Page 2 - Health-related Articles

Ever heard of the peripheral nervous system? It’s the system of nerves responsible for sending signals to and from your brain and your spinal cord (aka the body’s central nervous system). And what are they for? They help you feel the sensation when your skin touches something (sensory nerves). They also play a role in controlling muscle movement (motor nerves) and other bodily functions (autonomic nerves).

Now, imagine what happens when this system of nerves becomes damaged: Your ability to feel sensation will be impaired or completely lost. Your muscles become weak, so movement gets affected and limited. Worse, you may even experience lingering pain. That is what you call neuropathy. One (mononeuropathy) or more (polyneuropathy) peripheral nerves may become damaged and affected by neuropathy. Either way, varying and often multiple symptoms of neuropathy present quite a challenge when it comes to managing and coping with this condition.

What causes neuropathy?

Neuropathy may either

Are you diabetic? Because it turns out, as of 2020, statistics show that 34.2 million adults in the US have diabetes, while 88 million Americans are pre-diabetic. So, chances are, you are reading this article because you are diabetic, or you may know someone who has been diagnosed as one.

But what exactly is diabetes in the first place?

Detecting Diabetes

Let’s start with how the body functions normally. When you eat, the glucose (sugar) component of the food you are digesting goes into your bloodstream. This, in turn, activates the pancreas to secrete insulin (a kind of hormone) that tells your body’s cells to make use of the glucose in your blood as an energy source. So what happens if you have diabetes? It can either be one of two cases (Type 1 or Type 2), but the tell-tale sign is the same: hyperglycemia or high blood sugar levels.

First, if you have Type 1 diabetes, your body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells. So, as you eat food with carbohydrate content, your

You feel constant muscle soreness and sensitivity in certain regions of your body. And, it’s not just the usual everyday body ache. It’s one that is accompanied by tender knots in your muscles and may even extend to other (often unrelated) parts of your body. Does that make you wince even as you were reading about it? Unfortunately, this kind of pain is real and it affects people who are diagnosed with a medical condition called Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS).

Meet the culprit

So, what exactly is Myofascial Pain Syndrome?

From the term myofascial, you can deduce that it affects both muscle (myo) and fascia. The former is quite a familiar word, but the latter might not be. And if you’re curious to know about it, the fascia is simply a term for the surrounding band or thin sheet of connective tissue that envelops your muscles.

As for the pain? For the most part, if you have MPS, your chief complaint will be chronic worsening aches in certain regions of the body. This kind of persistent

Disclaimer: While massage therapy presents several beneficial effects, especially to patients with hypertension, first make sure to get professional clearance and medical advice regarding your condition. Get regular checkups and find out if there is an underlying disease that may be causing your hypertension.

So, you just had your regular check-up and you’ve recently had your blood pressure taken. The healthcare professional tells you that it reads somewhere above the average (120/80 mm Hg). In other words, you’ve been advised that you are pre-hypertensive and that you should observe the necessary lifestyle modifications and precautions. Suddenly, you think about the massage session you recently booked. And you’ve heard stories about people not wanting to get a massage because they are hypertensive. Should you cancel it?

Now, before you go ahead and completely remove massage therapy from your vocabulary, let’s first look at the relevant facts. Where should you start? How about getting

Has your gut ever told you that something’s just not right? Something like stomach cramps or an overall bloated feeling? This time, maybe it's literally sending you a message - that you’re suffering from excessive gas, constipation, or other similar digestive issues. Here’s the truth: No matter what the gastric situation is, there is no denying that these digestive problems can be just downright annoying.

At some point in your life, you’ve probably suffered from one or even all of them. And, by now, you’re most likely familiar with the uncomfortable feeling that comes with tummy troubles and the corresponding list of medications that claim to solve them, too. But did you know that massage may also be considered therapeutic and provide relief for your digestive concerns? Yes, you read that right. Massage therapy may also prove to be quite helpful to people suffering from digestive issues.

How exactly can massage help? Let’s break it down, one point at a time.

Gastrointestinal function