Body work Louiseds

Hi Fifi, it all sounds very painful. Mine was on one side. I think it was a torn obturator externis (now I know where that muscle is!), not strictly a groin strain. Are you unable to raise *both* feet? What exactly does the doctor think has been damaged? Have you had any physiotherapy?

No, I didn't have any anti-inflammatories. I just gave up any activity that aggravated it, which was probably not the optimum way to deal with it, as I got pretty unfit.

If the inflammation is as a result of something acute and painful like after a tooth extraction, I think anti-inflammatories are warranted, but for a torn muscle or ligament I think the pain is a warning not to get too chirpy and overdo it, so I don't take them.

I think injuries take longer to heal as I get older, and of course, as it has been so long, the acute stage of healing of yours will have happened already. However, I think it is worth finding out what it is, and getting some treatment to hurry the healing along. I wouldn't do any exercise that will aggravate it.

Does it hurt to walk in WW posture, more than your normal posture?

I wouldn't take too much notice of a diagnosis of arthritis, unless it is classical symptoms. Even then, I would be asking as many questions of the doctor as I could. I have been diagnosed with arthritis a few times, but it is usually another injury that gets better in time, and often with some body work. I think they often put things down to arthritis if they don't know what else it could be. I supposedly have evidence of arthritis in my neck and lumbar spine, but neither give me any bother on a continuing basis, so I just ignore them. I can't see any point in taking drugs that are not fixing the root cause of the problem. However, if the arthritis was worse, I might decide differently. ;-)

A second opinion wouldn't go astray either, if any treatment you have doesn't give the expected results.

Louise

Hi Fifi,

I am trying to understand what you have been told to do. When do you raise both legs on a cushion?

If it hurts your back to do this, it sounds like your hamstring muscles are very tight. What you can and cannot do will be determined by which muscle is injured. So finding that out will be the first step. Actually, before that, get yourself a good diagram of the muscles around the pelvis and femur. See if you can figure it out yourself, and try and understand these muscles, what they do, and where they are joined onto your body, top and bottom (origin and insertion points).

This knowledge is not rocket science, though it might take you a while to figure out where each muscle goes in your body, because they are 2D diagrams, and your body is 3D.

It is basic anatomy. Don't be scared of it.

Any basic muskuloskeletal anatomy book will have these diagrams and information. You could also go to a website like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscles_of_the_hip , from which you can link in Wikipedia to articles about each muscle.

The more you know about how the mechanics of your body works, the more able you will be to work with it and work with health professionals to heal your injury and prevent its recurrence. Apart from anything you will understand better what doctors and physiotherapists are talking about. Take some diagrams with you to appointments so they can pinpoint on the diagrams which muscles they are talking about. They will also have charts of their own, where they can show you the different muscles. If they can see that you are interested, I am sure they will be willing to explain it.

If you are having difficulty understanding anatomy, there might be a young family member or friend who has studied anatomy as part of high school human biology, who could help you to understand it.

Once you understand your body better you will see what Wholewoman posture is trying to do.

None of us is too old to learn new things. :-)

Louise

Hi Fifi

I don't think your doctor really knows what is injured. Physiotherapists are pretty highly trained. I don't think she would have given you exercises too soon. However, it sounds like you don't have much faith in her. So, it sounds to me that you are now stuck with an unspecified injury of quite long standing, a doctor who doesn't know what is wrong and a physiotherapist that you don't trust. This is not getting you anywhere.

Hmm, if you are not ready to go back to the physiotherapist and admit that you didn't do the exercises, and ask for some more help, methinks it is time to consult somebody else. I would suggest someone who does soft tissue work like a Bowen therapist, or even a general masseur of some sort. These people are very hands on and will palpate your body and identify with their hands the parts that are not right. Once you know where the pain is coming from, and what is injured, then you can work on healing your body, and getting back to some fun activities.

I'll leave it up to you to decide.

Louise

Hi Fifi, Turmeric is a natural anti- inflammatory, antibiotic with antioxident properties. I have it in warm full cream milk. (google turmeric in milk) bring 1/2 or 1/4 cup milk on low heat with 1/4 tspn turmeric to nearly boiling point - should take about 7 - 8 minutes. Remove from heat just before boiling point, cool a little and drink.

When walking I have read that wing flapping helps upper body strength. I think it was Louise who talked about it. My question is when you do this do you keep your arms lifted and out straight while flapping or do you keep your arms bent at elbows with forearms facing forward? Please direct me on this. Thanks!

Jaylove

Jaylove, I do this too, and I don't know the exact answer. Louise is away for a bit, so maybe someone else has an opinion. I forget if she invented this move, or someone else.

Here's how I do it. I don't have the nerve to do this move outside in full view of the world. If I did, I would do full-out flapping with arms out. But since I only do it on my treadmill, and since my treadmill is close to the wall on one side, I have to bend that arm. In other words, I'm doing both of the things that you describe. Sometimes together, sometimes separately. Weird, I know. - S60

The aim of wing-flapping is to mobilise all the muscles in your upper body that are involved in maintaining the shape of your spine. This involves all the muscles that are used to move the arms and the scapula, or shoulder blade and the muscles that join the spine to the upper arm. This also includes the latissimus dorsi which are two large sheets of muscle and ligament that fun in a pair joined in the midline to the spinous process (the blades of bone, felt as spinal bumps that stick out of the back of each vertebra) from the lower neck right down to the bottom of the sacrum. The top section (mid thoracic up to bottom of neck is long and thin like the shaft of an arrow. The arrow tip is at the bottom of the sacrum and the wings of the tip are joined to the upper arm at the back of the arm pit, being draped like a shawl over the lumbar and lower thoracic spine.

