Hiatal Hernia Syndrome Do you experience heartburn, shallow breathing, trouble swallowing, reflux, chest pain, or bloating? Any of these could be a symptom of lesser known conditions called hiatal hernia and hiatal hernia syndrome. Hiatal hernias are extremely common and affect over 40% of the US population and are often found accidentally on x-ray. These…
How do I know if I have a healthy microbiome? Let’s take a trip to the (microbiome) gym After reading the last two blog posts, you may be asking yourself now – how do I know if I have a healthy microbiome? Do I need to do a stool test? While understanding of this continues…
Microbiome Series Part 2 – Pre, Pro, and Postbiotics Let’s define a few terms first before we jump all the way into how we can improve our microbiomes. As we reviewed in the introduction, there are many ways to feed and grow the microbiome. You have likely seen probiotics in new products from supplemental capsules…
Microbiome Series: Part I – What Is The Microbiome? You may have heard about the microbiome in the news or from your friend who drinks kombucha, but what is it, really? And why is it so important? What is a probiotic? Do I actually have a bunch of bacteria living inside of me? Does this…
Pelvic Floor Therapy for Urinary Incontinence One of the top reasons patients seek pelvic floor therapy in my practice is to address urinary incontinence. What Are the Different Types of Incontinence? Urinary incontinence, or the involuntary loss of urine, can be broken down into 3 different categories: urge, stress, and mixed incontinence. Urge incontinence is…
Do you ever feel like you stretch constantly, and yet your aches, pains, and knots keep coming back? Or even get worse? If so, you’re not alone. As a massage therapist who performs bodywork, I hear this story from people all the time. In this article, I want to share my perspective on why stretching…
Top 3 Most Underrated Parts of the Body to Release Tension It’s extremely common for people to experience pain or stiffness in the neck, shoulders, or back, and try to solve it by getting these areas massaged. But often, the place where we feel pain isn’t where the problem is. Neck, shoulder, and back pain…
Sustained Pressure vs. Regular Massage Something I tell all my clients is that when it comes to working with the soft tissues of the body–the muscles and fascia—sustained pressure is the most effective. Whether you’re receiving a massage from a practitioner or doing it on yourself with a foam roller or lacrosse ball, applying pressure…
Pelvic Floor Therapy What is the Pelvic Floor? The pelvic region consists of several bones, ligaments, and muscles that essentially hold the abdominal organs, bladder, uterus, and bowels. The bony pelvis is made up of the sacrum (where your tailbone extends from), ileum, ischium, and pubis. The muscles that attach from the front of the…
Blue Zones: Creating Habits for Health and Longevity Advances in technology, preventive medicine, and our understanding of health have played a part in extending the human lifespan considerably. Currently, the maximum life expectancy in developed nations is approximately 90 years.1 However, we are beginning to take a turn, with longevity decreasing specifically in the United…