Back Pain Articles

Hormone replacement therapy, now more commonly known as hormone therapy, use to be medical worlds standard treatment for those women suffering from hot flashes and other side effects of going through menopause. They also thought that it could help prevent osteoporosis and even heart disease.

In 2002 however; the minds of many in the medical field changed when they saw the results of a clinical test. What the test uncovered is that the hormone replacement therapy could actually be causing a lot more health hazards than benefits. As the doctors saw the increase of health hazards with women on this therapy they began to prescribe it less and less and a lot of women completely stopped it on their own when they heard the news about it may being dangerous.

Those who took the hormone replacement therapy were given estrogen and progestin. This therapy would ease some of the symptoms of menopause making life easier for the women going through a difficult menopause. The long term prescriptions for this are rarely given now, on occasion though, women are given the treatment for short term.

If the bioidentical hormone replacement is given short term, there still might be some health benefits. Over short periods of time, doctors have discovered that it can help lessen the chances of getting osteoporosis. If used moderately, the hormone therapy may still be able to lower the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Heart disease risk can be lowered if estrogen is given in the early stage of postmenopausal years but not throughout the entire cycle of menopause.

There are risks for taking hormone replacement therapy and women who are experiencing menopause should weigh the facts and figure out if menopause is causing that much disruption in their lives that it would be worth chancing the hazards that come with the therapy.

Long term use of the therapy actually increased the threat of heart disease in women who took the real therapy. Breast cancer appeared to increase with long term use. Strokes increased in women that took the long term therapy. There were also an increase in false positive mammograms.

On the other hand, if women only took estrogen did not seem to have an increase in heart disease or breast cancer, but; they did have an increase in strokes, blood clots in their legs and an increase in abnormal mammograms.

If your menopausal symptoms are far greater than the risk, you should talk to your doctor if the following things are bothering you the most. If you have severe hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms that are interfering with daily life. It has been discovered that you have lost bone mass and you have stopped having your period before the age of forty.

If you experience any of the above mentioned situations, it might be wise for you to consider the treatment anyway. Your doctor will be able to identify whether or not what you are experiencing is extreme enough to begin you on the hormone therapy.

Compounding pharmacists are professionals with specialized and trustworthy expertise in the medical field. Among the best within their industry, they have knowledge of procedures like the Bioidentical Hormone Replacement, or better known as the BHRT.

Rotator cuff injuries are becoming more common in society. The pain with rotator cuff injuries in generally associated with dull or sharp pains in the shoulder or upper arm. If you have frequent pain starting treatment is very important if you hope to recover.

People are getting older and living longer, that is probably the reason why shoulder and rotator cuff injuries are becoming more popular in today’s population. Getting older and staying active is the perfect combination for shoulder pain.

Several different issues can be associated with shoulder pain and injuries. Conditions like tendonitis and bursitis come to mind as being very common sources of shoulder pain. Beginning physical therapy can help start to ease the pain associated with your shoulder. This can be effective even if you have injured yourself while playing sports or if your pain is coming from accumulative damage.

No matter what the cause of your injury, or if you have been diagnosed with a specific condition, one thing is clear. You must eliminate the inflammation in and around you shoulder to reduce your symptoms of pain. This inflammation of tissues in your shoulder is the source of all of your discomfort.

Okay, here is the most important thing that you can do to begin rotator cuff injury treatment. You need to ice your shoulder. Actually the most effective therapy is cold compressive therapy. This is the most important thing that you can do to reduce your pain and discomfort. The swelling will be reduced allowing your to start moving your shoulder again without all the pain and discomfort.

You will see the best results if you apply this therapy shortly after you are active or after your exercise routine. I know, I know, you don’t need any more hassles in your life. But I promise you that a little ice will go a long way.

Rotator Cuff Injury Treatment can help end your pain and discomfort. Visit Rotator Cuff Injury Therapy and see for yourself how to eliminate your shoulder pain and discomfort.

It certainly seems as if stress is on the rise for everybody. Many changes in the world are causing much more stress today than ever before. Although we may not be able to avoid stress in our lives, we certainly can find ways to reduce its impact. There are a variety of ways at your disposal to help reduce the impact of stress on the body. One of the more convenient ways to do so is with a massage chair.

Stress is a normal reaction of the body. It is a reaction for self protection. When we come under stress, it activates our body to react. This reaction causes our bodies to be ready for action.

