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News Archive 06

Arnica

  • Increases circulation
  • Reduces swelling and bruising
  • Prevents skin infections and inflammations
  • Heals and soothes the skin
  • Reduces discomfort associated with psoriasis
  • Penetrates skin easily, reaching deeper layers of the epidermis
  • Beneficial for all skin types.
Arnica is also commonly called leopard's bane. The arnica plant has a bright yellow, daisy-like flower that blooms around July. Preparations made from the flowering heads have been used in homeopathic medicine for hundreds of years. It is popular in Germany and over 100 drug preparations are made from the plant. Arnica is a perennial that is protected in parts of Europe.

The active components in arnica are sesquiterpene lactones, which are known to reduce inflammation and decrease pain. Other active principals are thymol (an essential oil), flavonoids, inulin, carotenoids and tannins.

Arnica works by stimulating the activity of white blood cells that perform much of the digestion of congested blood, and by dispersing trapped, disorganized fluids from bumped and bruised tissue, joints and muscles.

Arnica is known to stimulate blood circulation and can raise blood pressure, especially in the coronary arteries. The plant is used externally for arthritis, burns, ulcers, eczema and acne. It has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities that can reduce pain and swelling, improving wound healing.

Part Used: Extract of the blossoms

Common use: It is typically rubbed on the skin to soothe and heal bruises, sprains, and relieve irritations from trauma, arthritis and muscle or cartilage pain. Applied as a salve, arnica is also good for chapped lips, irritated nostrils and acne.

Care: Grows in moist, sandy soil with adequate drainage. Likes full sun.

Toxicity: The internal use of Arnica is not suggested. It can cause vomiting, weakness, increased heart rate and nervous disturbances.

Before taking arnica, you should consult your doctor or homeopathic consultant.

Client Archive

David
I heard about the bodydoctor through a friend. I was very doubtful that I would have the staying power to achieve the results that were promised. My motivation was my wedding in September. The first few weeks were pure hell, after that I actually started enjoying myself (not like me at all). If I am honest I still ate loads and drank a fair bit, yet still went from a size 18 to a size 14! Since finishing the program I am still going to the gym 3 times a week and looking forward to altering my wedding dress yet again before Sept!!!!!
Louisaxx

F is for Fighting Back Pain

Back Pain
Besides sudden (acute) injury or over-use (chronic) injury, pain in the back can be caused by diseases such as arthritis, tuberculosis, or medical conditions in the lower organs. Be sure to see your doctor and report any symptoms such as difficulty urinating, gynaecological problems or intestinal problems. Note: getting a second opinion is always good medical practice in cases involving serious illness or injury. This is particularly true in the case of back pain. If your doctor recommends surgery for lower back pain, be sure to consult with a second doctor before going ahead with surgery. In addition, if your doctor is recommending rest for lower back pain, it is suggested you seek a second opinion as well. For some back problems rest is absolutely necessary, and with others it's not. The most helpful doctors for back pain are: an orthopedist, a chiropractor, a neurologist, a podiatrist and an osteopath. Don't have back surgery without a second opinion, because it may be unnecessary.

Low Back Strain & Sciatica
Lower back strain is often associated with biomechanical imbalances of the feet and legs. Short leg syndrome can create problems in the back as can feet that have unequal arches. A short leg absorbs more stress when running and accentuates distresses in the low back and hip. The increased strain is transmitted to the low back. Sciatica means that the sciatic nerve is inflamed. This large nerve originates in the lower back, exits the spinal column, travels down the inner part of the thigh and le, finally ending at the tips of the toes. When there is an injury to the lower back, pain follows the path of this nerve. There may be numbness or pain in the heel or big toe.

The major culprit of sciatica in athletes and older people is weakness of the abdominal muscles. The abdomen is the front of the back, therefore it is important to maintain healthy strong abdominal muscles.

Good News - Bad News

Working with free weights has many benefits i.e. the development of lean muscle THIS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
  • Muscle is the health engine.
  • Muscle creates strength.
  • Muscle lowers blood pressure.
  • Muscle lowers cholesterol.
  • Muscle helps prevent osteoporosis.
  • Muscle increases cardiovascular fitness.
  • Muscle helps maintain your immune system.
  • Muscle is what burns fat.
A common misconception is that only cardiovascular work burns calories and therefore fat. This is true only to the point that your muscles create the energy appetite and body fat is the chosen source of food of this programme.

Therefore the more LEAN MUSCLE that you have the more calories that you burn whether on a bike, stepper, treadmill or rower. If you do not balance your workout with Resistance (muscle) work, Cardiovascular work and Flexibility you will have an unbalanced body and an unbalanced workout. The bad news is without a good bench with an integrated foot rest you cannot support your body properly, therefore your exposure to injury is exaggerated. TELL YOUR GYM THAT YOU WANT FOOTRESTS ON YOUR BENCHES.

