janine mccarthy ortho-bionomy

// the path to natural pain relief //

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Pain relief sessions on Zoom

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During the CO-VID19 pandemic I can’t offer in-person Ortho-Bionomy bodywork sessions to help you relieve pain and stress.

But I’m determined to continue helping all my clients as much as I can.

So during the lockdown you can meet with me for pain relief sessions on Zoom for 30 or 60 minutes.

During these sessions we can:

  • examine the pain, discomfort or reduced functionality you experience,
  • consider the impact your daily activities (e.g. working from home) are having on your body
  • explore how your current postural habits are contributing to your pain/discomfort/reduced mobility
  • discuss pain relief techniques, movements and positioning you can use to improve your daily experience in your body
  • develop new habits of posture and movement to help you create a new relationship with your body and support your transition to sustainable, authentic wellbeing

Your body is always trying return to its primal state of wellbeing. It has enormous resources for self-healing and regeneration. Physical tension and emotional/mental stress create resistance that blocks your natural healing processes. Relaxation and ease are the keys to release this resistance and allow your cells to return to their natural state of vitality.

So now you don’t have to miss out on the benefits of Ortho-Bionomy sessions due to our forced social isolation. Book your appointment online HERE  or contact me by SMS on 0422 266 190 or email janine@ortho-bionomymelbourne.com

Here’s what some of my clients are saying about the video consultations:

“I worked with Janine online and it was a really useful session: we were able to review progress and add some new strategies to the mix. Working this way underlines the ‘teamwork’ aspect of her treatment and succeeds because Janine is so clear in her understanding and perceptive about the feedback she is receiving. It can also be helpful to address issues in the home environment where from day to day we move, live and work.” EM

“I booked a video session with Janine after feeling pain in my lower back and shoulders. This session was very helpful as Janine demonstrated the movements, showing me in great detail and with patience how to apply a range of exercises to ease the pain. I have had better posture since, which is very helpful considering all the time spent in front of the computer working from home.” MA

“Last year I started working with Janine to reduce my neck and shoulder pain and associated headaches and this had been so effective going from 3 or 4 headaches a week to now only once or twice a month. But my neck and shoulders got really jammed up just after the (COVID-19) shutdown and I got a headache that had persisted for a few days. So I asked Janine for an online session. It was really effective, we released the neck and shoulder pain and the headache went away. I felt so much better. I was so relieved that I could still work with Janine from home, I don’t know what I would do without this. I am going to keep doing regular online sessions with Janine to manage my headaches, yay!” SB

“I booked a video session with Janine because I’d sustained an injury right at a part of my body that I’ve been working with her for many months. There was also a bit of unresolved tension in that area still, and stress had been affecting my ability to listen to my body. During the session Janine recommended techniques I could use at home and gave me support and encouragement to apply them for myself reminding me that just because my body isn’t yelling at me (with pain) that it doesn’t mean I should stop listening to it. Since that session, I have been using the practices every day. Not only do they help physically relieve pain, but also I’m giving attention to my body in calming, conscious and intentional ways, which really helps to relieve stress and feel nurtured.” MK

 

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Video consultations from home

What’s the ideal sleeping position?

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Clients often ask me if there is an ideal sleeping position. Because we’re all so different, there’s no single way that suits everyone. Of course, lying face-down isn’t great for most people because you have to contort your body and particularly your neck to be able to breathe while you sleep! Back-sleeping feels best for some people though there are some drawbacks. Side-sleeping suits the majority, but many people still suffer from pain and stiffness during the night that prevents good sleep. However  you CAN improve your comfort in both these positions so you can sleep more deeply and wake  feeling more refreshed each day.

And in my opinion sleep is THE BEST cure for pain, so it’s worth finding ways to improve it.

On your back….

Sleeping on your back is great for your muscles and joints because it supports your whole body evenly, with no asymmetrical stress or pressure on any part of the body. But lots of people snore when sleeping on their backs as the tongue can slide back in the mouth or sinus blockage can build up and block the airways. You could use a higher pillow to prevent this, tilting your head forward more, though that can create neck stiffness for some people. Try it to see if it works for you.

