Health and Beauty Les Halles

Despite the fact that hardly anyone else agrees with me, I believe firmly that the cholesterol hypothesis is wrong. By the time you have finished this chapter, I hope to have convinced you of this fact too. Before starting on the demolition job I must admit that, for many years, I too believed that a raised cholesterol level caused heart disease. On the face of it the evidence seemed overwhelming, and it also seemed to make sense.

The most powerful facts, at least to me, were the following:

Fact One: Atherosclerotic plaques contain a lot of cholesterol, which must have come from the blood. So heart disease had to have something to do with cholesterol-containing lipoproteins.

Fact Two: People with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) die very young from heart disease, sometimes as young as five.

Fact Three: Statins lower cholesterol levels and protect against heart disease. Fact Four: ‘Normal’ people (without FH) with higher cholesterol levels are more likely to die from heart disease. These facts seemed concrete and inarguable. Every time I opened a journal, or read a paper, they were confirmed. Again and again. But these facts are really only partially true.

They are rather like the false-fronted buildings used in Westerns. If you look at them from dead ahead, you see what looks like an entire town laid out in front of you. But if you move sideways, just a little bit, you can see that the supposedly solid buildings are just four-inch-thick plywood with nothing behind them at all. And so it is with the second part of the cholesterol hypothesis, raised cholesterol/LDL causes coronary heart desease: Seen from one angle, the facts look solid. But once you decide to quit the ‘opinion leader guided tour’ you get a completely different view.

Not many things top a shoulder and neck massage. And just about everyone knows even a simple back massage or shoulder rub can be incredibly relaxing. Now, giving a professional therapeutic massage is something that definitely requires training and years of practice. But, there are some techniques you can use to perform a short, safe and simple massage for the shoulders and neck.

In fact, these simple massage techniques can be done literally anywhere. At a desk at work or at the kitchen table at home while your partner sits in a regular chair. Of course, you won’t be able to fix tendonitis or correct chronic headaches, but you’ll certainly be able to help someone else release some tension and relax a little.

A Mini Lesson On The Muscles You’ll Be Massaging

The shoulder muscle is called the trapezius, or sometimes just the traps. This is easy to remember because it’s where most of us trap our tension. In the back of your neck are your extensor muscles which hold your head upright. Poor posture and long periods sitting at computers can cause these muscles to become very tender, tight and achy. Finally, the base of your skull is where your extensors attach into your head.

For The Person Receiving Massage…Permission First!

1. Check with the other person to be sure they want a massage. While most people enjoy and gladly welcome a quick shoulder rub, permission is an absolute must before starting to knead those muscles.

2. Do not do this massage if the person has any severe pain or has had any recent injuries to the shoulder or neck areas. While the massage may feel good, it could aggravate their condition.

3. Check in every so often to be sure the pressure is comfortable. This massage should not be painful. It should only feel good. Pain will make your partner tense up and defeat the purpose of the massage.

4. Bones don’t relax! Which means something that feels hard like a bone probably is and it shouldn’t be massaged. Bones also tend to be pain sensitive. So, everything you massage should feel relatively soft.

For The Person Giving The Massage…Don’t Wreck Your Body!

Chances are, if you’ve ever tried to give a massage before, the other person ended up relaxed and you wound up with arms and hands that ached. So here are some simple guidelines that should let you give a relaxing massage without sacrificing your body:

1. Drop your shoulders.

2. Keep your back straight.

3. Don’t bend excessively.

4. Relax your hands between each movement.

5. Keep a slow, even pace.

6. Minimize the use of your thumbs.

7. Breathe!

Don’t Worry If You’re More Of A Visual Learner…

There’s five great illustrations, one for each technique, available at the end of this article.

Technique Number 1 (Shoulders)

Stand behind your partner. Rest your forearms on the top of their shoulders as close to their neck as possible. Keep your palms down so the fleshy part of your forearm, not the bony part, lies on the muscle. Then let your weight fall straight down onto their shoulders toward their seat. Be sure to avoid pushing them forward and be careful not to lean on their head. Hold this for several seconds. Then slowly lift your arms, move them down the shoulder one inch and again let your weight fall through your arms. Repeat this process several times. As soon as you start to feel the bony part of their shoulder under your forearm, stop, bring your forearms to the starting position and repeat the technique again. Insider’s Tip: Even though this forearm technique is a simple compression movement, it feels fabulous.

Technique Number 2 (Shoulders)

Move to the side of your partner. Feel the tip of their shoulder with your fingers. It’ll feel bony and hard. Then move your fingers toward their neck until you feel some soft muscle under your fingers. Place your thumbs on that spot and slowly press straight down with the thumbs. You’ll be pressing on their trapezius muscle again. Hold the thumbs in the muscle for a couple of seconds and then slowly ease off the pressure. Next, move one thumb-width towards their neck and repeat the compression. Once you reach their neck, move your thumbs back to the starting position and do a second set of compressions to those same points. Then move to the other side of your partner and repeat these compressions to their other shoulder. In general, you should be able to do 4 to 6 compressions before you reach their neck. Insider’s Tip: Put one thumb on top of the other for reinforcement and each thumb will be doing just half the work.

