Hate Your Flabby Inner Thighs? How to Firm Inner Thighs
Do any inner thigh exercises actually tone the inner thighs?
Do you have flabby inner thighs? Loose inner thighs? Can’t anything work to firm the inner thighs? Well, yes, and here it is.
A good inner thigh routine is the hip adduction machine — but wait, before you blow the hip adduction machine off because it hasn’t helped firm your inner thighs — this machine works only if you use it a certain way.
All the time, I see women bouncing their legs back and forth on the hip adduction machine. This contraption is also known as the inner thigh machine.
It’s called hip adduction because the motion is created by your hip joint, and it’s an adduction-type of motion: To adduct means to bring together towards the midline of the body.
So when you use this machine, you are bringing your inner thighs together against resistance.
Many women have loose, flabby inner thighs. The flab is the muscle, not fat. Muscle and fat are two distinctly different body tissues.
So when inner thighs are flabby, this is because the adductor muscles are not toned.
Set the weight light enough so that you can do 20 reps.
Set the machine’s leg pads out farther than your natural range of motion, before you get into the machine. This will guarantee greatest range of motion.
Now, get in, but you’ll need to hold the leg pads in a bit so that you can get in.
If you get in BEFORE you set up the leg pads, you will shortchange yourself as far as range of motion. Maximum range of motion is key to this.
Let the leg pads slowly drift apart until your natural tightness makes them stop. Relax and take a few breaths.
Now, start closing your legs. When you close them as far as possible, hold them in this position for four seconds.
In fact, squeeze them hard towards each other so that the portions of the machine where your inner knees are against, are pressed firmly against each other, no wavering at all.
Make sure the knee supports are against each other as though stuck like that with Velcro.
After four seconds, release all the way back; not half way, but all the way.
Immediately repeat the motion you just did, squeezing the knee supports together for four seconds. Do 20 reps. Remember to always hold that squeeze for four seconds.
Your inner thighs will burn. If you cannot make it to 20 reps while following the above technique to a tee, then the weight is too heavy. You may have to go down to 40 or even 30 pounds.
The four-second squeeze, plus the wider starting point (legs further apart than what they usually are) make this routine harder.
If 20 reps, following this technique, was a breeze, increase the weight. Do three sets, 30 seconds in between each set.
Do this regimen once or twice a week. After six to eight weeks, please write in the comments box to this article about the results you’re getting.
Note: Inner thigh routines will NOT trim fat from your inner thighs. No. No. No isolated fat loss will occur.
This is strictly about firming up loose, flabby muscle. Many women with skinny legs have flabby inner thighs.
If you want to shave inches off your inner thighs, you will have to work on losing overall body fat through a comprehensive workout program and proper nutrition.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Cara-Foto
Pec Deck vs. Cable Crossover for Chest Exercise
Here is a fair comparison of pec deck to cable crossover.
Is the cable crossover better than the pec deck for building chest muscles?
Though the cable crossover and “pec deck” target the chest muscles, these two pieces of equipment have unique properties.
Cables do allow for more of a freestyle motion, and that increases the likelihood of preventing imbalances and poor lifting technique.
Cables provide you with a greater overall awareness of the muscles you’re using.
But be careful with the cable crossover; because it has more to offer than the pec deck, it also offers more potential for rotator cuff injury.
Start with light weights; don’t dive in with super heavy stacks of weight, even if you can bench press heavy.
Shutterstock/Jasminko Ibrakovic
It’s tempting with machines to shove and push, leading to other body parts getting activated without realizing that you’re cheating.
This is especially true with the pec deck.
I can’t begin to tell you how often I see men of all ages cheating like mad on this machine.
The most observed cheat move is when the man pitches his entire trunk forward in an attempt to move his arms towards each other to get that weight stack up.
He tricks himself into thinking that his chest is much stronger than it actually is, because ultimately, the weight stack gets up.
But look at how he accomplished that: leaning way forward, rather than keeping his back fixed against the back support.
And a secondary cheat move is that of bending his arms to 90 degrees (this depends on the equipment; this exaggerated bend is done on the machine that doubles as a posterior shoulder machine).
