The pelvic floor muscles sit at the base of your abdomen; attaching your pubic bone, tail bone, and the base of your pelvis. They act like a sling, supporting the pelvic organs including the bladder, rectum, uterus or prostate gland. When working well, you can wait to use the toilet and relieve yourself with ease. Your pelvic organs remain in place. You continue to take these muscles for granted, but when they’re dysfunctional, symptoms may result.

Symptoms can be indicative, like a sudden urge to urinate or uterine prolapse. Urination might hurt. Constipation may occur. Sexual intercourse could become uncomfortable, even painful, for women. Discomfort may be felt in the genitals, rectum, lower back or pelvis. The symptoms can have a severe impact on your quality of life.

While the pelvic floor muscles can, on occasion, become too tight, the vastly more common problem is related to weakness. These muscles can weaken for many reasons including: increasing age, injury, hormonal changes associated with menopause, being overweight, repetitive strain through heavy lifting, straining from constipation, or continual coughing. For many women, pregnancy and childbirth can cause weakened pelvic floor muscles. Hormonal changes, downward pressure, and a growing baby can all contribute to bladder and bowel leakage, pelvic pain or prolapses.

When weak, it’s important to strengthen the pelvic floor. Your health professional can instruct you on Kegel exercises, which specifically target the right muscles. Just as achieving results from attending a gym requires regularity, so does strengthening your pelvic floor – daily. Exercise regularly. Walking is restorative for your pelvic floor muscles and for your spine.
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If you think you may be experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction, seek help. You do not have to live with these symptoms. Treatment options are available, many are natural and safe. We are ready to help.​

Picture: Unknown Author Pinterest 

Honey is a sweet substance that bees produce from the nectar of flowering plants. Many types are available depending on the plant type. Honey is loved around the world for its flavour, texture and versatility.

And it’s good for you.

Honey was used as a healing ointment at least as far back as Ancient Egyptian times, and its popularity as a wound care product has had a recent resurgence. Researchers believe that honey’s healing powers come from its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. It also has the ability to nourish surrounding tissue, making it effective for wound healing. Pharmaceutical preparations of honey are now well-evidenced as excellent topical antibiotics with healing properties.

Honey is rich in antioxidants, known for their properties in reducing the risk of cell damage and certain cancers. A growing body of evidence links honey with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes; due to its action on harmful triglycerides – chemicals linked to insulin resistance and inflammatory disease. Honey is also thought to increase HDL – ‘good’– cholesterol while decreasing LDL – ‘bad’ – cholesterol.

Honey has been popular for generations as a traditional home remedy for sore throats, hay fever, skin conditions, and coughs and colds. Regular honey is often pasteurised and processed, so raw honey is the best way to maximize potential health benefits.

DRAWBACKS TO HONEY

Although researchers have found a possible connection between honey and a lower glycaemic index compared to other sugars, consuming honey still means you are consuming sugar, which does affect your blood sugar in some way. Eat only a moderate amount of honey in your diet, or replace processed sugars with honey for a sensible approach.

Current advice from the World Health Organisation is that honey should not be given to infants under twelve months, as in rare cases honey may harbour certain bacteria which, while harmless to older children and adults, can cause serious illness in babies.

In short...
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Honey is high in certain substances which are known to promote health and reduce certain diseases. There is compelling evidence for its use in wound treatment, and ongoing research into its potential for reducing the risk of cancer and other serious illness. While honey is high in healthy chemicals, it’s also high in sugars – better forms of sugar than most other sweet foods, but still high in calories, so moderation is the key.

The hip flexors are a group of muscles that attach near, and cross over the front of your hip. Your chiropractor might mention them by name. The primary flexors are the iliopsoas and the sartorius. The secondary flexors are the adductor brevis and gracilis. Regardless of their names, their job is to flex the hip. They are the reason you can bring your knee towards your chest, and bend forward at the waist.

As with all muscles, the hip flexors can be strained through overuse, over-stretching, or being forced to lengthen too far. Imagine having an elastic band attached to each end of a protractor, then wrenching the ends apart. The elastic band might sustain a small or large tear. The effect is similar in your muscles.