There are an infinite variety of things that can cause us stress. It can be as simple as not being able to pay the rent or more complex and our relationships with others. Whatever the cause, the reaction of our bodies to stress is all very similar.

Most of us are familiar with the fight or flight reaction. This reaction occurs when our body perceives danger. The body readies itself to either fight or to run away. In either case the body will shut down certain systems while enhancing others.

If we are in financial distress, then running away or fighting is not an appropriate response. This certainly will not make the problem go away. In fact it can cause it to grow much larger than cause even more stress later.

When you experience stress, many times it is not resolved immediately. The body reacts to stress which causes it to maintain tension in the body. If the stress is not resolved, then this tension is held over the body for sustained periods of time.

In order to combat the effects of stress on the body, we need ways to release the energy which is being provided because of the stress. Exercise helps to a large extent and massage therapy as well. These are both important elements to help to reduce the effects of stress on the body.

One effective method for relieving stress in the body is massage therapy. There are two major positive benefits of massage therapy which are relaxation and relief of tension. Relaxation is important to distract the mind while relieving the tension and stiffness in the body provides relief.

Counteracting the affects of stress is very important. The longer stress builds in the body, the more damage it can do. Counteracting stress as it began is the most effective way to stop it before it causes more negative effects.

Having a massage chair is a great way to counteract the effects of stress. When you start to come under stress, just take a quick full body massage. Let yourself relax so that your mind is not focused on your problems. This helps to relieve the tension that the body is under due to the stress.

Relaxation is best and used with soft and soothing music. Massage chairs have MP3 music players with headphones so that music can be played to distract you from your problems. When your mind relaxes, it enables the tension in your body to be relieved more effectively.

As the mind relaxes, it releases the tension in the body. This enables the massage chair to work more effectively on relieving the muscle stiffness. The stiffness causes aches and pains. As the massage begins to penetrate the muscles, it reduces the pain and stiffness. This leaves the body in a much more relaxed state.

All this come under stress at one time or another. The question is how we counteract the effects of stress. Massage chairs provide a natural way to relieve the negative effects of stress. They also assist you in reducing tension in the body before stress builds too much. Massage chairs are also a constant reminder to relax on a frequent basis.

Get all the Massage Chair Relief from tension, stress and anxiety on a daily basis. It is absolutely critical to counteract the symptoms from stress and anxiety. Daily use of massage chairs helps to keeps your stress in check before it reaches a crescendo. Try Omega Massage Chairs for daily stress relief and for the reduction of bodily stiffness.

Alzheimer’s is a painful disease to suffer through for the person with the disease and also for loved ones near the patient. It is a degenerative disease of the brain that gets progressively worse and can affect millions of people. Though it already affects many people, that number is expected to double in the next twenty years.

It is a very scary thought that so many people will experience Alzheimer’s either directly or indirectly, so it is very important to find solutions, senior home care, or ways to help manage Alzheimer’s for a loved one.

Alzheimer’s is a common disease, but many are unaware of its symptoms. Being aware of the symptoms can be very helpful because if you can catch the warning signs early, you can start developing a proactive approach for how to manage and deal with it. Catching the symptoms early can also help you decide if you will need senior home care.

The most common symptoms include – but are not limited to – memory loss that gets worse over time; impaired decision making abilities and making decisions that are completely out of character; and speech impairments. Just remember, these symptoms might be more pronounced with someone that has suffered serious head injuries or with someone who has a history of Alzheimer’s in the family.

If you are starting to suspect that one of your loved ones is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, you should immediately seek out a formal diagnosis from a reputable doctor. This physician will have to begin monitoring the person to spot any of the behavioral symptoms and whether or not it is impairing their daily functions and cognitive abilities.

Depending on how the prognosis comes out, this may be the time to decide if senior home care is your best option. This could also be the time to assign Power of Attorney just in case the patient is soon unable to make independent decisions. You should also expect to have regular appointments for continuing evaluations.

The best advice for Alzheimer’s patients is to form a proactive treatment plan. Before you immediately look toward pharmaceutical drugs, try some other methods such as selecting appropriate activities and joining an early stages Alzheimer’s social group. You should also try modifying their environment to something more comfortable and safe.

Do your best to keep the patient involved and interested in their own treatment. You should also not hesitate to discuss all the legal and financial matters that have to be resolved. These are also cases when you might consider turning to some senior home care services to help you get everything sorted out.