But regardless of a machine’s make and model, the big cheat move is pitching the torso way forward.
This de-isolates the chest muscles and gets other muscles involved, and hence, Mr. Strongman can move up that big stack of weights.
Sometimes the user has a weak side when performing this exercise, and is imbalanced when doing the reps.
This can cause an injury down the line, but also cause an obvious lack of symmetry.
Once a visual imbalance becomes noticeable, it can take time, patience and consistency to work it out.
You may be better off from the get-go by sticking with cables, dumbbells and other natural implements that also engage the core more, and focusing on your form and awareness of your body.
This isn’t to say that the pec deck should be avoided. It’s a good machine for novices, and it’s a good machine to take a break from the cable crossover; you don’t want your muscles adapting too much.
The pec deck is also useful when the cable systems are occupied, which they frequently are. But remember, don’t cheat on the pec deck!
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
,
Top image: Shutterstock/Dusan Petkovic
Why Your Knee Still Hurts Months After Knee Replacement
Is it normal to still suffer knee pain months after a total knee replacement surgery?
Immediate post-surgical pain is expected, but we’re talking months here.
Knee replacement patients are given powerful narcotics to numb the post-surgical pain.
However, for how long after knee replacement surgery is it still normal to feel pain?
My father had knee replacement surgery in March of 2009, and afterward, the pain in the surgical joint never disappeared.
Of course, the pre-surgical pain of osteoarthritis went away. But now, he was left with a newpain, and the joint didn’t “feel right.”
The pain wasn’t just in the knee; it was in the area above it, and was most pronounced every time he stood up from a chair or climbed stairs. Many times, he’d say, “It just doesn’t feel right. I know something is wrong.”
A few times he speculated that it was infected. Signs of infection would include swelling, redness and fever, of which my father had none.
He even wondered if the surgeon had made a mistake with the knee replacement procedure, even though the same surgeon performed the procedure on my father’s other knee about a year prior to the second operation.
My father adhered to all the prescribed post-knee replacement surgery exercises, which included physical therapy and stretching.
He regularly went to the gym to do leg presses, leg extensions and seated leg curls. He had been doing these leg exercises long before even the first surgery.
His first knee recovered great; no lingering pain, but at some point after the second surgery, not long after he was fully up and about, the walker long behind him, he began feeling the new kind of pain in the first knee that was operated on, as well as a continuation of the new pain in the most recently operated joint.
We couldn’t figure out why this was. Finally, my father had his six-month follow-up with the surgeon, and told the doctor what kind of exercises he’d been doing.
The surgeon told him he was absolutely NOT to do any leg extensions.
My father immediately omitted leg extensions from his regimen, and continued doing the permitted exercises of leg press and seated hamstring curl.
He had also been doing body-weight squats, and the surgeon encouraged him to continue with the squatting as well. But to stay away from leg extensions.
Within a few days, my father noticed a lot of improvement, and since that time, both knees have felt great and pain-free.
So if you’ve been experiencing a new kind of pain that won’t go away, months after knee replacement surgery, and you’ve been doing leg extensions, STOP the leg extensions, and then see if the pain suddenly starts disappearing.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Freepik
Why Are 2 Knee Replacements at the Same Time Better than One?
When two replacements are done at the same time, it’s called bilateral knee replacement.
For many patients, this is the way to go. But for some patients, it’s definitely off-limits.
Have you been told that you need a total knee replacement for both joints?
If so, you’re wondering if you should have both knees replaced at the same time or if you should have the operation for each joint separately.
“Advances in surgical techniques and improvement in the prostheses we use have improved outcomes and reduced recovery time,” says Douglas Fauser, MD, of Somers Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine Group.
“In fact, among patients with two damaged knees, many are now electing simultaneous total knee replacement, avoiding a second surgery, hospital stay and rehabilitation.”
Many patients with degeneration of this hinge joint suffer from severe symptoms in both joints and need bilateral total knee replacement.
