Excruiating Hip Pain Solved With Simple Exercises

Today's client was in tears when she came limping into the gym.  She complains of excruciating left hip pain and asked if I had any 'magic tricks' that could help her.   Ninety minutes later, she was grinning ear to ear when she walked out of the gym.

Does your sciatic pain keep coming back?  Do you want to scream and cry when the pain returns?  Would you do simple movements if you knew it stop your pain?

I can help you!  I am a nervous system specialist.  Using an 8-levels model of assessment, I identify the source of the problem and give you holistic drills to reduce threat to your brain, thereby stopping the pain.  Immediately. 

What did I do for my client?  Let me tell you.  This was the first session after a vacation with her sisters.  After her flight to her destination,  the pain started.  When she flew home, the pain was tolerable until the stress of her seventy-hour work week broke her again.

The first thing we addressed was fuel supply to the brain.  She had orange juice earlier so I had her bag breathe off and on for 5 minutes.  After bag breathing,  the pain was still there so we started neuro-bio-mechanical work on the sciatic nerves. 

There are three nerves that branch off the huge sciatic nerve, so we focused on the tibial, sural and peroneal nerves.  Nerves need to move and nerves that cross multiple joints can easily get compressed or pinched.  

The one that eliminated her pain was the peroneal nerve glide but it was the slacking component that provided the best relief.   She was in disbelief.  She was so grateful.  She said, "I knew you could help me".   

After 5 minutes of nerve tensioning and slacking, we addressed her vestibular system.  

The inner ear system is critical in the perception of pain.  She had just flown and air pressure changes can immediately affect the vestibular canals.  We got her head moving, rapidly.  Since I knew which of her canals need more activation, we went aggressively after those areas. 

In addition, she did lots of spinal mobility drills, some arm circles and figure 8s, bounced up and down on the stability ball, vertical eye movements and the more head tilts and turns specific to her needs.

"My hip is wide open!  What did you do?  There's no pain", she cried and hugged me.   We did some more vestibular activation drills and she wanted to do the weight machines.  Here this lady limped into the gym in tears and was ready to lift weights 45 minutes later.   

If you're in excruciating hip and low back pain, ACTIVATE YOUR BRAIN, don't medicate your system.    If you've tried everything and NOTHING has worked, BOOK YOUR SESSION WITH ME!

I can get you out of pain and give you the tools you need to prevent the pain from returning or how to deal with the pain if it comes back.  

Invest in yourself.  
Pain is not a normal part of growing older.   There are options. 

PANC Parkinson's Train-the-Trainer Workshop in Lodi

Last weekend, PANC (Parkinson's Association of Northern California) held a train-the-trainer workshop in Lodi, CA for health and fitness professionals who work with people living with Parkinson's Disease.  The room was filled with personal trainers, yogis, massage and physical therapists who work with those living with the neurodegenerative disease.

"It takes a village to raise a child but it takes an army to treat Parkinson's", quoted Dr. Suketu Khandhar, the lead Neurologist in charge of Kaiser's Movement Disorder Program.  He designed this workshop so the hospital-based PTs can offer their patients a more "person-centered", continuous spectrum of services while establishing reliable resources in the community to refer their patients.

Dr. Sarah P....,  the neuro-physical therapist from Kaiser lead an amazing workshop.  Unbeknownst to me, this was the exact same workshop as last year and that was fine with me because I learned several 'golden nuggets' to improve my services.   The stop, sniff, shift technique of dealing with freezing epsisodes were clarified and I learned a LIFE-SAVING technique to prevent backward falls.

As a Z-Health brain exercise therapist who activates the cranial nerves, cortices, cerebellum, vestibular and vision systems not to mention motor control, I am always learning how to better treat my clients with Parkinson's.   There is so much information available on the internet so it's good to get hands-on experience and talk with leaders in the field of neurodegenerative movement disorders.

Great experience and I will continue to attend for breaking neuroscience training techniques to help people improve balance while living with a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

Make Friends With The Floor

I read the greatest article in the PANC Parkinson's Disease newsletter, "The Parkinson's Path", called "Making Friends with the Floor".  As a brain-based balance and mobility specialist, I found the article absolutely spot on because as much as we try to prevent a fall, accident's happen.  

