Katie Keaton Medical Massage

06/21/2021

Useful :)

PLANTAR FASCIITIS SELF-TREATMENT

Regular, gentle stretching of your Achilles tendon and plantar fascia may help to ease your symptoms. This is because most people with plantar fasciitis have a slight tightness of their Achilles tendon. If this is the case, it tends to pull at the back of your heel and has a knock-on effect of keeping your plantar fascia tight. Also, when you are asleep overnight, your plantar fascia tends to tighten up (which is why it is usually most painful first thing in the morning). The aim of these exercises is to loosen up the tendons and fascia gently above and below your heel.

1. Soleus Stretch
With both knees apart and your toes facing forward, lean into the wall until you feel the stretch in your lower calf. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.

2. Step Stretch
Stand with your toes on a step and your heels off the edge. Slowly lower your heels down, hold for 15 seconds, and then lift your heels to their starting position. You can either do both feet at the same time, or one foot at a time. Repeat five times.

3. Roll Stretch
Using a mini roll, roll it back and forth from your toes to your heels. Alternatively you can use a tennis ball or a glass bottle.

4. Plantar Fascia Massage
Using two fingers, apply small circular friction to any tight knots or lumps in the plantar fascia. The pressure should be deep, but not so much that you tighten up with pain.

5. Elastic Strap Stretch
Sit on the floor with your legs straight in from of you. Take a stretch strap and place it around your toes. Gently pull the strap towards you. Hold for 15-30 seconds, then release. Repeat 3 times.

6. Toe Stretch
Place just toes up on the wall with the ball of the foot and heel on the ground. Lean into the wall slowly until stretch is felt. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.

Can plantar fasciitis be prevented?
There are certain things that you can do to try to prevent plantar fasciitis, especially if you have had it before. These include:

▪️Regularly changing training shoes used for running or walking
▪️Wearing shoes with good cushioning in the heels and good arch support
▪️Losing weight if you are overweight
▪️Regularly stretching the plantar fascia and Achilles tendon, especially before exercise
▪️Avoiding exercising on hard surfaces

02/21/2021

9 Easy Stretches to Release Lower Back and Hip Pain

https://blog.paleohacks.com/stretches-lower-back-and-hip-pain/?fbclid=IwAR1Y4dTXrCmcZWUQlaUMB3Yos2Rp6ADlPm8dm08ZfBgQsy1N5nY6-MKEgXM

Loosen up sticky muscles with these pain-relieving moves.

01/18/2021

While I place slightly less importance on this than some do, it's still a vital muscle.

🔈 WHY ARE THE PSOAS MUSCLES CONSTANTLY CONTRACTED DURING PROLONGED PERIODS OF STRESS?

Whether you run, bike, dance, practice yoga, or just hang out on your couch, your psoas muscles are involved. That’s because your psoas muscles are the primary connectors between your torso and your legs. They affect your posture and help to stabilise your spine.

The psoas muscles are made of both slow and fast twitching muscles. Because they are major flexors, weak psoas muscles can cause many of the surrounding muscles to compensate and become overused. That is why a tight or overstretched psoas muscle could be the cause of many or your aches and pains, including low back and pelvic pain.

👩‍🔬 ANATOMY

Structurally, your psoas muscles are the deepest muscles in your core. They attach from your 12th thoracic vertebrae to your 5 lumbar vertebrae, through your pelvis and then finally attach to your femurs. In fact, they are the only muscles that connect your spine to your legs.

Your psoas muscles allow you to bend your hips and legs towards your chest, for example when you are going up stairs. They also help to move your leg forward when you walk or run.

Your psoas muscles are the muscles that flex your trunk forward when bend over to pick up something from the floor. They also stabilize your trunk and spine during movement and sitting.

👩‍🔬 THE PSOAS AND FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE

The psoas muscles support your internal organs and work like hydraulic pumps allowing blood and lymph to be pushed in and out of your cells.

Your psoas muscles are vital not only to your structural well-being, but also to your psychological well-being because of their connection to your breath.

Here’s why: there are two tendons for the diaphragm (called the crura) that extend down and connect to the spine alongside where the psoas muscles attach. One of the ligaments (the medial arcuate) wraps around the top of each psoas. Also, the diaphragm and the psoas muscles are connected through fascia that also connects the other hip muscles.

These connections between the psoas muscle and the diaphragm literally connect your ability to walk and breathe, and also how you respond to fear and excitement. That’s because, when you are startled or under stress, your psoas contracts.

In other words, your psoas has a direct influence on your fight or flight response!

During prolonged periods of stress, your psoas is constantly contracted. The same contraction occurs when you:

➡️ sit for long periods of time
➡️ engage in excessive running or walking
➡️ sleep in the fetal position
➡️ do a lot of sit-ups

💡 Here are some tips for getting your psoas back in balance:

✔️ Avoid sitting for extended periods
✔️ Add support to your car seat
✔️ Try Resistance Flexibility exercises
✔️ Get a professional massage
✔️ Release stress and past traumas
✔️ Stretch

💡 HOW TO STRETCH

Roller Psoas Stretch
Use a foam roller for this passive, relaxing stretch that lengthens your psoas, one of your deep hip flexors.

1. Place the roller perpendicular to your spine and lie with your sacrum (the back of your pelvis) — not your spine — on the roller.
2. Pull your left knee toward your chest, keeping your right heel on the ground. You should feel a stretch on the front of your right hip.
3. To increase the stretch, reach your right arm over your head and open your left knee slightly out to the left.
Hold for 30 seconds, then switch legs. Repeat as needed.

12/23/2020

This is one of the first things I look for when people come to me with sciatic pain that goes down the leg.

🔈 RELATIONSHIP OF SCIATIC NERVE TO PIRIFORMIS

(A) The sciatic nerve usually emerges from the greater sciatic foramen inferior to the piriformis.
(B) In 12.2% of 640 limbs studied by Dr. J. C. B. Grant, the sciatic nerve divided before exiting the greater sciatic foramen; the common fibular division (yellow) passed through the piriformis.
(C) In 0.5% of cases, the common fibular division passed superior to the muscles where it is especially vulnerable to injury during intragluteal injections.

06/10/2020

People are experiencing 'skin hunger' after months without touching anyone

https://www.insider.com/people-have-skin-hunger-after-months-without-touching-anyone-2020-6?fbclid=IwAR0mVkkQaWc9yl9oCCSPqPE4uAmyA6PymqyQc-ZZ6zaVnnHt57cAkumTmuw

People NEED touch!

"Skin hunger" is a human touch deficit that's linked with worse health. Nothing can replace the need for touch, but some strategies can tide you over.

10/30/2019

Think Pain Is Purely Medical? Think Again.

As a massage therapist, I'm obviously focused on the 'bio' part of the biopsychosocial pain model. But if you live with chronic pain, this is definitely something to think about and look into.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pain-explained/201910/think-pain-is-purely-medical-think-again?fbclid=IwAR2hJOhSDGCj7oCw9N91EVH_gr25RfxNrnZDyqlG4gTDiu83pkNpBXNj5_8

Pain isn’t simply a medical issue—it's psychological and social, too.