​Charlie, a good-hearted country boy, and Nancy, an aspiring singer, begin a new relationship. Nancy's budding career and interference by her producer cause Charlie to question the relationship.

​A young man is stunned to discover that he was kidnapped as a child by the woman he's called mother his entire life. Now, he's left to deal with the consequences of her actions and finally meet his biological family.

With her divorce looming, a lawyer (Catherine Keener) ventures to upstate New York with her children in tow to visit her hippie mother (Jane Fonda), whom she hasn't seen in 20 years.

​After a bad breakup with his girlfriend leaves him heartbroken, Carter Webb (Adam Brody) moves to Michigan to take care of his ailing grandmother (Olympia Dukakis). Once there, he gets mixed up in the lives of the mother (Meg Ryan) and daughters who live across the street.

The true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a struggling salesman from Illinois, met Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman), who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers' speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. Kroc soon maneuvers himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a multi-billion dollar empire.

I had an interesting affliction the other day that a bit of research didn't answer completely.  I was sitting quietly at the beach when I felt a pinching pain in the middle of my left neck.  I began feeling disoriented, so I packed up my belongings and quickly went home.  I might add it was not an overwhelming hot day and I had only been there an hour.

On my bike ride home I noticed the pain worsening.  By the time I was home, and out of the shower, it was excruciating.  Not throbbing, not hot, just like some body builder punched me dead in the neck.  

I came across a few things on the Internet.  There's not much in that area, in terms of offering such severe pain, but I did come up with something - carotidynia.  I'd like to share it with you in case someone else has been in the same predicament.  Most importantly, I had to DIG DEEP for this one by scaling the health boards so that tells me it may not be common knowledge for most of our primary care physicians.  

Carotidynia refers to a syndrome which causes a one-sided/unilateral tenderness of the carotid artery near the bifurcation. Palpation of the carotid artery present in the neck results in a type of a headache that resonates on the face, ears and neck. In most cases, carotidynia occurs in people below the age of sixty and women are four times more prone to suffer from such a pain.

Sometimes, people describe carotidynia as a secondary headache because of its association with other underlying health problems that can be the probable cause of the pain. Misdiagnosis of carotidynia as chronic sinusitis or trigeminal neuralgia is an ordinary possibility in the early stages of the syndrome.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PAIN

• Usually centered around the neck, it can radiate to the ears, molar region and the face as well
• Dull throbbing pain that may occur throughout the day or may come and go for some hours
• Intensity of the pain varies from mild to agonizing
• Pain may increase substantially while yawning, swallowing, sneezing, coughing or lifting the head towards a collateral side

​CAUSES OF CAROTIDYNIA

• Vascular changes: The carotids artery is a primary blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the brain and is present around the neck. Any change or inflammation in the carotid artery can cause carotidynia.
• Genetic causes: It is seen that people whose parents suffer from carotidynia are more likely to experience a similar kind of pain. This indicates that genetic material could also carry elements that result in such type of pain. Hence, carotidynia can also be a hereditary problem.
• Environmental factors: Exposure to cold weather may trigger a headache in some people. People who are in the habit of smoking regularly are also susceptible to carotidynia due to plaque formation in the arteries. The pain may also occur in people who have undergone a recent dental surgery.
• Migraine: Migraine is a common cause of carotidynia. There is a high incidence of vascular headaches in family or individual medical backgrounds before the onset of carotidynia. People having ‘migraine personalities’ which has sensitivity, compulsiveness and conscientiousness as its characteristics are more likely to be subject to such pain. If migraine is the cause of carotidynia, patients suffer most while experiencing fatigue, stress or frustration. In such cases, the pain may continue to recur over months and years accompanied with pain that is deep-seated and dull.
• Infection or Post infection: Health conditions such as infection in aphthous ulcers, pharyngitis and viral upper respiratory tract infection occur before the onset of carotidynia. Such instances are more likely among those who have anxiety and the most common symptom is the experience of a sore throat. People suffering from carotidynia due to infection or post-infection do not have a history of a migraine in their family or their past. The symptoms may be present for an average of 11.6 days, and the condition is a result of a viral cause.
• Carotid Artery Aneurysm: Carotid artery aneurysm is a tender carotid artery that can be present anywhere along the internal or common carotid arteries. The mass may or may not be pulsatile if at all it is palpable. Neurological complications such as strokes, transient cerebral ischemia, coma, amaurosis fugax, syncope, etc. are common while rupture of the artery is unusual.
• Giant Cell Arteritis: Cranial arteritis mostly occurs among people aged over 55 years. However, younger people may be subject to carotid arteritis. Low-grade fever, tender carotid arteries and malaise are characteristics of this health problem.

