Exercise Balls for Physical Therapy

The fitness and exercise ball is an excellent tool for exercise involving strengthening your core muscles. The exercise ball enables you to reach hard to get to muscles, as well as assists in improving balance and coordination skills.

Exercise balls are available in many different sizes. The key to finding the right size ball is a ball that is proportioned to your body. When sitting on the ball, there should be an even weight distribution where your feet are placed flat on the floor. Your body should be perfectly upright, and adjusting yourself should be as simple as a light bounce on the ball. For the basic rule, the best way to select a ball is according to your height:

o 45 cm exercise ball - person 5 foot and under

o 55 cm exercise ball - person 5'1" - 5'8"

o 65 cm exercise ball - person 5'9" - 6'2"

o 75 cm exercise ball - person 6'3" - 6'7"

o 85 cm exercise ball - person 6'8" and taller

If your weight is much larger than the average for your height, then you should size up.

Most exercise balls are equipped with a pump, for easy inflation when the ball becomes too soft. Do not overfill with air, as it may become too difficult to balance or stabilize oneself.

Exercise balls are great for so many types of different exercises. Being used for yoga, Pilates, heavy workouts, and tough muscle strengthening, makes it so versatile. Focusing on form and postures during your workout will help keep your abs tight. A great tip is exercising in front of a mirror to see if you are doing the workouts correct.

Pain Relieving Cervical Support Pillows

Cervical Support Pillows come with built in support to keep your spine aligned. Shaped like a regular pillow, with a variation of indentation shapes in its center, support pillows hold your spine in a neutral position. It should allow for a curvature in the neck when back sleeping and keep your spine straight when on your side.

Cervical Support Pillow fillings are made of foam as well as fiber. Fiber pillows are standard firmness, not too hard, and not too soft. They allow for good support and a comfortable nights sleep. Fiber Pillows are great for side sleepers. Back support is provided by foam pillows, which are firmer than fiber pillows. In case you sleep in both positions, take a mixture of both foam and fiber.

A cervical support pillow offers many advantages over a standard pillow. A neck support pillow has many benefits especially for those who have trouble sleeping, or experience neck pain.

1. Better Alignment of the head and neck
2. Less chance of waking up with a stiff neck
3. Less chance of snoring
4. Better breathing and enhanced circulation
5. Relief of neck pain and tingling in the arms and hands
6. Overall better posture during the day
7. Promotes deeper sleep
8. Relief from chronic neck pain, especially neck pain from arthritis in the neck
9. More comfort for sleeping on your back or on your side

It is important to maintain our bodies, by investing in the pain relieving support pillow that’s right for you!

Natural Muscle Pain Reliver

Exercising is one of the most popular ways of maintaining your weight and keeping yourself healthy. It burns excess fats and keeps your blood in healthy circulation. However, exercise is known to create muscle pains ad cramps. Athletes are often the victim of this condition, and can testify how painful muscle cramps can be. Muscle cramping can be debilitating and crippling, unless you rely on the Biofreeze muscle pain reliever. Natural pain relievers are gaining popularity, as there are no side affects to them.

Biofreeze Pain Reliever is one of the best options for pain relief at home. In order to provide maximum comfort, apply Biofreeze generously before and after a workout. This is helpful in post exercise recovery. In short, it is something that relaxes and opens the blood vessels. With this, you can improve the blood circulation. Biofreeze Pain Reliever helps you manage their pain, improve strength, and restore function to re-establish a normal lifestyle.

As heat increases the inflammation of any affected area which is in pain, a new process in treating an aching part of the body is done through cold therapy thus enabling the pain to subside in an instant. Just like the effect of an icepack. The only difference between this innovative product and an icepack is that, Biofreeze penetrates deep into the skin minimizing blood flow through the injured area thus, reducing the nerves to transmit pain stimuli to the central nervous system making the injured person feel less pain. With the use of this innovative product the swelling of the affected area is lessen giving the injured person comfort and relief.
Biofreeze is made from an herb called llex which is extracted from a holly plant. It came from South America and transported to Pennsylvania to be processed. The end product is called Biofreeze, the llex which is one of the ingredients, acts as a cold applicator which also allows an easy absorption of the gel into the skin thus soothing the affected area instantly.

