http://www.staph-infection-resources.com/prevention/summer-safety-tips/
Heart patients be alert for signs of infection. Immune systems are often compromised following hospitalizations. Protect your open wounds. Here are some very helpful tips to prevent one of the more challenging infections routinely seen postoperatively, MRSA. At the first sign of infection be sure to be seen by your primary care doctor and/or cardiologist.
Make time during this week to meditate. Cleanse your mind, relax your body, take time for you, make time for your health.
My current free version of WordPress does not allow me to post a video therefore I would encourage anyone who thinks they cannot possibly do yoga due to their physical limitations to view this video. Simply cut and paste the link below in your browser. It brought me to tears to see the improvement in this man. I have witness many similar transformations while working in cardiac rehabilitation, but never one as powerful as this. Yoga is an activity my entire family enjoys. I love watching my teens work together through a yoga DVD. They key is to never give up, no matter how long your condition has lasted.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=535184355831&set=vb.173000478&type=2&theater
Yoga poses for heart health
There are several poses that you can use in order to increase the health of your heart, and these poses are designed to help your blood to circulate properly and strengthen the heart muscle. The warrior pose and the triangle pose are designed to promote cardiovascular exercise, and prompt you to breathe strategically and adequately. This helps you to increase your stamina, which gives you more energy to complete your daily activities and allow your heart to pump blood through the body quicker. This will help the body to replenish itself quicker, and can even help you to sleep better. The tree pose, the mountain pose, and the lotus pose not only work to strengthen the heart, but can be used to increase flexibility, which can prevent muscle cramping in the future.In addition to poses like the mountain pose and the tree pose to help manage and prevent heart disease, doctors have also recommended a healthy diet. Yoga can relieve stress and promote flexibility. The actual improvement of the heart has been proven by many doctors, like Satish Sivasankaran. They have done a study of the benefits of yoga on the heart, and have found that many individuals who practice yoga on a regular basis have had regulated heart beat and circulation. Individuals who may have suffered heart attacks and strokes were able to recover faster by participating in yoga.
How Does Yoga Help In Combating This Disease?
A study, published in Journal of The Association of Physicians of India (JAPI), establishes the reversibility of heart disease through yoga. Study was on angiographic ally proven CAD patients, of whom 71 formed the study group and 42 the control group. And the results proved that the serum total cholesterol levels had reduced by 23.3%, disease had regressed in 43.7% and progression was arrested in another 46.5% of the patients. Some marked improvements were noticed in anxiety levels of patients. Controlled yoga combining calming and stimulating measures resulted in reduced serum cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels.
If you just had your chest recently surgically opened, the last thing you want to think about is stretching, but after time it becomes very important. You may not physically remember the pain of surgery but your body does. It gradually rounds the shoulders forward, the head is carried slightly more forward, and these changes make the subtle curve in the low back gradually flatten. Many patients when they first attend cardiac rehabilitation complain of pain and spasm to their upper back and shoulders. When I worked in physical therapy I would have many patients present several years after open heart surgery with low back pain. Many had the characteristic posture I described above.
Here are a few suggestion to help you in the healing process.
Be very aware of your posture – if you are sore, think about what posture you are in. Are you seated with your shoulders slumped and head forward? If so adding a lumbar support to your chair will help to straighten your back posture. Another suggestion is to get up and move more frequently.
Pain in the shoulder blade region?
If so begin with gentle chest stretching and shoulder stretching. It is very important you avoid pain. I usually wait until my patients are approximately 6 weeks in recovery before initiating this. Do not take any stretch to pain. Do not bounce stretches.
There are three different postures to get the different muscle groups of the chest. One leg is forward simply to maintain the curve of the low back. Hold the stretch 10 to 15 seconds, repeat 1-2 times. It is ok to do this stretch a few times per day.
These are other good stretches for the chest
Upper back stretching
The muscles act very similar to pulleys. If one side shortens the other side lengthens. If the muscles of the chest are short the muscles of the upper back are stretched. Prolonged stretch leads to muscle spasm, and this makes many people feel like they have knots in their upper back. There is a great stretch for this.
Reach down grasp opposite knee with hand (left hand grasp right knee). Relax your head pull up gently, hold 10-15 seconds. Repeat with opposite hand/knee. repeat one to two times.
Use a lumbar support in your favorite chair, while driving, or sitting for a prolonged time. You can either purchase one at your local medical supply/pharmacy, or you can simply roll up a small towel and put it in the small of your low back.
