the icy ground and I steadied myself with a well planted ice axe. Even a thin line of grass along the outside edge of the trail made me feel as though I would arrive safely at the lake. It was an opportunity to study my mind and how just a bit of green changes fear to a sense of security. Pedie and I were thrilled to arrive at this lake, hike in a moonscape, where two or three others were already having their lunch.

The lake at the Lunghin Pass, above Maloja, is part of the most notable triple watershed in western Europe, from where the Inn (Engadin Valley where we hiked) flows via the Danube to the Black Sea, the Maira via the Po to the Mediterranean Sea, and the Julia via the Rhine to the North Sea. Depending on which direction we emptied our water bottles, those droplets may have run north, south or east, something too grand to envision.

Finding the way over a knoll and down was tricky and the path was slick with thick frost anywhere the sun had not reached. It was already 2:30 in the afternoon and we still had the entire descent to accomplish. The view was breathtaking, and for one moment, I lost my focus on my feet. The trail was steeply downhill, wet and covered with schist, extremely slippery. Down I went, putting my right hand out to catch myself. Instantly I knew I had hurt my wrist. The fingers and thumb still functioned but pain shot up my arm when I put any pressure on my hiking stick. I collapsed it and stuck it in my pack. Pedie, walking behind me, and I had a 1000 ft drop in 2 miles. It was slow going.

We caught a bus to our hotel in Sils Maria whereupon a driver took me immediately to St. Moritz, the glitzy place we’d been avoiding. It was 5:30 on a Friday. No problem for this emergency clinic used to mountain injuries. After several x-rays, an examination and lengthy discussion of two young doctors, they decided to cast my arm. Neither the x-ray tech nor I thought I had broken anything, but I was glad to have protection for the last day of hiking and all the hauling of luggage on and off trains over the next 5 days. Here I am with my bright red cast riding the train to Pontresina at the end of our hike.

The final day of hiking was in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland along a contour trail with many slippery, water soaked ups and downs assisted by chains or hand rails. I couldn’t use them as they were all positioned for the right arm. My right arm was cradled in a sling. I was relieved to climb over the last of the tree roots, climb the last rocky stretch and walk into the most beautiful, remote high mountain village we’d been in yet: Soglio. A long soak in the hot bath revived me. Cold beer and good food gave a sense of triumph. We had made it, a 50 mile walk in 6 days from the lower Engadine River to its headwaters and then down the other side.

Our bus ride back to the starting point took a couple hours. We could spot the ending and beginning points of each day’s hike as we retraced our steps to Pontresina.

What does one do when injured hiking? Keep moving. Get the injured limb as comfortable as possible. Find a skilled clinic. The x-ray tech in St. Moritz told me she does 6-8 of these castings a day in the ski season. She knew what she was doing. I had travel insurance and have filed my claim. The clinic visit was $1000. I took plenty of my herbal pain relieve and really didn’t suffer much. By the time I got to the Villa Lina north of Rome 5 days later, I took off the cast and participated fully in the writers’ workshop for the week.

Will I have arthritis in this wrist? Possibly. Just like any joint injury, trauma creates structural stress and one is likely to pay the price with increased arthritis in the future. I am using this right hand, wrist and arm fully, noting any twinges and backing off when necessary. The osteoarthritis I deal with doesn’t seem any worse. In fact it is only on the days that I don’t get out and walk that I have pain.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the hike stories and will share yours with my readers. Have old injuries come up to haunt you? What are you doing to stay limber and keep moving? Take a minute to leave a comment. Come on over to Face Book and friend me, www.facebook.com/betsyjbell. Sign up to get the next posts. I have some great new research from Johns Hopkins about knee replacement to share with you next week. You won’t want to miss it.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Here’s where you begin

Posted on October 4, 2012

Gentle Reader,

What is the difference between fixing a problem and prevention? Most of my blog posts consider specific problems developing from pain in the joints caused by traumatically induced arthritis or the age related osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis issues some of us face just because we’ve been moving hard and fast all our lives. The fix-it approach tries to mimic the medication or prescription our doctor has recommended, but take care of the problem—fix-it—with supplements or therapies instead. The “problem” may be a wakeup call, that tolling bell that asks, what could I have done to avoid this in the first place? You question the traditional medicine path that suggests a medicine or surgical procedure because they have developed a sure-fire protocol for the problem you want fixed. Is there another approach?

