Ease Piriformis Syndrome Pain With These 4 Easy Stretches That You Can Do Anywhere

Spasm that shoots down the back of your leg from your hip?

Pain that radiates down your hamstring?

Numbness that reminds you something is wrong?

Hip pain when sitting?

All of these are symptoms of piriformis syndrome which can go from irritatingly tolerable to painfully debilitating. This condition is literally something that you can say a pain in the butt because the piriformis muscle is located in the buttock region that compresses the nearby sciatic nerve and cause pain that starts in the buttocks and radiates down the back of the leg into the hamstring muscles and sometimes even the calf muscles.

When this pain strikes it can make you wonder if this pain will be permanent or will it ever go away. It can also make you think if it’s gonna torture you with every movement or even when you happen to stay seated for a bit too long.  

When you think this way, it can be daunting. But fortunately there are some exercises that can help you ease the pain by stretching and relaxing that muscle which can help you get back on your regular routine without being stopped by this discomfort.

The “Knee Up” Stretch

Step 1: Begin by lying on the ground by using a mat or thick rug for comfort on your back.

Step 2: Stretch both legs out, with your arms to your sides.

Step 3: Bend one of your legs at the knee and use your hand to pull it toward the opposite shoulder Hold for ten to thirty seconds.

Step 4: Straighten out that leg, and then do the same motion with the opposite leg and shoulder.

The “Cross Arm” Stretch

Step 1: Be in a sitting position on the floor.

Step 2: The bottoms of your feet should be touching each other, with your arms crossed and your hands resting on the opposite leg.

Step 3: Push both knees down toward the floor until you feel the stretch inside your thighs.

Step 4: Hold the position for a count of 30, then relax for a few seconds and repeat up to five more times.

The “Standing” Stretch

Now if you’re somewhere you can’t do stretches on the floor, this is the stretch that you can do to relieve the pain.

Step 1: Begin in a standing position with both feet flat on the floor, with your feet a shoulder-length apart.

Step 2: Don’t lock your knees, and keep your back straight.

Step 3: Lift one knee up and grasp it with both hands. Make sure you keep the knee parallel to the corresponding hip.

Step 4: Use your hands to pull your knee toward the opposite shoulder until you feel a pull along the side of your buttocks. Hold up to one minute or as long as you can balance.

Step 5:  Repeat the action with the other leg. Try to do it three times for each leg.

The “Sit And Bend” Stretch

Still don’t wanna go on the floor? No problem! You can do stretches while sitting on a chair.

Step 1: Choose a solid, straight-backed chair that doesn’t roll.

Step 2: Sit, and bring one leg across the other, resting your ankle on your other leg.

Step 3: Slowly lean forward until you feel a pull along the crossed leg. Hold for up to 30 seconds.

Step 4: Repeat with the other leg, stretching each side 3 times.

While these exercises are really effective in relieving the discomfort brought by piriformis syndrome, it would still be better if you seek a professional like a chiropractor whose expertise is diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal system disorders like piriformis syndrome. This way you’d be given more comprehensive treatment for your condition than just temporary solutions for your pain. But nevertheless, if the pain is really bothering you and you don’t want to rely on painkillers, these stretches really help, you just have to consistently perform these exercises at least once a day, every day, until your pain and numbness is under control, if not totally gone.

Top 11 Ways You Ruin Your Own Health

There are things that we do every day without thinking much of it because it’s a part of your habit. While there are times that we do some things thinking it helps us in certain ways. However, you might be surprise that most of those are actually wreaking havoc in your health. Here are the most common habits that are actually ruining your health which you should stop doing from now on.

1.      Herbal Supplements

Just because it’s an herbal supplement doesn’t mean it would be good for you and that you should take it. You should always talk to your doctor before you take any herbs to make sure they’re safe and doesn’t clash with your condition or medication.

2.      You Over Exert Yourself

Yes it’s important to workout in order to achieve a fit and healthy body. However, know that your body needs rests from exercises too in order for it to heal. Not doing so can lead to fatigue where your immune system drops and diseases starts to develop.

3.      Not Stretching

Intense workouts can shock your body, and as a result injuries happen. You can prevent this by stretching before and after working out. This helps bring blood to your muscles and increase joint flexibility. Without this, the muscles shortens and become tight.

4.      Not Getting Your 7+ Hours

Do not wear your eye bags as a badge of honor for working hard. You may think that you’re fine with just 2 or 3 hours of sleep but later in life you’ll definitely regret it. Long term effects of sleep deprivation include impaired immune system, becoming more accident prone and weight gain.

5.      Not Scheduling Preventive Visits

You wouldn’t have to deal with complicated health conditions if you were able to prevent it from happening in the first place. How can you do that? Show up to your annual physicals, bi-annual dental exams, as well as those special screenings depending on your gender like mammograms at age 40 for women and prostate cancer exams at 50 for men.  

6.      You're A Crunch Addict

Sit-ups and crunches are famous ab-workouts. However, it may not give you the result that you want and end up causing you back pains instead if you’re doing them wrong. You don’t have to ditch crunches entirely, but you should do them slowly and use proper form. If you know you already have a back condition, consult with a spine specialist like chiropractor first before doing any form of exercise.  