But some sleep experts think our brains stay more alert in this position and prevent us from getting enough deep sleep. This is because at the primitive level of our brains developed in the period of human evolution when we could be attacked by predators or enemies when sleeping. So when we lie on our backs our brains think our vital organs are more vulnerable to attack. I learned this from the great little book Sleep by Nick Littlehales  (Penguin 2016) if you’re interested to learn more about how to improve your sleep.

On your side….

Side-sleeping is thought to allow our brains to switch off because the arm and leg on the upper side are ready to defend our bodies if suddenly attacked, giving a feeling of protection for our vital organs. For this reason it appears we can sleep even better on our non-dominant side, with the dominant arm and leg uppermost.

If you prefer sleeping on your side there are a few things you can do to improve your comfort and the relaxation of your muscles and joints, leading to deeper sleep and feeling better on waking.

For neck….

If you get neck pain, notice if you have your head curled forward or tilted back. If so, shift it so your head is aligned with your spine in a more neutral position neither forward or back. Choose a pillow that fits in the space between your head and tip of your shoulder so your head feels supported. There’s no ideal pillow type, as long as it feels comfortable.

For knees, hips & back….

Firstly, if your legs, hips or back get sore through the night, pop a pillow or cushion between your knees. If you need support for the whole lower leg and ankle, use a longer pillow from knee to ankle. This feels quite blissful if you suffer pain in these areas. If you get pelvic pain, see this post for more suggestions.

For shoulders and upper arms….

Next, if you get shoulder pain, place a pillow either in front of your body or behind your back and try resting your arm on the pillow (elbow bent). Choose the position that creates ease or relief in your arm and shoulder. Even small adjustments can make a big difference to your comfort and relaxation.

For forearms & hands….

If you get pain or numbness in your fingers, hands or arms, check your forearm and hand positions. Many people curl their arms and hands up and tuck them under their chin or pillow. Doing this will tighten the muscles behind your shoulders and upper back and you may wake feeling tight and stiff. It also puts a lot of pressure – sometimes for hours – on the ulnar nerve at the elbow joint, which can cause numbness and tingling in the little and ring fingers. Over time this causes weakness and loss of function in these fingers and part of the hand, often requiring surgery. The best way to create relaxation and support for your arms, elbows and hands is to rest your lower arm in a right-angle bend with hand resting on your pillow beside your head (not under it) and your upper arm resting either on your side/upper hip or on a pillow in front or behind, as mentioned above.

How does it feel?

I know it takes a bit of time to get used to a new sleeping position and shifting pillows around in bed. But this is worth it. If you persevere you’ll soon find YOUR ideal sleeping position. How will you know you’ve found it? You’ll begin to notice you’re in a good mood more often and little things don’t annoy you so much. You’ll feel calmer and  think more clearly. You’ll notice you have less pain everywhere in your body and fewer niggling health problems.  You’ll realise you are sleeping deeper and longer and feeling better when you wake in the morning. I’ve noticed all these things myself. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

I wish you a good night’s sleep!

Ortho-Bionomy harnesses neuroplasticity to relieve pain.

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The latest research into the brain’s neuroplasticity explains how Ortho-Bionomy gives lasting pain relief:

Norman Doidge writes in “The Brain’s Way of Healing” that the pain specialist Michael Moskowitz has developed a way of curing chronic pain using visualisations. He discovered that parts of the brain normally used for other functions (processing visual information, movements, thoughts etc) were being co-opted to process pain, so he suspected that they could be co-opted back again for their original functions and stop processing pain. He distracted the brain from its habit of processing pain sensations by visualizing his brain processing other information and giving it other sensations to focus on.

It seems to me this is also why Ortho-Bionomy helps people become pain-free. When we give gentle compression into joints the proprioceptive nerves in the joint send feedback to the brain, giving it information to process. When we find positions or movements that give a sense of ease or relaxation, we ask the brain to suspend its processing of chronic pain and instead use those same neural networks for processing (noticing) pain relief and increased comfort. When we ask the client to visualize making a comfortable movement during an isometric exercise, we help them train their brain to associate ‘no pain’ with that movement.

So I agree with Michael Moskowitz when he says “I don’t believe in pain management anymore. I believe in trying to cure persistent pain.” I have seen clients recover from excruciating chronic pain from such conditions as fibromyalgia, post-surgery ‘psychosomatic’ pain, severe sciatic pain and unexplained cranial nerve pain after brain tumor removal. Ortho-Bionomy gives these pain sufferers hope for a pain-free future.

© Janine McCarthy 2015.

 

Ortho-Bionomy relieves shoulder pain and resolves ‘frozen shoulder’.

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I have so far dubbed 2015 the ‘Year of the Shoulder’ in my clinical practice. Almost every client I’ve seen so far has consulted me for shoulder pain.  Almost everyone has also come to my studio saying they realize they have been working too hard and not taking enough time out to rest.

These two things often go hand in hand. We ‘shoulder’ too many responsibilities, shoulder the burdens, and sooner or later our shoulders start to get tired from the constant ‘weight’ of all that tension. If we don’t pay attention to our body’s need for rest to balance with our work and stress, it creates pain messages that are the equivalent of shouting to get our attention.  If we continue to ignore these messages, our bodies stop functioning as they should and collapse, ‘seize up’, ‘freeze’, spasm and/or experience constant strong pain. Just like you, your muscles get tired when they work long and hard, and they need to rest to recover their strength.

Are you listening to your body? Rest and time out are the Yin to the Yang of work. Neither can exist without the other. If you demand a lot of output from your body you must be prepared to give it what it needs to restore and recharge.

One of my clients worked constantly all last year in a state of overwork and stress. She ended up by December with extreme shoulder pain followed by major restriction of movement, being unable to raise her arm to shoulder height. An MRI confirmed her doctor’s diagnosis of frozen shoulder. She was offered cortisone injections or a procedure known as ‘shoulder manipulation’ under general anaesthetic, where the ‘frozen’ arm is forcefully moved to the extent of its range to break up adhesions around the joint. As you can imagine, patients usually experience a lot of pain following this procedure. She decided against both these options and decided to try Ortho-Bionomy instead.

We began sessions in early January, with visits twice a week initially, reducing to weekly, and fitting around her schedule – so far we have had 9 sessions over 7 weeks.

After the second visit her pain was less frequent and less intense and she was sleeping better. Since then she has had more improvement every week so that now she only has occasional pain in certain movements, can use her arm almost normally and sleeps comfortably, with approximately 70% of her range of movement restored. Other clients with the same condition have needed treatment over longer periods up to around 6 months. For clients who begin their sessions after having the condition for 12 months or more, the recovery time may be longer, but generally with obvious improvement each week that we work. This contrasts starkly with the 18 months that many doctors estimate for recovery of this condition.

Many people believe the medical treatment options shown above followed by painful physiotherapy exercises are the only possibilities for this condition. However my experience has shown me that the pain-free approach of Ortho-Bionomy is extremely effective, usually with quicker recovery times and more lasting results. Because it is a gentle technique with a strong focus on immediate pain relief, it is suitable for clients suffering from intense pain and severe restriction of the shoulder and arm. Beginning sessions early is also beneficial, as this client’s experience shows – she began Ortho-Bionomy sessions soon after her diagnosis. She was also very committed to using the release techniques I gave her for home use and the combination resulted in her quick recovery from this debilitating condition. She is also taking steps to reduce her workload and increase rest time to balance with work and stress levels.

Another client works long hours 6 days a week and developed shoulder pain that was so strong it could take his breath away. He was becoming dependent on strong pain killers to get through the working day, which he was not happy about. After his first Ortho-Bionomy session he had the best night’s sleep he’s had in months. He also remembered during that first session that he used to have a long bath once a week, listen to music and fall asleep, which allowed him to forget all his worries.

I asked him why he stopped doing this for himself and he said he didn’t know why or when it had happened. I suggested that he bring this habit back into his life – we should all give ourselves permission to take time out from the work and stress more often. If we did that, we would balance all that tension and responsibility with some restorative relaxation, and our bodies – particularly our shoulders – wouldn’t need to shout so much to get our attention.

 

This information is offered as my opinion and should not replace medical diagnosis or treatment.

Ortho-Bionomy is the trademark of Ortho-Bionomy Australia Ltd and is used with permission.