My father was such a patient, but he elected to have one knee replacement at a time, with about 12 months between the two surgeries.
For him to have had both knee replacements at once would have been disastrous.
However, Dr. Fauser explains, “The advantages of simultaneous bilateral total knee replacement are well known.
“The patient undergoes a single surgery and anesthesia, a single hospital stay and a single rehabilitation period.
“Studies have also shown that simultaneous replacement is associated with a lower risk of post-operative infection and mechanical malfunction compared to two separate procedures.”
According to one study, 95 percent of bilateral knee replacement patients said they’d have it done this way again.
When considering bilateral knee replacement surgery, the patient must consider what kind of post-operative care he’ll receive.
My father chose to go straight home after several days in the hospital. He was nearly helpless.
The house had a staircase leading to my parents’ bedroom. He’s elderly and was close to 190 pounds.
At one point he got stuck on a stool in their bathroom, unable to get to his feet.
He was not a crutches candidate, and could not transition from the stool to the walker right before him, even though only one knee had been replaced.
My mother could not lift him and she called for me (I was staying with them to help out).
Just getting from the bed to the commode next to it was a major struggle. Using the downstairs toilet was a major production.
And then there was the surgical stocking. This thing was unbelievably hard to put on every morning (my mother or I did it, as my father could not bend forward enough to do it), and pulling it up caused pain at the surgical site.
Showering was a major task even though my father did his best to maneuver into the stall with his non-surgical leg and sit on the shower seat.
More than once, we all talked about how incredibly difficult the experience would have been had he undergone two knee replacements at once.
We were flabbergasted that an overweight acquaintance of his had actually had both knees replaced at the same time.
We couldn’t understand how this woman recovered, unless she had had live-in aides or had stayed at a skilled nursing facility.
Most studies show that the rates of cardiac, neurological and pulmonary complications following bilateral total knee replacement are higher than for unilateral, especially for people over age 80.
“Advances in surgical technique, anesthesia and recovery management have made total knee replacement a safe and effective option for more elderly patients than ever before,” says Dr. Fauser.
“But those patients who are older are also likely to be sicker and at higher risk for cardiovascular and respiratory complications.
“Clearly, every patient, along with his or her doctor, must carefully weigh all the factors and risks in deciding between simultaneous and staged knee replacement.”
So will it be both knees replaced at the same time or just one knee replacement?
It’s not the easiest decision, and it depends on the patient’s individual needs, medical history and how much family support they are projected to receive.
Dr. Fauser is a founding partner of Somers Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Group which was formed in 1988.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/sasirin pamai
Lower Back Pain When You Wake Up: Causes and Solutions
Here’s how to eliminate low back pain when you wake up in the morning.
Your low back should not hurt or ache when you get up after a night’s sleep.
To help solve the problem of low back pain or aching in the morning, you should first know the causes.
You can be the fittest person in the world and still suffer from this problem.
However, having de-conditioned back muscles will predispose you to discomfort in the morning.
“The lower back is a very complicated structure consisting of bones, joints, discs, nerves, ligaments and muscles, to name a few,” says Dr. Tom Carpenter, corrective exercise specialist, certified personal trainer and chiropractor, inventor of Stand Corrected™, a portable harness-like stretching tool that helps alleviate back, neck and shoulder pain.
“Assuming your morning back pain is not caused by anything serious, there are some other things that could be the culprit,” continues Dr. Carpenter.
Causes of Low Back Pain in the Morning
1 What You’re Sleeping On
“The first of these might be your mattress and/or pillow. I personally use a firm mattress topped with 2” memory foam and find this very comfortable and supportive,” says Dr. Carpenter.
“It’s important that your back is getting the proper support while you sleep. After all, we spend approximately one-third of our life sleeping.
“Mattresses and foam can deform over time and should be replaced as they wear out. If you notice that yours is becoming bowl shaped or indented in one area, it’s time to go shopping for a new one.
“Also, remember to turn the mattress regularly.”
If a firm mattress doesn’t help solve the problem, you may want to consider sleeping with your torso elevated to create some flexion in your lower spine.
