Healthy Back Store Confirms Closure of East Tyson’s Virginia Location

The Healthy Back Store announced plans earlier this week to close its East Tyson’s Virginia location as soon as Friday June 29, 2012. The store’s manager Steven Faw is currently making preparations for final sales and a final inventory push, which means if you are in the area this is a great opportunity to save big on our top brand mattresses, office chairs and massage chairs!

In 2008 the Healthy Back Store purchased assets of long time local rival Joanne’s Bed & Back out of bankruptcy. The two chains had been competitors since 1994 when Anthony Mazlish founded the Healthy Back Store. At the time of the purchase, Healthy Back kept open nine of the Joanne’s store locations and rebranded them, the East Tyson’s location being one of them.

The decision to close the East Tyson’s location is largely due to its proximity to the Healthy Back Stores larger and more heavily visited Tyson’s Corner store, which is located just 3 blocks down the street. Ultimately East Tyson’s is a duplicate location. Current president and COO Steve Urban, “We are confident that the Tyson’s Corner location will be able to serve all of our loyal customers in the region in not only a larger space, but offer a larger variety of comfort solutions.”

The Healthy Back store continues to have additional retaillocations including 6 stores in Maryland, eight in Virginia, two in North Carolina, one in Colorado, and four locations in California. In addition, the Healthy Back Store continues to serve its customers with a robust online presence and knowledgeable customer service representatives in the call center.

Healthy Back is currently planning on opening new locations over the next three years and is beginning the process of vetting potential locations for these new stores. Healthy Back anticipates not only additional stores, but refreshing and potentially remodeling existing locations like was done with the Littleton Colorado store.

When should I replace my mattress?

The easiest way to know whether it is time to replace your mattress is to ask yourself how you slept last night. Although the Better Sleep Council recommends you replace your mattress every five to seven years, many people sleep on a mattress that isn't worn out but that should be replaced because it doesn't fit them correctly.

There are several reasons why a mattress might not fit you correctly anymore. The most important is the mattress doesn't provide proper support for the body's spinal alignment which causes you to wake up with discomfort, pain, or the need to wake and stretch out kinks and stiffness. Secondly, the mattress doesn't have the right type or number of pressure relief layers on top of the support layer which can create pressure points causing you to toss and turn, interrupting sleep and leaving you feeling un-refreshed in the morning.

Dealing with chronic pain

A large number of people in the United States suffer from chronic pain, pain that just won't go away. Chronic back and neck pain will last beyond the expected healing time and often interfere with daily life. Whatever the cause of chronic pain, feelings of frustration, anger and fear can make it more intense. Aside from physical treatments, there are a number of psychological methods of paint management, such as relaxation, biofeedback, and imagery that may provide relief and should be discussed with your health care professional.

Relaxation is one of the simplest, but rarely followed, methods of relieving bodily pain. Concentration and slow, deep breathing can release tension from muscles and relieve pain. The Healthy Back Store offers a wide selection of relaxation products including our massage chair inventory featuring brands like Inada and Human Touch. These highly sought after personal massage chairs can be assigned to target the parts of your body that need the most attention, while sending your entire body into a state of pure relaxation.

Other techniques like biofeedback can be taught by a health care professional who uses special machines to help you learn to control your mind and body, such as heart rate and muscle tension. As you begin to release muscle tension, the machine immediately indicates appropriately. Once the technique is mastered, it can be practiced without the use of the machine and help of the professional.

Muscle tension is more commonly relieved using inversion tables and inversion therapy. By using an inversion table, available at the Healthy Back Store, for just five minutes a day, you will align your body with the downward force of gravity, which will increase the space between your vertebrae, relieving pressure on the areas in your back that are in pain such as the discs, ligaments, and nerve roots.

There are also a number of distraction techniques that will help you focus your attention away from the pain and towards more pleasant subjects. This can be as simple as watching television, reading a book, or listening to music, but can also be practiced through imagery or hypnosis. Imagery involves concentrating on mental pictures of pleasant scenes or events to reduce pain. Hypnosis can be practiced through the use of a therapist or by learning the methods of self-hypnosis which can be utilized when pain interrupts.

Individual, group, or family therapy may be useful for those whose pain has not responded to physical methods. People who suffer from chronic pain often experience emotional stress and depression. Therapy can help you cope with these feelings, making it easier to manage your pain.

