"Health Beat"

Elephant working her proprioceptors.

Proprio–what?

Say it with me now.  Pro Pree Oh Sep Shun.

Proprioception is a concept that will help you prevent sprained ankles, twisted knees, and strained backs.  Whether you’re an athlete, working on your New Year’s Resolution to lose weight, or just walking the dog, proprioception is important to all of us trying to balance our way through the day.

Proprioceptors are the sensors in muscles that assist in balance, and inform your brain about body position and movement.  When your proprioceptors are working right, you can maneuver through a grassy field without loss of balance.  You can transfer from your sofa to your wheelchair.  You can sit up in bed and turn on the light.  Trouble is, balance is one of those things that if you don’t use it, you lose it.  But can you get it back?

Proprioception training is an important part of sports injury rehabilitation, but it’s not just for athletes.  It’s not even just for gym warriors.  If you lift weights, do farm work, or simply wish to challenge your body, you can train your proprioceptors to function at a higher level.  When you train your proprioceptors, you increase their ability to detect movement changes and so prevent spills, falls, or other accidents.

How to train your proprioceptors?   Yoga is a good starting

Rectangular Yoga Bolster from Bean Products

point.  Beginning yoga helps to build general

awareness of your body, its location, its alignment.  Simple weightlifting, whether in a standing or seated position is valuable as well–even if it’s only a 5-pound weight.  You can work with a partner as well, who can help with lifting and lowering–or even catching–a medicine ball.

If you’re looking for something slightly more high tech and more challenging, you might try a balance board.  It’s true that balance boards are used by skateboarders, surfers, snowboarders, and other athletes–but physical therapists use them in treatment of sports injuries, for stimulation of neural networks, and for child development.  People also use ‘em because they’re fun.

The Chango R4 Model Balance Board

So while cardiovascular fitness and bone density are very important factors in one’s health, please don’t ignore good old balance.  It’s something so many of us take for granted, yet use in so many different ways–until the day it leaves us.

For these and other fitness products, please visit Painreliever.com.

After months of hard work, our site for pain reliever products, painreliever.com, has a new look. No, don’t worry!  It’s even easier to navigate than before!  A white background with easy-on-the-eyes blue text make the site friendly to those folks doing a little late-night (or early-morning) shopping.  We still have great products from Sombar, Mueller Sports Medicine, Biofreeze, Zonk Designs, and many others–and we’re always adding new products so we can better serve you folks.

Snoozer Full Body Pillow

You can also expect the blog to take a new direction! Of course we’ll still talk about the products we have available–but we’re going to start taking a look at some of the conditions you may be concerned about. We hope to demystify some of the terms, perhaps answer questions, and make your search for pain-free living a little easier!

I am sure you have heard of the exercise or stability ball. I just wanted to rave about it a little. I have been using mine for about 3 years and I Love It!! Its great it takes me 30 minutes, its fun, and it gives me an incredible work-out! I loved using the exercise ball so much that when I found out about the ball chair, I had to have it not only does it work your core muscles all day, It is good for your posture and its ergonomic. So there it is a fun and effective work-out solution.

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