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[post_content] => In this video, Dr. Peter Borten explains why he's seen neck pain become so prevalent in the last decade, and shares some really effective and easy ways you can treat (and avoid) your own neck pain at home.
Do you have tips for combatting neck pain? Please share with us in the comments below!
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[post_date] => 2014-08-20 08:58:36
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In this month’s articles on exercise, I’ve written about the somewhat unfortunate position modern humans are in, whereby many of us can get through life almost without moving, and exercise has become an extracurricular activity – rather than the simple means by which we survive. It’s now a thing that we have to remember to make time for.
On all those days when you think you just won’t have time to exercise, there’s still plenty that you can do to for your body. Here are some ideas:
1. Whatever you are doing, engage as much of your body as possible in doing it. Imagine that you’re dancing: even while you may be focused on making a pecking motion like a sophisticated chicken, you don’t just ignore the rest of your body. No, everything else keeps going – you’re doing that crisscross move with your hands on your knees, you’re wagging your rump in the air like it’s a glow stick, and, of course, your tongue wags in and out like you’re Miley Cyrus. It’s this whole symphony of movement that has everyone pointing at you, giving you big encouraging smiles, and taking out their cameras.
The same goes for something as simple as picking up a pen from the floor. You could just reach down and grab it in a completely unconscious way. Or it could be a thoroughly mindful mini-dance, in which you engage your legs, your abdomen, your back, your neck, your chest, your arms, and everything in between. How would a ballerina sit at a desk working on a computer? How would a flamenco dancer get in and out of a car? How would a kung fu master walk to the store? Try it for an hour, a day, or a week.
2. Pay attention to your posture. Most of the muscle strain we experience is postural. We routinely hold certain muscles in ways that overburden them, but because we do it almost unconsciously, we’re unaware of the impact. For example, when driving, we often hold onto the wheel with our arms up and our elbows slightly out in a way that can strain muscles of our upper back. When sitting at a computer, we frequently bring our head forward of the line of our shoulders, which can cause neck strain. When sitting on a squishy chair, we’re prone to round our lower back and put our weight on our sacrum, which can strain these back muscles and simultaneously shorten the psoas, which runs from the front of the spine to the inside of the hip bones.
So, keep yourself aligned. Take breaks from holding any one position for an extended period. Make space between your ribcage and your hips. Bring your shoulders back and open your chest. Breathe fully and deeply into your pelvic bowl. Imagine you’re pressing up against the ceiling with the top your head.
3. Try squatting, walking, or standing rather than sitting while doing otherwise stationary work. Instead of sitting in a chair at a desk all day, you can get a taller workstation and stand (always with a slight bend in the knees) or squat. Several times a day, stand with your back against a wall and lower yourself to a chair position, holding for one minute (or more) at a time. Another great option is a treadmill workstation that lets you walk while you compute or do phone work. For phone work, the best option would be to get a Bluetooth ear piece and actually get out into nature while having your conversation.
4. Do isometric exercises. Isometric exercises mean contracting muscles without movement – against your own counter-contraction, or an immovable object, or holding a moveable object in place. You can find extensive sets of desk-based isometric exercise. Here are a few:
- Crunch/Leg lift. While sitting in a regular height chair, lift your feet just a hair off the floor (like you could just slip a single sheet of paper under them). Hold for 60 seconds. Engage your core. Alternatively, you can do shorter, more frequent contractions.
- Shrugs. Curl your fingers under the edge of one side of the seat of the chair, shrug and pull, like you’re attempting to lift the chair. Hold for 6 to 10 seconds. Repeat 8 times on each side.
- Curls. With the elbow bent at 90 degrees, make a fist and press the top (thumb side) of the fist against the underside of your desk. Push as hard as you can, as if trying to lift the desk. Hold for 6 to 10 seconds. Repeat 8 times on each side. Multiple sets can be performed with the elbow bent at different angles.
- Triceps Pushdown. With the elbow bent at 90 degrees, make a fist and set the soft (pinky) side against the desk. Push down as hard as you can, hold for 6 to 10 seconds. Repeat 8 times on each side. Multiple sets can be performed with the elbow bent at different angles.
- Quad Press. Move your chair so that you can set one foot against the wall (knee bent) and press as hard as you can, as if trying to push the wall away (this doesn’t work if your chair has wheels). Hold for 6 to 10 seconds. Repeat 8 times on each side. Multiple sets can be performed with the knee bent at different angles.
