What can you do to help with Sciatic pain?

                Massage will certainly help decrease nerve pain by stimulating the muscles by having the glutes worked on and the posterior leg. With increased circulation it will temporarily help your first visit  but going regularly it has long term beneficial effects especially for those who plan to do lots of driving or has a stressful work situation that is mentally and physically draining. Following after massage a hot bath with epsom salts is great. Having two cups added to your water will have the magnesium absorbed into your skin to help soaking for 10 to 20 min is ideal.

                Compression with hot and cold is another way to help ease sciatic pain. The heat relaxes the muscles and the cold will help decrease the inflammation down, and numb the pain. Making sure not to have the cold on for more than 20 min several times a day.

                With gentle exercises and stretching techniques It will help lower the chances of requiring injury and inflammation following. Keeping the core strong and stretching of the posterior leg muscles such as hamstring will also help. Yoga is another option to help with strengthening the muscles and helping corresponding areas that will ease sciatic pain.

                Simply laying on back keeping one leg to the ground, having one knee come towards your chest grasping below the knee as you hold to chest and lifting that leg as you take your hands and hold leg to upright position towards the ceiling and hold for 30 seconds, releasing leg and doing the opposite leg will help. Chair yoga is another best option especially for the elderly or to be in seated position on chair and extend leg to stretch the hamstring muscles and alternating sides is a excellent way to ease sciatic and a good tool to prevent from happening.

                These are tools to use in the comfort of your home and then applying to your regime at home will keep you feeling balanced and restored, following with massage and the use of a little bit of peppermint oil with moist hot towel to infuse will be such an award after coming in and being cared for to melt off any emotional stress that you may be holding.


Massage available at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta. 403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca

Massage Benefits

Massage Therapy has some pretty amazing benefits, not only does it have a sedative, stimulating or even exhausting effect on the nervous system depending on the type and length of massage. It also stretches connective tissue ,improves it's circulation and nutrition and so breaks down or prevents the formation of adhesion and reduces the danger of fibrosis.

                Massage doesn't stop there. It increases the number of blood cells, especially  in cases of anemia. It is a wonderful "mechanical cleanser" as I would like to put it. Stimulating lymph circulation and hastening the elimination of wastes and toxic debris.

                For someone looking to reduce stress and have an experience to restore balance for the body and mind, make sure to book in for a 30 min 60 min or 90 min massage!

Massage available at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta.  403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.

Dealing with stress

We all have stress in our lives, there is good stress and bad stress. The good stress can help build us in a way to motivate us to greater depths of the imagineable. Then there is the bad stress that can take us back a few steps and put is in a dark place of non existance. Sometimes there are unfortunate events that take place whether that is with an illness,  the loss of a loved one, divorce, seperation or injury.

One of the most important ways of starting to identify how you respond to stress yourself is to get in touch with your own typical responses to it. We are all different, we have all had particular life experiences and been exposed to situations that are unique  to us. We will all respond to outside influences in different ways.

                How to overcome the stress? It is a journey indeed to clear away stress. It is a constant battle but here are some steps to bring awareness into your life to clear any obstacles that may be hindering you from maintaining overall health.

                Simply just being in the present moment for 10 minutes finding a quiet place and do a scan where are you holding any stress in your body and focus your attention inside yourself starting at the head then into your neck, shoulders , arms and hands, chest, abdomen, back, hips, legs and feet and make a mental note of where these sites are that you are  holding most of  your tension, breathe deeply and send warmth there into the tension site, dissolving  any negativity. While you are there notice any sensations of discomfort or any emotions that arise. Try not to judge them, just observe them. Breathe this warm sensation into the area, and notice what happens, When you have visited all the areas you identified, breathe deeply again twice and stretch your  fingers and toes before opening your eyes.

              Don't worry as you come out that there are still tension in any of the sites you are experiencing, It takes a few trys to find a calm state in the body as we are built on a foundation that tends to be fast pace. Once you get to know the areas in your body and slow the mind with the breath there will be tools to help you relax and melt the tension away. You can come see a Massage Therapist or Chiropractor or Physio therapist and take a class in yoga and follow a teacher that will guide you in a safe pose where you can stretch tension away or try Reiki and have a practitioner guide you through a meditation and have energy work done to find peace and feel calm after your treatment.

Massage available at at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta.  403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.

Trigger point therapy

Trigger point therapy is an area of high-nerve facilitation that is hyperirritable and painful when compressed, which may result in muscle dysfunction and/ or chronic condition.