All these psychological methods of pain-relief are an excellent complimentary tool to physical Healthy Back products. Be sure to take a look at our selection of back- and neck-care products to find the perfect option for you.

Acute versus chronic back pain

Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. Chronic pain is measured by duration, pain that persists for more than 3 months is considered chronic. There may have been an initial mishap – sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain – arthritis, cancer, ear infection, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.

Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain, the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work. Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the United States; only the headache is more common. Fortunately, most occurrences of low back pain go away within a few days, but others can take much longer to resolve or lead to more serious conditions.

Back pain is generally categorized as Acute or Chronic. Acute or short-term back pain typically lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is mechanical in nature and is the result of a trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different.

Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. Chronic pain is measured by duration, pain that persists for more than 3 months is considered chronic. There may have been an initial mishap – sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain – arthritis, cancer, ear infection, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.

Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain, the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work. Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the United States; only the headache is more common. Fortunately, most occurrences of low back pain go away within a few days, but others can take much longer to resolve or lead to more serious conditions. Back pain is generally categorized as Acute or Chronic. Acute or short-term back pain typically lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is mechanical in nature and is the result of a trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different.

Tips for better sleep

Do you have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep? Do you wake up tired and feel like you have to nap during the day? Even with a top-of-the-line memory foam or latex mattress, sleep can still be difficult for a number of reasons such as stress and poor day-to-day habits. Whatever it is, bad sleep does more than just make you tired; it aversely affects your health and cognitive capacity.

Fortunately, there are numerous methods to improve your sleep that are simple, easy, and do not involve a prescription.

Try out these suggestions and start experiencing a deeper, more fulfilling nights sleep.

• Try to keep a regular sleep pattern by habitually going to bed and waking at the same time every day‚ even on weekends and vacations. After some time, your body will naturally get accustomed to your sleep cycle and it will become easier to have a good nights rest.
• Avoid consuming caffeine and alcohol in the late afternoon and evening. Coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and medications that contain caffeine stimulate your body and mind and can keep you from falling asleep and sleeping soundly. Even though alcohol can make you feel sleepy, drinking around bedtime can also disturb sleep.
• Regular daytime exercise can improve nighttime sleep, but since it too can be stimulating and keep you up, avoid exercising within 3 hours of bedtime.
• Avoid daytime naps, which can skew your body’s notion of sleep and thus interfere with nighttime sleep. If you feel you cannot get by without a nap, set an alarm for 1 hour or less and get up immediately when it goes off.
• Reserve your bed for sleeping. Your body and mind need to associate your bed with healthy sleep, and watching late news, reading a suspense novel, or working on your laptop in bed can keep you up later than expected and stimulate your mind, making it hard to fall asleep. If you want to perform late night activities in bed, try utilizing a backrest or leg rest to put your body in an optimal position for comfort and health.
• Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool. There are specialized mattresses available, such as our Healthy Back Pure Latex line, which are designed to cool your body a crucial few degrees if you get too hot during the night.
• Sleep with a ‘Hot Water Bottle’. This method, popular in the United Kingdom and Europe, provides comfort and warmth in your bed, and can help alleviate sore joints and muscles. The Hotties Micro Hottie is the market leader for hot water bottle type products, and is available at the Healthy Back Store.
• Avoid liquids and spicy meals before bed. Heartburn and late night trips to the bathroom are not conducive to good sleep.
• Instead of working right up to bedtime, try performing relaxing activities such as listening to soft music or taking a warm bath to get you ready to sleep. These processes help your body and mind wind down from a hectic day, and a warm bath also may soothe aching muscles.

Yoga may reduce lower back pain

According to a recent study reported by HealthDay News, people who practiced yoga experienced a decrease in chronic lower back pain marked by less discomfort and feelings of depression in just six months.

In the study led by Kimberly Williams, a research assistant professor in the department of community medicine at West Virginia University, researchers divided 90 people, aged 23 to 66 and who had mild to moderate functional disability as a result of chronic lower back pain into two groups. One group did 90-minute sessions of Iyengar yoga twice a week for six months. The other group continued their normal routine of medical therapy or treatment.

Iyengar yoga, a form of hatha yoga that is becoming very popular in the United States, builds strength, flexibility and body alignment through a series of specific poses aided by props. These props help minimize the likelihood of injury or strain, and allow disabled and elderly participants to achieve beneficial positions that would be difficult on their own.

