Are Anti-bacterial soaps a neccessity or just a hype?

My son made a comment that got me thinking about a tv commercial advertising automatic hand soap dispensers. 
"Are you really going to touch the dispenser AFTER you've washed off whatever was on your hands?"
Words from babes.

I taught pathology to massage therapists emphasizing on the simplicity of hand washing that lead to one of the greatest discoveries of our era, germs that made people sick. It's not the warm water, you'd need water between 167-212 degrees to kill viruses, much too hot for our hands. Warm water was recommended for the purpose of comfort to encourage people to wash more frequently. Who wants to wash in cold water? Chemical germacides like anti-bacterial soaps need to be used at certain concentrations and used for certain lengths of time. Not sure about you, but how long is that? 2 minutes? Applying a surfactant (surface active agents, the slippery and lathery stuff) surrounds the viruses and bacteria and when combined with rubbing your hands together imulsifies these little buggers and are rinsed away under running water. Gels & lotions like hand sanitizers containing 60% alcohol get rubbed in and need to be left to dry. Hand sanitizers should only be used when soap and water is not available & should never be used to replace handwashing, EVER.

Killing everything on your hands isn't always a good thing. Our bodies build immunities to these germs. It's one reason super bugs are taking over, they're the only one's left. The 99.9% of the germs being killed are the weakest leaving behind the strongest of the strain to muliply. Not good.

DON'T BE A PSUEDO HANDWASHER! Nothing erks me more than seeing women coming out of a restroom stall rinsing their finger tips under the tap with only water, grabbing a paper towel, drying and not wanting to touch the handle going out. Pointless. So you didn't happen to get anything on your hands but perhaps the person before you "missed" then touched the door knob going out of the stall, touching the faucet handle spreading her viruses and bacteria, just to do a pseudo wash. No soap, it's still on their hands now on yours.  Restooms are great environments for transmitting disease, urine, fecal matter, saliva & blood. Why would you not use soap in a place like that? PLEASE use soap for your health and ours.


Simple tips that have saved me from getting sick:

1. Using hand sanitizers sparingly when you're handeling things like money, public surfaces, grocery cart handles, etc. I keep hand sanitizer in my car just in case.

2. Using wipes on the unsuspecting culprits that breed germs that NEVER get washed. (Do this occationally, don't get carried away) Car keys, steering wheels, purse & bag handles, wallet, credit cards, dog leash, shoe laces, cell phone covers, etc.

3. After anyone is sick in your home, wipe things down like light switches, toilet flush handles, washing machine & dryer knobs, etc.

4. Wash frequently with a gentle, plain soap containing no anti-bacterial chemicals. Use lotions to prevent drying. I'd rather have dry hands than get sick.

5. Keep your hands out of your eyes, nose and mouth.

So after finding these little germ spreading items I highly doubt pumping soap into your hands your going to rub your eyes or put your hands in your mouth with a handful of soap. I'd be more worried out the faucet handles that you've touched before & AFTER you've washed your hands. Just wash the soap dispenser with the soap inside the dispenser? Not sure who invented this or why.

Here's are 3 reason's on why it's bad not only for you but for the environment on using anti-bacterial handsoaps.
http://thedelicioustruth.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-2011-do-not-use-antibacterial.html

SUGAR - The bitter truth

Facial massage

 

Facial Massage and how it helps our mood.

They say you can tell alot about a person by the expression on their face. What does your expression say to us about you? Are you being properly represented or is your body still showing us past emotions? Everyone used to ask my father what was wrong as he sat with a never ending scowl on his face. His response was always the same, "Nothing, why?" He always looked mad. These micro expressions can have a dramatic effect on our lives from not getting a job, attracting the wrong people, scaring away the right people and people just making judgements against us thinking we're angry, sad, giddy, spacey, etc. We've all seen them and we've all done it.

I was prompted to write this article after seeing a commercial on television for an anti-wrinkle cream about how "Parentheses have a place, just not on your face." I thought, "Why not?"  Too me it's a sign someone smiles a lot and is possibly a happy person!  

Mom was right to some degree when she said "If you make that face long enough, it's gonna stay that way." Our internal emotions reflect on our faces via signals sent to the muscles from the brain, so why would your face be any different than your shoulders or back. The most common phrase I hear from people is "I hold all my stress in my neck & shoulders" or wherever they feel the most tension. I and always reply "Why do you hold on to it?" And of course 99% of the time we're not consciously aware we're doing it. Actions such as sitting at a computer all day holding your shoulders up, leaning over your work, not breathing, and moving or twisting in the wrong direction are just a few things we do that we can bring awareness to, modify and relieve pain ourselves.

Above is a colored example of muscles in the face responsible for expression. Those wonderful little lines between the brow can result in deep wrinkles from things like constant squinting, anger, judgement, resentment, or those always in deep thought. Tight mouth? Perhaps you're afraid to speak your mind, habit, ex or current smoker or an amazing whistler. My point being muscles hold memory and some things just need to be let go of before your face literally stays that way.

Facial creams, lotions and potions are fine to remove surface wrinkles. If it shows on the surface then somehing deeper internally has irrupted. A Buddhist monk once told me to learn to smile on the inside and the micro expressions on the outside will surface. Wrinkles and lines appear for many reasons. The most common are  over exposure to the sun, dehydration, emotional or mechanical expression, and age. Taking care of your skin with simple cleansing and moisturizing is a must, drinking plenty of water cleanses not only the body but brings water to the cells plumping them up. Emotional and mechanical expression can be changed through awareness of expressions. In other words, stop frowning and squinting. Age, well we can't change that. There's nothing more beautiful than a happy smiling senior, not a gumpy old man as they portray on tv to sell us that age is a bad thing.