To 'make friends with the floor', author Dorothy Ross of Davis PD Support Group encouraged people to practice getting down on the floor NOW rather than wait for a fall to try to get up.  This is exactly what I have been saying in my "3-Step Get Up" workshops; practice getting down and getting up NOW, while you're able, so you know what to do after a traumatic event that lands you on the ground. 

Don't wait for a fall to practice getting up.  Make friends with the floor. Get down, roll around, do some ground-based exercises and then practice getting up.  Make this a regular routine.  If you want some floor-based exercises, contact me and I will help get you started. 

If you want to know how to practice getting up, watch the video in my blog,

"3-Step Get Up" Plan.   

47% of people who fall cannot get up without help.  Don't be a statistic.  Practice getting up now so it's not a traumatic event if you fall.  You've been there, you have a plan.  Your brain loves prediction and everything we do is to improve predictability.   

How do you improve predictability?  YOU PRACTICE A SKILL.  Getting up from the floor is a skill.  You can do it.  If you fall and have made friends with the floor, the event will not be as stressful and you will be able to function.  

Thank you Dorothy Ross for the article "Making Friends with the Floor".  I love the concept and will urge my clients and followers to do just that.  

3-Step "How to Get-UP" from the floor

Falls are scary for older adults.  The older we get, the more fragile we become.  Most of us don't think about falls but when it happens to you, it's humbling.  A fall to the ground shouldn't hurt.  I should be able to bounce up and get on with my life like no-one saw it.

Unfortuately that's not the way it happens.  When a person over 60 falls, it hurts.  The hurt stays longer than expected.  The ankle takes months to heal and the shoulder still hurts years later.

In most cases,  it's not the fall that is the problem; it's getting up from the floor AFTER the fall!  In fact, nearly half of people who fall cannot get up without assistance.  WHAT????

Nearly half of people over age 65 

can't get up from the floor without help! 

This is a limiting factor in activities of daily life.  Just imagine not being able to get up without help.  That totally limits the type of movement you can do in a day.  You better not drop anything on the floor.  Forget getting down to play with your grandkids.......

Wait.  That's not what retirement is supposed to look like.  You've worked hard your entire life so you can enjoy time with the grandkiddos or on your own.  Freedom to get up and down from the floor should be yours.

As a personal trainer and movement re-educator, I specialize in teaching mature adults how to move their body weight both on the floor and standing, so they can live the life they deserve.

Teaching a person how to move his/her body so they can get up from the floor is probably the best skill I can teach.

Below I show you an option for getting up in case there's not a chair.  

Brains and Balance Training El Dorado Hills

El Dorado Hills is a beautiful, affluent suburb in the foothills of Sacramento and the older adults that live there are educated and know a good program when they see one.  This summer I offered several workshops to introduce brain-based balance training to this community and I just completed my first four-week Brains and Balance Training session at the Gilmore Senior Center.

Eight participants joined with high hopes of improving their balance.  After eight 90-minute sessions, each person left feeling more balanced, stronger and steadier on their feet.   One of the most consistent remarks I heard was how much steadier people feel while walking.

Pre- and Post-Senior Fitness Test scores showed huge improvements in four short weeks.  The most improved was a 71-year old woman with a chronic shoulder injury that affects her balance, stability and mobility.  She increased lower body strength by 7 chair stand ups, increased lower body flexibility by three and a half inches and was nearly two seconds faster getting up and walking eight feet.

The most improved male was a 76-year old gentleman who increased his lower body flexibility by FIVE and a half FULL INCHES and increased lower body strength by 5 chair stands in 30 seconds.   He worked hard doing his homework and applying the neuro-suggestions I give students for better performance.

Do you want to walk better?  Do you want to feel more steady on your feet?  Do you want to walk your dog with confidence?  Are you retired and ready to enjoy the next chapter of your life?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, get into a Brains and Balance Training program!