There are trigger points all over the body. Every muscle has trigger points, whether inactive, active or latent, and most muscles have more than two trigger points. The location of a trigger point varies depending on an individual's  routine, exercise habits, or profession. I work on a lot of clients who sit at a desk and often have their workstation set up in a way that when they work a full shift using the same dominant hand answering phone calls or working on the computer they can develop a trigger point.  It is an indication of physiological dysfunction and is the first warning sign that things are not well in the neuromusculoskeletal system. Similar to the ''check engine'' light in a car, a trigger point is a warning of dysfunction, and if left unchecked could represent very serious consequences. 

The following is a list of reasons a trigger point might activate:

1. Contracture in the muscle

2.Increased muscle tonus

3.Constriction and hypersensitivity in the skin in local or referred area

4.Increased pressure in the joints associated with the muscle

5. Decreased activity in visceral organs associated throughdepressed autonomic nerve activity (especially with spinal subluxations)

6. Constriction in local circulation resulting from hypertonus of and constrction in the muscle

7.Vasoconstriction in referred area from effects in the autonomic nervous system

8.Development of secondary and associated trigger points as a result of compensation from the 

effects of the primary trigger point

9.Muscle overuse

10. Poor posture

11. Poor ergonomics

12.Overstretch

13. Lack of stretching

14. Incorrect technique when exercising

Guy Lacoursiere RMT, practices at Family First Chiropractic located at 142 Erickson drive in Red Deer. Call us today to make an appointment (403)347-3261 or visit us at www.family1stchiro.ca.

Counteracting the Effects of Prolonged Sitting

Most individuals are dealing with some kind of postural stress and more often than not, it tends to manifest in the shoulders and neck. Advanced forms of postural stress show up as pain or weakness in the low back and gluteals caused by prolonged periods of sitting. Luckily, massage can counteract the imbalance caused from sitting, which means you can keep your desk job-as long as you schedule a regular massage.

Movement and exercise promote increased blood flow and prolonged sitting does the exact opposite, leading to high blood pressure. Massage by a professional massage therapist has the ability to reduce diastolic blood pressure. Massage also treats the underlying causes of high blood pressure by loosening tense muscles, improving blood flow, and decreasing stress and anxiety.

Depression and anxiety caused by extended sitting will spill over into your personal life and cause more damage there. Massage is regarded as effective for the reduction of depression and anxiety. For those suffering from stress, depression, and anxiety disorders, the calming effect of massage therapy as well as the resulting increased blood flow have the ability to greatly improve their mental state and subsequently their quality of life.

Massage is so much more than paying for someone to rub your back. Trained massage therapists have the ability to improve your quality of life by improving or eliminating the underlying causes for your symptoms. It is an undisputed fact that prolonged periods in a sedentary state (i.e. sitting at a desk for hours a day) cause numerous physical and mental ailments. Massage is a safe way to relieve many of these ailments simultaneously. 

Guy Lacoursiere, RMT practices at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Drive. Call 403-347-3261 to book an appointment or visit us online at www.family1stchiro.ca

Recipe for Self Care

Self care includes getting your rest staying hydrated, nourishing your body with healthy foods and staying active, and as always slowing down the mind with simple breathing techniques.

                When anxiety or frusturation creeps up take a few moments to find a place where you can gather your thoughts and when you can quiet the mind and quiet the body and sit comfortably in a chair or on the ground.

                Allowing the ground or your seat to support us, we begin to experience the natural rise and fall of the breath, we notice that after an exhale, our lungs spontaneously and organically fill again with air, the breath is simply waiting for more room so that it can fill us.

                Learning to embrace natural breathing will allow us to confidently pause and listen to our life with the support of our breath.

                Trying meditation or going for massage will help regulate the body along with chiro and yoga. Simply take those moments for yourself and feel balanced!

Massage available at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta.  403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca. 

Fascia Release

Fascia Release doesn’t have to be painful, it is a nice technique that goes quite deep. There is a Piezo-electric effect. MFR (myofascial release) applied properly will maximize the piezo-electric effect breaking down unwanted micro-adhesions, as well as free up and decompress joints.

What exactly is Deep Fascia? There are layers of fascia that wraps around and makes up muscle in its continuous head to toe, front to back, side to side. The superficial fascia is a layer of adipose tissue found beneath the skin and the deep fascia. This layer has its own integrity and also contributes to the structure of a body. The Deep Fascia is the network or web that surrounds the muscle or wrap. Lastly Connective tissue is the extracellular matrix that envelopes and connects our being from head to toe. It is the blood, none, perineural, perivascular wrappings, cells and microtubules that make up our bodies without it we would be a heap of partial bones on the floor. With the applied pressure by a therapist it changes the state of texture by lengthening and will positively affect better movement in the joints without the use of oil and direct contact to the client with slow techniques. Myofascial release is more likely to calm SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System) than to stimulate the PNS (Parasympathetic Nervous System).

Massage available at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta.  403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.

