Using Tennis Balls on Long Flights

Out of all the fitness tools and gadgets available to address pain, circulation issues, and tight muscles, there’s a simple one that you may be overlooking: tennis balls. Furthermore, they might just help prevent blood clots on long trips.

You sit on a plane for hours without any leg room, your neck and back start to stiffen, and your blood flow starts to decrease. Conventional wisdom suggests you get up and walk about during the flight to help circulation, but that’s not always feasible. However, a tennis ball massage always is.

Performing a self-massage improves blood circulation to targeted parts of the body. It also helps to reduce pain and tension in the muscles. To add to this, tennis balls are small enough to carry onto a plane and using one during a flight won’t take up much space at all. 

In addition to working your legs while seated, you can also work your hands, arms, and back. Below are 5 tennis ball exercises that you can adapt to your needs while on a long flight. 

 

1. Ankles 

Give your ankles a good stretch. Place the tennis ball under your foot and flex your ankle as you roll the ball back and forth. Hold each position for a few seconds, and then switch to your other foot. You should be able to do this with your shoes on. If the person sitting beside you doesn’t mind, you can also slip your shoes off for this one.

2. Wrists  

It’s easy for circulation to be poor in your hands and fingers too. So, to get the blood flowing again, you can grip a tennis ball with light pressure while bending your wrists inwards and outwards.

3. Thighs  

Massaging your thighs with a tennis ball will improve your circulation while you’re sitting down. Roll the ball vertically from the knee upwards to the top of your thigh. Repeat this motion on your entire thigh, applying gentle pressure. 

 4. Legs and Calves 

Following the same technique as thigh rolls, roll the ball upwards from your ankle to the knee, and on your calf. Repeat on your other leg. Apply gentle pressure and pay special attention to any areas of tension. 

5. Upper Back and Shoulders 

Simply roll the ball across your shoulders, upper back, and neck. Run it over any knots or painful points. You can also wedge a tennis ball between your back and the seat, being careful not to hunch over. 

N.B. These 5 techniques can be used by passengers and drivers on long road trips. Drivers can pull over and take a fifteen-minute break to carry out these exercises. If your back and/or shoulders start to ache while driving, position one or two balls between your back and the seat, and rock back and forth gently.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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3 Exercises to Reduce Anxiety and PTSD

 Coping with anxiety and PTSD is not easy, and while professional treatment is welcome, it does not always provide the relief sufferers expect, at least not in daily coping. The truth is that there is no one solution that fits everyone, and each person needs to find their way to deal with the symptoms they experience. That is why we present to you today 3 somatic exercises you can try, which many report help reduce the intensity of the feelings they experience in moments of anxiety and PTSD. These exercises involve the whole body, and before starting any of them, it is recommended to ask yourself: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how anxious am I?" Try the chosen exercise, ask yourself again, and check if that number has decreased—this way, you'll know you found the exercise that suits you.

1. Joint activation 

When your mind is preoccupied with something, it’s hard to stop the automatic thoughts that come. Any attempt to do so will fail, but what can help is occupying the mind with something else, and it’s easiest to focus on the physical sensation in your body. For this, you will activate your body slowly and calmly, starting from the bottom and gradually moving upwards until you significantly reduce the symptoms you’re experiencing.

Start with one leg—slowly move your foot in circular motions 10 times in one direction and focus on the sensation created in the joint. Then do the same in the other direction, and after that, repeat with the other leg. If you are lying on your back, you can do the same with your knees while your thighs are in the air. If you’re standing, you can place your hands on your knees and rotate them together in circular motions. Also, rotate your pelvis to both sides, and then pause and try to notice the sensation in your lower body compared to the upper body—do you feel a difference? 

 

Now do the same with your wrists—one at a time or both together—then with your elbows and shoulders. Finally, rotate your head to one side and then to the other. Throughout the exercise, remember to focus on the sensation created in the joint during the rotations—this will help your mind focus on something else and move the energy around your body instead of trapping it inside.

2. Deep breathing and "voo" exhalations  

 

The respiratory and cardiovascular systems are interconnected and influence each other—when one operates faster, so does the other. While we cannot directly control our heartbeat, we can definitely control our breathing. Some people find that deep breaths help restore calm to their body and bring their heart rate to a relaxed pace. If you have tried breathing exercises in the past and found them helpful, you might want to try the "voo" exhalation exercise.

To begin the exercise, place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen, and take a deep, slow breath. Then exhale the air while making a "voo" sound—try to make the sound come as much as possible from your abdomen and not your throat. This is an ancient breathing exercise that calms the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the diaphragm, and supports the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for relaxation when the body is at rest. Do this 10 times and see how you feel. 

 

 

3. Focusing on observing something calming 

There are many things that can be calming, like the support of another person, a warm bath, or even a thick, heavy blanket resting on your body. However, such things can also be found through sight alone, and that is the goal of this exercise. Look around for something that can calm you—some people find it helpful to gaze at something sparkling and beautiful, while others prefer a natural element like a leaf swaying on a branch in the wind. 