There are a wide variety of activities that involve the actions that have the potential to cause damage, especially when they are executed with force. Some examples are:

• a cyclist quickly pulling their knee upward to enable faster peddling
• an Aussie rules player dispensing a beautiful torpedo punt
• a ballet dancer leaping into a grand jeté
• a martial artist kicking their foot up and towards the sky

While the usual cause of injury is a sporting activity; slips or direct trauma can also cause a hip flexor tear.

Symptoms can vary from mild to severe, depending on the extent of the strain. Tenderness and pain will likely occur at the site. Swelling, bruising, a reduced range of motion, a pulling sensation at the front of the hip, and a painful limp might be experienced too.

Your health professional can identify the problem, assess any contributing factors, provide appropriate treatment, and restore lost flexibility. Active stretching involves using one muscle group to stretch another. Passive stretching, as the name suggests, uses an outside force to achieve the required stretch. This might be a person, a resistance band, or even gravity.
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If you believe you could have a hip flexor tear or strain, or you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, it’s important to seek help early. The best way to a speedy recovery is early identification and intervention.

Whether it’s a paper cut or a sprained ankle, pain is produced to start the healing process. Part of that process is inflammation. The hallmark signs of inflammation are redness, heat, swelling, pain and loss of function. It is important to note that inflammation is a normal response in the body. The inflammation can be broken not an early phase and a resolution phase. When the resolution phase doesn’t occur, inflammation and pain can become chronic. Long term inflammation is not normal, so when an injury doesn’t heal, pain in prolonged.
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After an injury to the spine or local muscles, pain and lack of motion are partially as a result of inflammation. The nerves around the injury become over sensitive which increases pain. 

Spinal manipulation alone often works better than pain medication for neck pain and low back pain by reducing local inflammation. After manipulation, motion and blood flow are restored. The body is then able to reduce the local inflammation that often lingers after an injury. Once inflammation is reduced, the sensitive nerves  calm down and the pain can decrease even further. The nerves become less sensitive by working with the pain receptors in the injured area. Pain receptors ‘feel’ for harmful injuries as they occur. They then let the brain know what’s happening so the body can respond as needed. After increasing blood flow, movement, and decreasing inflammation, the site of injury is back on track to heal, 

Strength and stability of the local muscles are critical for healing and prevention of injury. Exercises like the lateral raise, reverse fly, dumbbell shrug, one-arm row, and the upright row, are great exercises to use for neck and mid-back injuries. Good low back exercises include planks, cat/cow stretch, V-ups, rows and body weight squats. Remember that proper form is critical for all exercises. For the best results work with an experienced trainer. 

You may like to also consider other options like massage or dry needling.  These treatments help increase blood flow as well as reduce inflammation and sensitivity of the injured area. A good quality fish oil  or turmeric are both well known for their anti-inflammatory benefits. Limiting inflammatory foods can also make a vast difference in pain. Common inflammatory foods include sugar, refined/processed carbohydrates (anything in a box), conventionally raised meats, corn/soybean oils and trans fats. The right diet and supplements an aid in reducing inflammation throughout the entire body. 

Regardless of which treatment option you choose, remember you don’t have to just put up with the pain. Listen to your body and tell your chiropractor exactly what happening.

Cake 

• 1 1⁄2 cups self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 
• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 2 cups grated carrot 
• 1/3 cup dried, pitted chopped dates 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 cup quinoa (cooked according to packet instructions) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Icing 

• 125g reduced fat cream cheese 
• 25g unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 
• 3⁄4 cup sifted icing sugar 

Method 

• Preheat oven to 170 Celsius 
• Grease a baking tin well 
• Add flour, cinnamon, orange zest, sugar, quinoa, carrots and dates in a bowl and combine well 
• In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, oil and vanilla essence 
• Add the two mixtures together and stir well 
• Spoon the batter into the baking tin and bake in oven for 50 – 60 minutes 
• Remove from oven and allow to cool 
• For icing: beat the cream cheese, butter and orange zest together until smooth. Add icing sugar and beat until well combined 
• Spread evenly over cake ​​