By guest blogger Tamara Mitchell, LMT, CMLDT

With all the systems in the human body the Lymphatic System often gets forgotten. Much like the latest computer IOS, the topic just goes...lymph.

The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins, waste and other unwanted materials. The primary function of the lymphatic system is to transport lymph, a fluid containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body.  The lymph system has two main roles: to drain excess tissue fluid and to fight infections. The system is made up of vessels which contains lymph nodes.  A lymph node is a small bean shaped structure which contains large numbers of white blood cells, monitoring any signs of infection. These vessels prevent blockage in the body tissue by draining through the urinary system.
The lymphatic system's role within the body can be compared to the oil needed to run a car – they both need to be periodically filtered to keep the “body” running properly.

This process is done naturally by the body with regular muscle movement, breathing, proper hydration and diet. The process can be sped up with Manual Lymph Drainage (MLD), which uses gentle strokes to clear cellular debris through the vessels.  Manual Lymph Drainage is a light pressure massage using rhythmic pulling over the lymph vessels that sit just below the skin. The goal of MLD is to increase lymph flow, as opposed to regular massage therapy, which is focused deeper on the muscles.  Manual Lymph Drainage offers relief and benefits for many conditions including post injury edema and is a gentle, conservative approach that can be done fully clothed in 60-minute sessions.
All treatments of Manual Lymph Drainage should be discussed with your physician who will determine any contraindications that may be present or if treatment is right for you. If you are interested in Manual Lymph Drainage give our office a call and staff will direct you to a trained therapist.

By: Gust Blogger Kate Duffy

As I’m sure most of you are aware, there are many different forms of massage therapy, beyond the traditional Swedish relaxation massage. Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is one of the more recent modalities. It was developed by Dr. John E. Upledger, following extensive studies done between 1975 and 1983, and is now very popular.

Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle form of hands-on therapy done with a very lightweight touch. Using only the weight of a nickel, the therapist is able to locate and assist in the moving of blockages within the pattern and flow of the sacral fluid. The sacral fluid flows along the spinal column and around the brain. By focusing on the movement of this fluid, a trained therapist is able to release compression and help the body to regain homeostasis (stable equilibrium), which allows for recovery from a variety of trauma, including migraine headaches, chronic neck and back pain, and brain injuries.

With the increased concern of head injuries in contact sports, football in particular, interest in CST as an additional form of treatment for concussions has grown. By helping the fluid and fascia throughout the head and spinal column, many people have found a significant amount of relief from their symptoms, more so than from other more common forms of treatment.

If you are interested in giving CST a try call our office at 269-373-1000 and our friendly staff can direct you to a therapist who is trained in it!

For more information and video testimonials, go to Upledger.com

By Guest Blogger: Dr. Steve Antoniotti

You could say chiropractic is in our bones…pun intended. Antoniotti Chiropractic first opened its doors in 1964. We are the 3 rd generation to provide health and wellness care to southwest Michigan. Since the beginning, we have utilized both chiropractic adjustments along with therapeutic massage to deliver the highest level of care to our patients. On April 1, 2019, our office was blessed with the addition of Kalamazoo Athletic Wellness and we couldn’t be happier, after seeing only positive results over the last six months. We truly believe that massage therapy is the ideal complement to chiropractic care.

Improving range of motion (flexibility) and overall biomechanical function, increasing immune system adaptability, decreasing pain and inflammation, eliminating toxins, reducing stress and fatigue, along with enhancing circulation are just a few of the many benefits that are attributed to a combination of chiropractic and massage therapy. Anxiety, depression, digestive disorders, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, headaches, insomnia, soft and hard tissue injuries are a few of the many symptoms /conditions for which a combination of chiropractic care and massage therapy can provide immense relief and benefit.

