Natural Health Solutions

Could you do an article on shoulders that pop out of the socket? I have one of those. When I lean forward, my left shoulder pops out of the socket and it's very painful and I can shove it back in. Do you think I need to see a doctor or is there something I could do to keep it from happening?

Thanks!
Mary M. Read more

Between knees and hips, it's difficult to say which area is more prone to degenerative changes as we age, but in my experience, it's far easier to protect your hips than your knees.

Knees are relatively simple - they are hinge joints, meaning that they are designed to work in one major plane, and generally, they wear down in predictable fashion. The more you grind them through daily life, the weaker your cartilage and ligaments become. Your knees are not well vascularized compared to other major joints in your body, so there isn't a lot you can do by way of stretching and massage to significantly improve blood flow to the cartilage within and the ligaments that surround and stabilize your knee joints. Read more

If you've been following our site for a while now, you likely know how much I value using a foam roller to keep muscles and ligaments healthy and well perfused with blood. In my experience, having a foam roller is almost as good as having your own personal massage therapist. You can use a roller to apply therapeutic massage to just about any muscle group. And if you combine foam rolling with stretching all of your major muscle groups, you can expect to be highly flexible and decrease risk of injuries that come about from "brittle" muscles and ligaments that are congested with waste materials and lacking optimal blood flow. Read more