​DIAGNOSIS OF CAROTIDYNIA

• Physical examination
• Thorough examination of the individual’s personal and family medical history
• Laboratory or radiology test
• Examination of the head & neck
• Direct or indirect laryngoscopy
• Duplex scanning
• Angiography
• MRI
• Intra-arterial angiography

​
HOME REMEDIES

Using an ice pack on the neck may be helpful in reducing the pain and swelling, apply the ice pack for about 10 – 20 minutes while placing a thin cloth between the skin and the ice pack. Prevent chances of frostbite by making sure of not leaving the ice on the skin for too long.

Use a heating pad set on low or a bottle of warm water or a warm cloth is advisable, but avoid going to sleep with a heating pad on the skin.


​TREATMENT OF CAROTIDYNIA

Usually, carotidynia is a condition that is self-correcting. The doctor prescribes medications to treat migraine and corticosteroids. The medication prescribed depends on the course of treatment that the doctor chooses for the patient. Certain medicines that prevent the occurrence of irreversible blindness are also given to the patient.

Of course, this is nothing to play around with.  Like I said previously, I have a call into my doctor to ensure this is not serious.  Should you experience the same, I advise you to seek medical treatment.  

,Heart palpitations run rampant in the fibromyalgia community.  Type in "Fibromyalgia and heart issues" on your browser's search engine and a myriad of comments, suggestions, and studies ensue.  

Take a look on any fibromyalgia symptom board and minor heart irregularities linked to a possible autonomic nervous system response seem to top the charts.  I have been personally told, by my primary physician, that these specific palpitations and irregularities may be stemming from diet, stress, and lack of exercise.  

Yet, I exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day.  I weight lift at least once a week, and I keep to a very strict diet.  Still weight loss and gain show common discrepancies.  Simply put, nothing seems to work consistently all the time.  The doctor even went so far to say that my strict, healthy diet may be harboring the genetics to lower my metabolism.  Which in all fairness to him, is more than likely true.  Nonetheless, he ordered some routine testing and a trip to the cardiologist.

Seven years ago, when I first harbored the initial symptoms of fibromyalgia I had heart irregularities.  I was sent for the same workup.  This same workup stumped my primary and specialists showing no heart abnormalities.  Today, the first of the two referrals popped up with some minor issues.  The heart x-ray showed some plaque to my aorta, and the EKG showed some minor shifts from the first one completed in 2011.  The verdict on a recent phone call from the nurse stated, "I have the lab results from your recent testing......... Have you made an appointment with the cardiologist yet?  The doctor wants me to impress the importance that you need to see the specialist immediately."  

Of course, I went on an internet research spree and I now share with you a recent scientific study posted in Fibromyalgia News Today by Magdalena Kegel - 

Fibromyalgia is common among patients with chronic heart failure, according to research from Australia, which demonstrated that the condition was linked to poorer health outcomes.

Cardiac failure patients with fibromyalgia were also more commonly affected by other diseases believed to stem from so-called central sensitivity — abnormal brain and spinal cord responses to sensory stimuli.
The finding that fibromyalgia is common in this patient group provides an opportunity to address not only heart failure, but also fibromyalgia symptoms, the research team from Monash University School of Medicine in Melbourne, Australia, argued.

The study, “Fibromyalgia has a high prevalence and impact in cardiac failure patients,”was published in the European Journal of Rheumatology.

Earlier research showed that fibromyalgia often coexists with other chronic diseases, ranging from autoimmune conditions to infectious diseases such as hepatitis.

Patients with coronary artery disease, a heart condition in which blood vessels become blocked with plaque, often have fibromyalgia. A study found that the severity of fibromyalgia followed the severity of the heart disease.