Prolonged low back extension due to lying on your back on a “hard” surface can lead to aching muscles.
Torso elevation will prevent that little arch in your low back from forming.
Options are sleeping against a wedge pillow; in a bed with an adjustable head; or in a recliner chair.
2 Sleep Position
“In addition, use a good supportive cervical pillow that allows you to sleep in an anatomically neutral position, and never sleep on your stomach. Side or back sleeping is okay, but never on the stomach!
“When sleeping on your side, try putting a thin pillow between the knees to take the pressure off of the lower back.
“If you sit for a good portion of the day and then sleep on your side with your knees bent, then the psoas muscles (you have a right and a left) could be causing your pain.
“These muscles are powerful hip flexors which are necessary for bending and bringing the knees up when walking, running and climbing. They help to stabilizing the core as well.
“They are attached to all of the lower back vertebra and travel down to the hip area.
“When you keep them flexed for extended periods of time, such as prolonged sitting and sleeping with knees bent, they can become shortened and eventually overly tightened, pulling on the spine and causing back pain.”
Psoas Muscle Stretch in Your Bed
“There are several ways to stretch the psoas safely and effectively,” says Dr. Carpenter.
“One simple psoas stretch can be performed by lying face up near the edge of the bed.
“Bring one knee to your chest and let the other leg gently drop off the edge of the mattress.
“Let the extended leg gradually stretch for about 10-15 seconds, and then repeat with the other leg.
“If you feel any pain, stop immediately and consider discussing it with a back specialist.
“As we sleep, the discs between the vertebra in the back will tend to rehydrate, causing them to swell.
“This natural swelling can put additional pressure on areas of the back that might be susceptible to discomfort, such as from bulging discs, strain muscles or ligaments, old injuries, poorly conditioned posture muscles or a variety of other reasons.
“As we move around, this extra fluid gradually dissipates, and the back tends to loosen up, so to speak.
Two More Simple Stretches
“Two simple stretches that can help with this loosening process are the sun salutation stretch and cat/dog stretch,” says Dr. Carpenter.
“Repeat this several times until the back feels looser. This motion tends to elongate the spine and traction of the discs.”
Dr. Carpenter continues: “For the cat/dog stretch, you position yourself on your hands and knees.
“First, breathe in while gently dropping the stomach down and lifting the head up. Hold for 2-3 seconds.
“Next, while exhaling, tighten the stomach muscles and arch the lower back upwards (like a cat) while letting the head drop all the way down. Repeat this several times.
“Again, this motion will help to traction the lower spine and help the back to relax.”
For best results, you should stay consistent with these two exercises.
When you practice consistency and patience, these two exercises will help your morning back pain or aches should disappear.
Photo credit: Aleesia Forni
Based upon 30+ years of experience, Dr. Carpenter’s practice approach reflects his belief that restoring optimum health and function will enable his patients to enjoy a much greater amount of vitality and wellness. Chiropractic care is true health care, not sick care!
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/Stasique
Lower Back Pain Relief Naturally without Drugs
Prescription drugs only mask back pain; they do nothing to cure back pain.
If you suffer from chronic back pain, here are natural ways for back pain relief.
In most cases of chronic low back pain, the cause is bad posture. Low back treatment usually consists of painkiller drugs. But natural back pain remedies are the smart way to go.
Natural back pain relief is more applicable to the chronic lower back pain that results from incorrect biomechanics.
Say No to Drugs
It’s tempting to pop pills because they numb low back pain quickly, whereas natural treatment for back pain requires patience.
But you need to feel your back pain in order to know what movements aggravate it, and what you CAN do.
How will you know that your bad posture while sitting aggravates your back pain if you are numbed with drugs?
Set your sites on healing back pain, rather than drug-induced temporary back pain relief.
Most cases of chronic low back pain (and sometimes middle back) are caused by imposing forces on the low back muscles that they were not designed to absorb.
See your doctor for back pain resulting from acute trauma such as falling from a height or off a bike, or back pain that’s accompanied by tingling or numbness.
