Each part of our body starts ageing as we get old. Our joints and muscles are put into so much use every second that it is understandable that they get tear as time passes. Our knee joint is one such that suffers the most.

Our knees carry us all around by helping us walk, sit, stand, run. Did you know about 1½ times of our body weight is placed on our knees with every step and it doubles when we climb or run? With all these pressure the shock absorbers and the smooth tissue in our knee joint slowly start fading, triggering knee cap pain which is why every other older adult complain of pain in the knee joint.

It is true that one of the best treatment for knee pain is exercise but not everyone is capable to practice certain knee strengthening exercises after 50, for which, we have curated the 5 simple and best exercises for knee pain.

Walking

One of the simplest exercises for knee pain is walking. It can be done anytime and as much as you can because your knees need movement no matter what and as you old, the more you walk, the better. Staying sedentary will only make already stiff knees stiffer but as you walk, the muscles and bones around the knee will become strong. Start strolling for about 15 minutes daily for 5-6 days in a week and gradually increase the walking time up to 30 minutes. Walking will only keep you overall healthy and fit.

Cycling

For the pain in the knee joint, nothing helps as much as a physical workout and cycling, is said to be the best exercise for knee pain.  Cycling will keep your knee joints stay active as well make them strong enough for you to get going.

Step-ups

Who said as you old you can’t exercise? There are some knee pain exercises that require no hardcore physical activity but can bring down the severity of knee pain among the old, like step-ups. Set up a platform using a low bench or you can even use stairs. Stand on the platform and slowly lower the one foot to the floor, touching your toes to the ground return it to the platform and repeat with the other foot for 10 to 12 times.

Quadriceps stretching

Stretching is the best way to keep your knee joints in good condition and quadriceps stretching is a simple and easy exercise for old age. Grab a chair, stand behind and hold it for support. Now bring one leg up to buttocks folding the knees. Hold your ankles with one hand and push your leg towards buttocks as much as you can. Stay in this position for 20-30 seconds. Repeat with another leg.

Knee bends

Another treatment for knee pain is to activate the gluteal muscles of your leg which will help stabilize your knees. To activate them, stand on one leg, push the hip back, keep the chest lifted. Now, lower your hip and slightly bend your knee. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat a few times.

Our knee is one of the most used and important joints in our body but is at the same time very delicate. Hence, the health of your knee must be taken seriously as you age because if you don’t give them proper and ample care, the risks associated with it are no less. Although for any acute to chronic pain in the knee, the one knee pain home remedy i.e electrotherapy is recommended, making knee pain exercises a daily routine will help your knees stay young and fit.

Summer is here and some of you might have already packed your bags for a long vacation. Although the excitement of taking a break from daily routine is high and fresh, the idea of going out in summer can make one feel lethargic because summer season means blazing heat, sweating, sunburns, dryness, skin problems and much more.

The beach gateways, ice-creams, juicy fruits, as much cool and fun things the season of summer brings along, it can also equally cause problems from head to toe, inside-out, if you don’t follow some of the summer care tips which are listed out below. Let’s see how you can give care to each.

Summer tips for health

To survive summer you need to stay healthy for which you must follow these summer health tips;

• Hydrate as much as you can. Sweat and heat can make you dehydrated. Hence, keep sipping water even if not thirsty. You can add some fruits or veggies and infuse it for some flavour.
• Stick to your workout. Yes, summertime is exhausting but don’t let the rising temperatures prevent you from staying fit. Avoid outdoor activities and workout indoors.
• Chill out in the water. Go swimming or join water aerobics.
• Replace snacks with fresh and juicy fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, pears, mangoes, berries, papayas etc or munch on salads.

Summer beauty tips

The scorching heat of summer can damage your skin and hair to a great extent, to avoid that;

• Don’t step out without applying a layer of sunscreen. Choose a sunscreen that has UVA and UVB products and comes in SPF 30 and SPF 70 to protect your skin from harmful UV rays. Reapply it every 1-2 hours if you going to be under the sun for a long time.
• Not just winters, even summers can cause the skin to dry up. Hence, exfoliate gently to remove the dead cells and use a light moisturizer to keep it soft and fresh.
• Follow the summer skincare routine of cleansing, exfoliating, toning, hydrating, and moisturizing.
• Sweating makes hair smelly. Shampoo and condition it well twice a week.
• Minimize the use of hairdryers, straighteners and other heating products.
• Apply cool face packs suitable to your skin using cucumber, Fuller’s earth, curd etc.
• Avoid oily and fried food as it will lead to pimple and acne breakouts.