Science of exercise

Fish bend side to side (called lateral flexion or side bending) to propel themselves through the water. Five hundred million years later, after emerging from the water, running on 4 legs, then climbing and finally bipedal gait, we still use the side bending pattern of movement. It is a core movement pattern.

Vertebrates have a brain that is built around the sense organs. The pattern is to build the front of the brain about the nose, the eyes an intermediate area of the brain and the ears are placed on the lateral side of the head and are wired into a further back area of the brain. When you side bend you are approximating the side of your head to the side of your tail, if you had one. Ears have been associated with the lateral body for a long time.

When one normally considers muscles an origin, an insertion, a movement and a small nerve to power it, are considered. If however many named muscles are linked together into long chains then it is pointless saying all the small nerves issuing from the length of the spine are involved in powering that big group of muscles. What is needed is something that is more important than local nerves in the hierarchy of the brain. The sense organs are high in the command structure, your brain is built around them. They are supra-segmental organs that direct and inform movement.

So in this model of how muscles work I place the ears in the lateral ring of contractile tissue. They control movement via the balance organs deep in the ear and they command movement in another way. Imagine you where standing; if somebody placed their finger in your ear and pushed you would bend to the side, no negotiating. No matter how strong you are you will not risk your ear drum.

Linking sense organs to large muscle groups is a novel idea to western bioscience. Chinese acupuncture theory makes this association explicit via the Gall bladder meridian. Maybe acupuncture theory is not so out of date.

Next week I'll introduce the next contractile field, the helical, which uses a combination of both the ventral/dorsal and lateral fields.

Phillip Beach D.O. D.Ac

Press Archive

Life&style
Sweat Surrender

Evening Standard 14th September 1999

Last week Imogen Edward-Jones embarked on a six-week weight loss programme under the eye of Bodydoctor, David Marshall. She charts her progress so far. I arrive at the Bodydoctor's in a bit of a state. Quite apart from being 38 per cent fat, surly and negative about the prospect of squat-thrusting my way through the next six weeks, I have an injury. It's a double ankle sprain, due to a lethal combination of too many vodkas and a pair of high heels, which henceforth shall be known as the Manolo Incident. Anyway, post M.I, I can hardly move. But BD seems unperturbed and invites me to lie down on his rubber carpet. Expecting some ghastly support unitard thing to appear, I'm amazed when he simply grabs my heels with his hot hands and "humms" for a while. Five minuets later I'm on the Stairmaster climbing up 52 floors. Next the rowing machine - "Putney to the Isle of Dogs" he says, punching in 10 whole minutes. Then it's weights for my "Eva Herzigova's" as BD calls them. Then biceps, then triceps then....I burst into tears. Round one, day one, it's not looking good "Do it for the children you don't yet have," cries BD. I very nearly thump him. But after four days of finding it hard to walk down the stairs I'm beginning to feel slimmer and generally more fantastic. I decide to brave the shops. Plumping straight for the large option, I go into the changing rooms. Walking out to do a furtive silhouette-check and I'm busted by an assistant. "That looks a bit large," she says. "Would you like to try a medium?" I'm afraid to say I kissed her.

Pounds lost: 3,
Cheats: five glasses champagne, two vodkas, two bottles white wine (best friends birthday), some crisps (not whole packet), twiglets (ditto), weird nut toffee bought in France on holiday.

Imogen Edwards-Jones

Life&style
Week two...slimmer but hungry

Evening standard 21st September 1998

Quite apart from wanting to murder a plate of chips, a chicken burger or a packet of crisps, I'd quite like to kill David Marshall the Bodydoctor. The more I think about it the more justifiable the crime becomes. Two weeks in and, I have to admit, the novelty of walking 10 minutes uphill, cycling the Pennines and jogging to the top of Trellick Tower has slightly worn off. It's so time-consuming. A whole two hours out of out of my day, four days a week, when frankly I've got television to watch and girlfriends to call. It's hell. Actually, if I'm being honest, it's not so much the exercise that I hate, although 250 sit-ups is not my idea of a rip-roaring 10 minutes, it's the having to talk to someone else every day, first thing in the morning. And David loves to talk. He trots out motivational maxims as if they'll encourage you in your direst moment of sweaty need, "water's good" is his personal favourite, as he hands over a beaker on the rowing machine. "Breathe", is another on the Eva Herzigova weights. "Where there's life, there's..." I normally mentally block the rest of that one out. "Five more because I can" is another, which in my case is normally followed by "No, I bloody can't." Fortunately, when things get extremely tense you can request to end the session with a bit of boxing. Aim for his jaw. The other tedious thing about this working-out business is that there is another deadly sin: combining protein and starch. I had no idea that bacon sandwiches were so evil. But it does seem to be working. I was knocking back a glass of champagne(see cheats) at a friend's wedding when a bloke walked up "Hey Imogen," he said, "have you lost some of your gut?" I think I later called him "charming".

Pounds lost: five (Oh yes!)
Cheats: two bottles of red wine, one bottle of champagne (wedding), egg and chips (very hungover), seven recreational vodkas.

Imogen Edwards-Jones

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