But again, most chronic back problems stem from mis-use of the low back muscles.
- The muscles get out of whack
- They get stiff and tight
This kind of back pain may hurt to high heaven, but does not involve slipped, bulging or ruptured discs, herniations or compressed nerves. The back pain is strictly muscular in nature; soft-tissue injury.
Back Pain Relief with Exercise
Consider hiring a fitness trainer who is knowledgeable of low back pain treatment through exercise programs.
Having been a personal trainer myself, certified through the American Council on Exercise, I know that there are personal trainers who specialize in many different areas — and rehab/injury recovery and prevention are a few of those specialties.
But even a prolific trainer with a general certification can help you naturally mitigate back pain from soft-tissue weakness and deconditioning.
Patiently executed back extension exercises will help heal low back problems. Three examples are below.
Freepik.com, yanalya
George Stepanek, CreativeCommons
Shutterstock/fizkes
So will deadlifts — but wait, before your mouth drops open at this suggestion — I do NOT mean deadlifts with a heavy barbell.
The deadlift motion can be done without any weights. Just position yourself and start moving for many reps.
Deadlifts with no weights can be challenging for the back pain sufferer. Depending on level of low back pain, the sufferer can do deadlifts while holding light dumbbells or a light barbell.
Shutterstock/Tyler Olson
There are many floor exercise routines that are great for chronic low back pain.
A fitness professional should be able to demonstrate several of these. The most popular low back pain exercise is the cat back or camel back.
Get on all fours and hunch your back like a cat does. Then reverse this position by arching it. Alternate this way for at least 15 reps.
Mattress Myths
A hard mattress might be what’s really doing your back in. It’s a myth that a soft mattress causes back pain.
A hard mattress causes the back to slightly hyperextend while the person is lying on his back.
Prolonged hyperextension will result in awakening with a lower back ache, and can cause or aggravate back pain.
A soft mattress that conforms to the curvature of your spine, while you are lying on your back, will prevent hyperextension.
The soft mattress will cause your lower back to stay in a slightly flexed position throughout sleep.
This slightly flexed position will keep the low back muscles slightly stretched, which means you will not awaken with that nagging back ache.
Lift with your legs, not back.
Finally, stop lifting with your low back. Keep low back arched whenever you lift something.
Place legs in a squat position and let your leg muscles do the lifting.
Keep torso upright as you stand up as you lift your kids, garbage, heavy potted plant, etc.
Do not lean over with your lower back to pick heavy things up.
Your back pain may just very well respond wonderfully to these natural treatments; drugs (and surgery) should be a last resort.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Freepik.com
Is a Hot Pack or Cold Treatment Better for Your Low Back Pain?
An ice bag or very cold pack may numb the pain in your back, but does this also promote healing?
Heat won’t numb the pain, but won’t it increase blood flow to your hurting muscles?
So the big question is: Heat or cold for back pain treatment?
Keep in mind that in most cases, back pain will resolve all by itself, says Kaixuan Liu, MD, PhD, nationally distinguished leader in endoscopic spine surgery; and chief surgeon at Atlantic Spinal Care in Edison, N.J.
This good fortune may occur only two weeks after the initial onset of pain. Both cold and heat can be applied — but not in a random way.
To determine whether you should use heat or cold to treat low back pain, Dr. Liu says it’s important to learn what’s causing the situation.
Sudden-onset of pain in the lower back can be caused by improperly lifting something heavy or by some kind of forceful trauma.
“With a mechanical injury, you might feel anything from dull aching to a shooting or stabbing pain,” says Dr. Liu.
“You might also experience stiffness or loss of flexibility that prevents you from standing or sitting normally.” Discomfort that’s acute is short-lived, but it may recur as well.
If the issue goes on for over 90 days, this is then “chronic” low back pain. It can be caused by improper lifting but also degenerative ailments.
Heat vs. Cold to Treat Low Back Pain
“It’s all about inflammation,” says Dr. Liu. An acute injury causes inflammation–which results in more blood going to the site of the injury, plus immune cells coming to the rescue.
