Is Chiropractic Care the Appropriate Treatment for Your Family

It is the second major doctored primary healthcare profession. Chiropractic was founded in the 1890's and has grown in magnitude and also status in the direction of its present legendary spot within the health care arena.

The chiropractic industry obtained its title after a Greek term which means "done by hand." Being a drugless and surgery-free health services procedure, chiropractic physicians are the chief holistic first-line health services providers.Every year, increasing numbers of Individuals seek out chiropractic treatment with the intention to remedy plus avoid a great number of problems.

Chiropractic Philosophy

Chiropractic treatment differs from medical beliefs in that it attempts to minister to the basis of illness, instead of treat the symptoms and after-effects of ill health. Doctors of chiropractic since the beginning have held the philosophy that your body was created with its own intelligent system of self-healing, that is able to repair your body if your self-healing system is not compromised.

Your chiropractic physician's task is to get rid of the interference which stops the Innate Intelligence from healing the body. A person's brain relays crucial knowledge to your organs by way of the nervous system, which is the main system which your chiropractor focuses to keep uninhibited of interference.

The nervous system is the foremost system which a person's body uses to control physical health as well as function. As soon as the transport of nerve messages is interfered with, a decrease of coordination and regulation between the brain and the organ or tissue will come about, creating abnormal function and sickness.

Chiropractic physicians expressly fix interference to the nervous system which takes place when the vertebrae of the spinal column are shifted. The word for this type of mis-alignment is "subluxation," which means, "less than a dislocation."

When a misalignment takes place, one or more vertebrae of your spinal column shift, introducing pressure on the sensitive nerves and impeding the transmission of messages to and from the body and the brain.When a chiropractor finds a subluxation, he administers a chiropractic adjustment to fix the misalignment, repositioning the vertebrae into its correct place.

Chiropractic treatment is typically delivered by hand, or else at times with an instrument and seldom initiate any tenderness. However, patients could sometimes observe tenderness or other symptoms as the body begins to repair as a result of the chiropractic adjustment. For years, folks have been finding that chiropractic can relieve a widespread assortment of conditions.

This is attributable to the fact that chiropractic affects a person's nervous system, that controls every part of the body. because of the enormous power of a person's nervous system, chiropractic contains an capability to affect every physical health problem.

Even your immune system, which delivers the imperative portion in preventing and healing problems spanning from the ordinary cold to cancer, has been established in modern research to be under the direct influence of the nervous system. Likewise, a person's body's endocrine system (the system of chemicals that regulate body's health functions) is as well under direct regulation of the nervous system. It is undeniable that the most essential system for restoring and maintaining physical condition in a person's body is a person's nervous system.

Safety Factor

Because chiropractic care does not apply invasive methods, such as drugs and surgical procedures, it's among the most safe types of health care available. It is simple to guess the variance in safety between doctors of chiropractic and medical doctors only by looking at the amount either healthcare profession pays for malpractice insurance. Malpractice insurance intended for an obstetric physician practicing in Miami is in the vicinity of one hundred thousand dollars per year, while a doctor of chiropractic can spend about $2,000.00. The variance regarding malpractice insurance premiums reveals the variance regarding safety, as recognized by malpractice insurance companies, between the medical and chiropractic techniques.

Medicine vs. Chiropractic

Regardless of its exemplary past performance and countless reports of physical health benefits by its fans, chiropractic care has been plagued by unwarranted discrimination during its one hundred plus year life. If in fact chiropractic ended up being adhered to by the full population, it's to be expected that it would subtract billions of dollars, yearly, from the profits of the pharmaceutical companies as well as hospitals.

In an effort to defend their monopoly, the American Medical Association launched a smear crusade against the chiropractic healthcare profession, that continued for decades. On September 25, 1987, the American Medical Association was discovered to have "entered into a long history of illegal behavior" hostile to the chiropractic profession, by judge Susan Getzendanner who presided over the "Wilk vs the AMA" court case.