Summer makeup tips

• Avoid heavy and cakey makeup. Use a foundation that doesn’t melt away with your sweat.
• Spray rose water to keep your skin hydrated.
• Use waterproof eyeliner, nude lipstick to avoid the smudging and smearing.

Summer safety tips

• Avoid stepping out in between 10 am and 4 pm because the UV exposure is at its highest during this time period which can cause heat strokes and sunburns.
• Step out wearing a hat, sunglass and cover your face with a kerchief or dupatta.
• Our blood vessels tend to dilate in summer so that the body can cool itself by letting heat escape through the skin, hence, wear loose, airy, cotton summer clothes to allow your blood to circulate freely.
• Keep your body hydrated and cool with buttermilk, coolers, lemonade etc.
• Apply aloe vera gel, cool milk or yoghurt for sunburn, blisters, itching or rashes.

Summer months can be unbearable but by following the above tips, you can enjoy every bit of it without causing any harm to your body inside out.

Half of a person’s life today, is spent sitting in front of a computer. The desk-bound job of 9 to 5 is slowly and gradually sucking the life out of our body. If this continues, pretty soon we all will be walking with our hand at our backs all the time.

The one complaint that every office goer has is back pain. The constant sitting that too in one position creates pressure on the back causing the nerves and blood vessel to compress. Although a majority of them do search for exercises to relieve back pain, they hardly practice it or skip making an excuse, “how to perform them at the office?” Well, as an answer to that, here are 5 simple and easy back stretches that be done sitting at your desk.

1. Lower Spine Stretch

It is our lower back that hurts the most, sitting all day at the office chair. One among lower back stretches, known as lower spine stretch, will help the muscles surrounding the length of your spine get a good stretch in a sideways direction. To achieve this;

• sit firmly on your chair
• keep your feet flat on the floor and let your armrests low down
• place your right hand on the armrest and reach your left hand up above your head
• bend your spine slightly to the right
• hold for 30 seconds and repeat on each side

2. Seated Knee to Chest Stretch

If you want to relieve your back pain as well as relax your leg muscles, practice this knee to chest stretch without fail, every day at work. To achieve this;

• sit comfortably on your chair
• raise one knee until you can reach it with your hands
• bring both your hands together and pull the bent knee up toward your chest until you feel a gentle stretch in the lower back and back of the hip
• you can place your hands either on top of or behind your knee
• hold for 15-20 seconds, then repeat 3-5 times on each side.

3. Seated Hamstring Stretch

Did you know tight hamstring muscles can affect the natural curve of the spine? To loosen them up and to relieve back pain you need to exercise it. To achieve this;

• sit on the edge of your chair and rest your heel on the floor with your knee straight
• slide your right leg out with your heel to the ground and flex your toes up towards your shin
• gently lean forward towards your toes keeping your back and spine straight, until a stretch is felt behind your knee/thigh
• hold for 30 seconds and repeat with your left leg

4. Seated Side Bend Stretch

Can be called a yoga pose for relieving back pain, seated side bend stretch is apt for loosening up your back, neck, and shoulder muscles. To achieve this;

• sit up tall on the edge of your office chair with your shoulders back
• place your left hand on the edge of your chair with your elbow slightly bent
• reach your right arm up and overhead and exhale as you gently reach over to the left side.
• don’t stretch too far.
• hold for few seconds and repeat the other side

5. Seated Figure 4 Stretch

It is important to stretch your lower back at regular intervals while you are working because that’s the spot where the back pain becomes extremely unbearable. This lower back stretch will not only benefit your back but will work on your hip and leg muscles as well. To achieve this;

• sit comfortably on your chair and cross one leg on top of the other so that your ankle is sitting over the opposite knee
• place one hand on the knee of the crossed leg.
• now gradually lean your trunk forward while pressing gently on the crossed knee until you feel a mild to moderate stretch in the hip and buttock area.
• hold for 15-20 seconds, then repeat 3-5 times on each side

From a minor scratch to a major injury, an encounter with pain can happen at any moment. You can’t have a control in that. But, there’s something you can have a control on and that is the way you feel pain, yes your mind.