“In the case of acute muscle or joint injury, or surgery,” says Dr. Liu, “it creates swelling that is the beginning of a healing process.” This beneficial response, though, can cause a lot of pain.
For acute inflammation, use ice, recommends Dr. Liu. “The cold shrinks small blood vessels in the area, which keeps blood and other fluids from flooding to the injury site, decreasing swelling.”
It also slows down nerve impulses at the site. This will intercept transmission of pain signals, numbing the area “like a local anesthetic.” Cold also helps reduce damage to tissue that the acute inflammation can trigger.
A heat application promotes blood circulation, and this will lessen pain. However, heat pads are not a smart choice for acute inflammation because the heat can worsen the swelling and even cause more pain.
If there is no inflammation of a chronic nature, you should use heat for your lower back pain to open up blood vessels.
This will promote healing via the increased nutrients and oxygen to the site and will stimulate the nerves — which means interrupted pain signals.
Throwing Out Your Back with the Wrong Movement
You’re moving furniture or some similar activity when suddenly, your back “goes out.” Dr. Liu says you should apply ice, as this is an acute injury. Apply for 15 to 20 minutes three to four times a day for one to two weeks.
After a few weeks switch to heat–for 15 to 20 minutes three to four times daily. It’s important to let at least two hours pass between either form of therapy sessions.
And by the way, the heat source should not be so hot that it’s uncomfortable or cause any kind of burning to the skin.
In fact, for either heat or ice, the source should not be directly against your bare skin, but rather, separated by some kind of fabric.
“There’s a popular myth out there that heat and cold are interchangeable in treating back pain,” says Dr. Liu.
“It’s true that they both relieve pain, but mechanisms that produce the pain relief are completely different. That means each has its time and place.”
Dr. Liu specializes in disc herniations, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and mitigating failed neck and back surgery, among many other conditions that affect the neck, mid and lower back.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Freepik/shayne_ch13
Does Shoulder Pain Wake You at Night? Solutions
Shoulder pain at night can prevent even a few good hours of sleep, so here are some things you can do to fight and maybe prevent shoulder pain that strikes at night while you’re asleep.
“There are a few very important steps to take if rotator cuff tendinitis is waking you at night,” says Dr. Joseph J. Ruane, a sports medicine specialist with OhioHealth Physician Group.
The first is to make sure you’ve been diagnosed and that it is indeed a rotator cuff problem.
“Rotator cuff tendinitis is especially tricky in that the most common presenting symptom is a deep ache in the middle of your upper arm; often in the bicep region or at the end of the deltoid muscle.
This is called referred pain. While the pain is actually in the middle of your arm, the problem is coming from deep in your shoulder.”
The rotator cuff consists of four muscles and their tendons. These tendons can easily end up irritated from improper lifting technique or insufficient warm-up preceding heavy lifting.
Dr. Ruane continues: “The second step to successful sleep is getting the right treatment once the problem has been identified.
Rotator cuff tendinitis responds well to many common treatment modalities.
Physical therapy, tried and true, remains the best intervention for rotator cuff tendinitis.
There are 26 muscles that are responsible for proper shoulder function.
If just one or two of those are not working properly, shoulder motion becomes unsynchronized and rotator cuff tendinitis can develop.
It is like a car engine – when just one cylinder is not firing on time, the entire engine runs poorly.
Physical therapists are the mechanics of the body and can get your ‘shoulder engine’ running properly again, and eliminate that gnawing pain in your arm.”
An hour before bedtime, says Dr. Ruane, take an anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen (Advil) or Aleve.
Often, a person suffering shoulder pain at night will point out that the bad shoulder is the side he or she sleeps on.
To help resolve night-time shoulder pain, you must change your sleeping position habits. Yes, this can be done.
“If you like falling asleep on your right side, and the right shoulder is the one with tendinitis, force yourself to fall asleep on your back or on your left side for one week,” says Dr. Ruane.
“You’ll be surprised how easy it is to change the habit, especially once the pain does not disrupt you just an hour or two after falling asleep.
