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ICE AND HEAT for Degenerative Disc Disease and Bone Spurs in the Neck

This chronic illness support blog is intended to help those of you with chronic illness. I am dealing with neck problems currently. To respond please email me at wholyfit@live.com

Ice for 15 off and 15 minutes on is great for inflamation and calms down the swelling between the vertebrae. I had to wake up in the night and ice my neck because I can feel that the spinal fluid is not getting up to my brain. My brain feels dry and cloudy- does that make sense? The bone spurs on C7 are cutting into the sac that the spinal fluid flows through- the MRI said that the sac is crimped right up to the spinal cord. No occlusion of the spinal chord - yet - but the occlusion needs to be halted NOW. That’s the benefit of decreasing the inflammation with ICE.

Heat is for the nuscles of the shoulders that become tight due to degenerative disc disease and bone spurs poking into the spinal chord and discs in the neck. We’ve got to release those muscles so that the curvature of the spine can go back to a healthy 36 degree curve. So simplistically, I use this rule: Ice for the bones (hard tissue), Heat for the muscles (soft tissue).

My husband is having dreams that I’m hurt and there is nothing he can do. For example, last night he dreamed that I was kidnapped. Chronic illness is also an emotional drain on those who love us.

Lord, please heal me, please educate me to cooperate in Your miraculous healing by whatever means You have detirmined. In Jesus’ Name.

I pray this prayer for all of you with chronic illness, whether it is neck pain, fibromyalgia, MS, Epstein Barre Virus, Asthma, Rheumatoid arthritis, Degenerative disc disease, bone spurs, I pray in Jesus’ Name, Lord, that You will heal those who are sick for “BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED”. You suffered and bore the stripes for our healing and we believe You Lord. Heal us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen but not goodbye..

Neck problems can be a life altering condition, but God can give us understanding on what to do to heal. God could certainly regenerate my spine to perfect condition in an instant, but then how would I learn to take care of my body? I have every confidence that He will heal me, but I also need to be a good steward of this temple.


OF FIRST IMPORTANCE TO SPINE HEALTH:

WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER!

6 bottles of water per day is my goal: at least 48 ounces. That means that I need to have hot herbal tea in my hand at all times. It’s so cold, maybe that’s why we don’t feel like drinking as much water in the winter.

Why did this acute pain start during the winter? Coincidence? I think not. Too much coffee, not enough water in cold weather, money issues that settled in the neck and to top it off no exercise during Holiday season= that’s a recipe for neck problems.

Why does deyhdration cause neck problems to worsen?

Because when the discs become dehydrated they shrink. I think I must have allowed my bones dry out! Not only that, but the spinal fluid needs to have enough water. My spine has bone spurs that poke into the discs and the sac around the spinal cord that contains the fluid. The flow is cut off to a certain degree in my spine and so it backs up at the top. That’s why I feel constant pressure behind my eyes, headache, face puffiness and brain cloudiness. More water will help this situation.

I can’t wait to begin exercising next week. The first thing we do when we don’t feel good and have no energy is to quit exercising- BUT THAT’S THE WORST THING WE COULD DO! Exercise helps control pain because it encourages endomorphins, natural pain killers and mood lifters! Also, even if you are struggling with chronic illness EXERCISE IS THE BEST THING WE COULD DO!

Exercise will help with circulation of all the fluids in the body, especially WholyFit exercise, because your body is turned in every position in gravity. Running and even walking is too jarring and biking is just not a good exercise position for me right now. WholyFit is perfect, making me concentrate on standing up tall for good posture, breathing and stretching.

SLOW WEIGHT LOSS AND EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR FITNESS DURING CHRONIC ILLNESS:
This is my program which is specifically geared toward relief of my degenerative disc disease, and loss of curve in the cervical spine accompanied by bone spurs in C4-C6.


(Please note that this blog is not meant to be prescriptive for any health condition. Check with your DR. before beginning any exercise program.)


WEEK 1
Drink 8 cups of water per day


I am starting with drinking water because that’s an easy change and it will give me a week to plan how, when & where to exercise. Water is necessary for the chemical reactions that bring about burning fat for energy.


Wow-it was harder than i thought to drink 8 glasses of water a day. i just succeeded for the first time today! Remember coffee and tea count as a negative 1 glass of water because caffeine is dehydrating. For every coffee or tea I have I need to drink one more glass of water.


WEEK 2
Start exercising 10-30 minutes every day


WEEK 3
Add green vegetables to the diet. Don’t even try to cut calories till you are health. Increase your exercise to burn more calories instead.


WEEK 4 and on
Keep increasing your exercise time, frequency and duration. A good suggestion is to start out walking.
See how WholyFit is the exercise program for best weight loss results, especially for people with issues that prevent exercise like running or high impact activities.


WEEK 5 and on
Now that you are drinking water, exercising and eating right, now it’s time to count calories. I like the software www.dietpower.com because you can use any diet program and it logs your nutrition as well as your exercise, water and calories. For me, just increasing my exercise caused weight loss in a couple months. I’m still working on it. It’s the first of April now and I’ve been working since February.

THIS VIDEO SHOWS AN ADVANCED EXERCISE. I show this video to inspire for the long run. This is not an exercise to start with. Get the Basic DVD for more appropriate exercises. Watch WHOLYFIT TV for modifications of exercises to make them comfortable for your body.



Thursday Feb. 5, 2010

Hi

Welcome to my personal (very personal…. yikes) blog documenting my progress through degenerative disc disease. I am a fitness professional with years of experience, but have been stopped lately by degeneration of the discs in my neck. Are you or someone you know suffering from chronic illness? Follow my blog to see how I lose weight and get in shape with WholyFit- prayer, worship and exercise that defeats chronic illness for wholeness of body, soul and spirit.

I was wondering why I didn’t feel like exercising - me - the one who always exercises to the point of annoyance to my friends and family! Now I’m so tired and depressed all the time from the constant annoying pain in my neck, the headache and swollen eyes.

So living with the constant nag of the pain causes me to want to eat gooey, yummy, bread-y food that gives me just a moment of comfort, a break from the ache. So here I am 15-20 pounds heavier and expending all that energy on dealing with the achiness makes me emotionally tired. I feel sad because I don’t feel like doing the exercises I enjoy so much and feel like I am losing a part of who I am. Even walking makes my neck tired. The constant gravity and weight of my head is the problem. A neck brace helps because it immobilizes the neck, but the answer has got to be exercise and stretching.

Can you identify? Do you have a condition that keeps you from exercising? We are going to overcome it together!

Laura