 

For some people, focusing on something distant works even better—the farther away it is, the more calming its effect can be. However, you might find it helpful to concentrate on something close to you, to which you can direct your entire gaze and examine closely. Try the exercise both ways to discover what works better for you, and focus your gaze until you feel its calming effect—this might take a few minutes. If you like, you can even combine this exercise with one of the previous ones and perform them simultaneously. 

 

 

To sum up 

When we suffer from PTSD or anxiety, the symptoms can be severe and exhausting. The recovery process is long and not easy, but don’t let the symptoms make you think it’s impossible. Try the exercises we suggested when you feel overwhelmed, and give yourself a chance to relax and regain functionality in moments when you feel like you’re falling apart. They will help balance your body and mind, providing quick relief when you need it most.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Saving Your Spine While Texting

It seems that we are growing more attached to our cell phones every day, but we never really stop to consider the amount of pressure our spines go through each time we bend our necks down. The poor posture is more commonly referred to as "text neck", which can add anywhere between 30-60lbs (15-30kg) of pressure on the lumbar region by the awkward spinal angles. 

The force increases by approximately 27 pounds (12.2kg) at a 15-degree angle, 40 pounds (18kg) at a 30-degree angle, 49 pounds (22kg) at a 45-degree angle and 60 pounds (27kg) at a 60-degree angle. That would be like having a small child sitting on your neck while you type!

The Symptoms & Consequences of "Text Neck" 

 

Having your neck in a downward position for extended periods of time can result in severe stretching of the spinal tissue, which could potentially lead to pinched nerves, herniated disks, and even spinal surgeries. Texting can also strain your eyesight, especially when you have to squint down further to read the words or titles. Some of the symptoms of "text neck" can include; tightness across the shoulders, soreness of the neck (stiff neck), and chronic headaches. 

Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, who is the chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, wrote about how texting drastically affects the spine with bad posture, and published it in the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The research suggested that keeping good posture is ideal to prevent spinal injuries from occurring. 

 

Dr. Hansraj points out a safer alternative to "text neck". He suggests that your ears should be aligned with the shoulders, while the shoulder blades are retracted. This position reduces the amount of stress on the spinal region. Dr. Hansraj also suggests that you should look down at your cell phones and tablets, by moving your eyes down in favor of bending the neck.

 

Preventing "Text Neck": 

 

Make sure your neck isn't tilted when you're glancing down at the phone. Instead, try scrolling with your eyes only, while keeping your neck in a neutral position. 

 

Keep your neck and spine comfortably rested on a few pillows if you're going to text while in bed. 

 

Keep your ears aligned with the shoulders, and your shoulder blades retracted.This is important posture for texting while sitting inside a moving vehicle or train. 

 

Avoid eye strain by making the fonts on the phone or tablet larger when possible.You can enter the display settings and simply change the fonts to a larger size. 

 

Hold a tablet straight in front of you at a 30 degree angle when typing to keep your neck and wrists protected. 

 

Take a break every 15 minutes or so by looking up and bringing the neck back into the neutral position. 

 

All it takes is a few slight adjustments to maintain proper posture, and you can limit the potential for unwanted cervical spinal stress.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Smoking, obesity can negatively impact your health

A recent study has examined if obesity and smoking, which are known to impact negative effects on bone health, can also affect healing in patients, who had surgery for fractures of the wrist or the distal radius.

For the study,  the investigators analysed data on patients surgically treated for a distal radius fracture between 2006 and 2017 at two trauma centres.

The 200 patients were divided into obese and non-obese groups (39 and 161 patients, respectively) and were also characterised as current, former, and never smokers (20, 32, and 148 patients, respectively) based on self-reported cigarette use.

The recent study is led by a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre (BIDMC).

At three-month and one-year follow-ups after surgery, both the obese and non-obese groups achieved acceptable scores that pertained to patient-reported function in the upper extremity -- close to those of the general population.

The two groups were also similar in regards to the range of motion and bone alignment.

At three months, smokers demonstrated worse scores related to arm, shoulder, and hand function and a lower percentage of healed fractures, but these effects improved over the course of a year. Complications were similar between groups.

"Overall we found that we can achieve excellent clinical and radiographic outcomes with surgery for displaced wrist fractures in patients who are obese and in those who smoke," said senior author of the study.

"Our results show that treatment for distal radius fractures in obese and smoking patients is safe, and these patients may be treated as the general population with similar long-term results. Their short-term outcomes, however, demonstrate higher disability and, in the case of smokers, slower fracture healing," added the researcher.

The researcher stressed that obesity and smoking are currently considered among the two most important preventable causes of poor health in developed nations, and both are modifiable risk factors.

"As such, we believe that lifestyle interventions focusing on weight loss and smoking cessation should be emphasised whenever possible," she said.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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