A permanent injunction has been put forth against the American Medical Association in order to prohibit this kind of future activity.

The fact that just about 15% of practicing physicians in the United States are AMA members, speaks volumes regarding how doctors of the medical industry think on the subject of the American Medical Association. It's at this point normal for md's to see chiropractors for their own care as well as to refer patients to chiropractors.

At this time, chiropractors are at the head of a revolution in healthcare, that seeks non-drug alternatives instead of invasive medical practices. The present-day educated patient seeks out holistic options and believes the chiropractic care belief of a body possessing an innate intelligence, capable of healing itself.

Countless US citizens and patients all over the planet are at this time achieving relief of a large assortment of physical health ailments and are achieving the benefits of greatly improved physical condition and function, due to chiropractic treatment. A meticulous exploration of healthcare tactics which attempt to remedy a person's nervous system as the cause of illness locates only chiropractic treatment as fitting such type of a goal. Doesn't taking care of this essential health system, 1st, make great sense?

About the Author: 

By Dagny Devens

If it happens that you're in the market for a Chiropractic office in St Petersburg, this writer encourages making a well-deserved visit to this web page to find out further about the tests we carry out to examine your health.

Free Treatment Program for People with OCD in the Philadelphia New York City and Connecticut Areas

No-Cost Treatment Program for People with OCD

A Multi-Site Study for people in Philadelphia, New York City and Connecticut Areas from the University of Pennsylvania Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety

• Are you taking medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder?
• Are you still having bothersome symptoms?
• Are you interested in receiving no-cost treatment?

U/Penn's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety is offering a treatment program for people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder and are currently taking certain medications for their OCD but still have unwanted symptoms.

If you are in the Philadelphia area, please call 215-746-3327. Greater New York Metropolitan area, please call the site at Columbia University at 212-543-5462. There is also a center in Connecticut. Learn more about this OCD research treatment program...

NeoVista Epi Retinal Strontium 90 Treatment for AMD Update 3

During the 2008 Retina Society Meeting, held last weekend, NeoVista, Inc. provided eighteen-month data from its Phase II feasability study of the company’s novel beta radiation epi-retinal therapy for the treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The long-term data from the study, which was initiated to test the safety and efficacy of their therapy when used in conjunction with Avastin (bevacizumab), showed a marked advancement in mean visual acuity results at month 18, while only a limited number of patients required additional injections of Avastin.

The data were presented at the Retina Society Meeting by Nelson R. Sabates, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine and the lead investigator in NeoVista's ongoing Phase III study, CABERNET (CNV Secondary to AMD Treated with BEta RadiatioN Epiretinal Therapy).

"The data released demonstrate that NeoVista's concomitant approach has the potential to offer patients a less frequent treatment option that is just as effective, if not more effective, than the current standard of care," said Dr. Sabates. "It's highly encouraging to continually see patient outcomes improving as the study progresses."

"We're very delighted with the latest data from our Phase II study, as not only did the visual acuity improve in our patients over the long-term, but very few patients received additional injections as well," said John N. Hendrick, President and CEO of NeoVista. "The ultimate pledge of this therapy continues to be demonstrated as the long-term data hold promise in minimizing the treatment burden both for patients and physicians, not to mention the overall financial burden for the healthcare system."

NeoVista's revolutionary therapy applies a targeted dose of beta radiation to the leaking blood vessels that affect central vision; concomitantly, two injections of an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agent are delivered to maximize the acute therapeutic response. Preliminary data show that NeoVista's targeted radiation therapy can be safe for both the patient and the physician, and may be able to restore the patient's vision. The current standard of care for wet AMD requires persistent injections of anti-VEGF drugs for an indefinite period.

The ongoing multicenter feasibility study enrolled 34 trial participants (with a mean age of 72 years) from June 2006 to April 2007 at two centers in Brazil and one in Mexico. These patients, with predominantly classic, minimally classic, or occult (with no classic) choroidal neovascularization (CNV), received a single 24 Gy treatment of NeoVista's epiretinal brachytherapy in combination with two intravitreal injections of Avastin, one dose prior to or at the time of radiation delivery and another one month later, depending on which arm of the trial the patient was enrolled in. Additional therapy was delivered based upon the investigator's evaluation of disease activity.