Our mind is a great player. It can trick us surprisingly well. But, guess what, we too can trick it for good. The pain is all in our mind but that doesn’t mean it is unreal. The pain that we feel is produced by the brain which is then processed to the body, where it notes the location and intensity, and emotionally dictates your reaction. Since pain involves both the mind and the body, certain mind-body therapies can help reduce the levels of stress hormones in the body, allowing the immune system to be better able to fight off the pain.

The sensation of pain is influenced by our genetic makeup, emotions, personality, and lifestyle. Even our past experience can trigger pain because it happens that the brain rewires itself to perceive pain signals even after the signals aren’t being sent anymore. Whatever the reason may be, you can trick your brain with the following pain control techniques.

1. Fantasize food

When in pain, trick your brain to imagine a warm, gooey chocolate brownie or a cheese burst pizza maybe? Why? Because fantasizing about food can stimulate the production of pain fighting chemicals in the body.

2. Breathe in, breathe out

Deep breathing is something you can practice anytime. Focus on the diaphragms and make your normal breathing quite deeper by breathing from the belly rather than shallow inhaling and exhaling from the chest and block your pain signals to a great extent. You can pair it up with some music to help maintain breathing rhythms.

3. Activate your chakra

Our body consists of many interlinking nerves and energy fields. Activating such pressure points will improve the blood flow and stimulate the pain-numbing response well.

4. Mindful meditation

One of the best answers to the question, “how to control pain?” An unattended mind is the breeding ground of half of our problems and one way to keep it calm is mindful meditation. Meditating with the entire focus on breath and wild imagination. Visualize the pain is shrinking or melting away from your body. Picturise a nice waterfall or a garden full of fresh flowers to relax and ease your pain.

5. Laugh out loud

Laughter is undoubtedly nature’s own analgesic. Laughing will release the pain fighting chemical endorphins in your body and will also enhance your immune system.

6. Get creative

Let the creativity flow. Art therapy is believed to relieve physical and psychological symptoms of pain. Engage yourself with crafts, clay, yarn, coloured pencils, and other art supplies to fight against pain.

7. Groove to music

Yes, music heals. Listening to your favourite tracks can subdue pain, depression, and discomfort associated with pain.

8. Write it down

Negative thoughts can worsen the pain further. Writing whatever you are feeling on a paper can reduce the intensity of pain extremely well.

9. Think positive

Needless to say, positive thoughts has pain-relieving benefits. Never get too emotionally involved with the pain or get upset when you feel it, instead, think that your body is working on it and will heal soon.

10. Mantra magic

Listen to mantras or repeat a mantra—usually a sound, word, phrase, or prayer as it will keep the negative thoughts and unpleasant sensation away.

11. Find a distraction

Read a book, practice your hobby, watch a movie, do anything just don’t sit and curse why you are the victim.

12. Get some sleep

Sleep has healing properties. A good sleep will refresh and renew your body. Try to get some sleep to ward off the pain.

It is true that when it pains, it not easy to trick your mind but with time and practice you can adapt your brain to deal from acute to chronic pain easily.

Does your hand reach out to your back each time you sit or get up? Does the stabbing pain in the lower back prevent you from getting good sleep at night? Yes, back pain kills and anyone can go crazy finding a way to get rid of it.

Back pain can make anyone restless at any time. The lifetime prevalence of non-specific (common) low back pain is estimated at 60% to 70% in industrialized countries. But it doesn’t mean you have to live with back pain forever because the majority of back pain is due to the lifestyle and our lack of care which if done right, can erase the presence of discomfort or pain from the back for good.

Here are the 6 practically proven ways that will give you good relief from back pain.

1. Watch your posture

The desk job and sedentary lifestyle even after work hours, top the reasons behind back pain nowadays. It is due to the slouched posture and continuous sitting our back and spine undergo a lot of pressure and stress that ultimately results in sharp stabbing pain especially in the lower back.