Massage Benefits

                Regular massages are an effective stress management technique. Stress is often caused by being over-committed and overwhelmed with daily tasks at home, work and family obligations where we often forget about our well-being. A weekly or bi-weekly massage forces you to take time out for yourself for a pleasurable, relaxing activity. Even if it is once a month, make sure to prebook and have it on a day where you can calm your mind and shut everything out for the time of your treatment. Your body will thank you.

                We are constantly over worked and may not realize it. During your massage treatment you will find in your body where you are holding stress. You become more in-tuned with your body as the therapist works in the tissue as he or she will lessen and break up the scar tissue or decrease inflammation in your body. The Parasympathetic nervous system will kick in and it will be at its best state to allow the healing to occur in your body. When we are stressed or always on the go, our adrenals are overworking and we are constantly in that state of taking flight..When getting regular massages it will allow the body to come back to balance and restore or reset the body, which will allow better digestion, gain clarity, reduce inflammation, lessen headaches , improve range of motion and reduce anxiety, depression and improves circulation.

               Try your massage today if you haven't booked in, you wont know what you will be missing until you try yours today.

Amelia Seaton-Segura practices at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta
403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca

Massage Therapy & Pain Management

The purpose of massage therapy is to target the source of the body’s pain via eliminating tense muscles, increasing flexibility, and providing relaxation to the affected muscles as well as the body as a whole. Massage also promotes circulation to the affected or injured muscles, which increases nutrients and oxygen to the damaged tissues. In turn, this increased activity to the affected sites reduces stiffness and edema (swelling) in the muscles and joints, as well as increases flexibility to help reduce pain. 

Moreover, this form of therapy also releases endorphins (pain-killing hormones), which boost the dopamine and serotonin levels in the body. These hormones assist the body in many ways–physically as well as emotionally. Case in point, they promote healing, pain management, and feelings of euphoria, as well as help to calm the nerves.

Guy Lacoursiere, RMT practices at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Drive. Call 403-347-3261 to book an appointment or visit us online.

Yoga and Wellness

What is Yoga? Yoga is a way of life, an integrated system of education for the body, mind and inner spirit. This art of right living was perfected and practiced  in India  thousands of years ago but, since yoga deals with universal truths, its teachings are as valid today as they were in ancient times.

Yoga can be practiced by anyone regardless of age,gender, or physical ability. It will enhance your studies and reduce stress, and help you to enjoy your free time. If you do suffer from any specific medical condition it is best to check with your doctors before taking up asana practice.

Asana benefits:

Physical benefits focuses on increasing and maintaining flexibility of the spine, toning and rejuvenating the nervous system. The gentle stretching, twisting and bending movements bring flexibility to the other joints and muscles of the body, as well as massaging the glands and organs. Circulaion is also improved, ensuring a rich supply of nutrients and oxygen  to all the cells of the body.

Mental benefits: steady postures free the mind from disturbances caused by physical movement, promoting steadiness of mind, balanced emotions, and an improved outlook on life.

Pranic benefits: Asana work in much the same ways as acupuncture or shiatsu, but the yogic system of pranic balancing is more subtle. To gain the benefit, you must practice asana regular over a period of time, but once you  feel the benefits, they will last longer. The different poses put pressure on vaious points, purifing and strenthening the nadis.

Massage available at Family First Chiropractic, located at 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer. Call 403-347-3261 to book today!

Massage Therapy and Headaches

A remedy that many find effective, but not so many seek out, is massage. Massage Therapy can help relieve muscle spasms, improve blood flow and circulation, and promoting relaxation. It has been shown to be helpful in bringing relief for tension headaches and preventing migraines.

Massage has two roles when it comes to treating migraines and tension related headaches:

1. In a proactive role, massage treatments are performed on a regular basis to help the body maintain an optimal level of relaxation and stress-relief. This approach reduces the chances of migraine attacks and tension headaches significantly by relaxing muscle spasms and trigger points.
2. In a comfort role, massage is done to ease the pressure brought on during a migraine or tension related headache. By focusing on the neck, shoulders, and head, massage can decrease the pain and discomfort brought on by migraine or tension headaches.

A study found that in adults with migraine headaches, massage therapy decreased the occurrence of headaches, sleep disturbances and distress symptoms. It also increased serotonin levels, believed to play an important role in the regulation of mood, sleep and appetite.

Guy Lacoursiere, RMT practices at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Drive. Call 403-347-3261 to book an appointment or visit us online.

Cupping Therapy

                Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine. It has been used all the way back to when the natives used the horns from the animals they hunted and use it on their own injuries with the use of the flame and pull out the toxins and eliminate pain. Now a days what a therapist would use are silicon cups and still give the same effect.