But there had been no data, until now, on the prevalence of fibromyalgia in patients with cardiac failure, the Monash research team noted.

The team recruited 57 heart failure patients, of which 63.2% were men. The average age of the group was 70.3 years. These characteristics differ from typical fibromyalgia patients, which are mainly younger women.

Among them, 22.8% fulfilled diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. Even more — 31% — had widespread musculoskeletal pain, with at least 11 tender points. In addition, 19.3% had depression. When this number was split for those with and without fibromyalgia, slightly more patients in the fibromyalgia group were affected by depression.

Patients with fibromyalgia and heart failure scored worse on all aspects of a general health assessment, compared to patients with only heart failure.

Researchers found that the severity of fibromyalgia was related to the severity of general health impairment, with more severe fibromyalgia linked to worse physical and mental health.
“This finding highlights the broad and significant effect [fibromyalgia] has on all aspects of well-being,” researchers wrote.

In addition, the team found that all other central sensitivity diseases investigated, including temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, irritable bowel disease (IBD), headache, and chemical sensitivity were more common in people with both heart failure and fibromyalgia.

The results support the idea that fibromyalgia is caused by an increased central nervous system sensitivity, researchers said.

They now hope that the recognition of fibromyalgia in patients with heart failure may lead to better outcomes for these patients.

I leave you with some closing thoughts.  My doctor did not order my recent tests because he noticed a heart irregularity from my office visit.  

I went into this visit noticing and voicing that my heart palpitations seemed to be coming more frequent.  I expressed this to him immediately when he first sat down.  He quickly went to my patient file and noted it had been sometime since my last full lab workup concerning heart issues.  His response was, "Hmmmm..... let's get you another set of referrals to see what's going on and to be on the safe side." This was due to the fact I expressed to him my concern over the recent article I posted titled "Fibromyalgia Often Exists with Other Diseases".

Doctors are not magicians.  They can't always accurately diagnose your list of symptomologies without input from you.  Don't assume because you've been told, "It is probably the fibromyalgia that's causing this...." as full credit.  Do your research, know your body, and keep questioning.  At all costs, keep questioning - it could save your life.  

​Fibromyalgia (FM) commonly occurs alongside rheumatological diseases as well as certain non-rheumatological disorders such as neurological, gastrointestinal, and psychological conditions, a review study found.

The study, “Comorbid fibromyalgia: a qualitative review of prevalence and importance,” was published in the European Journal of Pain.

Fibromyalgia — a disease characterized by chronic widespread body pain — is known to commonly occur with various rheumatological diseases. Although initially considered a unique condition, prevalent in 2-4% of the population, fibromyalgia is now increasingly recognized as coexisting with other rheumatological and non-rheumatological diseases.

Fibromyalgia that accompanies another disease is associated with a less favorable outcome, more severe symptoms, and impaired function. Therefore, if the condition goes undiagnosed in a patient who also has another disease, it can be detrimental because it requires treatment, and unrecognized fibromyalgia may be misinterpreted as poor control of the primary disease, affecting the management of both conditions.

Since there are few studies that have looked at the coexistence of fibromyalgia with other illnesses, with the exception of rheumatic diseases, researchers conducted a literature review to find evidence of the disorder occurring in different illnesses, and the effect it may have on the primary disease.

Fibromyalgia occurs in 20-30% of patients with various rheumatic conditions. In particular, one study showed that the disease was found in 21% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 37% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosis and 17% of patients with osteoarthritis.

Fibromyalgia is also reported to occur in patients with non-inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions, such as chronic spinal pain and chronic low back pain. It was also reported in 23-41% of patients with chronic disabling occupational musculoskeletal disorders.

There are four neurological conditions that have been reported to be associated with pain or fibromyalgia — multiple sclerosis (MS), post poliomyelitis syndrome, neuropathic pain, and Parkinson’s disease. However, no studies have assessed the outcome of the underlying disease when fibromyalgia is also present.

Fibromyalgia occurring with gastrointestinal diseases has mostly been reported for celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, studies that report the prevalence of the condition in IBS are conflicting, and there is no general consensus.