“And another thing – you know your favorite position of falling asleep on your stomach with your arm tucked up under your pillow? It has got to go – pronto!
“That sleeping position alone can be the cause of rotator cuff tendinitis, and is a nasty position for a shoulder that already has it.”
Try these changes and see if they don’t help diminish shoulder pain at night.
Dr. Ruane’s practice is dedicated to comprehensive, nonsurgical musculoskeletal care. He is active in clinical research and is a nationally recognized speaker and educator.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/tab62
Simple and Quick Ganglion Cyst Pain Exercises
These ganglion cyst pain exercises are very simple.
Do you have wrist pain? You may have a ganglion cyst, and I have exercises to relieve ganglion cyst pain.
These ganglion cyst exercises should be done two to three times every day.
I’m a former fitness trainer with a ganglion cyst in my wrist, so I know firsthand that these exercises I’ve designed just for ganglion cysts may help you out.
These exercises won’t cure a ganglion cyst.
The exercises are meant to help relieve pain and better enable you to do things that the ganglion cyst pain is interfering with.
I also once had a client with a wrist ganglion cyst, and she described the pain as “feeling like your wrist is always sprained.”
The ganglion cyst often develops in the top part of the wrist, in the middle or near the middle.
The result is that bending (extending, that is) the wrist produces discomfort.
It may also feel like something’s in there blocking the full range of extension.
And there is: the ganglion cyst. Sometimes you can see the cyst as a little lump if you flex (bend down) the wrist. Pressing on the ganglion cyst may cause pain.
Usually, the pain comes only during certain motions. I can type all day and never know I have a ganglion cyst.
But handstands are out of the question. Standard pushups are out, too.
For pushups I grasp dumbbells or pushup handles rather than use flat hands on the floor, though the discomfort isn’t that bad with flat hands, but who wants any kind of discomfort during a pushup?
For other people with ganglion cysts, they can be really nasty. I recently had a “flare-up” for no good reason and felt pain just doing dumbbell presses. It even hurt doing dumbbell curls.
I said to myself, There MUST be some exercises I can do to get rid of this pain.
So here are some very simple exercises that should definitely alleviate some of the pain from a ganglion cyst.
Upon awakening, before getting out of bed, commit to doing the exercises as you lie comfortably in bed.
Simply flex and extend (bend back and forth) your wrist. But at the bottom and top of each bend, hold for 1-2 seconds and “push” a little, but not to the point of discomfort. Do 20 times each direction.
Wait one minute. Then repeat the routine. However, next, you will do “alphabets” with your wrist.
The wrist joint is the pivot. Hold all five fingers rigid, together and straight.
Pretend that the tip of the middle finger is the tip of a pen, and you will be printing every letter of the alphabet in the air — the air being the paper.
Go from A to Z. Do not rush. Make big perfect letters. Move only the wrist joint. Keep elbow and shoulder still.
Afterwards, do the same thing except with numbers up to 20. And that’s the exercise routine.
Repeat the exercises one or two more times throughout the day. You may feel much less pain or discomfort within a few days.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/girl-think-position
Everyday Movement Patterns that Can Hurt the Rotator Cuff, and How to Relieve Pain
Everyday motions can strain the rotator cuff and even prevent healing. You likely don’t even realize when a particular movement is bad for your rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their delicate tendons.
These muscles enable the shoulder to move in different ways.
Stand with your arms hanging straight at your sides.
Now, slowly lift them up at your sides, keeping them straight, palms facing the floor. Keep shoulders relaxed.
Do you feel pain or anything irksome in one or both shoulders? If so, chances are, this is a rotator cuff problem, mainly with the supraspinatus rotator cuff muscle.
There are other ways to test for a rotator cuff problem, but I won’t go into them here since they are tricky to describe.
However, another classic sign is that when you reach up for something, like grabbing something off the top of the refrigerator or a high shelf, you feel an uncomfortable tweak, ache or pain in your shoulder.
If you lift weights, a rotator cuff problem will be obvious when you do the following exercises: bench press, pushup, behind-the-head shoulder barbell press, and sometimes, wide-grip pull-downs and dumbbell presses (depending on amount of weight).
