Back Pain Articles

Sometimes, you may hear people expressing a curiosity about chiropractic care. Some people wonder if it actually works to treat pain. Others wonder what type of injuries are suitable for receiving treatment. If you are unsure of what to expect from a chiropractor, some of the following information can prepare you for the experience.

For those who have been experiencing pain such as from a back injury or feeling as if they may have injured a muscle, a chiropractic visit can be a wise choice. This way, you can discover what might be causing the pain that you are experiencing and get proper treatment for it. Making use of these options first can reduce your need for pain medication in the longer run.

Your first appointment with the chiropractor might be very general. You will likely be asked what specific problems you have been encountering and the intensity of your pain. Your chiropractor will then probably give you an examination. You might also need to have a few tests done while you are at the office. These are usually nothing uncomfortable or even major, but just simple tests like x-rays to see what is going on in the body. Your chiropractor might also perform some tests to see what your current range of motion is on your first visit.

It isn’t unusual to receive an adjustment on the first visit to your chiropractor. Depending on what is causing your pain and the severity of the issue, you might receive treatment in the same day. Other times, adjustments and treatments might be schedule for another time in the future. The main point of the first visit is to get an adequate examination and make a diagnosis.

After diagnosis, your chiropractor will likely want to talk to you about a treatment plan. This will tell you how many adjustments you will need for proper alignment. You might also have different treatments explained to you or be given an estimation of what your recovery time may be.

However, chiropractic care is not just about adjustments. You might also be given treatments to soothe your pain, such as heating pads or a deep tissue massage. These may also be done after adjustments to soothe the area that has been treated and help ease any other underlying tensions in your body.

People sometimes make a mistake of allowing themselves to receive treatment once and then fail to follow up with their chiropractor for the accompanying treatments afterward. For this reason, people can still feel pain after their initial adjustment. You should complete the treatment plan that you discuss with your chiropractor for your optimal performance.

The point of chiropractic treatment is to ease pain and prevent it from worsening or reoccurring. Make sure that you continue your treatment plan after it has been created so that you get the most benefit out of your treatment. It may take some time for you to notice the full results, but you should feel the difference positively as time progresses.

Sometimes people express a little bit of skepticism when it comes to the topic of chiropractic care Westchester ny and if it actually works. Other times people are even uncertain of if they should take a potential injury to a chiropractor Westchester ny for examination.

Siberian chaga mushroom appears as a black mass on birch trees, dead or alive. Occasionally, it may also be seen growing on hornbeam, ash, elm or beech.

In Europe and Asia, chaga has been used for centuries to treat cancers of the heart and liver, digestive ailments, and tuberculosis. [121]

Traditionally, the black “skin” of the mushroom was removed and the light inside boiled into tea. As a naturally compact remedy, it was conveniently portable to ancient healers.

Today’s scientific focus on chaga extract is primarily as an anti-tumor remedy. In fact, it was approved in Russia as a cancer drug already in 1955, successfully used to treat cancers of the stomach, lungs, breasts and cervix. [122]

A modern study conducted in 1998 showed that chaga extract does indeed inhibit the growth of cervical cancer cells under laboratory conditions. [123] Another study from the mid-90’s found the active compound betulin to cause growth inhibition and death of melanoma cells, also in lab. [124, 25]

Additional research has shown cancer cell division to be decreased by some of the active compounds of the chaga mushroom. [125, 126]

The black color of chaga is caused by betulin, a medicinally active compound that makes up 30% of the skin. [127] The lighter inside of the mushroom is rich in fungal lanostanes. So chaga tea may be more effective if made with the whole mushroom, including the skin.

The best chaga extracts are made not only from the whole mushroom fruit body but also the mycelia (”roots”), which contain more medically active protein compounds than the fruit bodies.

