How To Manage Multiple Sclerosis Muscle Weakness
Muscle Management

How To Manage Multiple Sclerosis Muscle Weakness?

by Elis Fletcher
written by Elis Fletcher

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is caused by an immune-mediated inflammatory process.

This process results in the demyelination of the white matter in the brain and spinal cord. MS has a higher prevalence in women and people in temperature regions such as Europe and North America.

How To Manage Multiple Sclerosis Muscle Weakness?

MS is a complicated and often misunderstood condition. If you or your loved one is dealing with MS then you probably have a lot of questions about how this disease may impact your life? How to manage  MS? And so on; we are here to answer your questions and help you lead a healthy and active life.

How To Manage Multiple Sclerosis Muscle Weakness

Types of multiple sclerosis

There are mainly five types of MS, the most common form of MS is called rasping-remitting. Here the symptoms periodically come and go but MS is a progressive disease and the severity of the symptoms often increases over time. Eventually, it can affect a person’s ability to work, study or be active as they would like.

  • Clinically isolated syndrome
  • Relapsing-remitting
  • Primary-progressive
  • Secondary-progressive
  • progressive -relapsing

Symptoms of multiple sclerosis

There is a vast number of symptoms associated with MS. Each person’s experience is unique.

  • Muscle weakness in the arms and legs
  • Blurred or double vision
  • Red-green color distortion
  • Trouble walking
  • Numbness, pricking, or pins and needles
  • Speech problems
  • Tremor
  • Bowel and bladder problems

Muscle weakness in MS and how it affect people with MS

People with multiple sclerosis experience loss of strength in certain muscle groups. The group of muscles affected includes:

  • Hip flexors ( the muscles which lift your leg off the ground)
  • Hip adductors ( the muscles that slide your leg together)
  • Ankle dorsiflexion ( the muscle that brings the foot up)

Muscle weakness is the primary cause of MS it is due to the deconditioning of muscle which leads to mobility. Weakness contributes not only to mobility complications but also safety hazards.

This can result in pain syndrome and create the risk of falling. Muscle weakness requires special care and management. Weak muscles can have a huge impact on quality of life, as they affect day-to-day living and interfere with activities such as working, driving, or taking pets for walks.

Treatment for muscle weakness

Doctors have access to more tools than ever to treat MS. When MS flares up your doctor may prescribe medications to treat specific symptoms such as pain or weakness. Your treatment may also include medications that target the underlying causes of MS.

This helps prevent the disease from damaging nerves and can help you remain symptom-free for extended periods of time. There are 3 types of therapy to treat MS:

  1. Interventions to treat symptoms
  2. Drugs to treat the attack
  3. Drugs to modify the course of the disease

Drugs used to treat MS are believed to help shorten the length and severity of the disease and the most commonly used drugs are:

  1. Corticosteroids
  2. Adrenocorticotropic hormones (ACTH)

Corticosteroids are not considered long-term solutions because they have no proven long-term efficiency and because of the multiple side effects that can develop the disease.

Interventions can be non-drug-based such as physical therapy.

How to live with and manage multiple sclerosis

Living with MS can be made more manageable and you can reduce the reduce symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and following these effective tips:

  • Regular exercise such as indoor or outdoor, cycling, yoga, and strength training has been shown to help ease MS symptoms.
  • Watching your diet and maintaining optimal body weight promotes mobility and ease the strain on your muscles and joints
  • Go for physiotherapy as it is very helpful in slurred speech, balancing, and fatigue problems
  • Quit smoking
  • Exercise everyday 
  • Avoid hot and humid situations
  • Connect with groups for MS patients in person and online for emotional support as well as helpful information
  • To help yourself with the best care tell your neurologist everything about your symptoms and detailed medical history
  • Keep a note about your condition and keep it handy while appointments for easier and effective treatment

Most importantly

  1. Stick with your treatment 
  2. Don’t let MS define you

Working with your doctor and staying active are key to maintaining the best quality of life.

