In one well-designed study, 2 months of chiropractic spinal manipulation and exercise therapy were studied, with chiropractic spinal manipulation proving to be marginally more effective than massage therapy.41
One study found that exercise (along with education) appear appears to enhance the effectiveness of massage when used as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica. In a review of 13 randomized trials, researchers concluded that massage may be effective for nonspecific low back pain, and the beneficial effects can last for up to 1 year in patients suffering from chronic pain.77
A subsequent controlled trial involving 579 patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain found that Alexander technique lessons, particularly when combined with exercise, was more effective than normal care or massage after one year.78
Both spinal manipulation and exercise have shown to help [prolotherapy][5] be more effective than control treatments.81
The theory behind exercise for back pain and sciatica treatment is that the more flexible are the muscles in the back, the less pain the back will have. Also, when muscles that support back muscles are strong, the actual muscles in the back will now not have to work as hard, and thus be less susceptible to pain. Though exercise hasn't been extensively studied individually for it's effectiveness as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica, it has been studied in conjunction with other therapies such as chiropractic care, massage, and prolotherapy.
The human body was designed to use its physical capacities yet many of us have become sedentary. Not only does this have major effects on our weight and body mass index, but our muscles themselves, when unused, become weak and unable to function well. So, while decreasing strenuous exercise does have some benefits, such as reducing injuries, it this decrease also presents major drawbacks.
Increasing strength and flexibility through exercise can be an extremely effective treatment for low back pain and sciatica.
The human body was designed to use its physical capacities yet many of us have become sedentary. Not only does this have major effects on our weight and body mass index, but our muscles themselves, when unused, become weak and unable to function well. So, while decreasing strenuous exercise does have some benefits, such as reducing injuries, this decrease also presents major drawbacks.
Increasing strength and flexibility through exercise can be an extremely effective treatment for low back pain and sciatica.
In one well-designed study, 2 months of chiropractic spinal manipulation and exercise therapy were studied, with chiropractic spinal manipulation proving to be marginally more effective than massage therapy.41
One study found that exercise (along with education) appears to enhance the effectiveness of massage when used as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica. In a review of 13 randomized trials, researchers concluded that massage may be effective for nonspecific low back pain, and the beneficial effects can last for up to 1 year in patients suffering from chronic pain.77
A subsequent controlled trial involving 579 patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain found that Alexander technique lessons, particularly when combined with exercise, was more effective than normal care or massage after one year.78
Both spinal manipulation and exercise have shown to help prolotherapy be more effective than control treatments.81
A subsequent controlled trial involving 579 patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain found that Alexander technique lessons, particularly when combined with exercise, was more effective than normal care or massage after one year.78
Both spinal manipulation and exercise have shown to help prolotherapy be more effective than control treatments.81
so though The theory behind exercise for back pain and sciatica treatment is that the more flexible are the muscles in the back, the less pain the back will have. Also, when muscles that support back muscles are strong, the actual muscles in the back will not have to work as hard, and thus be less susceptible to pain. Though exercise hasn't been extensively studied individually for it's effectiveness as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica, it has been studied in conjunction with other therapies such as chiropractic care, massage, and prolotherapy.
The theory behind exercise for back pain and sciatica treatment is that the more flexible are the muscles in the back, the less pain the back will have. Also, when muscles that support back muscles are strong, the actual muscles in the back will not have to work as hard, and thus be less susceptible to pain. Though exercise hasn't been extensively studied individually for it's effectiveness as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica, it has been studied in conjunction with other therapies such as chiropractic care, massage, and prolotherapy.
In one well-designed study, 2 months of chiropractic spinal manipulation and exercise therapy were studied, with chiropractic spinal manipulation proving to be marginally more effective than massage therapy.41
One study found that exercise (along with education) appears to enhance the effectiveness of massage when used as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica. In a review of 13 randomized trials, researchers concluded that massage may be effective for nonspecific low back pain, and the beneficial effects can last for up to 1 year in patients suffering from chronic pain.77
A subsequent controlled trial involving 579 patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain found that Alexander technique lessons, particularly when combined with exercise, was more effective than normal care or massage after one year.78
Both spinal manipulation and exercise have shown to help prolotherapy be more effective than control treatments.81
The theory behind exercise for back pain and sciatica treatment is that the more flexible are the muscles in the back, the less pain the back will have. Also, when muscles that support back muscles are strong, the actual muscles in the back will not have to work as hard, and thus be less susceptible to pain. Though exercise hasn't been extensively studied individually for it's effectiveness as a treatment for low back pain and sciatica, it has been studied in conjunction with other therapies such as chiropractic care, massage, and prolotherapy.
Increasing one's level of exercise provides a wide variety of benefits. Besides enhancing strength and endurance and improving physical attractiveness, exercise is thought to enhance overall health as well as reduce symptoms in a number of specific ailments. However, while the many benefits of exercise appear self-evident, they can be quite difficult to prove in a scientific sense. The primary problem comes down to this: it is difficult, if not impossible, to design a double-blind study of exercise. Perhaps, however, proof in this way is not needed.
Keeping good nutrition and having a regular exercise regime can, at times, help to keep cancer cells from developing and spreading. Therefore, if you are attempting to prevent cancer or to keep it from spreading, engaging in light to moderate exercise can help.
If you do indeed need to go through a procedure to help treat your cancer, once you are feeling better and have been given the okay by your doctor, start a moderate stretching and exercise program. This will help you have more energy throughout the day.
Regular physical activity may also help to reduce anxiety. Some good options include brisk walking, swimming, and strength training.