Other researchers have found chaga extract to be potently anti-viral. Two studies in 1996 found it to have an inhibitory effect on both influenza [127] and HIV. [128] Perhaps it does so by helping to stimulate the body’s natural immune functions, something that was first confirmed in 2002 and then again in 2005, [25, 129] and which may also help explain the historical use of chaga mushroom as an anti-inflammatory. [130]

Furthermore, alcohol extract of chaga mushroom has been found to lower blood sugar levels. [131] Chaga also demonstrates significant antioxidant properties that help protect the genetic integrity of the cells. [132, 133]

As an amusing aside not related to human health, Siberian chaga may even be used as a tree medicine. Paul Stamets relates a story of a Quebec arborist using a chaga poultice to heal chestnut blight. Not only does it cure the tree, but the tree even becomes resistant to further infections of blight after having been treated. [134]

Note: The statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Never use any medicinal mushroom or herb without prior approval by medical doctor.

Credits: Thank you, Paul Stamets, for research references.

Dr. Rafael has worked with natural health since finishing Chiropractic College in 1996. He currently focuses on medicinal fungi in cooperation with Cordyceps Reishi Extracts, LLC, a U.S. business offering Siberian Chaga Mushroom Extract and much more. For the research references to this article, go to the Chaga Extract page and click on any number indicating a reference.

The market is now full of products to say they can relieve joint apin and arthritis and there is a new supplement drink called supple which claims that the drink if taken every day will help to relieve joint pain. The drink will show best results when taken with a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

The promoters of supple drink claim it has powerful ingredients and that over 13 million people use their product. The plan consists of you having 1 bottle per day and they claim that you should feel significant results just after 7 days. They even give you a 30 day money back guarantee. One of the main advantages of a drink compared to tablets is that it is easier to absorb which leads to a greater beneficial effect.

The drink contains glucosamine and chondrotiin. Studies have shown that both of these supplements taken together have better results. The two substances are known to relieve joint pain and are taken by many people as supplements and in tablet form. Other substances in the drink are vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

The results are varied. With most people the result take around 90 days to feel some difference and not the seven days that the website says. Results also depends on your lifsestyle and your excercises that you do. Your weight also has an effect and how much strain on the joints. The drink does however help in weight loss.

The website also claims that it helps in weight loss. Having heavy weight can give large strain on the joints. The drink provides you with the building blocks of cartilage which helps to rebuild and strengthen the joint. The ingredients found in supple facilitate joint repair and inhibit oxidative injury. The health drink only has 30 calories.

Overall the drink does work but there are cheaper options such as getting the same supplements over the counter.

You can find out more information on the Supple Drink and read reviews from real people at http://www.suppledrink.info Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Whilst walking barefoot through a Korean rice field, Swiss engineer Karl Muller noticed that his back pain – which was a perennial problem for him – was very much reduced. Curious, he performed a little research and found that the Masai tribesmen of Africa are famous for their excellent posture and do not suffer from back pain.

Muller came to the conclusion that walking barefoot on soft ground was better for your back and joints than walking on a hard surface. He decided to design a shoe which would mimic the effect of walking on a soft yielding surface such as grass or sand.

Muller eventually developed the Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) range of footwear. It is so different to normal shoes that it needs to be thought of as the “anti-shoe”.

MBT shoes incorporate a specially developed curved sole without a heel, which produces a rolling action when your foot makes contact with the ground. It’s just like walking on sand in your bare feet in fact. The use of materials of different densities also contributes to the effect by further lowering jarring and impact shock.

The fact that this is better for your back and joints has now been verified by independent scientific studies. In addition to improved posture, there are evn more benefits. For example, whilst walking normally wearing MBT shoes, the user’s muscles are in use for a longer period of time (when compared to normal walking in conventional shoes). The muscles are active for around about 16% longer. Users also tend to take fractionally shorter strides – both of these effects increase the amount of work being done.

The result of this is that each step you take wearing MBT shoes will provide you with additional exercise. It’s like a lower body workout when you walk around. So, as well as improving posture and lowering back pain, MBT shoes can help to firm up your buttocks and tone your legs.

You might think that that would be enough. In spite of all these benefits, some people find MBT shoes to be a bit chunky and less than pleasing to the eye. They also cost a little more than standard shoes – although you might be more than happy to pay a little extra if you suffer with back pain of course. Luckily, there are now other options available which work along the same lines and which are more pleasing to the eye. Both Fitflops and Skechers Shape Ups use similar curved soles which promote increased muscular activity and help to trim and tone both legs and buttocks whilst engaged in nothing more exhausting than normal walking activity.