Jen has done general research on this subject in an effort to assist anyone in their search for understanding. When afflicted by dementia, Alzheimer’s or any kind of illness it assist s to find outside assistance. Senior home care can assist you with your day to day life. You can find a reputable home care agency in your local phone book, or on the internet.

Being diagnosed with any incurable disease is shocking, and rheumatoid arthritis is no different. If you have just received your diagnosis then you need to take time to process the situation and work out what happens next.

There is so much information on rheumatoid arthritis that it is hard to know where to start. Below I have details three points which I believe will help you to keep your focus and stay on track.

1. No two patients are ever the same. It is important to remember that you are an individual – you were before you had rheumatoid arthritis and you still are. Your reaction to treatments will be different from other peoples and as hard as it is you must try not to compare your self and your progress with others.

2. How to manage your pain. Pain management is an important aspect of any illness. Why do you need to manage pain? Pain can affect all sorts of areas of our lives. Although you may be able to live with a pain it does not mean that you should. Firstly, why should any one live in pain if it is not necessary? Secondly, there are side affects to living with pain – a patient may become irrational or emotional. This can have a devastating affect of areas of your personal life.

3. Physical changes – there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, but that does not mean that you will see your body change as per a text book description. There are medications and lifestyle changes which will affect how your body handles the arthritis. It is important to understand the overall picture of your health, but it is most important to deal with each aspect separately and not to get overwhelmed.

Now is a good time to evaluate what is important – top of your list should be quality of life. Happiness is one of the best treatments for anything. Rheumatoid arthritis does not mean that you have to give up living.

Remember that you do not have all the answers and that other people advice always has a value. It is for you to work through this advice and be responsible for your decisions. If you are not convinced by something then it is a lot less likely to succeed.

Remember, a negative environment breeds negativity, so surround yourself with positive people.

Read more Information On Arthritis. If you want to learn more about living with arthritis visit http://www.arthritis-wellbeing.com

When you think of a Chiropractor, you usually think of people with problems in their back or neck. You may know that Chiropractors perform adjustments to the spine to help align it better. You may not know that many Chiropractors are turning to massage chair therapy for their patients. Massage chair therapy provides a reliable and very consistent treatment for those in need of massage therapy.

A chiropractor is a licensed health care professional that is a specialist in spinal health. The main role of a chiropractor is diagnosing and specifying treatment of health issues involving the spine. Chiropractors are licensed by the state to practice health care to patients.

For those who have not been to a chiropractor office, here is what you may experience. Most likely you will have an initial consultation with the chiropractor. They will walk you through a series of questions to determine back issue you may have. The may suggest some lab tests or may take some X-rays for further evaluation.

The chiropractor will look for the main causes of the problems that you are reporting. Tests are used to further validate or invalidate the input you provide. A chiropractor is interested in restoring your spine back to it fullest healthy condition.

Chiropractors are trained to get your spine back to its prior state of health. They are trained to use their hands to apply many forms of treatments. They may manipulate, adjust or realign your spine to restore it back to its full capability.

When a chiropractor makes adjustments, it is usually to the back or neck. These adjustments often result in loud popping sounds and slight contortions of the body as the chiropractor exerts pressure on muscle and the spinal column. Before their first adjustment many individuals are concerned that a spinal adjustment will be painful. But, done correctly by an experienced chiropractor these adjustments are far from painful and actually bring immediate relief.

Chiropractors use also work on the soft tissue that surrounds and supports the spine. These are the tendons and muscles that also need some therapy to help restore them. Popular treatments are electro-stimulation and massage therapy.

If electro stimulation is recommended, then low voltage electricity is passed through the muscle or soft tissue. The low voltage electricity is used to stimulate the muscle. This helps provide relaxation and increase the flexibility of the muscle and other soft tissues.

Massage therapy is used to help treat the muscles and soft tissues. Massage chairs provide a multitude of massage techniques and can target specific areas or can be used for a full body massage. Massage chairs allow the patient to sit down and relax while obtaining a massage. This is used to relax patients and to prepare them for an adjustment.

The use of medications or surgery is not used in the chiropractic practice. If the chiropractor feels that this is necessary for your condition, he or she will direct you to a physician. The goal of the chiropractor is to get your body to be able to sustain is healing process in a natural way.