One study indicated that fibromyalgia is present in 23% of patients with heart failure, which, interestingly, is not a disease commonly associated with chronic pain.

Another study reported that 21% of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder also had fibromyalgia. Thus, the disease is not only present in physical disorders associated with pain but also mental conditions.

The authors believe that fibromyalgia may be an unidentified condition that occurs among many different diseases and may contribute to the overall burden of illness.
​
Because fibromyalgia coexisting with other disorders is associated with an overall less favorable health status in both rheumatic and non-rheumatic diseases, “physicians should be alert to the possibility of comorbid FM, and symptoms of FM should be specifically addressed,” the researchers said. -Shared from Fibromyalgia News today

If you're into the Zoodle or squash noodle craze, you're going to love this one.  Packed with protein and great vegetable nutrients, this one will be a favorite for years to come.

Best of all, you can make a container and store it in the refrigerator for a few days just dolloping out what you need. I like to keep on hand some brown rice to layer a 1/4 cup on the bottom of my plate for some necessary sedating carbs.

8 oz. chicken breasts, cut into 1-inched cubes
8 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large zucchini
1 large summer squash

Alfredo Sauce
3 tab. butter
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup almond milk
1 slice provolone cheese
6 tab. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In an oiled pan on medium heat, fry chicken breasts for 5 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook until pink.  Remove meats from pan and place in a small bowl.

Spiral squash and spaghetti with Zoodle Maker.

In the same pan make Alfredo Sauce.  Melt butter, add garlic, provolone cheese, and almond milk. Add Parmesan cheese one tab. at a time and stir vigorously.  

Add zoodles and cook 5 minutes.  Add chicken and shrimp.  

​Toss until well-coated. Serve

Aromatherapy is all the rage.  Turn your shower into a sedative experience.  Grab a Zum Bar before jumping in and you'll relax your senses from an overpowering day.  

It is believed that fibromyalgia suffers may possess an intolerance to life's daily toxins.  Unfortunately, these toxins can be found in most items we purchase.  And, furthermore, the skin being the largest organ our body hosts drinks in all these atrocities daily.  Why just check out your personal care products and notice if they contain any of these substances:

1. IODOPROPYNYL BUTYLLCARBAMATE
Reproductive system toxicity.

2.LECITHIN Penetration enhancer. 
 
3. RESORCINOL Possible human carcinogen.
 
4. FDC YELLOW 6 Possible human carcinogen.

5.PARABENS Reproductive system toxicity.
 
6. SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE Gastrointestinal toxicity.

7. PROPYLENE GLYCOL Immune toxicant. 

8 TOCOPHERYL ACETATE Immune toxicant. 

9.FRAGRANCE Immune toxicant. 

10. DISODIUM DTA Penetration  enhancer.
 
-taken from Skin Authority

Why put your body in undue stress by contributing toxins that may inflict more chronic pain?  Take steps to rid your body of daily toxins where ever possible.  Especially in your bathroom!  I recently purchased a Zum Bar and was pleasantly surprised  with the results.  Not only did I feel I was cleansing my body naturally, but the aroma was a meditational adventure in itself.  Zum Bars include: Zum Bar Frankincense & Myrrh-3 oz., Indigo Wild: Zum Bar Goat's Milk Soap, Dragon's Blood 3 oz, Earth Tones Zum Bars by Indigo Wild, Frankincense Patchouli Zum Bars Multipack (5 Count) by Indigo Wild, Zum Bar sea salt, Indigo Wild Zum Bar Goats Milk Soap 3 oz Sandal & Citrus, Indigo Wild: Zum Bar Goat's Milk Soap, Coffee & Almond 3 oz, Earth And Sea Zum Bars by Indigo Wild, Frankincense And Lavender Zum Bars Multipack (5 Count by Indigo Wild), to name a few.

"If you're good in this life, maybe you'll come back as a Zum Bar in 
your next life. This natural soap has the good stuff of goat's milk, 100% pure 
essential oils, veggie oils, herbs, natural glycerin and natural mineral 
pigments. But why? Well, it's better than stuff like tallow (beef fat) or PEG-6 
methyl ether (a thickener) or tetrasodium EDTA (water softener) or lard (yeah, 
no explanation necessary).