If what's in our head shows on our face, can what show's on our face change how we feel? Endless studies have shown how just smiling and laughing can lighten our mood and release endorphines. You can feel more at ease and "light" just by relaxing those facial muscles. Try it during a stressful day.

Facial massage is simple and very effective! It helps:

1. Bring blood and circulation to the skin which aides in cell turn over and moving fluid reducing puffiness. 

2. Stimulates your bodies own natural oil production relieving dry, oily and combination skin.

3. Loosens tight muscles holding our faces in those awkward expressions.

4. Tones the muscles. As we get older we don't make goofy faces like when we were kids exercising those muscles. We get stuck in a few expressions because we're stressed all the time.

5. Goodbye botox! Botox freezes the muscles on the face so we don't make the expressions that caused the wrinkles. WHY!!?! It could be used as a inhibitor to help break a squinting problem but it gets absorbed into the body and the wrinkles come back. Massage & relax that muscle & take a deep breathe.

Facial Massage

The first place stress appears on the face is between the eyes. Using your middle and ring finger place the pads of your fingers over that muscle. Press firmly and move in a cirucular direction without gliding on the skin about 10x each direction. Then using your middle finger, glide slowly and firmly over that muscle stretching it in an upward movement. Move up to the area over the brow, this time use the pads of all 8 fingers and repeat.You can repeat this method all over the face adjusting pressure according to area and comfort level. No oil or lotion is needed since we are addressing the muscles not the skin per say.

For optimum results a light (weight of a nickle) pressure, circular cleansing of the face and neck is best 1st thing in the morning to stimulate the lymphatic system to drain puffiness away from the face and stimulate blood circulation to the skin. After a good nights rest the delicate filliments of the lymphtic system in the face have restored themselves and a firm pressure can damage them leading to prolonged puffiness. Massaging the face muscles is best done during the day when you feel tension setting in and right before bed. Massage, cleanse, sleep or cleans then massage with clean hands if your face is oily, dirty or you're wearing make-up.

Let the world see who you really are, a loving human being. Drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest, let go of old nevagtive emotions, learn to relax. Growing up and being responsible doesn't mean being so serious that we forget to laugh, smile and be a little goofy. Make goofy faces at home, excersise those muscle. Add some funny noises too, it's a great stess reliever.

Ask The Therapist

Here you can ask questions about massage therapy.

Leave you question in the comment box below or you can e-mail me if you do not want your post public.

• Different Modalities
• A Specific Issue
• How can massage help you?
• Pain Management, etc.

Hot Stone Massage

Hot Stone Therapy involves using various sizes of heated volcanic basalt stones to enhance the effects of your massage. Used in conjuction with the massage treatment best suited for your needs, the heated stones are used as tools on specific muscles, knotts or trigger points. The heat penetrates into the muscle enhancing deeper relaxation, a sense of well being and less stress to the muscle being relaxed. Deep tissue massage may be achieved because of the soothing sedative effect heat has on the muscle fibers. Especially for those who do not like or can't tollerate alot of pressure in thier massage treatment.

Included with any massage at no extra cost. *Stones are not used on the entire body.

Hot Stone Massage invoves using the stones on all muscles of the body. A deeper relaxation is achieved with hot stone massage due to the heats vasodilation (expansion) of blood vessels in the body. Cardiac activity slows down, decreasing the amount of blood pumped resulting in slower breathing. Hot stone massage may lower blood pressure and may be contraindicated for those sensitive to heat, have irregular blood pressure or are recovering from a heart attack.  

Because hot stones run between 125-140 degrees, they have the ability to raise the internal temperature of the body which can artificially induce a fever. This increases the metabolic rate stimulates our waste removal and detoxification process. By bringing more blood to the cells, we bring more nutrients; bringing more oxygen and oxygen brings healing! Studies have shown that many diseases can not survive in an oxygen rich, alkaline environment.

Benefits of Hot Stone Massage

• Heat increases more circulation vs. traditional massage.
• Deeper sense of relaxation.
• Heat helps loosen fascia, the connective tissue surrounding muscles.
• Offers more relief to fibromyalgia sufferers.
• Soothes arthritis pain, joint pain, menstral cramps, and sciatic pain. 
• Allows for deeper penetration of therapeutic oils into the skin.
• Soothes tight, achy muscles during cold winter months.
• Creates a warm, safe, comfort bringing a sense of peace to the body.
• Increased metabolic rate.

Vulcan Massage

On Site Chair Massage

Many companies now provide wellness programs to help their employees stay healthy and satisfied with their jobs. After all, it's no secret that the healthier and happier an employee is, the more productive they are.

Many companies offer on-site chair massage as an integral part of the preventive and rehabilitative aspects of a wellness program. These have been shown to reduce worker's compensation claims, reduce time off from work, increase productivity, and increase job satisfaction.

BENEFITS OF ON-SITE MASSAGE

Additionally, massage improves flexibility, increases circulation, enhances self-esteem, and relieves tired, sore, aching muscles. It addresses the three most common causes of absenteeism: headaches, chronic pain, and hypertension. It enhances the immune system and creates an overall sense of well being and relaxation.

On-site chair massage is also a great success at the workplace for the following reasons:

• The recipient is fully dressed.
• No oils or lotions are necessary.
• Minimal space is required.
• It addresses common stresses and problems in the workplace.
• Privacy is not necessary.
• It takes less time than full-body massage; usually less than 15 minutes.
• It focuses on the head, neck, shoulders, back, arms and hands.
• It is cost-effective.

There are several payment strategies for the employer to offer seated massage to it's employees! Great to add to any event such as showers, parties, promo's to build your business, or any event you may think of. Prices are only $1 per minute, typically lasting 10-20 minutes.