Analysis of 18-month follow-up on the first 25 trial participants to reach that milestone, as shown in Graph 1 below, shows a mean improvement in visual acuity of 10.7 letters using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) test; 96 percent of patients lost 15 letters or fewer, 76 percent gained some letters, 44 percent gained 15 or more letters, and 8 percent gained 30 or more letters. Of particular interest, 68 percent of the patients in the study did not require additional injections of Avastin throughout the 18-month period and the average number of additional injections within this subset was only 2.4 injections by month 18.


Graph 1

The visual acuity data after 18 months compares favorably with the results reported after 12 months, as shown in Graph 2 below. (This graph compares the Epi-Rad treatment without Avastin (purple color), with Epi-Rad plus Avastin (blue color) and the Marina (green) and Anchor (red) studies, which both used Lucentis.)

Graph 2

For more information on the NeoVista Epi-Retinal treatment, and for further information on the Marina and Anchor Studies, see my three earlier reports on NeoVista, posted November 19, 2007; July 11, 2007; and February 14, 2007.

Most of the limited number of adverse events were related to the vitrectomy procedure (retinal tear, retinal detachment, subretinal hemorrhage, and vitreous hemorrhage), rather than the epiretinal brachytherapy. To date, no instances of radiation toxicity have been reported by the Doheny reading center.

In contrast to other forms of radiation therapy for wet AMD, NeoVista's approach delivers the peak dose of energy directly to the lesion without damaging the normal retinal vasculature. Utilizing strontium 90, the focused energy is delivered to a target area up to 3 mm in depth and up to 5.4 mm in diameter. Importantly for patients, the systemic exposure to radiation is minimal, as the effective dose to the entire body from NeoVista's epiretinal device is less than that from a typical chest x-ray.

With the continued promise of these Phase II trial results, NeoVista continues to enroll patients in the company's pivotal trial, CABERNET. CABERNET is a multicenter, randomized, controlled study that will enroll 450 subjects at 45 sites worldwide, evaluating the safety and efficacy of NeoVista's epiretinal brachytherapy delivered concomitantly with the FDA-approved anti-VEGF therapy Lucentis (ranibizumab) versus Lucentis alone.

Avedro Update Company Completes U S Phase III Study of Microwave Treatment for Progressive Keratoconus and Ectasia after Refractive Surgery

I have been following the progress of Avedro since I first learned about the formation of the company back in May 2009 (The Rebirth of Thermal Keratoplasty). I then wrote about the company a second time in February 2010 (Avedro Keraflex: Microwaves for Reshaping the Cornea).

Now the company has announced completion of the one-year follow up visits of patients enrolled in its two multi-center Phase III clinical studies, although, not releasing the data as yet, which is undergoing timely analysis.

When the analysis is completed, I will bring you the results.

Multi-Center US Phase III Studies for the Treatment of Progressive Keratoconus and Ectasia Following Refractive Surgery

Avedro, Inc. announced the completion of all one-year follow-up visits for patients enrolled in its two multi-center Phase III studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of corneal collagen cross-linking for the treatment of progressive keratoconus and ectasia following refractive surgery.

Keratoconus is a degenerative disease of the eye and is the leading cause of corneal transplants in the US today. Ectasia following refractive surgery is a complication following various types of surgery, including LASIK. Outside the US, Cross-linking has been deemed safe and effective and is approved for use in treating keratoconus and ectasia post-refractive surgery.

For more information about both clinical trials please see:
for ecstasia - http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00674661
for progressive keratoconus - http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00647699

Dr. Peter Hersh, a leading refractive surgeon and Medical Monitor for Avedro's clinical trial stated, "Avedro's efforts to make this clinically important treatment available to US patients is applauded by all US ophthalmologists who today lack any approved therapeutic treatment to halt the progression of these sight threatening conditions."