The study found that at the three-month and six-month marks, a greater proportion of those who had participated in yoga reported improvements in their pain and functionality than those who had not.

“I have found yoga and Pilates are great for chronic lower back pain,” Dr. Todd J. Albert, chairman of the department of orthopedics at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, said. “There is so much concentration on core strengthening, which is critical for people who have been de-conditioned. Lower back pain can cause people to stop exercising because of discomfort or fear of causing further injury to their back. The lack of activity can cause the back muscles to become ‘de-conditioned’ or weakened, setting up conditions for even more chronic pain.”

“Exercises such as yoga help reverse muscle weakness by strengthening the mid-section, including the back extensors, abdominals and gluteus, which are key for stabilizing the trunk and decreasing the load on the spine. Strengthening those muscles is like creating a brace around your torso,” Albert explained.

Perhaps the most surprising finding of the study was that the yoga participants also reported fewer symptoms of depression. “There is so much data excitingly pointing to the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual benefits of yoga,” said Mary Lou Galantino, a professor of physical therapy at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. “ I also believe there’s a social aspect to yoga. It can foster a sense of community and overarching well-being”. According to Galantino, the “holistic approach to one’s well being” through “proper breathing, postures, and meditation” is what alleviates depression for many people who are and are not experiencing chronic pain or a disability.

Galantino’s one worry is that “if we westernize it and make it solely an athletic program, then you may not receive all of the benefits.” According to Williams’ research, this worry can be hushed at least for now, as her participants who practiced yoga consistently felt better both physically and mentally in a matter of months.

There are many alternative ways to treat lower back pain, which represents between 20% and 25% of medical claims and exceeds $34 billion in annual direct medical costs, other than yoga, and even participants who do practice the ancient exercise should supplement it with other types treatment. Fortunately, there are numerous easy methods to help with nagging back pain all day including ergonomic office chairs, on-the-go Lumbar Supports, and state-of-the-art home massage chairs. However, if you are looking for real treatment of lower back pain instead of just alleviating it, a spine-straightening inversion table is what you need. All of these products, including an assortment of exercise products from mats to props for Iyengar yoga, are available at HealthyBack.com. Take your first step towards a painless, healthier, and perhaps even happier future.

Floating around in a recliner

While zero-gravity usually means absolute weightlessness (like astronauts experience) - It is a term used to describe effective weightlessness in which a non-uniform force is acting in contrast with typical human experiences. The perfect example is a zero-gravity recliner like The Perfect Chair by Human Touch (pun intended ;-). Zero-gravity recliners are used in hospitals, recovery centers and in homes to relieve tension and pressure - Aiding in general relaxation and pain management.

Massage at work can increase prductivity!

Research indicates that a 15-minute massage decreases job stress, increases alertness, and increases speed and accuracy of tasks for office employees. These findings are especially important because stress accounts for $26 billion in medical and disability payments and $95 billion in lost productivity for Americans every year, as well as accounting for 40% of job turnover. So even though a massage chair may seem like a luxury at your office, but it will pay off through increased employee morale and productivity.

Robots are practicing Shiatsu

Shiatsu massage therapy originating in Japan. Practitioners promoted it as a "natural" way to help people relax and cope with issues such as stress, muscle pain, nausea, anxiety, and depression. Incredibly, modern massage machines are becoming quite adept at this complex technique.


Happy Memorial Day - 10 Tips to avoid back strain

10 tips for a healthy back, this Memorial Day weekend!

1. Exercise your back regularly. Walking, swimming (especially backstroke) and bicycling are all excellent ways to strengthen your back muscles.

2. Always bend your knees and your hips, not your back.

3. Never twist and bend at the same time.

4. Always lift and carry objects close to your body.

5. Try to carry loads in an back friendly bag.

6. Maintain a good posture. Avoid slumping in your chair, hunching over a desk or walking with your shoulders hunched.

7. Use a chair with proper ergonomic support. Sit with your feet flat on the floor or on a footrest. Change how you sit every few minutes. (Check out yesterday's post on SLAM).

8. Don't smoke. It is thought that smoking reduces the blood supply to the discs between the vertebrae and this may lead to degeneration of these discs.

9. Lose any excess weight. Use our Healthy weight calculator to find out if you're a healthy weight for your height.

10. Choose a mattress and pillows suited to your height, weight, age and sleeping position.