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Manual therapists that know how to listen with their hands to what the bodies of their patients are telling them are worth their weight in gold, as they can zone in on the most important area to treat.

Today I’d like to present something a little different. I’m hoping that you will find some wellness take-aways from what happened to me last week, and that you will endulge a personal story.

Those that have been following these tips for some time probably already know that my biggest health struggle is getting to sleep and staying asleep. I have made huge improvements over the last year to 18 months, but in the effort to improve my sleep still further, I began supplementing with magnesium. My understanding is that magnesium is not easily absorbed via the gut, so I was very excited to get my hands on a topical magnesium oil.

As a general rule I put nothing on my skin but soap and coconut oil, in order to avoid the long list of potential toxins in personal care products. The mineral oil ingredients were water and magnesium chloride, so I didn’t figure there would be an issue. I sprayed the oil on my back and a couple of days later realized that I had developed a very itchy rash. Assuming it was an allergic reaction, I tried antihistamine sprays to take out the itch, but they did not work. I did not think anything was infected and I did not want to use corticosteroids, so I did not go to the doctor. But the itch was unbearable.

In hindsight, that is when I made my biggest mistake. I figured my back was inflamed, so I iced it. Those that know me know that for me to resort to ice means that the itching must have been something aweful, because I tend to be cold and have to fight hard to stay warm. But the ice worked like a charm, easing the itch almost immediately. I iced a few times over the course of the day, and once I think I kept the ice on for as long as 20 minutes.

The following morning when I tried to get out of bed, I realized something was very wrong. As I lifted my head up in order to sit up, I felt a strong pull down the left side of my back. It felt like the inside of my ribcage on the left had been encased in shrink-wrap. Every time I moved, I felt this sproingy tug from about the 6th rib on the left side, down to my left low back. Even when I stood normally, a fairly strong pull remained. The sensation in my back was similar to how it feels if one were to pull back a finger and hold it there for several hours. I also felt a tether pulling my stomach off to the left, and my skin around the whole left side of my trunk felt irritated just like skin feels when one has the flu. This was now in addition to the horrible itching.

What had I done? If you are a health-care practitioner, what would you suspect with that symptomology? What would you do to treat?

My suspicion was that the ice had dehydrated the tissues, and that my spleen had firmly attached itself to the posterior wall inside my ribcage. It felt like the spleen was where all the tethering sensations were originating. Suddenly I was remembering what my mother always used to say when we were kids – “don’t let your coat ride up or you will chill your kidneys”. My partner told me that when he was a boy playing hockey, the coaches would never let them lie on the ice because they might “freeze their organs”. Old wives’ tales? Or based in some truth? Certainly ice is commonly recommended to relieve inflammation, and I don’t recall hearing any caveats with respect to icing the back.

I stretched in every way I could think of to sheer the organ away, to no avail. I tried heat and stretched after that. Nope. So, for the last couple of days I’ve been incredibly uncomfortable in pretty much any position. This weekend I’m in a course with a bunch of manual therapists, so today I begged and pleaded for a treatment.

My therapist spent about 20 minutes listening with her hands to what my body was telling her. She did not want me to tell her my story because she knew that that would confuse her sense of touch. Her hands told her that no, the issue was not my spleen but rather that my left kidney, which had been pulled up against my spasming diaphragm. My spleen and stomach were coming along for the ride, but the primary problem was the kidney. She proceded to treat it, and about 5 minutes later I noticed the tethering sensations were gone. I am so grateful! I feel considerably better, and hopefully over the next day or so the achy skin will calm down too.

It is important to understand that our organs are supposed to slide and glide with respect to each other, and with respect to the canister that contains them. They should be attached only at their attachment sites – not be glommed together or glued to the walls. When many think of pain or discomfort, they think muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, but the discomfort can also be caused by a tethering from one or more organs, or from the nerves.

When something stops moving as it should, whether that something is a muscle, joint, nerve or organ, the body is forced to compensate for that lack of movement. Pain or disease happens when the body is no longer able to compensate.

Painkillers only treat symptoms. If there is pain, there is a cause somewhere. And that cause might be very far away from where the pain is. Manual therapists who know how to listen with their hands to what the bodies of their patients are telling them, can locate those causes and help resolve them.

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This post was written by Dr. Jo Ann Holoka, Jacksonville Bioidentical Hormones Expert. Dr. Holoka is part of BodyLogicMD, a network of highly trained physicians across the country who use BHRT (bioidentical hormone therapy) integrated with nutrition and fitness planning to help those suffering from hormone imbalance.

Our diet plays a crucial role in how youthful we look and feel. If you want to maintain optimal health in your 40’s, 50’s and beyond, it’s important that your diet includes foods that have been scientifically proven to reduce the effects of aging. The trouble with aging is that too many of us think of it as being a problem that must be solved. When in reality, it’s inevitable. However, while we may not be able to turn back the hands of time, there are steps that women and men can take to improve how well we age, and it all starts with what we put into our bodies.

If you wish to follow in the footsteps of Ageless celebrities like Suzanne Somers, there’s no need to waste your money on costly supplements or “miracle” remedies. If you’re still searching for the esoteric fountain of youth, a good place to start would be at your local grocery store.

1. Lypocene – Lycopene is a nutrient found in a variety of foods, such as tomatoes, watermelon, guava, pink grapefruit, papaya and rose hips. This nutrient works as an antioxidant, helping to rid the body of harmful free radicals and oxidative stress. Studies suggest that lycopene may reduce the risk of heart disease, several types of cancer and even osteoporosis.
2. Beta-carotene – Beta-carotene can help to prevent macular degeneration, night blindness and other vision problems. Additionally, beta-carotene has been shown to boost collage levels, giving skin more elasticity and improving the overall quality and texture of skin. Foods that contain beta-carotene include carrots, apricots, lettuce, peppers and spinach.
3. Flavonoids – Flavonoids also have great antioxidant properties. They also help reduce inflammation, which is at the root of a variety of disease and medical conditions. Perhaps the most notable flavonoid is resveratrol. Resveratrol is found in most red wines and has been shown to prevent blood clots, reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and prevent damage to blood vessels, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
4. Vitamin D – It’s estimated that nearly 90 percent of American adults are vitamin D deficient. Many experts believe that vitamin D deficiency is to blame for a higher incidence of cancer and heart disease in American women and men. Vitamin D is found naturally in foods such as milk, cheese, butter, eggs, fish and oysters. It’s important to have your vitamin D levels assessed by your doctor to see if supplementation is necessary bring you within a normal range. Recommendations vary, but a daily intake in the range of 800 to 1,000 IU is likely to benefit most adults.
5. Breakfast – We’ve all heard the stale cliché “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Still the vast majority of us are “breakfast skippers.” Eating a well-balanced breakfast is an excellent way to jumpstart the body’s metabolism. Numerous studies have shown that people who skip breakfast are more likely to deal with weight gain and other consequences of “starvation eating.” The bottom line is: skipping breakfast is setting yourself up for failure.

If you want to search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

Related tips:
The sunshine vitamin and cancer
Which hormone is responsible for yoru fat distribution?

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