With good care and a positive attitude, your life shall stay as normal as everybody else’s

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Is Exercise Completely Prevent Upper Back Pain?
Upper Back Pain

Is Exercise Completely Prevent Upper Back Pain?

by Elis Fletcher
written by Elis Fletcher

Upper back pain is also known as thoracic back pain it can occur anywhere from the lower neck to the bottom of your rib cage. It is much less common than lower back pain or neck pain because these vertebrae are less mobile than those in your neck and lower back but it can cause significant discomfort.

Is Exercise Completely Prevent Upper Back Pain?

About half of teenagers experience upper back pain, which is most commonly caused by tight or weak muscles that put extra strain on the spine or due to an injury or by poor postures. But do you know how to reduce or prevent this? Read on to find more about it.

Is Exercise Tips Completely Prevent Upper Back Pain?

What causes upper back pain?

There are many causes for upper back pain but most of the time the reason is muscle irritation due to a twisting motion, overuse, poor posture, or an injury. Osteoarthritis is another cause of upper back pain that is the facet joints arthritis irritates the sensory nerves around the facet joints of the thoracic spine causing typically acute episodes of pain. Abnormal curvatures of the spine such as Scoliosis or Kyphosis also cause upper back pain.

What are the symptoms of upper back pain?

Symptoms of upper back pain may include:

  • Pain in the upper back
  • Muscle spasms
  • Pain when you take a deep breath
  • Pain when you touch or move your back
  • Pain when you move your shoulder or bend your neck forward

How is it diagnosed?

Your health care provider will take your history, review your symptoms, and will examine your back. Your provider may also order an MRI or X-ray in order to find a broken bone or a herniated disc that can cause pain.

Treatment for upper back pain?

Check out these treating methods of upper back pain and try with the guidance of your health care provider.

  1. The early stages of upper back pain with muscle spasms can be treated with ice packs for 20 to 30 minutes every 4 hours for the first 3 days. You may use a frozen gel pack, crushed ice, or an ice bag.
  2. After 3 days you can use moist heat which will help to loosen up the muscles that are stiff.
  3. Your health care provider may prescribe anti-inflammatory medicine, muscle relaxants, or other medicines for pain relief. Remember adults aged over 65 years should not take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine for more than 7 days.
  4. Massage to the inflamed muscles will help and also your provider will recommend exercises to help your back.

How to prevent upper back pain?

There is no quick or easy fix for upper back pain but there are things you can do on your own to prevent back pain. Let’s check out:

  1. Maintain a healthy lifestyle by being active for at least 30 minutes a day
  2. Be sure that you have warmed up and have done proper stretching exercises before engaging in your activities
  3. Do not twist when you are lifting heavy objects
  4. Take a break and rest for some time if your back hurts a lot
  5. If you are at a desk for a long period of time take frequent breaks to stretch your back.
  6. Make sure you have fully recovered from your upper back pain before you return to your strenuous activity and have the same range of motion before you had the pain or injury.
  7. Stretching and exercising regularly will strengthen your muscles and reduce pain

See your health care provider if :

  • Upper back pain is caused by a serious injury like direct trauma
  • Back pain longer than one month
  • Numbness that falls to resolve

Exercise

Exercise is an essential source for proper recovery from upper back pain. Here are some healthy upper back exercises that will strengthen your upper back muscles as well as the muscles of the neck and back.

Try these exercises for your upper back. Start each exercise slowly and ease off the exercise if there is pain.

  1. Lower neck and upper back stretch
  2. Mid-back stretches
  3. Shoulder rolls
  4. Wall pushups
  5. Resisted shoulder blade squeeze
  6. Resisted rows

Your doctor or therapist will tell you when you can start these exercises and which one will work the better for you.

Apart from all these keeping a positive attitude, reducing stress, and getting full night sleep are key to prevent your back pain.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Procedures Of Muscle Biopsy - Is There Any Risk In It?
Muscle Biopsy

Procedures Of Muscle Biopsy – Is There Any Risk In It?

by Elis Fletcher
written by Elis Fletcher

Muscle biopsy is a minor surgical procedure performed to diagnose disease involving muscle tissue. It will help your doctor to see if you have muscle disease.