The bad stuff in un-natural soap is obvious, but some wonderers wonder, "Why 
use goat's milk?" Well, there's an udder difference in the pH balance of goat's 
milk. Goat's milk makes our natural soap more akin to the skin than anything 
else - not too alkaline, not too acidic, but just right. So it doesn't dry skin 
or leave it feeling oily. 

What's inside? All-natural ingredients you can pronounce.
Saponified 100% food grade olive, coconut, palm 
& castor oils, in a goat's milk base, with herbs, pure essential oils and 
natural colorings." - taken from Indigo Wild Website

Michelina Bellsong is on a mission. She is following a missing family to the edge of America . . . to a place she never knew existed—a place of terror, wonder, and shattering revelation. What awaits her there will change her life and the life of everyone she knows—if she can find the key to survival. At stake are a young girl of extraordinary goodness, a young boy with killers on his trail, and Micky’s own wounded soul. Ahead lie incredible peril, startling discoveries, and paths that lead through terrible darkness to unexpected light.

Earthing is one of the most profound health discoveries I've ever made.  Get your health back by grounding.

'Earthing' introduces readers to the landmark discovery that living in contact with the Earth's natural surface charge - being grounded - naturally discharges and prevents chronic inflammation in the body. This effect has massive health implications because of the well-established link between chronic inflammation and all chronic diseases, including the diseases of ageing and the ageing process itself.

​Ever notice how you feel so energized and vibrant while walking on the beach? You probably attributed that to being on a beach vacation where your stress literally evaporated upon sinking your toes in the silky sand, inhaling that salty ocean air and soaking up some vitamin D elixir from the sun's healing rays, right? Well that's partially true. But there's something else going on that's creating this optimal state of health. What's the magical ingredient? Electrons.

Our feet contain a rich, intricate network of nerves and acupuncture points and are especially adept at picking up free electrons from the earth's surface. It's called barefoot or caveman medicine, and walking barefoot – aka earthing or grounding – may be the easiest, simplest and cheapest way of shifting your body back to an optimal state of homeostasis and health.

ELECTRONS: THE MISSING LINK

The gist of the earthing theory is simply this: the earth is negatively charged, so when you ground, you're connecting your body to a negatively charged supply of energy. And since the earth has a greater negative charge than your body, you end up absorbing electrons from it. These free electrons intercept the firestorm of free radicals (that create oxidative damage and inflammation) in our body and extinguish this fire. When you walk barefoot, you're literally soaking up millions of electrons that decoagulate and detoxify your blood.

So instead of your blood being all viscous and thick, like ketchup, it becomes free flowing, like red wine. Earthing also shifts the sympathetic nervous system back to the point where it has more tranquility, and clinical studies have shown that earthing helps with everything from inflammation to insomnia, and from autoimmune to heart disease.

BENEFITS

You may find that walking barefoot on either moist grass or the beach immediately produces a warm, tingling sensation or a sense of well-being. This contact can trigger health benefits, often within minutes.

These benefits include relieving muscle tension, headaches and menstrual symptoms. Earthing can also boost the immune system, combat inflammation, reduce stress hormones and improve blood pressure. For people who are ill – and therefore have the most free radicals – the benefits can be dramatic. Those who are healthy usually report sleeping better and having more energy.

A report in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine confirmed these benefits:

"It is well established, though not widely known, that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons as a consequence of a global atmospheric electron circuit. Wearing shoes with insulating soles and/or sleeping in beds that are isolated from the electrical ground plane of the earth have disconnected most people from the earth's electrical rhythms and free electrons.”

“A previous study demonstrated that connecting the human body to the earth during sleep (earthing) normalizes the daily cortisol rhythm and improves sleep. A variety of other benefits were reported, including reductions in pain and inflammation. Subsequent studies have confirmed these earlier findings and documented virtually immediate physiologic and clinical effects of grounding or earthing the body."

The concept of earthing is gaining momentum today because of the efforts of Stephen Sinatra, MD, a holistic cardiologist, and Clinton Ober and Martin Zucker, coauthors of Earthing, a new book about the health benefits of grounding.