A quick search will lead you to isometric exercises targeting the shoulders, chest, neck, calves, and other muscle groups. Even though isometric exercises are unlikely to lead to real gains in strength, they will at least help you to maintain decent tone.
Finally, if you’re going to treat your workday like an all-day workout, remember to do the things you’d do to support yourself during any other long bout of exercise: drink lots of water, get electrolytes, eat well, stretch before, during, and after, switch it up, always maintain good form, and have fun.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
[post_title] => The All Day Chicken Dance
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Back when I was a graduate student doing my internship in Chinese Medicine, I got my first patient whose chief complaint was a lingering cough, and I remember thinking, “This will be easy.” Boy, was I naïve. Even under the guidance of an elder practitioner, it took months of treatment for it to resolve. In the nearly two decades since then, coughs have often proven stubborn. Luckily, they usually run their course within a few weeks – with or without intervention – and I’ve found some herbs that can often speed up the recovery process.
First, a few words on coughs and how they work. The respiratory tract (airway) consists of two main regions. The upper part includes the nasal cavity, sinuses, pharynx (the area where the back of the nasal cavity becomes the throat) and is sometimes considered to include the larynx (“voice box”). This is the site of most common colds, or “upper respiratory infections” (URI’s). Coughs coming from this area are usually due to throat irritation and post-nasal drip, and are pretty responsive to treatment.
The lower respiratory tract consists of the trachea (“windpipe”), the tubes through which it branches into the lungs – the bronchi, the smaller bronchioles, and finally the little sacs called alveoli – and sometimes the larynx. All but the smallest of these passageways are lined with cough receptors, which are highly sensitive to light touch. The presence of phlegm (or dust, or certain chemicals) triggers the cough reflex. Coughing is a cooperative effort between the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, the muscles between the ribs (intercostals), and the structures of the airway – an attempt to forcibly expel whatever’s in there.
Sometimes it’s effective – what we refer to as a “productive cough” – but when the respiratory passages are inflamed and dry, or full of sticky, tenacious phlegm, a cough can go on and on. The hard part is that coughs themselves can be debilitating. We lie down to sleep, the phlegm spreads out, post-nasal drip trickles down, and the cough worsens. It degrades the restorative value of sleep, and the continuous spasmodic contraction of our muscles wears us out, sapping us of the energy to cough in a productive way.
The herbs I’ll discuss here are for these acute forms of cough. Coughs that occur for much longer and those that are due to weakness, asthma, or damage to the lungs fall into the chronic category and they’re beyond the scope of this article because they require more comprehensive treatment.
I have taken and prescribed nearly every Chinese and Western herb that’s commonly used for cough, and they rarely work as well as I hope. That cough reflex is difficult to overcome – and, really, you would only want to suppress it if you were doing something to address the underlying problem. I’ve found that when I’m more accurate about discerning the type of cough (dry / moist, strong / weak, clear phlegm / yellow phlegm), my treatments are usually more effective, but the herbs I’ll introduce today are usually beneficial for most types of cough.
- Mullein: Mullein is a fuzzy, sage-colored plant that grows all over the place in the United States. I see it nearly every day. The leaves and yellow flowers are excellent for coughs. Adults can take an ounce of dried leaves or flowers and steep covered (don’t simmer) in a few cups of just-boiled water. Strain it to avoid drinking the little hairs, and drink it, divided into three portions, over the course of the day.
- Pine, Spruce, and Fir Needles: All of these evergreen needles are useful for coughs and are rich in vitamin C. You can throw a handful of them into a bowl of hot water, put your face over it, cover your head and the bowl with a towel, and inhale the steam. Then you can drink the resulting tea. Or you can just brew a strong tea by simmering a large handful in a couple cups of water. Keep it covered and the heat low, so you don’t lose all the essential oils. I like to chew spruce, fir, and pine needles when I’m out on walks, and the ones that work best for coughs tend to be those with the best, strongest flavor.
- Thyme leaves: Thyme has long been a popular herb in Europe for coughs, and it probably has some antimicrobial effects (one of the noteworthy compounds in the herb, called thymol, is the active ingredient in Listerine and various antiseptic cleaners). The flavor is rather strong, so the usual dose is just one to two teaspoons of the dried herb steeped in a cup of water. I don’t have great faith in thyme on its own, but it can be a useful adjunct herb combined with others.