Procedures Of Muscle Biopsy – Is There Any Risk In It?

The most commonly used muscles are the quadriceps at the front of the thigh, biceps, or the deltoid in the upper arm.

Procedures Of Muscle Biopsy - Is There Any Risk In It?

How can a muscle biopsy help?

Muscle biopsy provides useful information that helps your doctor diagnose certain conditions associated with:

  1. Muscle weakness or pain
  2. Inflammation of the blood vessels
  3. Investigating rare heart problems or brain disease
  4. To find out defects in the way your muscle metabolize or use energy

A muscle biopsy will often give your doctors further information so that they can advise you better about the cause likely condition and likely cause of your condition. 

What are the risks and side effects of a muscle biopsy?

All operations have risks and side effects, your health care provider will discuss the risks of a muscle biopsy with you. The risk and side effects are rare. They include:

  • Discomfort and bruising: after the procedure, you may have some minor discomfort and bruising around the biopsy site.
  • Infection: there is a chance of infection any time when an incision is made or the skin is broken
  • Allergic reaction to the local anesthetic or to the bandage
  • Damage to the muscle tissues or tissues in the area (very rare) 

What to do before the procedure?

  • You don’t have to do much to prepare for this procedure, inform your provider if you have any allergies to local anesthesia (such as Novocain) or if you have any bleeding problems.
  • It is important to tell your doctor at this stage if you are on any of the medications listed below;
  • Aspirin
  • Warfarin
  • Heparin
  • Clopidogrel
  • Any oral anticoagulants, previously known as NOACS.

Your doctor will ask you to stops these medications before you have the biopsy.

  • Before you schedule a biopsy, your provider will take a medical history and perform a physical examination. And as much as information through a blood test (including genetic blood test) and electric studies.

What happens during a muscle biopsy?

As this is a minor procedure it would be better if you take a shower before going to the hospital. You will not need to fast for the biopsy as it is performed under a local anesthetic.

  •  Once, you are at the hospital a gown will be provided to wear. Your nurse will check your details with you and will check your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature.
  • You will be asked to sign a consent form that will state that you acknowledge and understand the nature of the procedure, any possible complications that may occur that you agree to undergo the procedure. Only sign once you are sure about the procedure. You will be taken into a treatment room, the surgeon will clean the area with an antiseptic solution. A local anesthetic called Liodacaine will be injected into the skin over the muscle to numb the pain.
  • The surgeon will make an incision approximately 2 inches long. Three or four very small pieces of muscle tissue will be removed and sent to the laboratory. The removal of these tissues will not cause any weakness in your muscle. The skin will be stitched and dressing will be applied on the top of the incision. Usually, the procedure takes about 30 minutes or it can take slightly longer.
  • It will take 4 weeks to get the exact results of the biopsy. A preliminary report may be available in seven days, and if appropriate, treatment could commence before a full report is available.

How to care for the wound site after the biopsy?

Follow these instructions when you get home:

  • Keep your incision dry for the next 10 days
  • It will be removed after 10 to 14 days, it can be done at your local CSPC
  • The doctor will prescribe medicines for pain such as Tylenol with codeine or paracetamol take if necessary.
  • Drink plenty of liquids and eat light meals on the first day or you can follow your usual routine if you feel well enough
  • Undue exertion, such as heavy lifting or running, should be avoided until the sutures are removed.

Call your doctor if you have:

  • Increasing pain or pain after two days on the incision site
  • If you have  any swelling, redness, or bleeding at the incision site
  • If you have a fever of 101.5 degrees Celsius or higher for more than 24 hours
  • If you cannot pee within 8 to 12 hours after the surgery
  • vomiting
0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Obesity And Pregnancy - How Does Your Weight Affect Your Pregnancy
Obesity

Obesity And Pregnancy – How Does Your Weight Affect Your Pregnancy?

by Elis Fletcher
written by Elis Fletcher

Obesity and pregnancy is a topic that not many people want to discuss, but not discussing it makes the problem worse.