For Dr. Sinatra, earthing is the most important health discovery made in his 40 years of practicing medicine. He believes that modern life has disconnected us from the earth in many ways. We live and work in multistory buildings high off the ground and spend our nights on thick mattresses far from the earth. This separation from the surface of the earth reduces our connection to its charge, which has resulted in our bodies being deficient in electrons, says Dr. Sinatra.

At the same time, modern life has brought with it a host of medical conditions associated with chronic inflammation, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer. As Dr. Sinatra and his colleagues see it, inflammation in the body is out of control, mainly because we have lost contact with the earth. What a fascinating concept!

HOW TO GET GROUNDED

Simply slip off your shoes and plant your bare feet in the ground for thirty minutes. When you first start adopting a barefoot lifestyle, it's best to initiate on naturally softer grounds like grass, dirt paths and sand (instead of cement, asphalt or hardwood). When the muscles and joints of your foot become more stable, and the skin on the bottom of your feet thickens, you'll be able to handle progressively more time barefoot, and on a wider variety of surfaces. Although walking, wading or swimming in mineral-rich ocean water is ideal (oceans are highly conductive, more so than lakes), the key is to have direct, sustained skin contact (any part of your body will do) with the surface of the earth. This is why gardening, where you put your hands in and out of the earth, does not provide quite the same benefit.

SOME DOS & DON'TS:

• Do walk on grass that is slightly moist, as the water helps conduct the electrons; dry grass won't be as effective
• Don't walk on grass or soil that is littered with dirt, dog/bird droppings etc. Because the soles of our feet are very effective at absorbing the earth's energy, they can also absorb toxins -- use commons sense before you ditch your shoes. Pristine forest or beach soil is ideal
• Do ground, especially after flying, as our bodies bioelectrical rhythms are thrown out of balance in flight and grounding restores that electrical equilibrium
• Do wash your feet with soap and water, after grounding, to get rid of soil detritus that you may have picked up
• Don't go barefoot if you have any open cuts/sores on your soles, as that can be an entry point for parasites/fungi

GROUNDING: RADICAL DISCOVERY OR HIPPIE HOAX?

They say the most radical ideas are the most simple ones but, I must confess, after perusing through all this grounding literature, it seemed too good to be true. Does grounding really work or is it something dreamed up by barefoot radical hippies?

I decided to toss my inhibitions about parasites and calloused feet (along with my trusted flip flops), and give this barefoot medicine a real try. The truth is that I've been going through an egregious period of stress with my mom's lung cancer diagnosis, and have been on an insatiable quest to discover new stress relieving strategies that I can add to my go-to stress toolbox when I'm practically ready to tear out my hair! And I figured, why not give this a try for a month?

A yoga teacher suggested this barefoot medicine, attesting to the sense of grounding it has provided her, "We need to feel the earth – to contact it, to connect to it directly. It brings us back into ourselves and reminds us of our place.”

Impelled, I went home, kicked off my sandals, and set afoot. I took each step slowly, consciously, deliberately. I'll admit that at first it was because I was afraid of stepping on something sharp or prickly, but then it was because it felt so good to be aware of my feet – and most of all, to be aware of the earth underneath them. There were a million sensations – blades of grass, dried leaves, mud, dew, dandelion flowers – tingling my feet as the over 200,000 nerve endings were actively responding to the ground. It was living reflexology.

I’ve since been walking barefoot in the park across my home every day (keeping an eye out for errant dog poop), and over the past weeks, I must admit, my vague sense of anxiety has all but disappeared and my stress is definitely down from a level eight to a manageable four or five. I've also been sleeping better.

Walking barefoot upon the earth is like a silent prayer. Every blade of grass and every dew drop invites you into the present; invites you to be conscious and connected to your world. There is a secret language spoken between the bottoms of your feet and the ground below it – a direct communication between spirit and earth that the mind can barely fathom.

As it turns out, the benefits of barefooting it are not simply of the esoteric spiritual kind either. Walking barefoot, our most natural state of footwear, has been found to cause less impact stress on the body – reducing collision force by promoting a more natural gait. Indeed, studies show that those who run in padded running shoes suffer far more impact stress and are significantly more prone to injuries than those who run either barefoot or in non-padded shoes. Imagine that. Yes, for you shoe addicts out there, I have grim news: shoes are bad. And I don’t just mean those four-inch stiletto heels, or cowboy boots, or any of the other fairly obvious foot-torture devices into which we jam our feet for the sake of fashion.

