Bio-Structural Integration™: Everyday Stress and the Power of Massage

Bio-Structural Integration™ rehabilitation that is unique, effective and provides quick relief of pain and is a unique, trademarked process at Osteoklinika! 

Over 15 years ago we discovered that therapy centered around only one system simply does not work! 

Why? The body functions as a unit. When we get injured the central nervous system may be affected, the joints will develop misalignment, the muscles will be in spasm, connective tissue and fascia become tight, the inflammatory process sets in, even internal organs can be affected. Every cell in our body works synergetically together to maintain homeostasis. When one system is disturbed the other cannot function properly. In our method of Bio-Structural Integration™ we address the dysfunction at every level.

Within one treatment Cranial Osteopathy is used to release central nervous system lesions. After that Osteopathic Structural Adjustments are used to correct the joints, followed by Myofascial Release of connective tissue. 

Neuromuscular Massage is implemented to reduce muscular tension, and electrotherapy helps to interrupt the pain cycle.


All of the above is done within a 1 hour treatment. After the structure is realigned, we recommend BioFlex Low Intensity Laser Therapy to deal with inflammation. Now the healing is stimulated at the cellular level. This session may take 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the condition being treated. Elimination of inflammatory process assists in structural stabilization of the joints.

The program of rehabilitation is around 5 weeks long and provides consistently over 90% of success in bringing back a pain-free life. If you have tried every possible known therapy and still have pain, you shouldn't give up! During many years of my practice I developed protocols for numerous difficult- to-treat conditions. 

The Power of Massage

There’s no denying the power of massage. What comes to your mind when you think "massage"? Sometimes we think of the process as pampering, rejuvenating or therapeutic, or we seek it out as a luxurious treat, stress relief, pain management, etc. Whatever comes to mind, this might help you recognize what 'massage' can mean to you as a powerful partner in your healthcare routine.  There is nothing "fluffy" about our massage!

Experts estimate that over 90% of disease is stress related. And nothing ages us faster, internally and externally, than high stress. Massage can and does help to manage stress. It can:
Massage is a hands-on manipulation of the soft tissues of the body, such as muscles, connective tissue and joints to speed the healing process, reduce pain and help improve the functioning of the immune system. Massage may also alleviate stress and depression, as well as symptoms of migraines, soft tissue injuries, strains/sprains, lower back pain and muscle tension. At OsteoKlinika we offer many alternative massage types, for example:

·       Decrease anxiety

·       Enhance sleep quality

·       Increase energy level

·       Improve concentration

·       Increase circulation

·       Reduce fatigue

Clients often report a sense of perspective and clarity after receiving a massage. Emotional balance is often just as vital and valuable as obvious physical benefits.

Deep Tissue Massage

Deep tissue massage targets the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue. The massage therapist uses slower strokes or friction techniques across the grain of the muscle. It is used for chronically tight or painful muscles, repetitive strain, postural problems, or recovery from injury.

Reflexology Massage

Although reflexology is sometimes called foot massage, it is more than simple foot massage. Reflexology involves applying pressure to certain points on the foot that correspond to organs and systems in the body. Reflexology is very relaxing, especially for people who stand on their feet all day or just have tired, achy feet.

Sports Massage

Sports massage is specifically designed for people who are involved in physical activity. But you don't have to be a professional athlete to have one-it's also used by people who are active and work out often. The focus isn't on relaxation but on preventing and treating injury and enhancing athletic performance. A combination of techniques are used.

Neuromuscular Massage Therapy

Neuromuscular Massage Therapy (NMT) is an advanced massage technique that focuses on stimulating the origin and insertion of the muscles and areas of the muscle that exhibit metabolic changes called Myofascial Trigger Points. These points are located within taut bands of muscle and are treated with the application of sustained pressure.

Longitudinal strokes along the muscles fibers are also used in a specific manner to reduce hypertonicity of the muscles. NMT, by manipulating the soft tissues of the body (muscles, tendons and connective tissue), balances the Central Nervous System with the Musculoskeletal system and corrects any imbalances between the two. As a result chronic pain is reduced, the function of joints and muscles is improved and range of motion is increased. It also speeds the healing process by facilitating the release of endorphins.

Benefits of Massage

• Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion.

• Assist with shorter, easier labor for expectant mothers and shorten maternity hospital stays.

• Ease medication dependence.

• Enhance immunity by stimulating lymph flow—the body’s natural defense system.

• Exercise and stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles.

• Help athletes of any level prepare for, and recover from, strenuous workouts.

• Improve the condition of the body’s largest organ—the skin.

• Increase joint flexibility.

• Lessen depression and anxiety.

• Promote tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks.

• Pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improving circulation.

• Reduce post-surgery adhesions and swelling.

• Reduce spasms and cramping.

• Relax and soften injured, tired, and overused muscles.

• Release endorphins—amino acids that work as the body’s natural painkiller. 

• Relieve migraine pain. 

I hope since you have read this article that you don't underestimate the power of massage and how it can assist you in your day to day life, effortlessly, offering lasting mobility when massage is combined in the Bio-Structural Integration™ process at Osteoklinika.

Please contact our pain management and rehabilitation clinic at 905.660.8810 to learn about Bio-Structural Integration and for consultation or immediate treatment! - Andrew Subieta

Sugar Addiction is Making You Sick!

Is sugar making us sick? A team of scientists at the University of California in San Francisco believes so, and they're doing something about it. They launched an initiative to bring information on food and drink and added sugar to the public by reviewing more than 8,000 scientific papers that show a strong link between the consumption of added sugar and chronic diseases.