7.      Your Bike Isn't Quite Right

Biking is a great whole body workout. But it can cause you back pain adjust the seat to make sure that it’s properly fitted for you. This way, your body can enjoy the benefits of biking without experiencing pain at the same time.

8.      Skipping Breakfast

People who are always on the go either eat whatever they can buy on the way to work or skip it altogether. This doesn’t just take away the boost you need to take on the day but skipping a meal affects your weight, hormonal health, memory, cognition and mood.

9.      Not Drinking Enough Water

Coffee, tea, juices, and soda don’t count. Yes they’re all beverages but your body needs water not only to hydrate but to also flush toxins out from your body. You know when your body is not getting enough water if you feel tired all the time, your skin is visibly dry, or your pee is never clear and always yellow.  

10. Eating Late At Night

Nowadays, people are either having their dinner too late in the evening or snack in the middle of the night. This habit should really be changed because it’s the number one cause of acid reflux along with its associated diseases and complications.

11. Wearing Flip-Flops

If you think wearing flip-flops is giving your feet a break from high heels, you’re wrong! Slippers offer little to no proper support for your feet arch which makes it vulnerable for injuries like sprains and fractures especially when doing intense activity while wearing it like working out or hiking. Aside from that, it doesn’t give you any protection from sunburn, cuts, bruises, or insect bites.

Unhealthy Effects Of Your Bad Posture To Your Body And Mind

Who knew that a slouching, which is often seen as laid-back or comfortable position, could do so much damage not just in your body but in your mind as well? Start paying attention to your posture from now on, correct your bad posture habits right away, and save yourself from this health problems in the process!

Worsens Depression

Isn’t it they say that cracking a smile actually helps alter your mood from feeling blue to feeling a bit happier? That’s because body language don’t just affect us physically, but as well as mentally and emotionally. Slouching all the time starts causing back pain or neck pain and since your body is always in pain due to the poor posture, you become irritated, tired, or aggravated most of the time.

Leads To Career Problems

Employees who are always in good posture whether they’re walking, sitting in front of a computer/while talking to a client/during meeting, or even just by standing while waiting for the elevator tend to be more successful. Proper posture makes you look confident not just in your co-worker’s eyes but as well as your boss’ and clients’, therefore you command more respect and trust from them. Slouching, however, makes you look insecure and lazy. This combination is not what you’d like to have at work.

Slows Your Digestive System

Being in crunched position all the time folds your intestines too. This can slow things from digesting your food, absorbing nutrients from those foods, to having a hard time in the loo.  This can lead to digestive issues too like acid reflux and hernia. So you may wanna start sitting up properly to avoid these problems and get rid of those stomach rolls in pictures.

Increases Risks Of Death And Disease

Do you know why they say sitting is the new smoking? That’s because being inactive most of the time combined with poor posture is a deadly combination. Like smoking, it can lead to number of health problems like cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. With all those possible illnesses, do not be surprised if your life expectancy dramatically lessens.

It Makes You Appear Heavier Than You Actually Are

Remember those stomach rolls mentioned above? Yes, even if you are not necessarily on the heavier side, constant slouching makes you appear so. Why? Well instead of being stretched out and looking lean which happens when you stand tall or sit properly, that crunched posture folds your body and produces rolls and bulges where you don’t really have.   

Cuts Off Your Circulation

Fluids and gases flows throughout your body constantly. But if you’re seated for extended period of time and is slouching or do it with crossed legs on top of that, it affects that natural flow. Just like how the water in a water hose will have trouble flowing when the hose have a couple of knots. Don’t you notice the rush of blood in your arms or legs after a long time of sitting with your legs crossed or sleeping on your side with your arms tucked under your body or head? That’s because the unnatural position is keeping your blood from freely and easily flowing.

Stresses You Out

Considering that bad posture stresses the spine and the muscles, it won’t be a surprise if you become stressed out too. When your body is stressed, it leads to a chain reaction of mental and emotional stress. This is why you’re grumpy and easily ticked off after a long day at work. Don’t let this be your daily state! Practice good posture whether when sitting, standing, or sleeping so that you become less prone to stress.

Top 9 Tips To Transform Your Workplace Into A Healthier And Productive Haven

It’s challenging to stay healthy and productive in a place that makes you sit all day and do repetitive tasks. But no matter how challenging it is, it’s definitely not impossible! Here are some tips that may help you along the way.

1.  Walking Meetings

While formal matters definitely require a sit down meeting, why not change things up when it comes to more informal ones? You know those meetings where it’s basically information dissemination that involves only two or three persons but still needs face time because it’s still delicate to just email them? Yes those meetings can be done while walking to get coffee. This way, employees are more likely to pay attention instead of fiddling through their phones until the meeting is done.

2. Standing Workstations

We’re not saying your office should boycott chairs altogether, just that it would be better to design your workstations in a way that will allow you to comfortably work while standing from time to time. Sitting all day can’t just kill you slowly but it can also affect the quality of your work because of the prolonged slump.

