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This week in the HSI Forum
| Last October, an HSI member named Barb started a new Forum thread titled "Multiple Sclerosis" to help a friend find natural ways of treating MS. Since then a number of responses have offered useful suggestions. One of these stood out as a treatment that is apparently useful to those with MS, and many others as well. A member who calls himself Oldbob explains:
"One of the keynote speakers who also is an MS patient doing very well, spoke to us at our local annual MS society meeting. Amongst other things, he was expounding on the benefits of "therapeutic" or gentle rebounding. I tried it at a booth the manufacturer had set up. The immediate benefit for me was in my lower spine which hurts due to sitting around for most of the time."
Leppert, a frequent contributor to various Forum threads, follows up, explaining that a rebounder is a mini-trampoline. Unlike Barb's friend and Oldbob, Leppert doesn't have MS, but she is recuperating from a bad fall that left her with hip, head and neck injuries. She says, "I have equilibrium problems so use a security bar that I hang on to when I gently bounce. Even though I don't exercise vigorously…it does get my pulse rate up."
Leppert goes on to say that it's "particularly good for folks like me who cannot walk or bicycle. Even folks with bad knees or paralyzed legs can crawl on it and bounce. The theory is that it assists the flow of blood and lymph. Our large muscles are the usual vehicle the body uses to pump lymph and to a lesser extent blood throughout the body. The lymphatic system doesn't have the muscle tissue as does the vascular system so is more dependent on motion for circulation. There are a series of one way valves in the lymphatic system and when one bounces, even gently, the lymph moves and won't be able to backflow."
In addition to MS patients and those, like Leppert, who are physically incapacitated, rebounding provides light aerobic activity for patients with arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, chronic fatigue, and any other health problems that have physically debilitating effects. From what I've read, rebounders are not too expensive. In fact, a member named Hal says he found one at a yard sale for only $5.
To read more about rebounders and other natural therapies for MS, log on to the HSI web site at www.hsibaltimore.com. Other subjects discussed in Forum threads this week include calcium supplements, rejuvenating a compressed disc, mercury toxicity, coffee, a question for tea brewers about infusion, and two different threads that address health concerns of dogs. Pets are always welcome on the HSI Forum. |
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