The common belief until now was that sugar just makes us fat, but it's become clear through research that it's making us sick. For example, there's the rise in fatty-liver disease, the emergence of Type 2 diabetes as an epidemic in children and the dramatic increase in metabolic disorders.

Laura Schmidt, a UCSF professor at the School of Medicine and the lead investigator on the project, SugarScience, said the idea is to make the findings comprehensible and clear to everyone. The results will be available to all on a website (SugarScience.org) and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Added sugars, Schmidt said, are sugars that don't occur naturally in foods. They are found in 74 percent of all packaged foods, have 61 names and often are difficult to decipher on food labels. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires food companies to list ingredients on packaging, the suggested daily values of natural and added sugars can't be found.

The FDA is considering a proposal to require food manufacturers to list information on sugars in the same way they do for fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein. But because so much added sugar is dumped into so many products, one average American breakfast of cereal would likely exceed a reasonable daily limit.

"SugarScience shows that a calorie is not a calorie but rather that the source of a calorie determines how it's metabolized," said pediatric endocrinologist Robert Lustig, a member of the SugarScience team and the author of "Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease." Lustig said that more than half of the U.S. population is sick with metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors for chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and liver disease that are directly related to the excessive consumption of added sugars in the Western diet.

Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the category of heart attack/stroke as the leading cause of death in the United States. Every day, 2,200 Americans die of cardiovascular disease. That's about 800,000 a year, or one in three deaths.

The latest statistics from the American Diabetes Association show that 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3 percent, have diabetes. Of that number, 21 million have been diagnosed and 8.1 million have not, and the numbers continue to grow, according to the association.

It doesn't stop there. The American Liver Foundation says at least 30 million Americans, or 1 in 10, has one of 100 kinds of liver disease.

Clinicians widely believe that obesity is the cause of metabolic disease. Although it is a marker for these diseases, Lustig said, it's not the cause. "Too much sugar causes chronic metabolic disease in both fat and thin people," he said, "and instead of focusing on obesity as the problem, we should be focusing on our processed-food supply."

The average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons (78 grams) of sugar a day, substantially more than the amount recommended by the American Heart Association. The association sets these limits: 6 teaspoons (24 grams) for women, 9 teaspoons (36 grams) for men, and 3-6 teaspoons (12-24 grams) for children, depending on age. Just one 12-ounce soda contains 8 to 9 teaspoons (32-36 grams) of sugar.  (Average Canadian consumes 26 teaspoons of sugar a day!)

Liquid sugar in sodas, energy drinks and sports drinks is the leading source of added sugar in the American diet. That represents 36 percent of all added sugars consumed, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. And because liquid does not include fiber, the body processes it quickly. That causes more sugar to be sent to the pancreas and liver than either can process properly, and the resulting buildup of sugar leads to heart disease, diabetes and liver disease.

Consuming too much sugar causes the level of glucose sugar in the bloodstream to increase. That, in turn, causes the pancreas to release high levels of insulin that cause the body to store extra calories as fat.

Too much insulin also affects the hormone leptin, a natural appetite suppressant that signals the brain to stop eating when full. But the imbalance of insulin levels caused by the intake of too much sugar causes lipid resistance, and the brain no longer gets that signal.

Another member of the SugarScience team, Dean Schillinger, is a professor of medicine at UCSF and a practicing primary care doctor at San Francisco General Hospital. He believes the over-consumption of added sugars is a social problem, not a problem of individual choice and freedom.

"People are becoming literate about the toxic effects of sugar," Schillinger said, "and have more understanding of the idea that high doses are bad for one's health." He sees evidence that those in a higher socioeconomic bracket are taking steps to limit intake of sugar when compared with poorer, less literate people.

Healthy food is expensive and less readily accessible in poorer neighborhoods, and because corn is so abundant and cheap, it is added to many food products. "Dumping high fructose corn syrup into cheap foods, sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks is toxic to the body, causing epidemic metabolic diseases and a serious health crisis," Schillinger said.

To underscore the scope of the problem, he pointed out that during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 1,500 American soldiers lost a limb in combat. In that same period, 1.5 million people in the U.S. lost limbs to amputations from Type 2 diabetes, a preventable disease. "We have yet to mobilize for a public health war," he said, "but the time has come to do so."

Such a war would have to take on the root causes of the problem. As a nation, Schillinger added, we would need to look at our food policies, food pricing, availability of healthy foods, and the marketing being carried out by food and beverage industries to hook the public on unhealthy choices loaded with added sugar.

Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, is not a SugarScience researcher, but he agreed that the amount of sugar consumed by the American public is too high. SugarScience, he said, is being helpful by bringing the information about added sugar to public attention.

"It's just about impossible," Hu said, "to know from food labels what kinds and amounts of sugars are in a product." That's why he thinks the FDA should require food companies to list those amounts on all food labels so people know what they're eating, in what amounts they're eating it, and what amounts are safe.

Food labels are important, Schillinger said, and they need to be revised, but the most important change needed is to make the healthier choice the easier choice. - medicalxpress.com

Sugar causes inflammation and inflammation causes pain and chronic disease!

For more information, Andrew Subieta and the clinic staff can be reached at Osteoklinika Pain Management & Rehabilitation 905.660.8810. 

Also, please check our website at www.osteoklinika.com for more information about Bio-Structural Integration™, or our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.