Winter is upon us. It is cold, blustery, snowy, rainy, grey outside. This makes it very hard to be motivated to go outdoors and walk. Keep in mind it is very important to go outdoors and get approximately 10 minutes of natural light every day. This gives you Vitamin D. It is beneficial in preventing seasonal effective disorder. Interestingly seasonal effective disorder peaks in February. So there is a cumulative effect of getting natural light. Depression sets in and then people stop exercising entirely. I would always hear my heart patients say they will begin their home exercise when the weather improves. Uhg….your health should not be dependent upon the weather!
Do you feel better after you exercise? I believe when we go outdoors for a walk, run, bike ride, etc. it is more beneficial than exercising indoors. I feel the best after outdoor exercise. Not only does the exercise kick in your metabolism, but the bodies need to warm itself, then cool itself due to the exercise can only help the metabolism to increase. If your body temperature regulation system never gets the opportunity to kick in, it slows down and becomes less effective. Again kind of the principle use it or lose it.
A few winter exercise tips, yes I am sure you have heard them before, but here goes.
On really nasty weather days, have a back up plan. Indoor exercise that day, do weights, yoga, calisthenics, stretching, or take a drop in class at your local gym. Sign up for the gym or an exercise class for the worst weather months. Get out and walk the mall, hit the pool
If you get angina in the cold weather, start your exercise by doing a warm up while indoors, do 5 or 10 minutes of activity that brings your heart rate up and dilates your vessels. Then when you go outdoors wear a parka, scarf or keep mouth covered. Maintain good posture. Engage your arms and legs…really think about pumping that blood throughout all your muscles.
I don’t recommend that heart patients use snow shoveling as their exercise.
You should exercise to stay fit enough to perform snow shoveling. That is why many heart attacks occur while shoveling. Many are not fit enough to perform this activity. The energy demands can be equivalent to running a marathon. If you are fit enough to run a marathon, then ok go ahead and shovel. The other thing is you can’t count on enough snow to go out and shovel every day…nice try with that one…doesn’t work.
Cold temperatures cause arteries to tighten, restricting blood flow and reducing the oxygen supply to the heart, all of which can set the stage for a heart attack.
In cold weather, there is more oxygen demand by the heart because it is working harder to do the work and maintain body heat.
Research suggests that the early-morning rise in blood pressure, or “a.m. surge,” that occurs in most people may dramatically increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. In the winter, people tend to exert themselves or do yard work in the morning because it gets dark earlier.
Meditation
Just saying this word to new cardiac rehabilitation patients would put them into a stress response. Meditate! Who has time for that? Yeah right some old hippy remedy, or what monks do. I can’t do that. Most people don’t understand the purpose or how to meditate. Quieting the brain is the key to successful mediation. Many think they are relaxing when reading, watching television, or playing on the computer. These activities engage the brain they don’t quiet the brain. There are many benefits one can receive from meditation benefits:
1- It lowers oxygen consumption.
2- It decreases respiratory rate.
3- It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
4- Increases exercise tolerance.
5- Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation.
6- Good for people with high blood pressure.
7- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
8- Decreases muscle tension
9- Helps in chronic diseases like heart disease, arthritis etc.
10- Helps in post-operative healing.
11- Enhances the immune system.
12- Reduces emotional distress
13- Enhances energy, strength and vigor.
14- Helps with weight loss
15- Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage
16- Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease.
17- Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing.
18- Prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases
19- Relaxes our nervous system
20- Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behavior.
21- Resolve phobias & fears
22- Helps control own thoughts
23- Helps with focus & concentration
24- Improved learning ability and memory.
25- Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
26-Helps let go of the little things
27- Increased ability to solve complex problems
28- Helps keep things in perspective
29- Provides peace of mind, happiness
30- Helps you discover your purpose
31- Brings body, mind, spirit in harmony
32- Increased acceptance of oneself
33- Helps learn forgiveness
34- Changes attitude toward life
35- Helps living in the present moment
I often talk about having a tool kit, and understanding how the tools work through knowledge and practice. It may seem hard initially but with practice becomes easy. Then the next challenge is to remember to use your stress management, meditation and relaxation skill when you need them the most. When stress occurs we rarely think “Oh lets mediate.” No we are busy responding to stress. With heart disease consider using when dealing with the emotional component of accepting the chronic health condition that heart disease can bring. Accepting it, forgiving yourself, letting go of the old you, accepting the new you, changing your lifestyle, the stress of relationships. Use it when anticipating or receiving medical care, waiting during fearful times.
You Can Meditate. Here are some tips for meditation that might make a daily meditation practice feel a little more manageable.