3. Plants In The Office

Plants are calming to look at, give off oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, plus they can make any surrounding look more alive. So decorating your cubicle with plants can help make you feel better even with a truckload of work. When a worker is less stressed, his work improves and his health doesn’t decline.

4. Start A Healthy Breakfast Club

Since more and more individuals often eat breakfast at work to avoid running late, be more conscious of what you stuff on your mouth. Don’t mindlessly buy fast food for your breakfast every day. Instead, encourage your co-workers to pack breakfast so you can all eat together. Fun right! Take turns in bringing breakfast for everybody, volunteer to go first so that you’d be more motivated to bring healthier food like hard-boiled eggs, sweet potato hash and fresh fruits. The others then will feel compelled to make the same choices with the food they’ll pack.

5. Sponsored Gym Membership

Gym memberships can be pricey and not everyone can afford it. So why not suggest that the higher-ups or your boss include free gym membership among the other benefits of employees. If they ask how this benefits them in return, you can simply say that healthy and fit workers become more productive employees who are less liable to use sick days.

6. Integrated Exercise Equipment In The Office

Most people only get to sweat it out in the gym after work nowadays. The problem with this is that, employees are often too tired to work out after office hours or they have other commitments to attend to. This results to a lot of no-gym-for-today day. But if your office has pullup bar leading into the break room, a climbing rope hanging from the rafters, gymnastics rings attached to the overhead beam near the bathrooms then it’d be easier to squeeze in some workout every day. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes at a time, it’s better than nothing all day.

7. Fitness Challenges

Employees always find a way to entertain themselves to stay sane from their monotonous office lives. Instead of gossiping or beating each other on online games, why not initiate fitness challenges? Since it’s a competition, people will be motivated and challenged to participate. This also breeds progress because people are trying to be better than their competition so they’re more likely to push themselves. What a sneaky way to stay active right!  

8. Office Naps

People often feel sleepy after a big meal like lunch, aside from that we all know that workers are less productive in the afternoon because it’s around this time that fatigue hits people, hence the afternoon slump. Instead of forcing yourself to stay awake by mindlessly scrolling through social media to beat your urge to sleep, try to cut your lunch a bit short and take a nap. Better yet, consider suggesting the idea of allowing employees to take short power naps after lunch to your superior in your next meeting. This may not fly at first but if you explain that tired employees are less effective employees who produce sub-par work, then they may start seeing the point.

9. Lead By Quiet Example

If you want to encourage more people to lead healthier lives, you don’t have to teach them how, just lead by example. If you show your co-workers how energetic you are after a quick power nap that you don’t need coffee to get through the day, or how you don’t seem stressed at all despite the pile of paper works on your desk because you do jumping jacks before tackling the work, or how you take less sick leaves because you bring your own healthy meal instead of ordering fast food, they’ll all soon follow your ways.

10 Common Reasons Why People Get Injured While Playing Sports

People get into sports for a lot of reasons but none of them is to get injured. So it’s important that you know the risk factors in playing sports so that you can avoid getting hurt as much as possible.

1.      Overuse

Sports that involve overusing or repetitive movements tend to result injuries. This is why if you noticed tennis elbow, golf elbow, and runner’s knee are named after a sport. These injuries are named such way because the sport utilizes that particular part of the body repeatedly.

2.      Stops And Twists

People who play sports like basketball, gymnastics, and soccer often encounter knee and ankle injuries because of the quick stopping and twisting motions involved in the sports. Athletes of these sports are often running at full speed and make abrupt stops and twist which tears muscles and cushioning cartilage.

3.      Falls

Whether it’s training or during a proper game, falls are unavoidable especially with high impact sports. When this happens, it’s usually the wrist which gets injured because people tend to use their hands to break their fall.

4.      Improper Equipment

Wearing shoes that do not provide enough support, lifting weight that too heavy for you and ill-fitting helmet can all lead to injuries. This is why it’s important that you invest in sports gears that suit your body so that it can help you perform better instead of cause you injury.

5.      New Or Increased Activity

Whether you’re trying a new sport or increasing your level of current activity, know that you can’t do that all of a sudden. You have to start gradually and not go from 0 to 10. Otherwise you’ll suffer plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, or cramps.

6.      Fatigue

This is why experts advice against working out every day. Your body needs to rest in between activity to recover from the intense workout and avoid muscle pulls.

7.      Poor Warmup

There’s a reason why people are always told to warm up properly prior to exercising. You have to ease into the workout by stretching to deliver blood and oxygen to your muscles. This doesn’t just prevent injuries but it also help you muscles work more efficiently.

8.      Impact

Hard impacts are another culprit behind injuries such as shin splints and plantar fasciitis. Hard surfaces cause a more jarring impact on an athlete's feet, legs, hips and back.

9.      Unilateral Movements

When you do an activity that only exerts one side of your body, like golf and tennis, it results to weaker muscles on less active side of your body. This can lead to pain for the active side and dull ache for the not so active side.

10. Technique Or Posture

This is why it’s important to hire an instructor or trainer when starting a sport because they can help check you form and if you’re doing the activity right. If you don’t have the right posture you risk suffering from pain, spasm, and pulls. Not to mention you won’t be getting the most out of the workout because you’re doing it wrong.