Whichever brand of footwear you go for, the opportunity to reduce back pain and trim your lower body at the same time – all whilst doing nothing more energetic than walking normally – seems to be very attractive.

Check out MBT shoes or cast your eye over the Fitflops range.

For two millennia, medicinal mushrooms have been mainstream in Asia. Now, America is taking notice and interest is rapidly “mushrooming.” With the sprouting of this new industry follows issues of ethical quality claims between competing brands.

This information applies to all species of medicinal mushrooms. For practical purposes, this article will focus on the most popular medicinal mushroom species, red reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), over which the most intense battle of conflicting claims is being fought.

First off, stay clear of cheap, mass-produced medicinal mushrooms. If they are just dried and pulverized, then the medicinal compounds are still inaccessible behind the mushrooms’ cell-walls. You’ll be wasting your money on inert matter.

Then there are the real therapeutic grade red reishi brands, which are produced with much more care. But even here there are big differences between brands. Each claims to be the best, of course, because they want to sell their product. So lets set the facts straight and be independently informed consumers.

Below are three common methods for extracting medicinal compounds from reishi. Each method results in different compounds. All groups have been shown to have therapeutic effects in scientific studies.

1. Hot Water Extraction (polysaccharides, etc.)

2. Alcohol/Ethanol Extraction (triterpenoids, etc.)

3. Fermented (arabinoxylanes, etc.)

The water soluble compounds, primarily polysaccharides, are powerful anti-tumor agents, immune enhancers and strong antioxidants. [1]

Triterpenoids include a large number of related medicinal compounds whose proven effects include stabilization of blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood clotting. But most importantly, the triterpenoids are the anti-inflammatory compounds of reishi. [1] Inflammation is a serious component in asthma, allergies, arthritis and many more conditions.

Less researched are the “secondary metabolites” that come from fermenting reishi. “Secondary” because they result when the original medicinal compounds get broken down by bacteria. These new compounds have been shown to possess therapeutic properties that are unique, including immune enhancement, anti-tumor and blood-sugar regulation. [2]

This article is not meant to recommend any particular brand so none will be mentioned by name. But the author does know of two reishi companies (Japanese and American) that both claim only hot water extract of reishi is effective and that alcohol extracts are of no use.

They do that, of course, because they wish to sell their products. However, there is no scientific validity to those claims. All three extraction methods listed above yield important medicinal compounds.

To determine if a brand of reishi (or Ganoderma) contains all the important medicinal compounds from the mushroom, find out if it utilizes both alcohol and hot water extraction. An additional plus would be if it also includes fermented reishi.

As a last point, when you look for the best reishi extract, one thing to look at is the form it comes in. For example, any reishi extract that fully dissolves in a water-based liquid such as coffee probably only contains hot water extracted reishi. So while reishi/ganoderma coffee certainly makes for a superbly delicious and healthy cup loaded with polysaccharides, it won’t include the important anti-inflammatory triterpenoids.

On the other hand, alcohol tinctures can actually contain both water soluble polysaccharides and alcohol soluble triterpenoids. The way you know is that the polysaccharides will fall out of solution because of the alcohol, and will make the tincture cloudy. That’s alright though; you just need to shake before you take. Capsules and tablets may be one or the other or both. The only way to know is ask the manufacturer or read their information.

[1] Boh B, Berovic M, Zhang J, Zhi-Bin L. “Ganoderma lucidum and its pharmaceutically active compounds.” Biotechnol Annu Rev. 2007;13:265-301.

[2] Tang YJ, Zhang W, Zhong JJ. “Performance analyses of a pH-shift and DOT-shift integrated fed-batch fermentation process for the production of ganoderic acid and Ganoderma polysaccharides by medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum.” Bioresource Technology 2009 Mar;100(5):1852-9.

Dr. Rafael has worked in the health field since the early 90’s, recently focusing on medicinal mushrooms. He partners with Davida Sara on red reishi extract and cordyceps extract plus the newly popular mesima mushroom and many more.

In a recent study, polyDNA interviewed people who were taking the antiviral supplement Gene-Eden for a few weeks. The objective was to collect data about their physical reactions to the supplement. The result of analysis was surprising. It showed that the participants were experiencing better, more refreshing sleep, compared to the time prior to taking the supplement.

Natural antiviral and sleep?