You might be asking “How?” The simple answer boils down to the fact that chiropractors work with hard tissue (bones and joints) and massage therapists work with soft tissue (muscle, ligament, tendon, lymph, and circulation). The body is composed of over 200 bones and over 600 muscles. These biomechanical components do not work independently of each other; rather they are an integral network of movement & function, which need to communicate every second of every day. So chiropractic care and massage therapy work together, hand in hand, to provide optimum health for most people.

99.9% of our chiropractic patients are given the clinical recommendation to also utilize therapeutic massage, as the best treatment results are seen when both modalities are used. Having Kalamazoo Athletic Wellness on our team has only improved overall patient care and well-being. Having a team of both chiropractors and massage therapists available allows us to continually provide the best long-term results for people of all ages in our community.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of our offices with further questions and BE WELL!

By: Guest blogger Jeff Merrill LMT, BS

“Oh my hamstrings are so tight. I just need to stretch them out more.” Have you ever said this? If so, why do you think you need to stretch them out? The two purposes of the hamstring muscle group are to extend your leg back behind you and to bend your knee. So if you say they are tight, then you must be doing box jumps and/or jump
squats all day.

Wait, you aren't doing those things? Hmmm. Well then, maybe your hamstrings aren't really the issue. Let’s take a step back and look at what actually might be causing those hamstrings to be pulled tight.

1. Belly/Core Weakness
Consider the rotation of the pelvis. If the belly pushes the front of the pelvis down, what happens to the back part? It is going to pull upward. Where are the hamstrings attached? At the back portion of the pelvis. So as the front of the hips go down, the back gets pulled up and a stretch is applied to the hamstrings.

2. Hip Flexor Tightness
This is very similar to the belly weakness. As your hip flexors get too tight, they pull the front of your hips down and the back of your hips up. They also sometimes can rotate the hips into different planes: Right Forward/Left Back or Left Forward/Right Back. What this does is make one hamstring feel tighter than the other.

3. Calves

As the front of the hips get pulled down, the back gets pulled up, making the hamstrings feel stretched. And a stretched muscle (which is weaker) doesn't activate as well as a muscle at normal length. So when a muscle is weak, other muscles that do similar actions start compensating and assisting those movements. Enter the calves. You
have two calf muscles: one that crosses the knee and one that does not. The one that crosses the knee helps to flex or bend the knee, just like the hamstrings. So if the hamstrings are weak, the calf muscle picks up the slack. What can happen is that the calf muscle can inhibit the hamstring movement.


4. Other Reasons
There are a myriad of other reasons, so it is often difficult to pin down exactly what is the cause, but here are a few others:

• Lower portion of the IT band
• Sacrotuberous ligament
• Hip capsule stiffness
• Tensor fascia latte and/or the upper portion of the IT band
• Medial Rotators of the hip
• Scar tissue in certain areas
• Baker's cysts
•  Quad tightness and adherence

As you can see, there are a great many reasons why your hamstrings may be tight. Most of them are not because of your hamstrings.

Come see us and we can help you figure out exactly where your problem areas are and then help you start getting the flexibility back into your legs.

by guest blogger
Michael Padden, LMT, PTA

You’ve heard us say this a million times: “Be sure to drink plenty of water.” Summer is a critical time for this simple advice. Too many weekend warriors and seasoned athletes alike fail to maintain proper hydration during the summer months, leading to heat -related complications like heat cramps and even heat stroke in extreme cases. Exercising in the heat is a double whammy for your body’s ability to maintain a safe temperature. Rigorous exercise generates a lot of heat, which must be dissipated somehow. The main method the body uses to remove this excess heat is through sweat, especially in hot weather. If the body is unable to regulate its temperature effectively or when the balance of hydration and electrolytes is disturbed, exercise performance is impaired and if unchecked, can result in serious health risks.

It can be difficult to sufficiently replace the water loss from an activity during the activity or immediately after and as such it is particularly important for athletes who perform prolonged endurance activities or multiple intense activities throughout the day to monitor their hydration. Deficits in hydration from one activity can carry over and be further compromised by subsequent activities if steps are not taken to replace the lost fluids and electrolytes. The more dehydrated you become the higher the strain on the body and the greater the impact on exercise performance.