You really want better overall health and think it might, just might make the arthritis pain lessen if the whole body were better fortified. You already eat a healthy diet of more vegetables than breads and cakes, of lean grilled meat and fish over fried fish and chips or hamburgers with all the trimmings. You limit your alcohol intake to a couple glasses of wine a week, maybe a beer or 2 and the rare martini. You use olive oil instead of butter and hardly ever open a box to make breakfast or dinner. The last time you swung through the Golden Arches was back in ’89. You haven’t microwaved left overs in a flimsy plastic container or sipped water from a thin film plastic bottle that has been sitting in the sun. Toxin-free, healthy diet, exercise. A+.

Still, something isn’t quite right. The finger nails are still thin, and like your hair ends, break easily. You bruise every time you bang into the ball at the back of the car that pulls the trailer. You have bad breath and dandruff no matter how much Listerine and medicated shampoo you use. You’re not sleeping the way you’d like and you hit the wall every afternoon around 3 looking for a cookie and a coke.

Why isn’t the great diet, good exercise and toxic free world giving you the optimal health you are wanting?

The wise person that answered that question for me 26 years ago suggested that maybe I wasn’t getting enough nutrition. My food wasn’t cutting it. Perhaps I needed supplements.

You are already taking supplements, you say, and you still have some of these not-so-great physical situations.

In 2004, Shaklee’s new owner, president and CEO, Roger Barnett, did an extraordinary thing. He had blood drawn from 500 Shaklee consumers who had been taking a variety of supplement (“the shelf”, we call it) for at least 20 years and handed over the data to one of the pickiest health organizations in the US, the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. Take this, he said, and compare the blood samples of these Shaklee users with people who have taken at least a multivitamin for 20 years and people who have never taken any vitamins. Whatever your results, publish them. What Chutzpah, what daring, what risky business.

The results were astonishing to the head researcher, Dr. Gladys Block. On every possible measure the Shaklee users’ overall health markers were significantly better than the others. The user of generic multivitamins were, by some measures, less healthy than those who took no vitamins at all. You can read the entire study here. Here about the study here.

Then Shaklee’s scientists designed a new product called Vitalizer containing 6 pills/capsules, tablets designed to get into the blood stream and work were the nutrients are most needed in a multi-patented delivery system.

When you ask me for (or go in search of) specific supplements for specific issues, step back for a minute. Take a bird’s eye view of your overall health and ask yourself. “Am I getting a good absorbable protein and the basic vitamins and minerals that form the building blocks for everything?” Perhaps beginning with an Energizing Soy Protein and Vitalizer for 90 days (it takes that long for the blood to be all new) will fill in the gaps and give you an overall healthier base. Then see to the “fix-it” issues. The specific supplements designed to alleviate pain, reduce stress, lower cholesterol, reduce menopause symptoms, sooth sore muscles, aid digestion and build solid bones. We call this the Common Sense Approach to Health and Wellness. Changing brands could make all the difference.

Take action: Check this list of symptoms. If you treat any of them with over the counter medicine, you are putting a tape over the red light on your dashboard and not looking into the root cause.

__Tired

__Overweight or Underweight

__Stress

__Dry/Oily skin/Problem skin

__Thinning hair/Dull hair

__Emotional on empty stomach

__Dandruff

__Need caffeine/sugar

__Can’t wake up

__Can’t sleep/Restless sleep

__Poor attention span

__Splitting Nails

__Irritability/Depression

__Nervousness/Anxiety

__Allergies

__Bruise easily

__Heartburn/Need antacids

__Sinus problems

__ cold hand or feet

__Poor night vision

__Back pain/Leg pain

__Constipation/Diarrhea

__Poor digestion/stomach

__High/Low blood pressure

__High/Low blood sugar

__Various aches and pains

__Elevated cholesterol

__Cravings for sweets

__PMS/Hormonal problems

__Menstrual cramps/problems

__Subject to colds/flu/infection

__Muscle cramps

__Joint pain/Arthritis

__Bleeding gums

__Headaches

__Breath or body odor

__Decreased sex interest

__Infertility/Sterility

__Menopausal symptoms

__Vague “blah” feeling

Shocked or pleased with your results? Let us know.