Although mostly unknown by the general public, many recent studies showed that an infection with a chronic virus can cause sleeping problems, and that antiviral medications can solve these problems. For instance, a study conducted by Professor Jose G. Montoya and a team of scientists from the School of Medicine at Stanford University, demonstrated the effectiveness of the antiviral drug valganciclovir. In the study, the scientists gave the drug to participants with both sleeping problems and a high concentration of chronic viruses. The results showed that after taking the drug, 75% of the participants experienced much better sleep.

How are these studies related to Gene-Eden?

Gene-Eden is an all natural, broad range, antiviral dietary supplement that targets many of the most common viruses during their latent or chronic phase. Some of these viruses include the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Herpes Simplex virus (HSV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Varicella Zoster virus (VZV), Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).

The supplement’s formulation includes five compounds. To find these compounds, the scientists at polyDNA first downloaded thousands of scientific papers, than analyzed these papers with their in-house, proprietary bio-informatics software, and then used the results of the analysis to find the most powerful and safe compounds.

Some of the scientific studies that show the strong antiviral effect of the five ingredients are listed on the Gene-Eden website at http://www.gene-eden.com.

Also, as expected from the science-based development process, users of the antiviral supplement report great clinical results.

What is the advantage of Gene-Eden over traditional sleeping aids like Ambien and melatonin?

The Consumer Reports website writes that “Most sleep drugs are supposed to be taken for no longer than two weeks or so, and continued use could lead to serious side effects or dependency; “rebound” insomnia, in which sleeplessness returns and might actually worsen; memory lapses; and hallucinations.”

What causes these side effects? The new chemistry in the user’s brain. Sleeping pills create an artificial chemistry in the user’s brain. However, this artificial chemistry is artificial. This chemistry is very different from the natural chemistry typical of natural sleep, and as such, is associated with serious side effects.

Moreover, the brain is adoptive. It learns fast. When the artificial chemistry becomes the standard chemistry night after night, the brains changes its own chemistry and becomes dependent on the pills for sleeping.

In contrast to these artificial sleeping aids, Gene-Eden targets the chronic viruses in the body that cause the sleeping problems. Gene-Eden does not create an artificial chemistry. It recreates the more natural, healthy internal environment, typical of people with little or no chronic viruses, people who experience uninterrupted, refreshing sleep.

Would you like to read more about Gene-Eden? See the “About Sleep” webpage at http://www.gene-eden.com/sleep.htm. Would you like to learn about other dangers associated with chronic viruses? Visit the very interesting web page on the Gene-Eden website that describes the highly acclaimed scientific discovery by Dr. Hanan Polansky on the relationship between chronic viruses and major diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, or even accelerated aging. This page can be found at http://www.gene-eden.com/Gene-Eden.htm.

Gene-Eden is available on Amazon.com.

About: More information on Gene-Eden, the science-based, all natural, antiviral supplement that targets the most common viruses, including flu virus, EBV, CMV, HSV, VZV, HBV, HCV, and HPV, is available on the Gene-Eden website. Looking to buy Gene-Eden? Visit Amazon.com.

The immune system is powerful, yet delicate. Many events outside or inside our body can damage it. For instance, are you stressed? Are you taking medications to lower your cholesterol or blood pressures, or to control other long term conditions? Do you use your cell phone extensively? Do you live or work next to a cell phone antenna? Did you pass the age of 40? Stress, medications, radiation (UV, x-Ray, cell phone, etc), and aging damage your immune system.

How is the immune system protecting you? By controlling the number of latent or chronic viruses living in your body. Many viruses infect us and stay with us for life. Some of the most common viruses are the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Herpes Simplex virus (HSV), Varicella Zoster virus (VZV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

What happens if the immune system is less efficient? The chronic viruses in your body multiply and cause major diseases, such as such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and even arthritis, heart disease, asthma, cancer, diabetes, and accelerated aging. (Would you like to read scientific research on the link between chronic viruses and these diseases? Visit http://www.gene-eden.com/Gene-Eden.htm.)

How do viruses cause major diseases? And what can you do to stop them?