Doctors of chiropractic medicine are holistic health practitioners. They are examining the symptoms and then work to determine the root cause. Once they know where issues are originating, then they will develop a treatment for your situation. The most common treatments are adjustments, massage chair therapy and electro-stimulation.

As with any possible medical condition, it is always best to obtain advice from your health care provider. They can provide you the best options for your situation. If you are interested in natural therapies, then mention this to your doctor so they recommend what is best for you.

If you suffer from low back or upper shoulder discomfort, then you should discover more about Massage Chair Therapy and how you can relieve stress and tension. discover about the best massage chairs by viewing our Massage Chair Reviews for the perfect chair.

Fibromyalgia can be very difficult to cope with successfully. Dealing with the physical and psychological effects of fibromyalgia can be devastating. You are beyond exhausted and sometimes the energy is just not there to perform your daily routine. Massage chairs can be very helpful to get you and your body in a better state of relaxation and comfort.

Unfortunately, there is not much knowledge regarding this condition, other than we know it is real. Although there are mysteries regarding it involved. Coping with fibromyalgia is work. Here are some things that you can do to find some relief with this condition. These coping strategies are explained below.

Medication: As with any medical condition with painful symptoms, your doctor may prescribe medication. Some medications may be for dealing with the psychological side as depression can occur. Other medications may be to ease, dull or stop the pain on a temporary basis. There may be some natural ways to help you in this respect and be sure to ask your health professional which options may be right for you.

Nutrition: Eating the right foods and supplements are important to help your body deal with the impact of fibromyalgia. A balanced diet helps the body to have the proper sources of energy. Your body and muscles require sufficient nutrition to minimize the effects of FMS.

Sleep: Get consistent sleep. Create the best possible sleep environment. You can make the room dark. You may want an electric blanket to ensure the bed is warm to prevent any pain triggers, such as muscle spasms. Prepare for sleep ahead of time to promote relaxation qualities. A warm bath or shower prepares you for sleep by promoting relaxation qualities. Make your bed comfortable with extra pillows and blankets.

Mental attitude: One of the most important elements to reduce the symptoms of FMS is your mental attitude. If you are positive and look on the bright side of life, you have much more energy to deal with any negative symptoms. Beware that being negative about the situation can lead to greater depression. Certainly, being positive doesnt imply that you are happy with the situation, but it will give you a much better perspective and balance going forward.

Fitness: Keeping your body in shape is always critical in all aspects of life, much more so with fibromyalgia. Stiffness and muscle aches are enhanced when the body is in poorer shape than in better shape. Start a light stretching and light aerobics program to get in better shape. If you are going to suffer pain, it might as well be from exercise. In this case, make pain your gain.

Massage therapy: Some health professionals think that fibromyalgia stems from an excess of lactic acid. In a patient with fibromyalgia there are 18 or greater tender areas that when touched create a shooting pain through the body. Massage therapy has been known to significantly help these areas by releasing any build up of this lactic acid. The noted spots of tenderness are then massaged and although it can be uncomfortable at first it can help these areas to decrease pain.

Massage chairs are very effective in delivering a consistent and frequent massage for fibromyalgia suffers. These massage chairs allow you to target areas with specific massage techniques or movements. This helps to loosen tight muscles and help to relieve soreness. There are numerous massage treatments performed by massage chairs. Some massage chairs come equipped with heating elements, music and even traction systems.

Fibromyalgia patients cannot totally alleviate all of the symptoms that plague them. However you can learn to cope more effectively. You have to establish new habits and take care of your body. Get the right tools, like a massage chair to help to relieve aches, pains and stiffness in the muscles. Consult with your doctor regarding the above coping strategies and find out any additional recommendations.

Discover natural ways to cope with FMS. A Massage Chair provides needed relief on your schedule. The convenience of a massage chair is unprecendented. Find out more about the types of massages. Persuse Massage Chair Reviews and compare the best massage recliners in the market.

Stress just seems to be part of our lives like eating and breathing. There are more demands placed on us over shorter time periods than perhaps ever in the history of mankind. In the days of old, stress was usually from physical danger. If you were a pioneer for example, then the seeing of indians would definitely cause stress as the pioneer surely feared physical harm. This type of stress is called the flight or fight reaction. However, in modern times most of our stress is mental and not physical. Yet our bodies have the same reaction to mental stress as they do to physical stress.