Obesity And Pregnancy – How Does Your Weight Affect Your Pregnancy?

Being overweight or obese during pregnancy can adversely affect you and your baby. The more obese you are the more likely you are to have complications.

But there are things you can do before and during pregnancy to have a healthy baby and a safe delivery.

Obesity And Pregnancy - How Does Your Weight Affect Your Pregnancy

What is obesity and what causes obesity?

Obesity is a medical condition where a person has accumulated an excessive amount of body fat that may impair health.

People are generally considered obese when their body weight is at least 20% higher than it should be. If a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) (a statistical measurement derived from your height and weight) is 30 or over they are considered to be obese.

Obesity is a complex illness caused by a number of different factors, for example; food and activity environments, genetics, emotional health, use of certain medications. Obesity increases your risk of disease and health problems particularly certain types of:

  • Cancer
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Infertility 
  • Irregular periods
  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver
  • Obstructive sleep apnea

Obesity can also lead to psychological problems that can affect the quality of your life such as:

  • Depression
  • Low self-esteem
  • Shame
  • Guilt
  • Social isolation

Being obese during pregnancy

 How will you know if you are at a healthy weight? 

 It’s not just about the pounds. It’s about your body mass index (BMI). this is a calculation that considers your weight in relation to your height. You can find your BMI by asking your health care provider or by using applications.

Your BMI before pregnancy can help you set weight gain goals during pregnancy. In general, if you were overweight before pregnancy BMI of 25 to 29.9, you want to gain about 15 to 25 during pregnancy, or if you were about a BMI of 30 you have to gain about 11 to 20 pounds during pregnancy.

Don’t ever try to lose weight during pregnancy; severely restricting calories or avoiding certain food groups is not at all healthy during pregnancy because your developing baby needs a variety of nutrients to grow. 

How does your weight affect your pregnancy?

Being obese during  pregnancy can cause problems, like:

  1. Premature birth:  Birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Babies born early may have health problems at birth and later in life.
  2. Birth defects: Birth defects like defects of the brain, and spine called neural tube defects
  3. Macrosomia: This is when your baby weighs more than 9 pounds 15 ounces. When the baby is this large they are more likely to get injured during labor and birth. It also increases your chances of needing a cesarean section.
  4. Health conditions: It can be diabetes, heart disease, and obesity later in life.

If you are overweight you are more likely than other women to have certain complications during pregnancy like;

  1. High blood pressure, preeclampsia, and blood clots
  2. Gestational diabetes
  3. A pregnancy that lasts past your due date
  4. Problems during labor birth
  5. Needing to have a C-section
  6. Miscarriage or stillbirth

So, what does all this mean? It means getting to a healthy weight before pregnancy is very very important. Being at a healthy weight can help you have a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby here’s what you can do to have a healthier pregnancy:

  • Get a preconception checkup, this a medical checkup to make sure you are healthy before you get pregnant. Tell your provider that you are thinking about getting pregnant, they can help you find ways to eat healthily and be active to get a healthy weight
  • Get early prenatal care, it is medical care you get during pregnancy, go to all of your prenatal checkups even if you are feeling fine.
  • Talk to your obstetrician about how much weight you should gain during pregnancy.
  • Eat healthy foods and be active 
  • Don’t diet, don’t try to stay at the same weight or lose weight during pregnancy

The take-home message really is a healthier pregnancy is possible if you are at a healthier weight. So, if you are able to try to lose weight before getting pregnant, I highly suggest that you try to do that.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Push-Pull Workout To Enhance Muscle Mass
Workout

Push-Pull Workout To Enhance Muscle Mass

by Elis Fletcher
written by Elis Fletcher

If you aim to be more masculine and add some muscles to your body, you should have a perfect plan for that. And this will cost an effective diet and a worthwhile exercise regime which you need to follow regularly. Besides, you need to ensure that both of these are enriched enough to give you the best results out of them.

