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22. February 2012 by admin.
In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech published a seminal paper, drawn from 16 years of research, revealing a wealth of historical evidence that humans used to sleep in two distinct chunks.
His book At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, published four years later, unearths more than 500 references to a segmented sleeping pattern - in diaries, court records, medical books and literature, from Homer’s Odyssey to an anthropological account of modern tribes in Nigeria.
Source: Roger Ekirch
We often worry about lying awake in the middle of the night - but it could be good for you. A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.
Posted in Physical Therapy, Massage, Wealth Management, Health and Wellness, Pain Relief | Print | No Comments »
22. February 2012 by admin.
Last April, Gamestop Corp. opened a store on Facebook to generate sales among the 3.5 million-plus customers who’d declared themselves “fans” of the video game retailer. Six months later, the store was quietly shuttered.
Gamestop has company. Over the past year, Gap Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Nordstrom Inc. have all opened and closed storefronts on Facebook Inc.’s social networking site.
Facebook, which this month filed for an initial public offering, has sought to be a top shopping destination for its 845 million members. The stores’ quick failure shows that the Menlo Park, California-based social network doesn’t drive commerce and casts doubt on its value for retailers, said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop,” Mulpuru said in a telephone interview. “But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”
A year ago, investors hailed so-called F-commerce as the next big thing, speculating that the company had potential to threaten Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and PayPal Inc. Facebook is the most- visited website in the world. Some people thought that persuading visitors to shop would be easy, Mulpuru said.
David Fisch, Facebook’s director of business development, said in June that the site would make shopping online, previously a solitary experience, more social.
Even as some businesses shut storefronts, many companies continue to devote advertising dollars to the social network. Facebook’s sales surged 55 percent to $1.13 billion in the fourth quarter. The company aims to use e-commerce more as a way of getting users to stay longer than as a way to boost revenue
Customers had no incentive to shop at Gamestop (GEM)’s Facebook store rather than the company’s regular website because purchasing online is already convenient, said Ashley Sheetz, who is the Grapevine, Texas-based company’s vice president of marketing and strategy.
Shut Quickly
“We just didn’t get the return on investment we needed from the Facebook market, so we shut it down pretty quickly,” Sheetz said in a telephone interview. “For us, it’s been a way we communicate with customers on deals, not a place to sell.”
Gap, which has 5.6 million Facebook fans from its namesake, Banana Republic and Old Navy pages, opened and discontinued a storefront last year, said Liz Nunan, a company spokeswoman. The San Francisco-based company also discovered customers preferred shopping on its own sites, she said.
“We will continue to evaluate if this is something we want to bring back in the future,” Nunan said in an emailed statement.
Nordstrom tested ways to make shopping “seamless through Facebook” and decided on a broader social media focus, Colin Johnson, a spokesman, said.
J.C. Penney featured assortments in a Facebook “shop” tab beginning in 2010, and took it down in December 2011, Kate Coultas, a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.
Cracks in Model
Wade Gerten, chief executive officer of social media developer 8thBridge, previously known as Alvenda, opened a Facebook store for the florist 1-800-FLOWERS. Minneapolis-based Gerten went on to develop commerce strategies for Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), Diane Von Furstenberg Studio LP and denim-maker Seven for all Mankind.
Cracks in the model showed quickly, Gerten said in a telephone interview. Clients “have taken a different approach,” shutting stores or scaling back their offerings.
“It was basically just another place to shop for all the stuff already available on the retailer websites,” Gerten said. “I give so-called F-commerce an ‘F.’”
Posted in Social Network, Facebook, Marketing, Managing Business | Print | No Comments »
22. February 2012 by admin.
The following are some common reasons clients have been burned by HOT STONES that massage therapists need to be aware of:
THE CLIENT WASN’T EMPOWERED. Massage therapists need to make sure their hot stone clients actively participate in the session and know they not only can—but absolutely should—let them know if the stones are too hot or they’re uncomfortable. Also, massage therapists can check in with clients, asking the client specifically about the temperature of the stones and if adjustments need to be made.
LACK OF INFORMATION. The importance of a thorough intake form cannot be overstated when talking about working with hot stones, as a variety of conditions are contraindicated. Sometimes, however, clients might not list specific conditions on the form, perhaps not realizing the potential for adverse reactions. Perhaps talk with your clients directly about some of the conditions that are contraindicated as you discuss the treatment plan with them before starting the session.
STONES HEATED IMPROPERLY. Heating stones in any device other than a unit specifically designed for this task is never appropriate. Crockpots, slow cookers, microwave ovens, ovens, heating pads and hot plates, to name a few, aren’t acceptable devices for heating stones—ever. Also, burns can happen when the water is too hot, so be sure you have a thermometer you can calibrate to properly monitor the temperature of the water you’re using to heat your stones.
NOT ENOUGH MATERIAL BETWEEN STONES. When using hot stones, massage therapists need to be sure there is some type of material between the stone and the client’s skin. Burns can result if you leave stones that are too hot sitting on the client’s skin. Although this situation may seem obvious, massage therapists need to continually monitor the temperature of their stones, particularly when they’ll be sitting on your client’s skin instead of being used during a massage.