- Ginger: Ginger’s pungency is good for opening the respiratory tract. The dried herb is considered “hotter” than the fresh stuff, so I use the dried product more for coughs will lots of clear or white phlegm, and the fresh herb more for coughs with yellowish phlegm. You can use approximately a thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced or grated, simmered for a few minutes in about a cup of water (do this multiple times a day).
- Licorice root: Licorice is a mild herb for coughs, but it’s a nice adjunct with other herbs, especially when the throat and/or respiratory tract feels raw and sore. Licorice is sweet and mucilaginous, and has a calming effect on spasmodic coughs and a soothing effect on mucous membranes. You can use approximately 2 teaspoons per day. Keep in mind that prolonged use of licorice or high doses can cause a temporary elevation of blood pressure (usually not more than about ten points systolic).
- Hyssop leaves: This common garden herb is a member of the mint family and has a longstanding reputation, especially in Europe, as a useful herb for coughs and sore throats. Several times a day, steep two to three teaspoons of the dried herb (or much more of the fresh herb) in a cup of water to make a pleasant tasting tea. Hyssop is mild, and therefore best combined with other herbs.
- Horehound leaves: Horehound also has a longstanding reputation in Europe and northern Africa as a valuable herb for respiratory complaints, and it’s one of the main ingredients in Ricola cough drops. I’ve noticed that it’s not much used in the United States, perhaps because the FDA claims it has no value in the treatment of cough, but I had one profound experience with it about 20 years ago, when I made some horehound tea and it completely stopped a nagging cough in about a day. You can make a tea using about two to three teaspoons of the dried herb in a cup of boiled water.
- Slippery Elm Bark and Marshmallow Root: These herbs are soothing to mucous membranes and especially appropriate for dry coughs. You can add one or both to your cough formula (approximately a teaspoon per cup of tea) to add a “demulcent” effect that will also soothe your throat.
- Nigella Seed Oil: This herb, also known as “black seed” or “black cumin,” has been trendy recently, though perhaps for good reason. A number of studies show it has promise in the treatment of a variety of health issues, and there’s rather robust research on its value in respiratory problems (asthma, in particular). For cough, you can take a teaspoon of the oil at a time, in a cup of hot water. You can also try rubbing the oil on your chest, over your lungs.
- Umckaloabo root: This African relative of the geranium is useful for upper respiratory infections. It’s available in raw, dried form as well as tinctures and homeopathics. The easiest form to take is as the commercial product Umcka. It’s one of very few substances that can legally claim to benefit the common cold. The specific verbiage allowed by the FDA is, “shortens severity and reduces duration of upper respiratory symptoms.” I always have some of the powdered form of Umcka in the house, which I mix into hot teas to add some additional potency.
- Pineapple Juice: I don’t know of any research on pineapple juice for coughs, but it’s a popular folk remedy, often drunk warm and seasoned with cinnamon, cayenne, or black pepper. I don’t know why it would be beneficial in coughs and I haven’t tried it myself, but it may have something to do with the activity of the enzyme bromelain that it contains. In any case, it’s not likely to hurt – especially if it gets you to drink more fluids.
- Water: Speaking of fluids, staying well hydrated is super important when you have a cough, as it helps keep the mucous in a more liquid state so that it can be more readily expelled. Also, immune function just tends to work better when you’re getting enough water. Other than possibly consuming some pineapple juice with it, it’s best to stick to pure water or tea, rather than juice or sweetened beverages.
Choose a few of these substances, use them simultaneously and consistently (like, all day long), and get as much rest as you can. If necessary, sleep in a semi-upright position to reduce nighttime coughing.
Whenever I write articles on herbs I wonder if I’m doing the field of herbal medicine a disservice by simplifying it and presenting it in such a way as to suggest we can choose herbs simply based on the symptoms we want to treat, without respect for the diagnosis. But I feel the need for accessible home remedies is more important. In the case of the herbs above, they are all quite safe and unlikely to do any harm. However, if your cough persists, if it is severe, if you cough up blood, or if anything else alarming happens, or if you intend to use these herbs on small children, please consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner.
Be well and breathe freely,
Dr. Peter Borten
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[post_content] => In this video, Dr. Peter Borten explains why he's seen neck pain become so prevalent in the last decade, and shares some really effective and easy ways you can treat (and avoid) your own neck pain at home.
Do you have tips for combatting neck pain? Please share with us in the comments below!
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