"I am extremely pleased that we have reached this important stage in the US clinical trials and our team is working diligently to accomplish a timely analysis of data," said David Muller, CEO of Avedro. "Outside the US, cross-linking has become the standard of care for treating weak and ectactic corneas. It is our hope to bring this technology to the US in the near future."

The company is also the sponsor of another clinical trial using its Keraflex KXL technique, which  is expected to get underway in August 2011, Safety and Efficacy of the KXL System With Riboflavin 0.1% Ophthalmic Solution for Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking in Eyes With Keratoconus -  http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01344187
 

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of two treatment regimens for corneal collagen cross-linking for the treatment of keratoconus. The treatment is designed to help improve or slow the progression of keratoconus. The study treatment involves using an eyedrop containing riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2. Riboflavin increases your eye's sensitivity to light. The riboflavin eyedrops are placed in your affected eye at two-minute intervals for 10 minutes and then your affected cornea is exposed to ultraviolet light (UVA) from the KXL System (the UV light machine) for another 2 or 3 minute period, depending upon which treatment group subjects are assigned to. Subjects will be followed for twelve months to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the treatment.

Yoga for Grief Anger and Shame

by Robin Sturis

Phoenix by Hokusai

I originally found my way to a health club yoga class to find relief from stress and pain and I found the relief that I was seeking, but for the most part I was only showing up physically and temporarily releasing muscular tension. I did become a yoga teacher after that to help others find the stress relief that I was experiencing, but it took a lot of time before I figured out how to work with emotions on the mat. 

In 2008, after about eight years of teaching yoga, I entered a Masters in Clinical Mental Health program, where I was encouraged to look at my emotional baggage as part of the program. About a year in, my body started talking loudly to me again in the form of pain. In my search for relief, I found Phoenix Rising (PR) Yoga Therapy. At that time, I considered Phoenix Rising to be a self-care break as I proceeded with my degree. I now know it to be a way of living fully. 

Phoenix Rising combines traditional yogic philosophy with modern self-help psychology. Self-awareness is the focus. A truly embodied mindfulness meditation in action is facilitated through the use of asana and dialogue, encouraging participants to be present to their inner landscapes and emotional lives in the best way they can in each moment. It encourages us to take an aware, embodied approach to making empowered life choices.

During the three years in which I trained in Phoenix Rising as a yoga teacher and then a yoga therapy practitioner, I looked deeply into myself in both my graduate program and my yoga training. At the same time my husband battled cancer and won and two dear yoga teachers also faced health battles, one of whom did not win. I myself recovered memories of physical assault, worked on the emotions surrounding my own chronic health issues, and worked deeply on the emotional baggage of being raised by an abusive narcissist. In other words, I worked with grief, anger, and shame. 

One of the ways that Phoenix Rising supported me in this and taught me to support others is through holding space. Holding space is the challenging process of being fully present to another without judgment, trying to fix, or having any expectations of outcomes. Many people have never had this experience. It can be moving and transformative. It helps us to begin to see that we have value in our own right, that we are worthy of love and acceptance and that we can choose to be with ourselves in a way that is likely different than anything we have previously experienced. It helps us to begin to understand that our self is not our Self and that we are more than what we have been taught we are, that we are more than our thoughts and emotions, that we are Divine beings just as we are. The yogic concept of “born Divine” is alien to most westerners. I was so steeped in the idea that we have to earn love that I consider it a deep samskara, a mental rut into which I still fall. 

Through the course of a Phoenix Rising class or therapy series we learn how to wait for the mud of experience and reaction to settle so that we can see more clearly and look deeper at our inner experience. In my case, I held anger toward my mother for not being what I would have wanted her to be and for not giving me the emotional tools needed to navigate a healthy life. As I looked deeper I saw under that anger was a profound grief, a grief for the idealized mother I never had, grief for the child that suffered, and eventually grief for the emotionally damaged person that was my mother. As I looked deeper still I saw shame: shame at having these “negative” emotions, shame at not being able to better handle or hide them because no one wants to be around negativity, and shame at not being good enough, not being lovable, being to emotional…. I also felt shame and responsibility for being victimized. 