Remember to correct your posture every now and then. Take breaks, walk, move around. Place a pillow as a back support while sitting or use an ergonomic chair.

2. Work on your back

If you think rest will help your back pain then you are wrong.  In fact, back pain exercises are the best way to treat and get rid of back pain. Work on your core and back muscles, practice back strengthening exercises and stretches to keep your back intact. Yoga is also a good option. It will relax the tension and stiffness of your back muscles and improve the range of motion of them.

3. Change your mattress and sleeping position

The mattress you are using can be a bigger contributor to your back pain. Invest in a good and firm king-size mattress. Also, check whether its the sleeping position of yours that causing the discomfort. Avoid sleeping flat on your back, if that’s your position then sleep placing a pillow under your knees and one under your lower back. Though the recommended position is to sleep sideways with your knees pulled up slightly toward your chest or with a pillow in between your knees, if you must sleep on your stomach, put a pillow under your lower abdomen to help take stress off your back.

4. Maintain ideal weight

Excess weight can make your back pain worse as the weight of extra pounds will put a strain on your lower back. Shed it away it is beyond 10 pounds of your ideal weight.

5. Reduce stress and quit smoking

Stress and smoking both can affect our overall health badly. Constant stress can trigger severe back pain while smoking narrows blood vessels reducing the flow of oxygen and nutrients reaching the spine.

6. Make some changes in your lifestyle

• Avoid lifting things by bending your back, squat down, with your back straight, and place your hands under the object and lift with your legs. Seek help if needed.
• Carry weights equally, whether on shoulder or hands.
• Soak in vitamin D and have a healthy diet
• Lighten your wallet. Sitting on an overstuffed wallet can cause discomfort and back pain.
• Wear good comfortable shoes because if the ankle and foot are not well supported, all the body weight will then shift among the knee, back and hip which will put a lot of stress on the back especially.
• Ladies, avoid those high heels. 

Conclusion

There are certain back pain home remedies and other solutions available which can make back pain go away but nothing can work better and as effective as the electrotherapy where the combination of ultrasound and TENS will treat your back naturally, safely and permanently. To know more about back pain causes, symptoms and treatment options click here.

There’s no escape from household chores. We have not yet reached the era of robots in every home or a hi-tech home that cleans itself. Not all can afford a full-time maid and even if can, there remain some tasks that you like to do by yourself.

Household chores are no child’s play. There’s a never-ending list of small to big errands, that we all run on a daily basis to meet. And in the midst of all, it is our poor joints that have to undergo a lot of stress and for those having arthritis, it is no less than fighting a battle as for them even a petty task like picking up a plate becomes painful. Since the daily routine cannot be skipped, there are few hacks you try to lessen the pressure on your joints and ease your household chores a bit.

1. Don’t bend your back like Beckham

Mistake: Cleaning under the furniture, picking things up from the floor, lifting something up, making beds there’s a list of tasks we bend and perform daily and the common mistake we all commit is bending from the waist which is the reason for back joint pain.

Tip: Bend from your knees, not your back. Flex your knees slightly and keep a hollow in your back. If standing for long, place your one foot on an elevated surface to minimize pressure on your back. While lifting, always squat and keep your back straight as you lift straight up. Better seek a helping hand or carriers to lift heavy weights.

2. Going down on knees

Mistake: Even a proposal is done on one knee then why load both your knees at the same time for household tasks? To perform chores like moping, cleaning floors, scrubbing low cabinets or tubs etc., we often make use of both knees which causes knee joint pain.

Tip: Kneel on one knee and carry out the task. Keep switching knees often to minimize and disperse pressure on your knee joints. For time-consuming or heavy tasks, wear knee pads or place a piece of clothing or mat to work as a cushion for your knees. Use stick mops or scrubbers to lessen the load.

3. Reach out right

Mistake: Never stretch beyond your limit to reach out to things like reaching with your arm fully stretched to a overhead counter, dusting higher surfaces or ceilings, etc., are very risky.

Tip: Do some modifications in your home like build shelves at your eye level or bring objects you daily use to your waist level. You can also make use of a stepstool, poles with extended handles or some support to raise and pick up things from top-shelves. Keep arms close to your body to minimize strain on shoulders.