Let?s start by taking one disease, cancer, as an example. The process in the other diseases is similar (see below). Scientists believe that cancer results from a genetic mutation. For instance, they believe that breast cancer results from a mutation in the BRCA1 gene. This belief makes sense, since the BRCA1 gene produces a protein (with the same name) that stops the cell from replicating, and therefore, prevents it from turning into a tumor. However, here is the mystery. Only 5% of the breast cancer patients have a mutated gene. What about the other 95% of the patients? What causes cancer in the patients that don?t have a mutation?

In 2003, Dr. Hanan Polansky unraveled this mystery. In his ?purple book,? he explained how the other 95% of the patients develop breast cancer without having a mutated gene.

Hundreds of scientific papers showed that most people are infected with chronic viruses. (Do you want to know which chronic viruses reside in your body? Ask your doctor for a simple blood test, or visit the Gene-Eden website at http://www.gene-eden.com/immune.htm for detailed instructions.) According to Dr. Hanan Polansky, these viruses are genetic parasites. They compete with the human genes for a scarce genetic resource. In high numbers, the viruses win the competition, ?starve? the human genes, and disrupt their production of proteins. Starved human genes behave as if they are mutated. (They are not, but to a puzzled scientist they look like they are mutated!) And without the needed proteins, the cell stops functioning properly, and the infected host develops a major disease.

Want a more detailed description of Dr. Hanan Polansky?s discovery, especially designed for the general public? Visit http://www.gene-eden.com/Gene-Eden.htm.

A starved BRCA1 gene and the resulting breast cancer represent just one “cause and effect” example. When a chronic virus starves another gene, called CD18, the host develops atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and stroke. When it starves the TF gene, it causes autoimmune diseases, such as juvenile diabetes, lupus, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and the list (unfortunately) goes on and on.

Why is Dr. Hanan Polansky?s discovery important?

It is important since it inspired the scientists at polyDNA to develop the antiviral supplement Gene-Eden, which, for the first time, targets, the cause and not the symptoms of the major diseases.

Gene-Eden is a natural, broad range, antiviral dietary supplement that targets viruses during their latent or chronic phase. The supplement?s formulation includes five compounds. To find these compounds, the scientists at polyDNA first downloaded thousands of scientific papers, than analyzed these papers with their in-house, proprietary bio-informatics software, and then used the results of the analysis to find the most powerful and safe compounds. Would you like to read the clinical and laboratory studies, which were published in scientific journals and show that the five compounds have a strong antiviral effect? Then visit the Gene-Eden website. Also, as would be expected from the rigorous process used by the scientists at polyDNA, users of Gene-Eden report significant improvements in their health.

About: To find out more about Gene-Eden, the antiviral dietary supplement that targets the most common chronic viruses, including flu virus, EBV, CMV, HSV, VZV, HBV, HCV, and HPV, visit the Gene-Eden website. Gene-Eden is available on Amazon.com.

Workouts for Travelers

Excited about going on vacation? While traveling is fun, simply getting to a vacation destination-whether by plane, train, bus or car-often involves extended periods of immobility. Hours of inactivity associated with air travel-first in the airport waiting lounge and then on the plane may leave you achy and sore before your vacation has even begun!

L. Leiber, from the Univ. of California, Berkeley is offering some great suggestions on how to combat the problem of travel related body stress.

Seated Exercises

What can you do when you find yourself in the captivity of an airport lounge? Try some of these exercises for improved posture.

Put your feet on the floor, just a couple inches away from each other.

Sit up straight.

Take your hips to the neutral position. Do this by bringing it vertical.

Push your shoulders down, away from your ears.

Breathe in, then exhale. When you exhale, be sure to pull your abs in. Do this after every seated exercise.

Figure four stretching. Do this by placing your ankle on your opposite knee. Lean forward until you feel a deep stretch on the outsie of the hips. Repeat on the other side.

Seated Twist (Not for People With Disk Problems). Keeping knees and hips facing front, reach around to one side with both hands and hold onto back of chair. Breathe in. On exhalation, rotate rib cage and look over back of chair while keeping as much length in spine as possible. Hold stretch for 10-15 seconds. Return to start position and repeat, twisting to other side.

Shoulder Shrug and Roll. Inhale as you lift shoulders up toward ears. Exhale as you roll shoulders back and down, opening chest and letting shoulder blades come together. Continue sliding shoulders down the back, away from ears. Repeat 3-5 times.