But the process of Phoenix Rising helped me—and I now offer this same help to others—to be embodied in a mindful way not just in a special posture or series designed for this, but in also learning I already have the tools and knowledge to figure things out for myself. It taught me how to look and listen within, and how to hold space for what I found. It taught me to listen to what my body, mind, and emotions might need in yoga practice and in life. And it taught me through experience that nothing is permanent; not my thoughts, emotions, life circumstances, or beliefs. 

As I let go of believing that I was a victim, I became empowered to determine what I wanted and make decisions for myself based on what was best for me. This enabled me to cut ties with my mother, and to withstand the judgment of others about that choice. That was when the healing began for me. 

Like me, most of the people I have talked to about this topic feel that the emotions of grief, anger, and shame do not occur alone. As we grieve, we can find feelings of anger about the loss and shame for being angry. This is reflected in the Kubler-Ross model of grief, which lists anger as the second stage of grief. Also, when anger is the primary emotion, we are likely to find grief as we look deeper. Shame is harder still to acknowledge and express. 

I am also struck by the—sometimes invisible—cultural attitudes toward these emotions. In Western culture, difficult emotions tend to be avoided. We deny, we self-medicate, we blame shift—we do many things to not feel. It is also interesting that, when asked about grief, people almost always speak of the loss of a loved one. This is certainly one of the most painful losses we can experience, but let’s not ignore the multitude of other losses that can be a part of the fabric of our lives. Do you experience grief over a lost job, a financial setback, lost health, the betrayal of a friend or lover, or an unfulfilled dream? People often avoid discussing their anger, choosing instead to focus on grief. Yoga in general and Phoenix Rising in particular provides us with the space and context to feel and process all of our emotions. 

In yogic philosophy, we are taught that one of the ways to move beyond is to move through, to remain open and allow. In this context, I suggest that “moving beyond” is not forgetting, being all better, or giving up. What I refer to is the ability to move beyond the constant reaction of the small “s” self into the ability to live an increasingly full human life while holding space for what you have lost, to find meaning in a life after the loss. This is a process. At first it might seem frightening. I often hear people say that they shut these emotions down because they are afraid that if they open to them they will never stop crying. But we do. And each time we allow ourselves to feel them they are a little easier to hold. With time they pass through us more smoothly, can even become friends—or at least familiar and less overwhelming visitors. In the words of a mentor, we can “learn to put them in the back seat instead of letting them drive the car.” 

Western culture talks of negative emotions, but yoga teaches us that emotions are just emotions. They arise and fall, like the breath, like thoughts. It is possible to hold space for them, to recognize them, to care for ourselves even as we allow them to pass through us. This, too, is part of being human, embodied. It is a part of the richness of this life, what we are here to experience. It is when we get caught up in the stories of the small “s” self that we move into reaction and become overwhelmed.

The only person who can fully understand your experience of grief, anger, and shame is you. I offer you this story and the accompanying thoughts in the hopes that you might be able to draw some helpful information or a sense that you are not alone in this process of navigating a human existence and all of the myriad challenges it offers.   

Robin Bateman Sturis holds an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a yoga teacher living in southwestern Florida, USA. She loves to read, write, study yoga and the human mind, travel, and hang out with her husband Jeff and her dog Molly. 

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Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

by Nina

As many of you may have realized by now, Facebook is very sneaky about which posts they show to who. From our end, we can see exactly how many people even see a post (as opposed to those who like it). And sometimes it’s a very small percentage of our over 10,000 followers, even when we’re sharing something pretty important.

