​You may have noticed some of the publicity surrounding these mysterious dark bruises on some of the Olympic athletes or even on some of your own friends around town. You might have heard about “cupping” or seen videos on the internet involving Chinese ceramic or glass cups and fire. If you’ve ever wondered about trying it or if it could help you in your injury recovery or sports performance, read on!

​While cupping has been an important part of Eastern medicine practices for thousands of years, in the PT clinic we do Myofascial Decompression (MFD). Myo = muscle, Fascia = the connective tissue surrounding and supporting the muscles. We have adapted these tools used in Eastern Medicine for its “negative pressure” (decompressive) properties for our use within Western Medicine and combined it with our deep knowledge and understanding of musculoskeletal anatomy and tissue physiology. In traditional Eastern medicine practices, the cups are placed deliberately on Chi energy meridians.

​With MFD, we first perform movement assessments and determine restrictions in range of motion, muscle imbalance, and movement inefficiencies. We place the cups deliberately on targeted myofascial points, much like is done during other massage and manual therapy, and we can control the amount of vacuum with a handheld pneumatic pump (no fire!). We may also ask you to make specific movements during treatment to target these muscular and fascial issues. So in our PT clinic, we don’t do “cupping” in the traditional sense.

​Studies have shown that the individual cups and the negative pressure generated within them can induce biomechanical stresses on soft tissue in a different direction from other manual techniques commonly used in therapy. If you think about foam rolling or massage, most of these stresses are compressive, while the cups create decompression, or “lifting/separation” of the tissue layers. These stresses can then stimulate physiologic changes in the tissue; in cases of myofascial restrictions where collagen cross bonding and scarring has occurred, it makes sense to use decompression to create space and separation of tissue for improved nutrient and fluid exchange. Recent MRI studies have shown that we can even affect fairly deep muscles with the vacuum generated within the cups, and that these changes actually last over time (not just temporary), especially when reinforced with PT exercises!

Make sure to hydrate! Recovery is much like after a deep tissue or targeted sports massage; let yourself heal. It’s important to train your muscles to move correctly in their new range, so make sure to keep up with your exercises as instructed by your PT!

Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, yoga as exercise, consisting largely of the postures called asanas. 

In order to teach Yoga you have to study five areas:

• Yoga techniques and postures (the practice)
• Yoga philosophies, history and lifestyle
• Human anatomy, physiology and psychology
• Methods of teaching Yoga
• Practical teaching training (in front of a class)

​Studies have found the incidence of pain in Yoga practitioners caused by Yoga is more than 10% per year - which is comparable to the rate of all sports injuries combined among the physically active population.

There is some evidence that regular Yoga practice is beneficial for people with high blood pressure, heart disease, aches and pains - including lower back pain - depression and stress.

• Improve general wellness
• Relieve low-back pain and neck pain
• Help people manage anxiety or depressive symptoms
• Help people quit smoking
• Help people who are overweight or obese lose weight

​The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (part of the NIH) suggests the above findings, however they note "Although there has been a lot of research on the health effects of yoga, many studies have included only small numbers of people and haven't been of high quality. Therefore, in most instances, we can only say that yoga has shown promise for particular health uses, not that it has been proven to help".

Created by Joseph Pilates in the 19302, Pilates was first called Contrology and inspired during WWI while held in camp for four years. Joseph was a nurse-physiotherapist and his goal was to create lifelong sustainable exercise at a low cost. Pilates recognized that the brain controls mobility and stability of the body. Specific muscles are used in a functional sequence at controlled speeds - emphasizing quality, precision and control of movement. Complex movements are broken down step-by-step to internalize the pattern.

Regular practice should lead to:

• Enhanced body and self-awareness
• Improved core stability
• Improved coordination and posture
• Uniform muscle development
• Decreased stress

Similarities: strength, flexibility, fitness, importance of breath
Differences: Pilates emphasizes core strength while yoga emphasizes flexibility

Depending on classification it may make sense for you to do one or the other, or both, or possibly neither!

Factors:

• Low back pain classification
• Underlying condition
• Time and Interest
• General activity level

See an expert at Altitude! All our physical therapists are experts in identifying movement patterns and dysfunctions as well as classifying the best way to treat your low back pain!

​It comes as no surprise that the incidence of upper back pain is increasing in an era of rising screen time, sedentary work, and long commutes.  Many people have come to accept their upper back pain as part of life. I, too, was among those people several years ago after suffering a compression fracture in my mid-back from a snowboarding accident.  Two years after my injury I had worse pain than two months after the fracture occurred. I couldn’t make sense of it: my doctors told me my fracture had healed great. The problem was that I was sitting more than ever before, had poor posture, and allowed my back to get really weak.