My challenge to you is this: If you take the Starter Program of Energizing Soy Protein and Vitalizer for 30 days, and see no change in our health, you will get your money back, no questions asked.

Shop at www.HiHoHealth.com. This Vitalizer Wellness Starter package retails at $135.50 plus tax and shipping. My offer to you is 10% off. Vitalizer Gold for the over 50 is a little more, or $142.00 plus tax and shipping. This is a 30 day supply. The 10% rebate comes at the beginning of next month.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Health and Fitness

Ankle replacement? How bad is it?

Posted on February 6, 2012

Gentle Reader,

Have you dried off from your most recent visit to the Y’s water aerobics for arthritics? Not there yet? Today I want to share information about replacing those joints that just keep hurting so much that you prefer to sit or lie down rather than try to move through the pain. My favorite website for the latest procedures is Johns Hopkins Medicine. This week they have an article about ankle replacement. Replace your ankles? Oh, my goodness. It would have to be really bad before I’d do that.

My own experience with arthritis in the ankles came as a result of breaking the left ankle while cross country skiing in 1997. The snow conditions were our usual white cement so often prevalent in the Cascade mountains. The Women on Wednesday group I ski with had chosen the Swan Lake trail that begins along Lake Kachess and then rises through twists and turns to an upper plateau. We have never made it to Swan Lake. It must be there somewhere. Our ski day usually begins with a couple hours of climbing on skis, then lunch in a nice trail side spot, followed by another 20 minutes uphill to warm up. Then we usually turn around and come down. These logging roads are never groomed except by the occasional snow mobile. Snow mobiles can create moguls that make skiing even more challenging than breaking trail. If the uphill has been through new snow, even cement (heavy) snow, the downhill can go quite well. On the particular day of the breakage, I was doing my usual fast downhill and on one curve, planted the tip of my left ski squarely into a snow bank. My body continued on. I could hear the snap.

It was possible to ski out the remaining 4 miles or so by keeping the left leg slightly bent and the foot rigid in the boot, using the polls and right ski to snow plow. On the bus, a fellow skier and nurse, filled a sandwich bag with snow and wrapped my ankle with an emergency tape.

The next day, an x-ray revealed a hair line fracture which they cast. I was in this non-weight baring thing for 60 days and a walking boot for another 30 days. I worked hard to keep the muscles functional with all sorts of floor exercises including leg lifts in all directions, and was ready to walk as soon as they gave the go ahead.

Now, fifteen years later, I am getting little twinges when setting off on a hike or long city walk. Do I stop? Is it harmful to keep going? I can report that I may slow down a bit, exercise great care in foot placement and gait, and above all keep going. So far so good. The pain doesn’t stop me and the ankle is still functioning well. Will it get worse? Probably. Will I go for surgery someday? Who knows. I would recommend doing every possible thing before going there. If you do read the article at the link, you’ll see that people have good results. Are they hikers, cyclists, climbers? Or are they people who just want to be able to walk around their house when the pain has become so unbearable they are confined to a chair?

Osteoarthritis and arthritis caused by injury often come down to the same thing as one ages. I prefer to take hands full of supportive supplements to 3 Advil because I am sure that the supplements strengthen tissue and feed cells for better all over health. Advil will mask the pain for sure. It is pretty conclusive that vitamins, minerals and protein build healthy tendons, muscles and bone. There may still be pain. Try an herbal pain inhibitor first. Shaklee makes a good one. If you want to explore these, go to HiHoHealth dot com. We have a Pain Relief page there.

The Johns Hopkins site on arthritis gives good information about the other joint replacements as well. Good luck if you are facing this decision. If you want to talk more about your options with a person who has been dealing with arthritis for 35 years, I’d love to hear from you at 206 933 1889. If you would like to comment, please do.