What happens when we come under stress? Our body’s natural reactions take over. Our breathing is increased as well as our heart rate. The major organs shut down all but the most vital functions to support hands and feet. Adrenaline is released to get the body primed for taking action. We feel a nervousness and tension as we are facing the unknown. All this chemical reaction is occurring with the build up of a physical action about to take place. However, when the stress is mental there is no physical release.

Stress management is learning how to cope with stress, redirect its energy and release it from the body. We may not be able to eliminate stress from our lives, but we can have strategies to deal with it positively. If you could take the heightened affects of being under stress and put it to positive pursuits, then we are working stress management. The toughest element of stress management is to release it physically.

Effective stress management requires a physical outlet to release the chemicals that the body is releasing when under stress. Physical exertion is one of the best methods, since that is what the body is primed to do. Another excellent method to release stress is massage therapy. There are many benefits with massage therapy. It is great to loosen up tight muscles and relieve tension. It can relax the organs in the body activated by the stress reaction. It will release toxins that are in our muscles and help to flush them out of our system. And best of all it helps us relax our mind and bring harmony back to the body.

Receiving massage therapy from a masseuse is an excellent method to help you relax. It may not always be convenient, so another method is with a massage chair. The massage chair recliners on the market today are very advanced. They offer all the top massage techniques like Shiatsu, deep tissue, Swedish, sports, reflexology and many others. All of these techniques relieve tired, aching and sore muscles. They can target specific areas like your neck and shoulders where stress seems to build up. They will improve your circulation of the blood and lymph systems. These systems remove the chemicals that build up in our body which are in need of periodic flushing.

Massage cannot eliminate the causes of stress. Stress comes in many forms and individuals all respond differently to them. However, massage therapy can be an essential tool in stress management. Especially massage chairs which offer unprecedented convenience and availability. These massage chairs offer full body massage capability. They can massage from head to toe. Many advanced massage chairs have stretching capabilities to elongate and relax the lower body. They also may have built in music players which help take your mind off the mental stresses impacting you.

Stress management is about having the right set of tools to effectively redirect, neutralize and release the affects of stress. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to sit down in a massage recliner. Let it start to ease your aches and pains. Release the build up of tension in the shoulder and neck areas. Take your mind off the stressful situation for 15 or 20 minutes. Give you a chance to regroup, rethink your situation with a fresh mind and body. A massage chair recliner can be a very effective and convenient tool in your stress management tool box.

Get an effective battery of Stress Management tools with the best massage chairs available on the market today. We present the top manufacturers like Omega, Sanyo and Panasonic. Leisurely browse our library of articles to help you research and decides what is right for your needs. Check out the Montage Premier or the DR7700 for daily stress relief.

Growing older is associated with more aches and more pains.

Doing things we used to take for granted, such as exercising or working in the yard, take a higher toll on us, and it takes us much longer to recover. This is an expected part of growing older, but hundreds of thousands of children also feel this often debilitating pain.

What starts as discomfort or minor irritation can become severe pain. For some, juvenile arthritis can be debilitating.

Juvenile arthritis causes joints to become inflamed, which limits their range of motion. It is an autoimmune disease which can affect the rate of growth in children because it strikes just when young bodies are growing. The effects can be minor or severe, depending on the child and the type of juvenile arthritis from which they suffer.

It is common for children with juvenile arthritis to experience stiffness in their joints in the morning.

If a child experiences this and other symptoms of juvenile arthritis that do not abate after six weeks, and there is no other medical cause for the pain or discomfort, then juvenile arthritis is often diagnosed. This disease is not diagnosed by a single test but must be made when other conditions have been ruled out.

Most often, a pediatric rheumatologist will be the one to finalize the diagnosis, as they specialize in arthritis in children.

It is vital to a child for their parents and care givers to understand their disease in order to have realistic physical expectations of them. This joint pain and inflammation is very real and can be very painful.

Within the category of juvenile arthritis, there are three subsets from which children may suffer. If a child suffers from inflammation and pain in four joints or less, then they have pauciarticular juvenile arthritis. Those who have five or more joints affected have polyarticular juvenile arthritis. Some children have one or more joints and internal organs which are inflamed. This is known as systemic onset juvenile arthritis.

The goal of juvenile arthritis treatment is to relieve pain and treat symptoms. First, inflammation must be controlled. It is also important to try to minimize joint damage and to retain mobility.