                What's nice about the silicon is that they come in a variety of sizes and provide an opposite stimulation than a typical massage. As opposed to the"pushing' down of the muscle, Cupping actually does the opposite. It is lifting up the muscle and connective tissue, fascia that surrounds the muscle. A therapist can move the cups around enhancing circulation, relieve congestion with someone suffering from colds, relieve pain and pulls out toxins that linger in your body's tissues. They do leave markings on the body but only last up to 6 days or so. Cupping is safe and has been very helpful with better range of motion in the joints and proper alignment to the body. Try cupping today!

Guy Lacoursiere, RMT, offers Cupping Therapy at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer. Call 403-347-3261 to book your Cupping therapy today!

The Benefits of Massage

Massage is ideal for all people and body types. The benefits of massage are experienced universally, although the benefits are different for each individual. Massage can help with stress relief, varying pain relief, muscle tension, myofascial pain, as well as many other complaints. There are many varieties of massage, including Swedish, sports-directed, myofascial, trigger point, and deep tissue. Massage can also help alleviate symptoms from headaches, fibromyalgia and soft tissue strains. Massage is known to be beneficial both before and after sports competitions. Your skeletal system is also positively affected-although indirectly- by massage.  Massage helps to bring blood and nutrients to the bones and alleviate joint stiffness. Another system that is positively affected by massage is the respiratory system. Massage can help relieve congestion in the lungs and chest, and as a result of this reduced congestion, will reduce the energy expending when breathing. 

Music and Massage

                

Zen meditation is one of my favorites to play, while giving a massage. It helps the client relax and become more calm while receiving a massage. I also find that it helps balance and centers them as well. It can also help with children and calming them down when it is their first massage.

   

There are many benefits of listening to relaxing music while receiving a massage. With playing relaxing zen music it helps benefit you in many different ways. From increasing your positive hormones, to reducing stress, improving brain functions, calming your heart rate, and enhance pleasure experience. 

Relaxing music is also great for feeling as though you have slept throughout your massage. Each person responds differently to music types to help them relax.        

Nichole Mullis, RMT. Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta. 403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.

Children and massage

Children and massage

Massage is beneficial for children of all ages. It can help with muscle growth pain, depression, reduce stress, and help with their immune systems. 

I always try to encourage a child to tell me when they’re feeling discomfort throughout the massage. I can also tell this by their body language when I am massaging them. If they’re feeling any discomfort. 

Massage can help heal injuries quicker in a child, and can also prevent them from occurring.  Massage is also a great way to help a child bound and also gives a therapeutic response to the child.

Massage available at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta.  403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.

Why should I have CranioSacral Therapy?

Why should I have CranioSacral Therapy?

All of our lives are very busy.  We do not have a lot of time for others, much less ourselves. Here are some good reasons to find the time for ourselves to heal and to start to enjoy our life more.  

1. Some people come because they feel as though they aren’t coping and that life is very difficult. CranioSacral Therapy can often be a last resort after many years of struggle.

          2.      Some people come because they have long standing health issues which make it very difficult to cope.           CranioSacral Therapy can help relieve the emotional and physical side-effects of living with long term             illness or pain and can support the body in its natural movement towards health

3. Some people come because they have experienced traumatic events that they cannot move past. CranioSacral Therapy is a very safe, gentle and effective way of treating trauma and post-traumatic states.
4. Some people come because they are incredibly stressed and anxious and can’t seem to find any relief from a very busy mind. CranioSacral Therapy is especially good at encouraging a very deep sense of stillness allowing the mind slow down and rest. Many people say they sleep very well after a craniosacral treatment.
5. Some people come because they just need to be held and listened to. The most important thing a CranioSacral Therapist does is to simply be present for the client and hold the therapeutic space allowing the client’s process to unfold naturally.

Jeanette works at the clinic at 142 Erickson Drive Wednesday evenings and Saturdays. Give us a call to book your appointment (403)347-3261 or visit our website to learn more www.family1stchiro.ca

Low back stretches for Guy Lacoursiere RMT

One of the most common questions I get from my massage clients is “what stretches can I do to minimize my lower back pain?” So here are the top 7 stretches I give to my clients.

1. The hamstring floor stretch.

Hold for 30 seconds twice for each leg.

2. Knee to chest stretch.

This helps strengthen and relax your glutes. Hold for 20 seconds for each leg twice.

3. Spinal stretch.

This was a favorite of mine when I suffered sciatica. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat on the other knee. Do this as many times as you like but don’t overdo it.

4. The piriformis stretch.

Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with the other leg.

5. The hip flexors stretch.

Hold for 30 seconds and then switch and repeat.

6. The quadriceps lying down stretch.

Hold for 30 seconds on each side. Do this one twice on each side.

7. The total back stretch.

Hold this for 30 seconds and then try this:

Hold for 10 seconds on both sides.

With any luck, this will have your lower back feeling great again!

Guy Lacoursiere practices at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness- 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer.T4R 2C3   403-347-3261 www.family1stchiro.ca