Technique Number 3 (Shoulders)

Stand behind your partner. Place one hand over each shoulder as close to their neck as possible and squeeze their trapezius between the fingertips and the heel of your hand. Hold the squeeze for a couple of seconds, slowly release your grip, then move out one inch toward their shoulders. Repeat. Typically, you can expect to do 3 or 4 squeezes before you run out of muscle. Insider’s Tips: a) Keep your thumb beside your index finger so it stays out of the way. b) Be sure to have the whole muscle in your hand so you don’t pinch the skin on top of the muscle. c) Don’t put your fingers too far around the front of the neck – you don’t want to choke anyone!

Technique Number 4 (Neck Extensors)

Stand to one side of your partner. If you’re standing on the right, make a C-shape with your left hand and place it over the back of their neck. Then press gently into the sides of the neck with your fingers and thumbs and while maintaining this gentle pressure, do a large circular kneading action with your left hand. This movement may remind you of picking a cat up by the scruff of the neck, so sometimes it’s called a C-lift or C-scoop. Do 6 circles in one spot and then move up or down the neck an inch and repeat. Massage along the whole length of the neck, being careful not to pinch the skin at the back of the neck. Insider’s Tip: The key here is to not slide over the skin, but to move it with the fingers, so you don’t burn or irritate the skin.

Technique Number 5 (Base Of The Skull)

Still standing to the side of your partner, you’ll now do some kneading. Cup one hand around the base of their skull. Then gently rest your other hand on their forehead for support. Next, using your hand that’s cupped around the base of their skull, move your fingers in a small circular motion, pressing into the skull as you knead. Do 6 to 8 little circles, then lift your fingers, move them a little closer to the center and repeat the kneading action in order to complete several sets. To do the other side of the skull, simply move to the opposite side of your partner. Insider’s Tip: Move the skin and hair with your fingers, instead of sliding, so you don’t pull their hair.

And Finally…

End your massage with several gentle stroking actions down the head and back. Imagine the gentle motion when you’re brushing lint or pet hair off the back of someone’s shirt. Use both hands at the same time, or one right after the other like someone swimming using the dog paddle. The main thing here is to create an even feeling for your partner.

Overall, it should take about 5 minutes to perform all of these techniques. If you want to massage longer, just do more sets of each technique. And remember, you can repeat any of these techniques several times before going onto the next one.

If you have specific health concerns, consult your medical doctor. The information in this article is educational only and is not intended to replace the advice of your personal health care providers.

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The term post-menopausal sometimes needs a little clarification. It is usually applied to women who have completed the menopause, meaning they have not had a period for over twelve months. This can be due to a natural menopause, or a surgery induced menopause. Women who are taking hormone replacement therapy are not considered to be post menopausal as they may experience symptoms of the menopause when they stop this treatment.

Common post menopausal problems can be experienced any time from the onset of the menopause onwards. After the menopause, women never really stop being post menopausal. Most of the physical and emotional problems that women encounter after the menopause are caused by decreasing hormone levels, particularly estrogen.

Conditions relating to the vagina and bladder are often experienced post menopause because these parts of the body require estrogen to remain healthy. Thinning of the tissue in these areas can cause incontinence, bladder infections, growths or polyps in the uterus, and vaginal dryness, as well as an increased risk of uterine cancer.

Other serious physical conditions linked to post menopausal women are osteoporosis and heart disease. Osteoporosis is common as women begin to lose bone density more rapidly due to reduction in estrogen. Risk of heart disease is increased due to atherosclerosis, or the hardening of their arteries.

Emotionally, post menopausal women may experience depression, fatigue due to insomnia, hot flashes and night sweats, and a reduction in self confidence and libido. Although these emotional responses can be triggered by hormonal changes, they may also be related to other factors. Reaching the menopause, and the changes happening in her body, may make a woman feel old, unattractive and worthless and these feelings can trigger depression and lack of sex drive.

So what can post menopausal women do to limit these common problems? Exercise is one crucial way to control these conditions. While we are not talking about running marathons, some exercise such as walking, gardening and light aerobics can have a wide range of benefits.

Exercise keeps bones, joints and cartilage healthy, guarding against osteoporosis as well as arthritis. It reduces the risk of heart disease by stimulating circulation, controls weight, and enhances emotional wellbeing.

Maintaining a healthy diet is another way for post menopausal women to remain problem free. They may want to think about supplements such as vitamin D and calcium to guard against osteoporosis. Not smoking may not only put off the menopause by a couple of years, it will also reduce the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. Using progesterone creams may keep the vagina and bladder area healthier, and make intercourse more comfortable and therefore more appealing.

There are many problems associated with post menopausal women, but by exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy lifestyle they don’t have to mean a huge decrease in quality of life.