4. The push and pull

Mistake: The hardcore pulling that you do instead of pushing while moving things around your house, sweeping or vacuuming is a big no-no.

Tips: Always push objects, don’t push them. Avoid leaning from the waist and bending your wrists. Keep your head up and in line with your spine. Use mop, broom or vacuum with arms in a relaxed position and avoid thrusting your arm back and forth. Change styles to shift stress on other muscles.

Other tips for joint pain relief

To avoid developing other joint pain symptoms like fatigue, restlessness, inflammation, swelling, joint pain along with fever and to keep your home clean with less effort and stress on joints, do the following;

• Alternate sitting and standing tasks, switch your positions, alternate different types of motions, stand up and gently stretch every 15 minutes.
• Outsource heavy tasks like cleaning doors and windows and their curtains, scrubbing etc. to cleaning service providers or divide them between family members.
• Store your supplies right and together. Like keep all your cleaning supplies together and separate for each floor. This will save you from unnecessary walking and carrying heavy supplies up and down.
• Clean mess when they are fresh. This will save you from putting extra effort into scrubbing. You can also leave a cleaning solution overnight and clean in the morning.
• Take advantage of technology. Buy or implement automatic, remote or hydraulic tools or systems that don’t require much effort to move or lift things.

Joint protection should be your highest priority than household chores, as they can wait but once damaged, your joint can’t. Take care of them and try joint pain home remedies among which Physiotherapy – the combination of Ultrasound and TENS works the best.

Are you aware that prolonged sitting is dangerous than smoking? If you are wondering how is that possible even, then guess what, sitting for long hours can do huge damage to your health than a cigarette can. Prolonged sitting is no less than a disease. Your sedentary lifestyle might be slowly poisoning your health without your awareness and the biggest damage it can do is giving you Sciatica.

The long-sitting job with your back slouched and eyes and mind engrossed in the computer can create havoc on your spine. 1 to 10% of the population most commonly in people age 25 to 45 years are reported to have Sciatica pain. So, is the sitting disease so bad? How does it trigger Sciatica? What can be done about it? Let’s understand all this.

Spine and Sciatica

When we sit, the weight of our entire upper body rests on the lower back area, increasing the compression in and on our discs and spinal column. The compression further increases the pressure against the nerve roots that make up our sciatic nerve, thus pinching it further, aggravating your Sciatica symptoms. Whether it be a bulge in the disc that is squeezed further or the compression around the joints that are irritated causing further irritation, the result is the same, more pain originating from the spinal column in the lower back that travels behind the hip joint, down the buttock and down the back of the leg to the foot.

Causes of Sciatica

Not necessarily a desk job is giving you sciatica nerve pain, anything that involves long sitting like being a couch potato or travelling seated for long hours are the major causes, others can be an injury to the sciatic nerve, pelvic fractures, trauma to the buttocks, old age, etc.

Sitting Tips to Ease Sciatica

1. Quit sitting in one position for long and do not sit without standing up and moving every 20-30 minutes. Keep shifting your posture and keep your back as straight as possible.
2. Use back support. Place a small pillow or towel roll and support your lower back while sitting. It will help minimize disc moving backwards causing more pain.
3. Avoid sitting on a soft sofa as it will only make you slouch more which will put extra pressure on your discs and lower back.
4. Stay hydrated. Water will keep your discs lubricated, absorbing your weight properly which will help avoid compressing of low back joints and compromising nerve roots.

What to Do for Sciatica Pain Relief?

Sciatica not only affects our back but can cause serious effects on the neck as well. Care is the best solution to avoid the onset of sciatica pain. To know more about Sciatica and its treatment, in detail, you can check out our blog Sciatica Treatment, Sources, Symptoms & Solutions! And for sciatica exercise, refer 4 Restorative Sciatica Exercises for Pain Relief 4 Restorative Sciatica Exercises for Pain Relief

Conclusion

Since we can’t escape sitting at all, little breaks in between are enough to prevent yourself from developing painful sciatica. And if you have the best natural remedy for sciatica ‘Physiotherapy machine‘ with you, you have nothing to worry about. The combination of ultrasound and TENS will calm your sciatic nerve for sure.