There are so many uses of this cool product; it can be used for physical therapy, massage therapy, muscle and joint pains, sprain, arthritis and rheumatism pain, exercise and muscle pain due to excessive exercise and training. Numerous people are already using this as it is non-greasy and effective formula to all muscle and joint pains.

The product comes in a variety of forms and packaging. Gels are being packed into tubes; there are also wipes, spray and roll-on. Customers can take their pick as to what will suit their taste, comfort and convenience. There are also Biofreeze in smaller form like sachets, these serve as samples for users to try whether the product is really effective or not.

Foam Rollers for Exercise and Pain Relief

The very common complaints of pain, tight muscles, and limited range of motion during or after a workout, can be avoided. Most athletes or people working out on a regular basis will experience one or more of these problems occasionally. To prevent and eliminate these kinds of problems, Self Myofascial Release (SMR), also known as Foam Rolling should be integrated in your exercise regimen.

Foam exercise rollers are the simplest, most effective all-around self-maintenance tools you'll find for releasing tension in all the major chronic pain problem areas of your body. They will release and organize your musculature and release and align your skeleton.

Areas addressed using Foam Exercise Rollers:
Spine, Ribcage, Shoulder Girdle, Neck, Your Whole Back, Pelvis, Sacrum, Hips, Thighs, Calves, and Feet.

The Pilates foam roller is a simple piece of equipment made of high density foam, cut into a cylinder shape. The foam rollers have become popular in many modern Pilates studios. They are affordable, compact and easy to store, making them ideal for the home Pilates studio.

How does SMR work?

Place the foam roller on the floor and get to work. Use your whole bodyweight to roll over the foam roller and try to locate tender spots (so-called 'Hot Spots') that feel tight. Once you located a tight spot, you should hold that position until the pain diminishes or the spot feels softer (mostly 20-30 seconds).
Stretching for shoulders and chest: Lie down on your back on top of the roller, feet on the ground hips width apart, arms outstretched to the side, palms up, shoulder height. (Imagine looking like the letter "T") Relax the arms down to the floor letting gravity take over. Simply relax there for a few minutes to stretch the front of the chest and shoulders.

In addition to pain relieving, foam rollers are a great form of exercise as well. With a similar affect to the traditional Swiss ball, the roller provides an unstable surface to exercise on. This makes the exercises harder and results in increased activation of the core. It isn't recommended that beginners don't use the Pilates roller without proper instruction. They can be quite challenging, and if the exercises aren't performed correctly can result in injury. There are many basic exercises that can be done, as well as more advanced positions. Foam Roller Exercise Videos can be found on YouTube.

Aquatic Exersice and Therapy Equipment

Many people turn to the pool as an ideal location for fitness and a physical therapy routine. Whether the weather is warm and you are swimming outdoors, or if you choose to swim in an indoor pool year round, the pool environment offers a great deal of therapy benefits. Both for people who exercise on a regular basis to maintain a toned body, as well as keep in shape; And for the people who are recovering from an injury or surgery, and require physical therapy, the pool can be an excellent source for all your exercise needs when you have the right aquatic therapy equipment.

There are multiple benefits to aquatic exercise and aquatic physical therapy. Arthritis sufferers and those recovering from injuries will find that the pool serves as an ideal location for low impact exercise with just the right amount of resistance. Swimming is also an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise that not only gives you a full body workout, but also improves your posture by stretching your back. A variety of products are available that allow virtually anyone to not enjoy the pool, but to take advantage of the benefits of aquatic exercise and aquatic therapy.

For walking and running under water one you can use aquatic running shoes. Aquatic running is a very effective water therapy for reducing hyper tension and to improve the heath of coronary systems. Aquatic underwater treadmills are now a days being used very effectively to contain the cardio related problems and hypertension. Aquatic training shoes are used commonly to walk and run underwater in a swimming pool. These shoes are specially designed considering the buoyancy and water density. The underwater run, walk or jogging has many medically proved heath improvement features. Water jogging helps reduce tummy fat, as well as burn calories.