Do well, Be well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

Arthritis, Health and Fitness

Pain free flying

Posted on December 19, 2011

Avoiding increased pain when on vacation.

This is the first of a series of posts on staying pain free while traveling.

I just spent 10 days in Mexico with 4 friends, enjoying my time share and a few extra days in Isla Mujeres, a tiny island off the coast of the Yucatan as 25 minute ferry ride from Cancun. It was wonderful. I had my herbal pain killers at the ready, and took a couple every 4 -5 hours.

Plane rides are the worst for osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis and the 4 plus hours from Seattle to Houston were challenging. I am reminded of the many long plane rides I have taken and the technique I have learned for staying comfortable.

Back in 1992, right after my husband died, I took a trip to San Francisco for some R & R. We sat in the plane on the runway for 6 hours waiting for the fog to clear in SF so we could leave Seattle and land 2 1/2 hours later. If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that the traumatic injury to my L5 happened only 3 years earlier, and while I had rehabilitated enough to do 3/4 of the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier in 1990, I was still at risk. Slouching in a chair, especially an airplane seat, is the worse possible thing to do for a potentially unstable back. As Moshe Feldenkrais would say, you are either sitting (sits bones directly under your erect back) or you are lying down (any tilted back position on down to prone). I was lying down in the most unsupported manner. When we finally landed in San Francisco, I could hardly walk. My left leg had extreme sciatica pain from the pinching at L5. What I learned from that experience has saved me from ever repeating it. It may help you.

I drink a lot of water and a rehydrating drink called Performance which I carry in a zip lock bag and mix with the water they offer, or in the bottle I carry on. Do you know that you lose a cup of water every hour you are in the air? You do not excrete only water, but minerals that you must have for proper balance in your system. These are the electrolytes you add with a high quality hydrating drink like Performance. (If you want to know more about the products I mention, go to www.HiHoHealth dot com.)

Drinking a lot forces me to get up and down to use the rest room. Moving prevents prolonged slouching from setting in. While sitting, I do isometric exercises. I seldom tilt my chair back but try to stay upright. On long flights to Asia and Africa, the TV monitor w shows isometric exercises that are helpful. Here are several that I have used.

Isometric Leg Exercises

Isometric exercises are an effective way to exercise during a flight. Also called static tension, isometric exercise involves a contraction of a muscle without a change in the length of the muscle. Bodybuilding.com recommends doing an isometric thigh exercise while sitting on your seat. Make a fist with your hands and place them under your knees. Squeeze your thigh and calve “around” your fist, and hold for five to 10 seconds.

Knee Exercises

Knee flexions and extensions are other simple exercises to do during your flight. Knee flexion involves lifting your knee toward your chest while sitting on your seat with your back against the back rest. Lower your leg, and repeat with the opposite leg. Knee extension involves straightening your leg as far as you can while sitting with your back against the rest. This is crazy making in steerage where I sit. Do these exercises as many times as desired.

Calf Exercises

Deep vein clots are common in the lower leg or thigh, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Improve the blood flow in your lower leg by contracting your muscles. To do a calf raise, place your tiptoes on the floor. Thrust your heels upward as high as you can until you feel a contraction in your calves. Hold for five to 10 seconds, and lower your heals, or repeat continuously with a pumping motion. Repeat as often as you can to improve blood flow in your veins. This is a really good one.

Arms

Exercise your arms with a wrist roller workout. Cross your fingers and do a rolling motion with your wrists for 10 to 20 seconds. Improve blood flow in your arms by making a fist with each hand and flexing your forearms toward the floor. Hold for 10 seconds, release and repeat. Optionally, raise your fists toward your chest and down to your thighs for 10 to 20 times to also target your biceps.

Shoulders and Chest

Shoulder shrugs are a way to relieve tension in your upper body. Hold the shrug for 10 seconds and release. Exercise both the chest and shoulders by doing a rope climb. Imagine a rope hanging over your head, and “grasp” it with your hands as to climb it. With each motion, reach from over your head and pull down until your arms touch your thighs. Repeat 20 times with each hand.