When placing stones, you must remember to use a sheet, towel or clothing between the client’s bare skin & the hot stone.
When placing thermalballs, just put the ball on the skin!
Using Thermalballs cold
Hot stone massage and thermalball therapy are popular techniques, but your clients might really benefit from using a combination of heated and cooled thermalball massage therapy. Contast temperature therapy is extremely powerful healing technique. Cold thermalballs can be particularly effective for chronic and acute conditions, such as injuries and inflammation as well as providing a numbing sensation to sensitive nerves. It is a potent pain killer, better than an ice pack when you need to apply specific pressure as well.
Similar to when heating your stones, however, you need to make sure you chill your thermalballs properly. You can place your thermalballs in the freezer or in a bucket of ice.
As with heated thermalballs, you should use a calibrated thermometer to ensure the stones are the right temperature—ranging from room temperature to 25 F.
Cooled thermalballs help remove heat from the body and allow the client to relax the affected area.
Massage therapists might consider using chilled thermalballs for trigger point work, as well as cross-fiber friction.
Using both heated and cooled thermalballs during a massage can be very effective in reducing inflammation and congestion in isolated areas. Between the applications of heated and cooled thermalballs in an isolated area, however, you need to be sure you warm your hands before placing hot objects on your client, as they may still be cold from working with chilled thermalballs. Without warming your hands first, accurately gauging the temperature may be difficult.
After alternating between hot and cold thermalbals in an isolated area, it’s best to end with a cold application to allow the body to continue to reduce any inflammation and congested blood and or lymph in the area, resulting in less pain and stiffness for your clients. This final application of cold thermalballs in an isolated area will be a “heating response” and will support the body to internally heat itself. The results will be long lasting for your client—sometimes for hours after the session has ended.
There are myriad circumstances where hot thermalball massage makes sense. If you have a client who has a sprain, strain or acute bursitis, for example, thermalball massage can help alleviate the pain associated with these conditions. Someone dealing with a sports injury, like tennis elbow, knee pain, carpal tunnel etc… might also benefit. Common ailments, such as headache and bruises, can also be helped. Using both hands on a large (Mega) thermalball will allow you to apply temperature and pressure to larger areas such as the back.
Again, having a good understanding of a client’s health and the basics of hydrotherapy, however, are absolutely necessary when designing a thermal therapy treatment plan. If a client has a condition that might benefit from hot thermalball massage therapy but is suffering from an ailment that contraindicates heated thermalball massage, err on the side of caution when developing a treatment plan. In this case, protocol dictates “less time, less temperature.”
As with all techniques and modalities, hot and cold thermal therapy isn’t going to appeal to every client. And, as is also the case with most every massage therapy modality, there are clients who shouldn’t receive hot thermalball treatments.
FOLLOWING ARE SOME CONDITIONS WHERE HOT STONE THERAPY WOULD BE CONTRAINDICATED:
This list is not exhaustive, and massage therapists need to take a client’s full health history as presented during the intake into account before performing hot and cold stone massage.
DIABETES
CANCER
AUTOIMMUNE DYSFUNCTIONS
EPILEPSY
NEUROPATHY
HEART DISEASE
SKIN CONDITIONS
RECENT SURGERIES
PREGNANCY - although many client love to use the larger thermalball cold for the back aches.
Posted in Massage, Physical Therapy, Invention, Health and Wellness, Pain Relief, Kewler Favorites | Print | No Comments »
22. February 2012 by admin.
Heated or Cooled Thermalball therapy
Whether helping relax, heal from an injury or decrease pain, thermalball therapy works. Massage works because you’re committed to continually learning and honing your skill in the modalities you practice. Taking continuing education, studying with therapists who have been in practice or who are especially adept at particular modalities, all combine to make you a better massage therapist.
And when dealing with your clients, knowledge is power—especially when using modalities that have the potential to harm. Following, you’ll learn more about how to safely practice with hot thermalballs. These are the same practices that you would follow with hot stones, but thermalballs are much safer. The insulated encasement keeps the heat (or cold) “in” and not at the surface of the ball. The interior is much hotter or colder than the “skin” of the ball. You know how much the thermalballs have improved your technique (even if only to reduce your hand pain due to acupressure and trigger point therapy as well as long strokes gliding over bony prominences.
As with all massage therapy treatments, many factors will guide you when determining how to incorporate hot thermalball techniques into a client’s session—if at all. For example, a thermalball session with a client who has multiple health problems will be necessarily different than a session where the client has no health concerns.
When using hot stones, too, you want to make sure that you don’t overdo it the first time you use the technique with your clients.
The thermalball modality, like most massage techniques, is meant to build over a period of weeks, and your clients should always leave the session feeling revived, energized, relaxed and supported. If a client feels sick or in pain—or the temperatures overworked their internal systems—they may rethink returning. Remember, your goal as their massage therapist is to help them realize the gentle benefits of receiving ongoing thermalball massages.