“'Natural gait is bio-mechanically impossible for any shoe-wearing person,” wrote Dr. William A. Rossi in a 1999 article in Podiatry Management. “It took 4 million years to develop our unique human foot and our consequent distinctive form of gait, a remarkable feat of bioengineering. Yet, in only a few thousand years, with one carelessly designed instrument, our shoes, we have warped the pure anatomical form of human gait, obstructing its engineering efficiency, afflicting it with strains and stresses and denying it its natural grace of form and ease of movement head to foot.' In other words: Feet good. Shoes bad.”

So ditch those rubber-soled shoes (that insulate you from the earth's healing energy) the next time you walk out the door. Your feet certainly won’t miss them, and I doubt you will either. And remember, barefooting doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision. Simply incorporate a few minutes here and there and you'll naturally find yourself kicking off your shoes whenever the opportunity presents itself.
​
Now, I'd love to hear from you regarding your barefoot experience. What positive changes have you noticed?
May you enjoy the ripe abundance of a barefoot summer and revel in the bliss of this sultry season! - Rupina Meer

​I recently came across Mark J. Pellegrino, MD, and was completely fascinated by the concept of fibronomics. Fibronomics is an interesting term related to how we move our body when we have fibromyalgia. It’s like ergonomics with a FM twist. Pellegrino, who coined the term, has had FM since childhood.

Here are some of Pellegrino’s best fibronomics tips:

1. When changing a lightbulb, hold up your elbow with your opposite hand to give it support, while standing on a stool or ladder to get closer to the lightbulb. This example made so much sense to me. I never would have thought of that.

2. For driving a prolonged distance, switch your hands between the 10:00 and 2:00 position, and the 4:00 and 8:00 positions. This technique helps those of us with FM avoid getting too stiff while driving.

3. When you’re washing dishes, put a foot on a stool or open the door to the cabinet underneath, and rest your foot on the shelf. It will take some stress off your back. It’s also helpful to use a dish scrubber with a long handle so you don’t have to bend over so much.

4. When applying makeup, set a magnifying mirror on a table. That way you don’t have to bend over a sink to get close enough to the mirror, or tip your head back while applying makeup. Personally, I just use lipstick. It’s been a long time since I wore any makeup.

Pellegrino’s four rules of fibronomics are as follows:
 
Arms stay home.

Unload the back. 

Support always welcome. 

Be naturally shifty

How does that look on a practical basis in our daily lives?

Whatever job or chore you’re doing, keep your arms below your shoulders, elbows touching your side. One way to do this while cleaning your bathtub would be to use a mop to wash the tub and surrounding tile, rinse and you’re done. Make use of stools and/or step ladders when you can to keep your arms at home.

When sitting, use afoot rest to take pressure off your back. You can also alternate crossing your legs. Just keep shifting your position.

With dusting you can use a long-handled dusting tool. I have one with an adjustable handle that makes dusting so much easier! For cleaning ceiling fans, you could stand on a stepladder and use a hair dryer to blow off the dust.

If you spill something on the floor, rather than bending over to wipe it up, use a towel and your foot to wipe up the mess.

I have an issue with bending over my washer to get the clothes out to put them in the dryer. I use an assisted grabber device to help with that, so I don’t hurt my back or aggravate my shoulder/arm pain.

Using a step stool to get at things in upper cupboards is something I should do more frequently. Store in such places only things you don’t need to use often. For heavy lifting, I get my husband to help. I also use my grabber tool to reach things I’m not worried about dropping or breaking.

Moving and shifting our position and muscles regularly make a difference as well. I set an alarm to go off every 45 minutes, and I stop what I’m doing — even when it’s just laying in bed — and walk around and do some gentle stretching. It keeps my muscles from tensing so much, and helps with the pain.

Pellegrino’s book, Fibromyalgia: Up Close and Personal covers this topic and more. He has written at least 10 books on the subject. - Fibromyalgia News Today