Neck stretch. Gently press your right ear toward your right shoulder while maintaining good posture. Keep your chin tucked in slightly while you perform this stretch. Feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. Release gently.

Rock-a-Bye-Baby. With arms folded out in front of your body, place your hands on opposing elbows. Pull one elbow to the side as far as possible, feeling a deep stretch on the opposite shoulder. Repeat this exercise 4-6X on each side.

Standing Exercises: You will be standing in line very often while on your trip. Airport security is just the first stop. Why not make the most of these opportunities with some of these moves?

Calf Raises. With your feet side by side, slowly roll up on to the balls of your fee. Hold for a count, then return to the starting position. Repeat this exercise 10 times.

Prancing. Use same position as described above. Come to balls of feet. Lower a single heel toward the ground and be sure to keep the other heel elevated. Repeat this exercise twelve to fifteen times.

Knee Lift. While keeping your hips parallel to the floor, raise your knee the femur is level with the ground. Be sure keep your spine relaxed. Balance like this for fifteen to thirty seconds. Put your foot back on the ground and repeat for the other leg.

Back-Curl. While standing upright begin curling forward one section of your spine at a time until you are bent over at the waist, arms hanging forward. Be sure to keep your knees slightly bent during this exercise. Come back up to a full standing position one vertebrae at a time. Repeat 3-5X.

So there you have it. For more information visit Orange County boot camps and try our Orange County boot camp now.

Fitness for Travelers

Traveling is mostly fun, however, the simple act of getting to your location-whether by plane, train, bus or car-often involves long periods of immobility. This time waiting can and will leave you tight, sore, and achy before you even get started!

To help you prevent some of the problems associated with inactivity while traveling, L. Leiber, has been kind enough to offer some tips.

Non-traditional Exercises

What can you do when you find yourself in the captivity of an airport lounge? Try some of these exercises for improved posture.

Place feet flat on floor, parallel, a few inches apart.

Sit up on sit bones.

Tip pelvis to bring it vertical (neutral spine position).

Lengthen your neck, like a giraffe. Do this by pushing your shoulders away from your ears.

Breathe in, then exhale. When you exhale, be sure to pull your abs in. Do this after every seated exercise.

Figure-Four Stretch. Place one ankle on top of opposite knee. Hinge forward at hips, keeping spine neutral. Hold for 15-30 seconds, feeling a deep stretch on outside of hip. Repeat on other side.

Seated twists. While keeping a tall posture reach to the back of your chair and hold without letting your knees or hips rotate. When you exhale, allow your body to go farther into the stretch. Do not perform this move if you have disk issues.

Shoulder shrugs and rolls. Inhale and lift your shoulders toward your ears. On the exhale push your shoulder blades back and down into your back pockets. Continue and repeat this exercise for 4 to 6 repetitions.

Neck stretch. Gently press your right ear toward your right shoulder while maintaining good posture. Keep your chin tucked in slightly while you perform this stretch. Feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. Release gently.

Rock-a-Bye-Baby. With arms folded out in front of your body, place your hands on opposing elbows. Pull one elbow to the side as far as possible, feeling a deep stretch on the opposite shoulder. Repeat this exercise 4-6X on each side.

When You Are Standing: Waiting to get passed security at the airport is the first of many times your will stand in line on your trip. Make the best use of your time with some of these exercises.

Calf Raises. With your feet side by side, slowly roll up on to the balls of your fee. Hold for a count, then return to the starting position. Repeat this exercise 10 times.

Stationary March. Come up to the balls of the feel like the exercise described above. This time alternately lower one heel to the ground at a time. Repeat this move 15X on each side.

Knee Raise. Keeping hips level, raise one knee until thigh is parallel to floor. Maintain neutral spine, and balance in this position 15-30 seconds. Place foot back on floor and repeat balance on other side. (You can also balance on standing leg, slowly raising and lowering knee, touching toe to floor.)

Back-Curl. While standing upright begin curling forward one section of your spine at a time until you are bent over at the waist, arms hanging forward. Be sure to keep your knees slightly bent during this exercise. Come back up to a full standing position one vertebrae at a time. Repeat 3-5X.

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).