Thermalball therapy can be used with several massage modalities, including Swedish massage, as well as placed on the client’s body. When placing thermalballs, however, you DO NOT have to remember to use a sheet or towel or clothing between the client’s bare skin and the heated ball! You must remember to use a sheet, towel or clothing between the client’s bare skin and a hot stone!!! During thermalball placement, the heat takes 1 to 4 minutes—depending on the size of the thermalball —to fully penetrate before your client can accurately discern if the stones are too hot. (This average time varies, too, according to the internal temperature of thermalball, as well as the health of the client, and size and placement of balls.)
KNOW YOUR CLIENT. Especially with hot stone massage, ensuring your clients fill out a detailed intake form is necessary. Massage therapists need a full understanding of the client’s health to determine what temperature would be appropriate. Be sure you know if your client is suffering from any injuries, dealing with chronic tension, taking any medication or plan to have any other treatments (For example, if a client is receiving multiple treatments throughout the day at a spa, one heated treatment in a six-hour timeframe is an acceptable guideline to follow.)
Keep in mind that the client’s health not only dictates the temperature of the thermalballs, but also how long heated (or chilled) thermalballs can be offered to a client’s body.
PROPER HYDRATION. Hydration is vital when doing a heated thermalball massage, both internally and to the client’s skin. Without proper hydration, burns may not occur as they often do with hot stones, but checking if the client’s skin appears dry, applying some form of moisturizer, such as massage oil or lotion, is a must.
Keeping the client’s internal system hydrated is just as important, however. Have clients drink water prior to, during and after their thermalball session. Think about it like this: Adding temperature to Swedish massage, for example, demands the body respond not only to the modality, but also to the increase of blood flow encouraged by the temperatures. Again, proper hydration is a must.
HEAT THERMALBALLS PROPERLY. First, the fastest way to heat thermalballs is by microwaving them in a Kewler Krock with the balls submerged in water. Direct Microwaves, hot plates, slow cookers and ovens—to name only a few—are never appropriate places to heat thermalballs.
Also, the only safe way to heat thermalballs is in water, as you can accurately control the heat of the water, making sure the thermalballs don’t get too hot. You should invest in a calibrated thermometer, however, to test the temperature of the water instead of relying solely on the thermostat of the heating unit. Any heating unit you purchase should have a temperature control so you can adjust the temperature of the water as needed. Generally, water between 110–130 F will get your thermalballs to the proper temperature. If you haven’t purchased a Kewler Krock, a large microwaveable bowl filled with water, so that the thermalballs are completely submerged. You need to make sure the entire ball is covered. The reason for this is that if the non-toxic proprietary thermal fluid boils, the steam can reach high enough temperature to deform the encasement. If this happens, retire the thermalball to cold use only.
JUST RIGHT. How will you know if your thermalballs are a safe temperature for your clients? A good indication is if you can hold the balls comfortably in your hands. Squeeze or hold the stone in your hand for a count of five seconds: If the balls are too hot for you to hold then they are too hot for the client.
You also need to consider how the thermalball will be used during the session to gauge the proper temperature. For example, using thermalballs during a massage is different than placing a heated thermalballs on the spine, and you need to take this difference into consideration when heating your thermalballs. Massaging with heated thermalballs, for example, will improve the heat transfer, sometimes rapidly.
Conversely, thermalballs resting on a client’s body might hold their temperature for a longer period of time.
UNDERSTAND THE BODY’S REACTION. Applications of heated thermalballs (or chilled - icyball) produces a series of internal responses. Working with temperatures acts as a derivative—decreasing blood and lymph in one area by increasing blood and lymph in another.
Prolonged application of heated thermalballs to a reflex area causes dilation of the blood vessels of related organs. In other words, the use of heated stones on isolated areas pulls blood from the reflex organs to the tissue in those regions, resulting in warm, flushed skin. Often, this result opens the door for therapists to work even deeper on trigger points or really tight muscles.
The amount of time you use heated thermalballs on a client’s body is determined by how strong your client’s body is at the time of the massage therapy session. The stronger the constitution of your client, the more time you can introduce heat to the body; the weaker your client’s body, the less time you’re going to want to offer heated thermalballs. Remember above all else, however, that if you are in doubt about how a client can handle hot thermalball therapy, you should always error on the side of caution and limit the time you use heated thermalballs. If the client has been exposed to and enjoys hot stone massages, then they will be absolutely energized by a thorough thermalball or icyball massage.
When done properly, there is no reason for a client to get burned during a hot stone session. That’s not to say, however, that burns never happen. Many times, if not in all cases, a burn could have been prevented. The best way to prevent burns is to use thermalball products instead or in addition to hot stone therapy. The single most quoted reason for switching to thermalball only therapy is the reduced risk of “burns” from hot stones and the balls ability to glide over bony prominences as well as the bonus therapy they provide to your own hands!
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