Exercising to keep the joints from tensing and becoming inflamed will be an element of a child’s therapy.

Exercise can be used in conjunction with relaxation techniques characteristic of yoga and meditation to help ease the stress within the joints. Splints can also be used during hours of sleep to prevent morning stiffness.

It is important to consult with specialists in juvenile arthritis, particularly if the child’s condition is severe.

Pediatric rheumatologists and primary care physicians are important members of the health team. Any and all signs of inflammation should be checked because juvenile arthritis can affect bodily functions.

Depression can also be a factor for children with juvenile arthritis. Often, they are not able to participate in the same activities as their peers, which can cause feelings of low self-worth or low self-esteem.

It is vital to understand the child’s feelings and maximize their potential by highlighting their abilities rather than their limitations.

Stress is detrimental to health and serves no purpose in the treatment of juvenile arthritis. Therefore be sure to reassure the child in a way the causes them the least amount of stress.

The use of Reishi as an herbal remedy dates back longer than any other medicinal mushroom in historic literature. The first written record can be found in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic, dating back two thousand years. Reishi (a.k.a. Ganoderma or Ling Zhi) is often considered a panacea ” cure-all ” in Traditional Chinese Medicine. While it may not be literally accurate to refer to Reishi as a cure-all, the fact that it appears to act as an inflammation modulator may be one of many reasons for its age-old veneration in the Orient.

While researching scientific papers in preparation for this article, seventeen out of nineteen presented positive results in using Reishi extract to treat inflammatory conditions. This appears to validate the traditional use of the herb in China, where it has long been used as an analgesic, and prescribed to treat inflammation and arthritis. Only two studies out of the nineteen that are referenced for this article showed inconclusive results. Both of those studies were conducted at the same institution. (1,2)

Regarding anti-inflammatory properties in general, a study out of India (2003) demonstrated that Reishi decreased inflammation in cases of acute or chronic edema by 56% and 60% respectively. (3) An earlier American study (1993) had already shown that, water extracts of G. pentaphyllum and G. lucidum [Reishi] were found to possess significant anti-inflammatory activity. (4) In the references are seven additional papers listed which all conclude that Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) possesses potent anti-inflammatory qualities. (5,6,7,8,9,10,11)

Other research has been conducted on Reishi extract that relate specifically to arthritis. In 2006, Kenneth Blum et al. published findings in support of both the effectiveness and safety of using Reishi extract for “joint health,” providing “clinical evidence” to back up their claim. (12)

Also in 2006, a paper by Xi Bao et al. concluded that Reishi in conjunction with another Chinese herbal remedy might exert a beneficial immunomodulatory effect in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. (13)

Just how Reishi accomplishes its beneficial influence on arthritis may have been stumbled upon by Ho et al. in 2007 (14) when they discovered that GL-PP [Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide peptide] helped to significantly reduce one of the causative agents of rheumatoid arthritis known as RASF, short for “Rheumatoid Arthritis Synovial Fibroblasts.”

A number of other studies also report positive findings for using Reishi extract with arthritis (15,16,17) One of them even reports favorable results in comparing Reishi with prednisone, and without the side effects. (18) Furthermore, a different study found that supplementation with Reishi extract actually helped to balance the side effects of prednisolone experienced by some patients, including proteinuria and cell toxicity. (19) (Prednisone breaks down in the body to form prednisolone, which is the active compound.)

In conclusion, the majority of research on the use of Reishi extract for inflammation or arthritis appears to support its effectiveness. Please remember that it is very important to always consult a licensed medical doctor before using any herb for medicinal purposes.

Name clarification: The Japanese name Reishi includes many closely related species. By far the most prevalent is Ganoderma lucidum (Common Reishi or Red Reishi), a species rare in the U.S. but common in South East Asia. The English common name for Ganoderma lucidum is Varnished Conk. In China, its known as Ling Zhi.

Several closely related species of Ganoderma also go by the name of “Reishi”. Most common of these are the Hemlock Reishi (Ganoderma tsugae) found on Hemlocks in the Appalachian Mountains, and the Chinese species “Black Reishi” (Ganoderma sinense). Less common are Ganoderma resinaceum (sometimes called “Red Reishi,” although that name is more often used for G. lucidum), Ganoderma neo-japonicum (no common name other than “Reishi”), and Ganoderma japonicum (Purple Reishi).