Recommendations for ensuring proper hydration for exercise include prehydration, drinking during exercise, and rehydration. To safely and effectively prehydrate, it is recommended that you slowly drink 0.075 - 0.1 oz per pound of body weight approximately 4 hours before activity. (that's about a cup of water per 100lbs.) Then, if 2 hours before activity, either you have not urinated or your urine is dark in color, drink another 0.05-0.075 oz per pound of body weight. (That's about another 5-7.5 ounces per 100lbs)  This recommendation ensures that prehydration does not lead to over hydration, which can also have negative effect on exercise performance.
Drinking during activity can be the most vital for long duration exercise but exact recommendations are difficult due to the wide variability in water loss rates. It is recommended that you assess your own needs carefully, adjusting for your activity and the conditions. As a reference point though, typical marathon runners would likely need to consume approximately 16 - 32 oz per hour to replace their water losses on a warm day.

Remember to replace not only the water but also the electrolytes lost during activity, either by consuming a salty snack or by drinking a sports drink, which contains sufficient electrolytes, during your activity. If you were able to sufficiently maintain hydration throughout exercise, then normal meals and beverages may be enough to rehydrate following activity, but if you have built up a deficit, then rehydration will need to be proportionately more aggressive. It is important during this phase to ensure that sodium levels return to normal or the body will not be able to absorb the water it needs to replace the fluid losses. The best way to measure how much fluid needs to be replaced after activity is to weigh yourself before and again after the activity and then drink approximately 23 oz per pound lost, but do so gradually so as to maximize absorption.

References:
Michael N. Sawka, FACSM (chair); Louise M. Burke, FACSM, E. Randy Eichner,
FACSM, Ronald J. Maughan, FACSM, Scott J. Montain, FACSM, Nina S. Stachenfeld,
FACSM.
Exercise and Fluid Replacement, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: February
2007 - Volume 39 - Issue 2 - p 377-390.
doi: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31802ca597

By Guest Blogger: Sarah Therkildsen


As summer quickly approaches, many of us are looking forward to the bright sun, sweet breezes, and some time for fun and relaxation. If you are like me, however, you may be realizing how full your calendar is already looking, and it is taking some of the summer breeze out of your sails. Besides the ongoing stresses of daily life, the weather often draws us outdoors, quickly increasing our physical exertion. The heat also can take its toll, causing swelling in joints and limbs. These are all great reasons to remember massage is our friend and a great way to continue self care. Let’s take a closer look at these four ways:

Stress kills (maybe not directly, but indirectly.)  It's a fact that stress is incredibly damaging to the body.  The body naturally releases adrenaline and cortisol to combat stress by going into the flight or fight mode. This is for survival. However, when we consistently and daily carry stress in our body, we start to develop health problems such as anxiety, depression, digestive issues, headaches, heart disease, sleeplessness, weight gain, memory impairment and more.  It may eventually end in death! This is why self-care is so important.
 
If our body is always depleted and we are in constant stress mode, how can we expect to care for our loved ones at full capacity? Think of when you travel on an airplane and the flight attendants give the safety talk.  They always tell passengers to " please put on your own oxygen mask first before attempting to help others." How can we be expected to help others be well if we are not well ourselves?

Taking time to care for yourself shouldn't be viewed as selfish. You are simply taking the time to reboot, recharge, refresh and become an even better version of yourself. Ideally, this healthy version of you will trickle down the human chain to others and maybe with a little bit of grace, will brighten someone else's day.

There are many different variations of self care, including massage therapy (or any form of therapy for that matter), going for a walk, reading a good book, being in good company, disconnecting from electronics and the constant hustle and bustle of life are just a few. Maybe you just really need a nap! Whatever suits your fancy and helps you relax (and that isn't harmful to you or others). We all react differently to stress, so we are all going to have different ways of unwinding and relaxing.