When you lift your upper arms up as high as you can, the bottom of your sacrum lifts up, and the lower thoracic and lumbar spine are pulled together and laterally stabilised at the back. The crests of the pelvis are pulled forwards. See, http://www.ericcressey.com/tag/anatomy-trains , the second illustration on this page.
The half twist at the top accommodates the range of movement of the shoulder joint and accentuates the upward pull on the lower sacrum when the raised arms are pulled together in front, as in preparation for a dive. If you go from the wide, high V to the dive arms and back a couple of times you will literally feel your sacrum being lifted when your arms come together in the dive position. If you have shoulder problems don't overdo this little exercise. Get someone else to do it and describe the pull.

There is also a lot of scapula movement in wing flapping. It is also very good for increasing the mobility of the thoracic spine by extending the thoracic spine in the wide V position. For some appreciation of the number of muscles that are used when the arms are raised, and the scapula moves down, see http://deansomerset.com/2011/04/11/scapular-stability-building-an-upper-... .

Now you can see which muscles are exercised when you wing flap. Don't try to learn them all. Just know that there are lots and lots of them.

Louise

It is not critical that you do anything in particular with the lower arm and hand. They just give the flap a bit of oomph, as far as I can see.

Louise, thanks so much for your great explaination about this subject. I wated to tell you that yesterday I was diagnosed with Tendinitis in my left arm. Not what I wanted to hear. I know this has nothing to do with POP but I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about it? Have you ever had this? I had to type this with my right hand only so this is taking me a while. The Dr. said to rest my arm and ice it every hour. She taped it up for support. I,m hoping since I caught it early that tht healing time will be shot lived. What do you think?

Please reply when you can.

Jaylove

Hi Jaylove,

I described the whys and wherefores of wing flapping in my first edition of First Aid for Prolapse - which some of you may have on VHS. From my perspective, it mainly mobilizes the thoracolumbar fascia - the deep fascial layers under the lumbar spine, which are so important to upright posture and ultimately connected to the pelvic interior. There is an illustration of the TCF in STWW. Louise's description of the muscles is very helpful as well. I have requested from our graphics department that the old footage of wing flapping be found and put up on YouTube, which may take awhile as we are in the middle of re-designing the WW website. Say good-bye to the Village for now. :( More later....

If you aren't sitting like this at your computer, your arms and hands are subject to debilitating tendonitis:
Let your belly relax over your thighs, yet have a sense of pulling your chest up. Keep your shoulders down (not back) and pull up through the back of your neck. Extremely important is to have your keyboard set next to and at roughly the level of your navel so your elbows bend at 90 degrees, you are not reaching your arms out in front, and your shoulders/neck/head are continuously held in this natural posture. Breathe through your nose as your chin is pulled in and down. Your chair should be at a height that your legs can extend 90 degrees from your torso. Externally rotate your hips 20 degrees or so from parallel and keep your knees and feet in line with your hips. This will become effortless over time and you will be able to sit longer in this way than in a slouched posture. Alternate the posture with spinal flexion - do slump or bend forward when you tire. Then take a deep breath and pull into the posture once again. It is progressive work that gets easier with time.

Christine

Looking forward to seeing the wing-flapping on Youtube.

Louise

Hi Jaylove

I am not medically qualified. Tendinitis could be anywhere in your arm. Getting exact information from your doctor will help you to work out what to do about it. eg is it chronic or actute, and which tendons?

I have had a sore tendon in my right wrist for many years. I am quite left-handed. No amount of rest or strapping or bracing made any difference. I tried them all for 3 months each. Eventually I replaced my keyboard with a keyboard that is ball-hinged in the middle and adjustable. It is highest in the middle, sloping down towards each end. It also flares outwards so my fingers can rest comfortably on ASD&F and JKL&; rather than having to cock my wrists inwards to line up my fingers. I have had this for a couple of years now, and I think my wrist is improving. However, my wrist doesn't affect my wing work.

Hi fifi,
Just a couple of thoughts going back to the the groin strain you experienced:
Lifestyle can be a contributory factor to groin strain eg a sedentary lifestyle may produce weak inflexible groin muscles. You may well find that working within your limits and gradually building up muscle strength and flexibility as you do the WW posutre, exercises and life-style, that you rpain and symptoms reduce and may even go away.
I particulary like supta badokasana posture to target the external rotator and hip stabilizer muscles (including the external/internal obturator, piriformis, gluteus muscles...). It's in the WW Yoga dvd wheel 2: You lie down on your back, knees bent, feet near your butocks on the floor, arms by your side. Then you allow your knees to lower down to either side, so you're in a frog like shape. Don't push your knees down but allow gravity to gently do its magic. If it feels too much then don't go so far. You can do this dynamically a few (3?) times; inhaling as you lower the knees down, exhaling as you bring them back together, the stay for 3 breaths (or less if that's too much), inhale to go back into starting position. This is a really useful posture for working this area.
Thank you all so much for the really interesting posts. I learn so much from this site.
xwholewomanuk