Back and Abs

Stretch your back by bending at your waist until your chest reaches your upper thighs. Hold for a few seconds and slowly return to an upright position. Keep your back straight throughout the stretch. Target your abdominal muscles sitting upright and exhaling completely. Without inhaling, suck in your stomach as deeply as you can and hold for few seconds. Release and repeat.

Do not worry about what other people think. After all, your body needs this and their bodies could probably use it to. You might have the whole row exercising. You will have much less jet lag and arrive ready to walk and pull your suit case.

I would love to hear your techniques for keeping aches and pains under control while flying. Next week I will share my away-from-home morning routine before setting off for a day of site seeing.

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving.

Betsy

www.HiHoHealth dot com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Traumatic Injury: my story

Posted on October 21, 2011

Traumatic injury: my story

Posted on October 18, 2011

Hello, Gentle Reader,

In 1989, I lifted, or should I more accurately say, yanked a large drink box full of wine bottles out of the back seat of a two door Datsun. I heard something go in my lower back. I was angry about carrying these bottles up a long flight of stairs to the social hall of a large church. My husband in his characteristic generosity offered to cook an elegant meal for a visiting prelate from the Russian Orthodox church inMoscow. While I approved a grand reception for this honored guest and his entourage, I criticized my husband for trying to do this alone. Plenty of people would love to cook with Don Bell. My only task was delivering the drink.

I could feel the place in my back where the terrible sensation had come from. I carried the box and several more like it upstairs anyway.

The next morning, I awoke early, still smoldering over the piles of potato skins on the kitchen counter and the olive oil slick floor, remnants of the single-handed cooking effort the night before. Jack LaLanne was just beginning his exercise routine on TV. I took my position on the large expanse of our hook-latched rug covering the living room floor. I would work out my anger through exercise. On all fours, he called out doggie leg lifts. Snap.

Whatever happened lifting the box, leg lifts finished me off. I rolled on the floor sobbing in pain. All my previous judgments against people who complained of bad backs taunted me. Pay back for lack of understanding and sympathy. Those legions who suffered, did they suffer as I was now suffering? Were they not the malingering lazy bums I judged them to be? What was I going to do?

I could not stand or sit but remained on all fours. I slowly in extreme pain pulled myself to the staircase and up to our bedroom where Don still lay sleeping. Once I struggled into bed and lay on my back, I began to breathe more deeply. I went into head honcho mode commanding my groggy husband to get my day planner and find the phone number of my massage therapist. It was 7 a.m.

This amazing person came over two hours later. Don had already gotten me a 24-inch bolster cushion so my legs were in a chair position while lying flat on my back. This was the only pain free position I could find. Mary worked on me for over an hour, calming the sympathetic spasms in my shoulders, neck, upper back and arms. She persuaded me against my wishes to take a muscle relaxant. She came back twelve hours later and repeated the treatment.

The next morning I was able to inch my way painfully down the stairs and into the car. Ouch. That move brought tears to my eyes. Don drove me to my chiropractor who gently calmed the spinal column and relocated the offending L5 into its proper place.

I was 52 years old. A skier, hiker, biker, dancer, runner, I valued physical fitness next to Godliness. More than Godliness. I was determined to overcome this glitch. Little did I know what was in store for me as I set about healing from an L5 .

Tell me your story. How did your back begin to hurt? What makes you worry about ending up in a wheel chair? How did arthritis begin and where has it taken you?

Arthritis, Health and Fitness

Traumatic injury: my story

Posted on October 18, 2011

Hello, Gentle Reader,

I could feel the place in my back where the terrible sensation had come from. I carried the box and several more like it upstairs anyway.

Tell me your story. How did your back begin to hurt? What makes you worry about ending up in a wheel chair? How did arthritis begin and where has it taken you?

My story of treatment and recovery continues next week. Stay tuned.

Betsy Bell

Betsy Bell’s Health4U

4455 51^st Ave. SW

Seattle,WA98116

206 933 1889