It may be tempting to stay up late to cram in those last household chores or answer emails, but really, the world won’t end if the laundry is dirty for another day, or if the dishes are piled up in the sink. Sleep deprivation causes irritability, poor cognition, impaired reflexes and response time (think car accidents!) and can contribute to depression and anxiety.

By Guest Blogger Adam Brown, LMT, NHE, MCT

When most people think of sports massage, they typically imagine a lot of stretching and
deep tissue work. They might even imagine pain. Good therapists vary their pressure
greatly according to their client’s comfort level and desired depth of bodywork, but it is not
uncommon for greater amounts of pressure in localized areas to cause a pain response in
the massage recipient. This is typically characterized by muscle “guarding” or tensing and
either a sharp inhale of breath or holding the breath all together. Both of these responses
tend to be counterproductive as far as the overall goal of most massage sessions is
concerned, which is to provide therapeutic relaxation to muscles and soft tissue in order to
reduce pain and tension and decrease injuries.

Another often overlooked positive outcome of effective massage work is a relaxation of the
autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has two branches, or two sides
of the coin, if you will: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. You may
have heard these two branches referred to colloquially as the “fight or flight” and the “rest
and digest” systems respectively. If you struggle with keeping the two straight, just think ‘S’
for stress and sympathetic and ‘P’ for peace and parasympathetic.
The primary functions of the parasympathetic nervous system are well illustrated by the
phrase “rest and digest” (and we could also add reproduce). These functions allow the body
to build, repair, heal, and carry on life, so to speak. Conversely, the sympathetic nervous
system kicks into gear in dangerous and/or stressful situations, elevating the heart rate,
increasing muscle tone, and essentially getting one ready for action. From the viewpoint of
evolutionary biology, we can understand how it would be beneficial to quickly go from a
state of rest to a state of flight if we think of our ancestors’ needs to evade predators at a
moment’s notice in order to survive.

Our bodies function best when they can actively switch between the parasympathetic and
sympathetic nervous systems as our environment dictates. However, our achievement
driven Western society has conditioned most of us to remain in a constant state of fight or
flight. While there is not necessarily a saber-toothed tiger chasing us on a regular basis, as
there may have been for our ancestors, we often experience similar physiological response
to the stressors of daily life -- running late for work, traffic on the daily commute, public
speaking, first dates, parenting, etc. And these metaphorical predators never quite seem to
go away as we hold on to them in our anxious thoughts and worries from day to day.
The reason it is important to understand the difference between the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous system and the effect massage has on them is that being stuck in a
constant state of fight or flight (or freeze) has been shown to have many health detriments,
such as weight gain and a depressed immune system. The pressure applied in a moderate to
deep tissue massage (done without eliciting a pain response) can help activate the
parasympathetic nervous system and slow down the sympathetic nervous system. So, yes,
it’s actually good for you to learn to relax!

One of the best ways I have found to provide my clients the deep, relaxing pressure they
desire while eliciting as little pain response as possible, is a specialized massage technique
known as Ashiatsu. This modality utilizes the therapist’s feet instead of their hands to
provide broad, deep pressure. Ashiatsu is ideal for achieving deeper pressure with little to
no pain because the surface area of the ‘tool’ applying the pressure is increased and long,
smooth, stokes are used to maintain consistent pressure throughout. One of my clients said
after their “ashi” session that it reminded them of the comfort of a weighted blanket.
In addition to the benefits to your muscles and nervous system, Ashiatsu can also help
improve posture and circulation, decrease chronic pain, and improve joint mobility.

Ashiatsu is available at our sports massage center for sessions of 60 or 90 minutes. Schedule
your Ashi massage today and let me help chase your saber- tooth tigers away!
Sources:
Moderate pressure of massage can cause a parasympathetic nervous system response:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19283590
Increased sympathetic nervous system activity demonstrate in obese patients:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5606212/