In addition to altering brain chemicals (which are often involved in Generalized Anxiety Disorder) exercise can change other physiological and psychological factors as well: exercise can help relive stress, fight off free radicals, generally keep the body functioning well, and make you feel better about yourself. Plus, when approached moderately, there are few potential side effects, so try adding some regular physical activity into your routine - you may find that it helps you more than you had anticipated!
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Exercise can help relieve depression symptoms and related issues such as anxiety and stress. It can be helpful even in minor doses. Or in conjunction with medication or psychotherapy, exercise can improve depression symptoms. The tricky dynamic occurs when due to depression, you don't feel in the mood for exercise. Even small amounts of exercise can be very helpful in alleviating symptoms and preventing a relapse.
Help improve this article. Become a contributor!
Exercise can help relieve depression symptoms and related issues such as anxiety and stress. It can be helpful even in minor doses. Or in conjunction with medication or psychotherapy, exercise can improve depression symptoms. The tricky dynamic occurs when due to depression, you don't feel in the mood for exercise. Even small amounts of exercise can be very helpful in alleviating symptoms and preventing a relapse.
This article discusses the possible health benefits of exercise and movement.
One of the most obvious differences between modern life and life in the past can be found in the level of exercise. For the majority of people living in developed countries today, heavy physical exercise does not occur as a part of ordinary daily life, but must be deliberately sought out. Compare this to most of human history, in which heavy daily exercise was a requirement for survival. Even among the upper classes in 19th century Europe—to judge by a scene in Charles Dickens Pickwick Papers—going for a 10 to 20 mile walk by way of recreation was not be out of the ordinary course of events.
The human body was designed to use its physical capacities. However, for many of us, life has become a sedentary affair, moving from couch via car to office cubicle. While decreasing strenuous exercise does have some benefits, such as reducing injuries, it also presents major drawbacks. Inadequate exercise is undoubtedly a major contributor to the current epidemic of obesity, which in turn leads to diabetes, heart disease, and osteoarthritis.
Conversely, increasing one's level of exercise provides a wide variety of benefits. Besides enhancing strength and endurance and improving physical attractiveness, exercise is thought to enhance overall health as well as reduce symptoms in a number of specific ailments. However, while the many benefits of exercise appear self-evident, they can be quite difficult to provein a scientific sense. The primary problem comes down to this: it is difficult, if not impossible, to design a double-blind study of exercise.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, neither patients nor researchers know who is receiving a real treatment and who is receiving a placebo.
Consider the following scenario: A study (technically, an observational or epidemiological study) may note that people in a given population who exercise more develop heart disease at a lower rate than those who exercise less. From this, it is tempting to conclude causality: that exercise reduces heart disease risk. But such a conclusion might not be correct.
Observational studies only show association, not cause and effect. Studies of the type described above had long shown that women who used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were less likely to develop heart disease. Furthermore, use of HRT was known to improve cholesterol profile. It seemed like a "slam-dunk" case. However, to researchers' surprise, when a giant double-blind study compared hormone replacement therapy against a placebo, the results showed that use of HRT actually increased heart disease risk.
It is now hypothesized that this apparent contradiction may be due to the fact that women who use HRT are generally of higher socioeconomic status than women who do not use HRT, and that it is this socioeconomic status, and not the HRT, that was responsible for the apparent benefits seen. Whatever the reason, it is now clear that HRT does not prevent heart disease, and that the conclusions drawn from observational studies were exactly backwards. Based on this, one must at least consider the possibility that people who engage in more exercise have other qualities that protect them from heart disease, and that it is these qualities, and not the exercise, that protects them. The problem here is that while it is possible to give a placebo that convincingly resembles HRT, it is difficult to conceive of a placebo form of exercise that patients and researchers wouldn't immediately identify as different from real exercise.
Besides observational studies, other forms of scientific research involving exercise remain similarly inadequate. For example, consider the numerous studies that have been taken as proving that exercise is helpful for depression . In these studies, people who are made to exercise improve to a greater extent than those who are not interfered with. However, this finding does not prove that exercise per se aids depression. It might be, for example, that simply being enrolled in a study and motivated to do anything at all might aid depression. (This suspicion is given further weight by findings that improvement in depression is not at all related to the intensity of the exercise done—if it were the exercise itself, one would think that more intense exercise would provide greater benefits.)
Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies eliminate all of these potential confounding factors, as well as many others. However, as noted above, it is not feasible to design a double-blind study in which people are unaware (“blind” to the fact ) that they are exercising. Therefore, all results regarding the potential benefits of exercise must be taken with a grain of salt.
King, Abby C., Pruitt, Leslie A., Woo, Sandra, Castro, Cynthia M., Ahn, David K., Vitiello, Michael V., Woodward, Steven H., Bliwise, Donald L., Effects of Moderate-Intensity Exercise on Polysomnographic and Subjective Sleep Quality in Older Adults With Mild to Moderate Sleep Complaints, J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2008 63: 997-1004
Moderate exercises lasting 20 to 30 minutes, three to four times a week will give you more energy while helping you sleep better at night. Exercises should be done in the morning or afternoon, not close to bedtime.
Research suggests that exercise may improve the sleep quality of adults. A study published in Journals of Gerontology shows that a moderate-intensity exercise program can improve sleep in older adults. For this study, researchers at Stanford University recruited sedentary adults, aged 55 or older, that were free of heart disease. The subjects had mild to moderate chronic sleep complaints. They were randomly assigned to a 12-month program of modrate-intensity endurance exercise or a health education program. The outcome was measured using polysomnographic sleep recordings, with additional measures of subjective sleep quality, physical activity, and physical fitness. Results show that the participants who were in the exercise program experienced greater improvements than the control group.
People who exercise regularly generally have fewer episodes of insomnia. Exercise promotes physical and mental health in numerous ways.
It's always helpful to get the endorphins (happy neurotransmitters) flowing through exercise...it can totally help elevate your mood!