Water weight resistance is one of the best water weight training tools. It helps you tone muscle in numerous targeted areas and lose weight dramatically. Specialized web jogger gloves can be used. The intensity of the workout can be adjusted by cupping or flexing the webbed fingers.

Try using water weights as an excellent way to trim and tone your body. Aquatic weights can be worn around your waist, and easily allow you to swim and jog. Also try standrard water weights.

Due to the low impact characteristics of aquatic exercise, working out underwater may be a great solution for lower back problems. The AquaJogger Belt offers excellent lower back support you need in the water, while suspending the body at an ideal height for aquatic exercise. The AquaJogger's resilient closed-cell foam will not absorb water while the easy to use buckle insures a secure fit.

Pilates and Yoga Exercise Mats

Pilates has gained much popularity, and is now know as the most popular exercise method in the world. Its unconventional, easy to learn, and fantastic results are what pushes many to stick with the Pilates approach. The best way to work out with Pilates, is to invest in Pilates exercise mat. Pilates has you on the floor for most of the workout time, and so a good quality mat is of essence during exercising.
If you are not familiar with the world of Pilates, you may get a better picture of the basics involved if you compare it to yoga. While Pilates and yoga have many differences, they are similar in that they do not cause any impact to your joints, feet, or other body parts. At the same time, you will see your flexibility, muscle tone, endurance, and overall athleticism get better as you do a regular Pilates exercise routine. Pilates incorporates certain body movements into an overall workout, and there are many variations of basic workouts that can also provide specific results.
The right Pilates mat should have a number of different qualities.

First off the mat should be comfortable for your body.

The mat also should be well padded for extra comfort, to cushion the tailbone, knees, and elbows, without causing any abrasions to the skin. A Pilates mat is generally a half inch thicker than a yoga mat. However don’t go too thick, as a steady and firm base is necessary to work out on.

Be sure your pilates mat is large enough to easily maneuver through your workouts. It must be at least five feet in length, although six feet would be more appropriate for most bodies.

The material of which the mat is made should always be double checked, as often materials manufactured in commercial overseas factories tend to have a strong chemical odor.

Armed with the right yoga and pilates exercise mats, one can burn calories, sculpt their body, and feel great about themselves! It’s not that big of investment to go for it and get your body moving! Be sure to check out our Yoga and Pilates exercise mats which will surely satisfy you!

Shower Safety

Along with age, comes the reality of our body losing its high functioning mobility and independence. Taking our ability to move around without aid all our lives for granted abruptly comes to an end once you reach a certain age. There’s a certain point in everyone’s lives, in which we must face the reality of losing our usual mobile bodies. Thus, safety becomes a very important issue in our lives. Daily living becomes a means of concern, which are very strongly multiplied, when faced with dangerous situations, such as slippery surfaces like a shower or bathtub. The combination of water with a slippery surface puts the elderly at high risk of slips and falls in the shower or bathroom.
The problems for the elderly or disabled in the bathroom and shower are multifold. As such, precautionary measures must be taken to avoid dangerous accidents in the shower. It is of utmost importance to invest in the necessary bath and shower safety equipment.
Showers are usually accident prone due to the slippery surface. Installing a shower grab bar to provide that extra measure of support can make all the difference! A fixed handrail, strategically placed in the shower to allow easy entrance and exit, as well as a support system throughout the entire showering process can avoid otherwise fatal falls.
Bath stools are another great way to safely shower. An adjustable bath stool can be adjusted to the desired height. This provides a comfortable height for easy bending and effortlessly standing up and sitting down.
Using a shower pouch, such as the universal shower pouch, is an excellent way to keep all your personal shower necessities close by, without having to get up or reach out for it. A universal shower pouch attaches to any shower bench or as an attachment to the wall. Large pockets can hold many important bathing items needed during showering. Breathable materials allow water to drain.