Push-Pull Workout To Enhance Muscle Mass

Enriching your diet means making it a balanced one with sufficient nutrients. Whereas when it comes to your workout sessions, you should include a variety of moves targeting each part of your body. In that case, never ever ignore push-pull exercises as they are inevitable in your process of building muscles. 

Push-Pull Workout To Enhance Muscle Mass

Push-Pull Training

Push-pull training is one of the versatile styles of workouts, in which your muscle groups move in certain patterns. 

If you are up to trying this style in your workout routine, you will engage the most sales in your upper body which are active while pushing on the first day. On the other day, you will be training again with your upper body, but this time, the muscles involved would be those which participate in pulling movements. And finally, on the third day, you will be practicing with your lower body muscles as well as your core.

 You can also practice this by taking a day off between the days you workout to relax and rest. But it should be according to your stamina and capacity. 

So, here is a sample plan with some effective push-pull moves to build muscles, with which you can enrich your workout regime.

Effective Pushes For Upper Body

1. Bench Press

  • Lie down on your back on the bench, while holding the bar without losing your grip. Your hands should be wider than shoulder-width. 
  • Now take a deep breath, push the barbell while you breathe out until both of your arms become straight.
  • As you breathe in again, slowly bring the barbell down to your chest. 
  • Throughout, you need to glare on a rigid spot on the ceiling ensuring that you are moving through the same path at every push.
  • You can do the same in 3 sets of 8 reps.

2. Clap Press Up

  • Take the position as if you are on the top of the press up to move. 
  • Ensure that your hands are directly under your shoulders. 
  • Now bend your arms to come down as your chest almost touches the floor.
  • Do a rapid rise and bring both of your hands together explosively to a clap. 
  • Hastily bring your hands back in position to balance your body, and repeat.
  • Do 1 set of 15 reps.

Powerful Pulling Moves

1. Pull-up

It is one of the tough and effective exercises that is perfect to begin your routine with. You can use a pull-up bar to perform it. 

  • Take an overhand grip and pull yourself upward and lower down. 
  • Remember to keep your hands shoulder-width apart and contract your back muscle while pulling up. 
  • You can do it in 4 sets of 6 reps.

2. Barbell Curl

  • Stand up and hold a barbell with both of your hands.
  •  Keep your hands shoulder-width apart, and knees close to your sides.
  •  Ensure that your palms are facing forward. 
  • Now raise the bar on the level top of your chest, bring it down, and repeat the move. 
  • It is ideal for you to do 3 sets of 10 reps of the barbell curl.

Push-Pull Moves For Abs And Legs

Dumbbell Squat

  • Take a pair of dumbbells and hold each of them in both of your hands, keeping your hands lower on your sides. 
  • Keep your knees wide apart, aiming to put the weight on your heels throughout. 
  • Now do a squat, ensuring that you don’t over bend your thighs, but keep it parallel to the ground.  
  • Do 3 sets of 8 reps.

Deadlifts

  • Stand on your feet, keeping them shoulder-width apart.
  • Now hold a barbell with both your hands keeping them a bit more away than your shoulder width. 
  • Lift the bar while driving your hips a little bit forward, keeping your back flat.
  • Bring down the bar carefully under control.
  • Do 4 sets of 6 reps. 

Rest Day: After three consecutive days of push-pull training, you need to take complete rest on the following day. It will help you to recover fast and prepare yourself for the next level.

Push-Pull Benefits

You will definitely benefit from this style of workout and see better results at a faster pace. However, you need to ensure that you are strong enough to practice it as most of the moves in push-pull workouts are really toiling. 

The benefits of push-pull workouts include: 

  • You can ensure optimal recovery after workouts.
  • It can help anyone to build muscles if practiced consistently
  • It doesn’t kill your time
  • You can enjoy better balance
  • You can target almost all of the muscle groups in your body. 

A push-pull workout is indeed great to support muscle growth as you include the most suitable moves in it. If you are a beginner or don’t have enough experience in lifts, do not exceed the weight of your capacity. Plus, it is always recommended to do it under the guidance of an expert trainer. 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts