Stretching exercise for the neck

If you suffer from pain and tight muscle of the neck and shoulder, I recommend that you practice that exercise everyday.

In your shower, let the water fall on you neck and soulder. Turn your head to the right, keeping  the head level, meaning not bending the head  forward or up, and go as far as you can. Hold that position 20-30 sec. and come back to neutral position. It is very important to hold the position to have a proper stretch of the muscle. Then repeat the procedure on the other side. Do it a couple of time on both side. This exercise, should help you with your neck movement, as well as a decreasing your symptoms.

Related article: Easy exericse for the posture of the upper body

Magnesium: a natural remedy for anxiety

With the pace of life right now, anxiety is becoming more and more prevalent. Anxiety is define by Wikipedia  as a psychological and physiological state charactertized by somatic, behavorial, emotional and cognitive component. The syptoms varies from heart palpitations, muscle weakness, tension, fatigue, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, stomach aches and headache. The treatment by MD is anti-anxiety drug, but those drugs have a lot of side effect. Learning breathing and relaxation technique can help, as well as certain herb like passion flower and valerian root, but be careful, those herb can also have side effect.

But magnesium, is an effective, low cost and safe anxiety remedy. Magnesium is a mineral nutriant, that acts as a muscle relaxant and nervous system relaxant. A deficiency in magnesium in our alimentation, is known to increase the symptom of anxiety. The food that contain magnesium are: rice bran, coconut water, buckwheat, kelp, cashew, molasses, pumpkin seed, cocoa powder, and brazil nut.

In the case of anxiety, it is suggested to take it as a supplement. Start with 200 mg per day and increase the dose to the most effective dosage. Most people have a marked decrease of symptoms between 400-800mg per day. Too much magnesium will cause loose stool, in that case decrease the dosage.

When should I put ice or heat?

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That is a question that I am often ask. Should I put ice or heat, and it seems that everybody has is own theory on the subject.

Let's start with ice. Ice is used to decrease swelling and pain after an injury. It is one of the easiest and cheapest way for pain relief. Ice is used for acute injury(sudden onset of symptom) for the first 48-72 hours after the onset of pain. You could apply it even longer than that if there is still swelling on the site of the injury. Ice is also used after the activity, for chronic recurrent overuse injury. Never put ice before doing an activity. For ice bag, you can use crushed ice in a ziploc bag, or the gel ice pack, or even a bag of frozen peas. Always wrap the ice bag with a wet towel, and apply it to the injured body part, for 10-15min., no more than that. Wait at least an hour and you can put ice again. You should put it, at least 4 time a day, to be effective.

Heat is applied for chronic injury that has no inflammation. We usually put heat on sore, stiff muscle pain, to relax the tight muscle. You can use a heating pad, or the gel pack that goes in the micro-wave, for 15 min, again wrapping the heat source with a damp towel. Never use heat when there is inflammation. In doubt, put ice, since you will never worsened your condition with it. But if you put heat on an inflame joint, even if it feels good will doing it, in an hour or so, you will be worse. So here is a quick recap:     

Ice:  Acute
        Recurrent chronic overuse injury
        Decrease swelling and pain
        10-15min.
        At least 4 time a day
        After the activity,  never before
        Never directly on the skin

Heat: Chronic injury with no inflammation
         Sore, stiff muscle pain
         To relax tight muscle
         15 min.
         Never put heat after an exercise
         Never directly on the skin