Freepik.com, ArthurHidden
Everyday movements that can cause, or aggravate, rotator cuff problems.
One: When you feed your arm into a coat arm or jacket arm, your palm faces the floor.
The joint motions here are shoulder internal rotation, and shoulder abduction.
Shutterstock/Milles Studio
These two joint motions in combination “crowd out” the air space at the rotator cuff, and can actually result in the humerus bone of the upper arm making contact with a rotator cuff tendon.
Over time, the bone frays the edge of the tendon. To prevent this, when you feed your arm into an arm hole, do it with 1) your palm up, and 2) your arm as bent as you can.
This creates an opening in the joint, which gives the humerus more room, and thus, it does not contact the tendon.
Two: When you reach for high objects, your palm is facing down. When you hold the object and lower your arm, your palm is facing down or sideways.
Shutterstock/Milles Studio
Again, this palms-down motion crowds out the joint, bringing the humerus bone too close to the tendon.
When you reach up for that jar of pickles or whatever, face the palm to the ceiling.
After grabbing the jar or item, hold it with the palm facing the ceiling as you lower your arm. In other words, always have a palms-up approach.
Three: “Some movements that can put your shoulder muscles at inefficiency can be reaching to put your bag in the back seat [or retrieving something from there] when you’re sitting in the front of the car,” says Dr. Megan McLain, PT, DPT, cofounder of Intuitive Choice Physical Therapy & Wellness in Atlanta, GA.
Similar to this is draping a jacket or sweater over the passenger seat of the car when you’re driving.
In both cases, the rotator cuff will be aggravated most when your palm is down.
This is bad news. It crowds out that glenohumeral space.
Perform these actions with the PALM UP. And keep the arm bent as much as possible.
Additional Movement Patterns that Are Bad for the Rotator Cuff
“Another is lifting an object that is too heavy for one arm like a barrel or heavy groceries that can overload the joint and muscle’s capabilities, straining the rotator cuff,” says Dr. McLain.
“Repetitive overhead work is also a risk factor for rotator cuff tears.
“Also, quick movements like trying to catch a heavy object from falling or yourself from falling also can overload the rotator cuff tendon’s ability to stabilize the joint.”
What’s going on inside the rotator cuff?
The rotator cuff. Shutterstock/Alila Medical Media
“The reason that the glenohumeral space can become crowded is partly because of the way the shoulder is constructed,” says Dr. McLain.
“The head of the humerus is larger than the glenoid fossa, so the rotator cuff and the labrum both help to provide extra stability to the joint.
“Think of it similarly to how chocks can stabilize a whole airplane. Poor posture or overworking a certain group of muscles with repetitive motions can lead to faulty mechanics at the shoulder, which most often leads to the head of the humerus to translate up and forward relative to the glenoid.
“This can lead to something called subacromial impingement, which is the tendons rubbing against the bone and becoming frayed.
“This happens because the bicep and one of the rotator cuff tendons run under the acromion, which is the hook on the side of the shoulder.
“This space gets relatively smaller with poor mechanics and overhead lifting, in particular.”
Strength Training Will Help
“Strength training that can be done to counteract this is for the muscles at the back of the shoulder, meaning the scapular muscles,” says Dr. McLain.
“This can include exercises like bent-over rows and pulling tasks.
Bent-over dumbbell row. George Stepanek
“Also working the biceps and triceps, especially if you do a lot of carrying or lifting, is also important to protect the smaller, stabilizing rotator cuff muscles.
“You should be mindful of your body position and avoid trying to lift objects that are too far away from your body.
“Move closer before lifting and use two hands to evenly distribute forces.”
Another pulling motion, the seated row. Start out with very light weights and gentle motion. Freepik.com yanalya
Dr. Megan McLain, PT, DPT, puts her clients first while providing one-on-one in-home care. With physical therapy and health coaching services, Dr. McLain addresses all aspects such as physical barriers, mindset, accountability and knowledge that may be impacting the client’s experience.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