So today I thought I’d give you a little tip about how to ensure that you always see the posts, that is, if you want to. (Why am I doing this on the blog and not on Facebook? Well, having tried this before, I know that if I write a post about how to use Facebook, Facebook will ensure it gets very little exposure. Oh, your algorithms are so clever, Facebook. I’m not being paranoid; it’s a business thing. Facebook wants us to pay to get more exposure for our posts, but you know we’re entirely not-for-profit, right?).

Anyway, you can explicitly request for any public page that you follow that you see posts from that page first thing in your feed. Here’s how to do it on a personal computer. (See below for phones.)

1. Start by going to the page and looking at the button where you originally Liked the page.

2. Click on the downward-pointing arrow. You will see a pop-up window that looks like this.

3. Click "All On" to see all notifications. If you like, click See "First" to ensure you'll see our posts at the beginning of your feed.

That’s all you have to do! If you give it a try, let us know if it works well for you.

On Phones. If you're trying to make the same change from a phone, try this: If you've already liked the page, you should see a Follow button to the right of the Like button. Click the Follow button and select "See First." If you haven't yet liked the page, click the Like button first, and you should then see the Follow button.

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Coping Mechanisms for Grief and Loss

by Nina

Out of the Dark Woods by Marie Lossky (@Marie.Lossky on Instagram)

Last Thursday when I was talking with Bonnie Maeda (see The Way Home: Yoga for Grief) about grief and yoga for grief, she mentioned something that really intrigued me. She said that she believed it was very important for people to become aware of their coping mechanisms. That way, if what they are doing is something unhealthy or unhelpful, they can consciously choose another way to help themselves move through their grief. Some examples of unhealthy coping mechanisms might be using alcohol, drugs, or food to numb the pain or lashing out in anger at others. Examples of healthier coping mechanisms might be turning to others for sympathy and/or assistance and using your yoga practice to support you through your grieving process. 

That made me think of this story about using yoga for grief that one of our readers, Karen, a yoga teacher who has been practicing since the 1970s, sent me. What I particularly like about this story is how intuitive she was about practicing what was helpful to her on a particular day, for a particular loss.  

“While I was in the middle of a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) program, one of my uncles died. I think he had been a long time sufferer of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, stemming from his tour of duty in Vietnam in the 1960's. He had served as an officer in the US Army, Supply Corps, and was attached to the 101st Airborne Division, tasked with delivering food and supplies to the troops in the field. It marked his psyche, and he probably never got adequate help during his life. 

When I learned of his demise, I was quite naturally, devastated. Because I was in the middle of my YTT program I was obligated to practice daily for an hour at a time. The day I received the news, I went to my improvised home studio, rolled out my mat, put on some quiet, wordless music and sat in Sukasana. Probably for 20 minutes. Then, because I could not sit upright any longer, I straightened out my legs, inhaled and hinged from the hips into Pashimotasana. I stayed in Pashimotasana for probably another 20 minutes, just listening to my breath and the strains of the music I had chosen, which was probably one of Steven Halpern's music for Chakras and healing. Finally, feeling the need to move into another posture, I lay down on my back, into Savasana. When my hour practice was done, I felt much calmer, and more able to greet the challenges of ordinary life with some measure of equanimity.” 

Thank you, Karen, for this contribution!

Do you know what your coping mechanisms are? I spent some time during the week considering my own. When suffering from grief or loss, I tend to turn to my husband and close friends for comfort, to take walks to turn my attention outward, to write about my experiences (both fiction and non-fiction), and to do yoga practices that calm me, especially supported inverted poses, mindful asana practices, and calming breath practices. In fact, I think the main reason I’m still so committed to yoga after all these years is that yoga provides me with a healthy coping mechanism for dealing with all kinds of difficulty. 

How about you? If you don't know yet, take some time to observe yourself. Observing your behavior patterns regarding grief and loss is a form of svadhyaya (self study), one of the niyamas that are the second branch of yoga. See The Power of Svadhyaya (Self Study), Part 1 for information.

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Tension versus Compression The Safety Line for Yoga

by Baxter

An essential ability to cultivate when adding yoga asana to your health regimen is the differentiation between sensations that are potentially good for you, such as the healthy stretch of a tight muscle, and those that are potentially injurious to you, such as overstretching a tendon or ligament, or compressing structures to the point of injury. We are going for the former and trying to avoid the later.

Two of these sensation creators, tension of a stretched muscle and compression of soft tissue or bony prominences, have been the subject of a quite fascinating yoga video by Paul Grilley, entitled “Anatomy of Yoga.”I viewed this DVD many years ago now, but this essential differentiation between feeling tension and compression and its importance to practicing safely has stayed with me. I’ll let Paul tell you more about it in this youtube video:

Experiencing tension or stretch sensation in a muscle is generally a desirable feeling to become familiar with, especially if it is experienced in the mid-portion of a muscle, farther away from the almost inelastic tendons and ligaments that tend to be located closer to the joints. A typical place to become familiar with this kind of body sensation is the hamstring muscle at the back of the upper legs. I chose this intentionally because it is an area that most students feel some sensation when in Downward-Facing Dog or Standing Forward Bend, just to name a few poses that stretch the hamstrings. As most of you know, the intensity of the stretch sensation can be quite strong, and yet it usually does not mean you are injuring yourself. 

The hamstrings are located on the posterior part of the hip joint, so when we are doing a stretch of this muscle group, the structures on the opposite side of the joint, here being the front of the hip joint, are brought into close proximity to one another in Standing Forward Bend. The closer the pelvic bone and the femur bone come together, the greater the chance for everything in between those two bones are to be compressed or smashed together. As far as differentiating between the sensations of stretch and compression, my personal experience is that they feel distinctly different.  Compression really does feel like things (muscles, skin, tendons, ligaments, fascia and bones) are getting smashed together. And sometimes it creates a kind of pinching sensation as well. This pinching sensation is one that I tend to back away from pretty quickly if it shows up in any yoga poses. And because compression could also put collapsing pressure on blood vessels and nerves, if you start to have an unusual pressure sensation in the joint, or start getting numbness and tingling downstream from the compressed area, that is another good indication to release out of the pose a bit.

The hip joint, especially the front of the hip, is one of the main areas to watch out for this.  Poses like Lunge pose and Pigeon pose are two regularly practiced poses where you’d want to be alert to unusual pressure, numbness or tingling kinds of feelings in the front leg. The good news is that if you do experience compression sensations, propping up just a bit higher could completely relieve the more worrisome kind of compression that could lead to injury. As an example, if you normally do Lunge pose with your palms flat on the floor, coming up onto your fingertips or, even better, onto a pair of blocks, might slightly open the front hip joint and relieve the compression. 

Lunge Pose using Fingertips

The same thing goes for Pigeon pose; by setting yourself up on folded blankets, with a block or a bolster under the front leg sitting bone, you can probably relieve compression in the front hip joint. Other joints may be less likely to experience compression, but one that I watch out for is the front leg in Triangle pose (Trikonasana) and Pyramid pose (Parsvottanasana) at the back of the ankle joint. This is especially likely to pinch if the feet are too far apart. If the knees are generally healthy, compression of the back of the joint, such as in Child's pose, is not usually an issue for most students. 

Another place that painful compression is often experienced, especially by male students, is in the shoulder joint while doing Upward Bow pose (Urdva Dhanurasana).  Many men have limited flexion of the arm bone at the shoulder joint, and when they follow typical instructions to keep the elbows in while coming up into Upward Bow, they are unable to fully straighten the elbows, not because of elbow issues, but because the back of the shoulder joint experiences a painful compressive pinch.

It is important, as you master the basic yoga poses and begin to try out some of the more challenging poses, to take your time and notice where you feel sensation while in the postures. By once again focusing on mindfulness in your poses, you are more likely to notice poses that are not feeling “right” to you, so you can bring this to the attention of your teacher for recommendations on how to modify properly. Be patient with yourself, allow for slow steady progress in the mastery of your poses, and you will begin to discern the differences between tension in a muscle and compression around a joint.

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