Power of combination therapy: Ultrasound + TENS Therapy unit

Some pain and discomforts require more than one treatment to cure completely and at such situations, multiple solutions like medication and surgeries can complicate things due to two diverse treatments going on at the same time. Well, there is one such solution that offers two treatment in one device without any interference or complications and that is Ultrasound + TENS Therapy.

Combination Therapy in Physiotherapy

Treatment is of no use until and unless the exact trigger point is figured out. You won’t get the result and relief by treating any random spot on your body just because it is paining there. To get rid of the pain permanently it is important to locate the origin of it for which the combination therapy machine  is considered the best.

Combination therapy involves the simultaneous application of Therapeutic Ultrasound (US) with Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation therapy (TENS) for faster and better relief from pain.

Before getting to know its combined power, let’s understand the individual treatment modalities a bit.

Therapeutic Ultrasound (US)

Ultrasound therapy is a deep heating treatment where the probe or the transducer of the ultrasound machine when vibrates produce sound waves which are transmitted deep into the skin. These waves further hit the underlying tissues causing them to vibrate which then produces heat that relieves the pain or stiffness of that particular area. It is a very low-risk, natural and non-invasive procedure whose heating technique help to alleviate muscle pain, improve blood flow and encourage the body to heal faster and naturally.

Ultrasound therapy machine is one of the oldest and widely used treatment modality that is known to treat acute to very chronic pains and discomforts that include swelling, inflammation, sports injuries, muscle cramps, any condition of joints and ligaments. Issues such as tendonitis, arthritis etc.

TENS Therapy

Whereas Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation is a therapy that involves the use of mild electric current to treat pains, aches or discomforts. It is a non-invasive treatment method where a battery-operated device generates small electrical impulses which are transmitted into the affected area of the skin via sticky pads called electrodes attached to the skin. The electrical impulses work on the pain signals and block them from reaching the brain and the spinal cord, thus reducing the pain and relaxing the stiff muscles.

TENS therapy also stimulates the production of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers, helping the body to heal itself faster and in a better way. TENS therapy is known to treat a wide range of conditions like arthritis, period pain, knee; neck; back pain, pelvic pain caused by endometriosis, sports injuries and a lot of others.

How does combination therapy unit work?

Combination therapy unit comprises of Ultrasound and TENS therapy infused in a sleek and handy device that can be carried easily around. It can either be used as the ultrasound device or TENS or the combination of both. When the combination therapy unit comes in contact with the skin of the area to be treated, its Ultrasound waves generate the low voltage electric impulses which block the pain signals from reaching to the spinal cord and brain and thus relieve pain and help relax the tightened muscles. While TENS stimulates the production of endorphins which are the body’s natural painkillers, thereby encouraging our body to heal on its own. The unit comes with adjustable settings which allows you to set the time period and intensity levels of the combination therapy as required as well as the easy switch functionality between the two treatment modalities.

Advantages of combination therapy

The combination of Ultrasound with TENS appears to give rise to excellent treatment effects than individual results because, with the combination of two effective treatment modalities, greater productive treatment depth can be achieved which aids in faster healing of the affected area.

The combination therapy can work its magic if you have any of the following complain;

• muscle spasms, strains or cramps
• joint pain
• postoperative pain and discomfort
• bursitis
• piriformis syndrome
• tissue damage
• arthritis or any similar condition
• neuropathy
• inflammation ailments
• diabetes
• regular headaches etc.

Contradictions of Combination Therapy

Just as TENS and Ultrasound individually have some limitations to the areas where it can be applied. Same goes with the combination therapy. It is not advised to use the combination unit on;

• any pregnant lady,
• open wounds
• patients with a pacemaker, electric device or metal implants
• fractured bone
• patients having any allergy or dermatological lesions
• areas around the eyes, breasts, or sexual organs

Conclusion

The combination of TENS and ultrasound therapy has proved its effectiveness since the time being and is said to have cured numerous chronic and lifelong pains and discomforts. Its ability to smartly detect the trigger points of pain and providing prompt but permanent relief makes it a must-have treatment method which everyone should own at home and SONICTENS is the best-ever option for that.