Coffee, Anyone?

I'm having a giant cup as I type this. I love coffee. Cold coffee, hot coffee, flavored coffee, coffee with whipped cream on it...okay, I'l stop. You get the idea. So it's no surprise that I fell in love with this fabric which depicts...yeah, you guessed it...coffee. I couldn't resist making a hot/cold therapy pack from it. (Follow the link in the photo to my website)

  

Coffee Time!

But let's talk about coffee for a moment. Medical news vacillates in it's opinion; it's good for you, it's bad for you; it's good for you... Of course, we're talking in moderation. Fifteen cups a day is probably not so good. But in moderation, coffee has great health benefits. Here's one: I actually was told by my doctor to drink coffee daily  Why? Because it's good for liver disease. Finally, doctor's orders I can get on board with! Haha.  I'm a happy girl. What else is it good for? Check out some of the benefits: 

1. Reducing type 2 diabetes.
2. Helps to control Parkinson's disease movements.
3. Reduces risk for cirrhosis of the liver.
4. Helps prevent heart failure.
5. It can help you burn fat!
6. Gives you an energy boost.
7. May protect you from Alzheimer’s or dementia.
8. May help with depression.

Here's a great source of info on the topic. Here's another source .

So go ahead, grab a cup of coffee and better your health!

Ahh, Heat

Why use heat therapy for non-inflammatory pain?

When we hurt there's nothing so comforting as warmth, at least in my opinion. Ever notice when you go to the chiropractor, they put heat on you? There's actually a science behind it. By applying heat it stimulates your sensory receptors to block the pain signals traveling to the brain. Viola! Instant and effective pain relief.

 We can get pain from overuse of our muscles (muscle strain) muscle spasms, and trigger points (muscle knots). Then there's always the plain old fashioned 'tight' muscles, You know, the whole been-hunched-over-the-computer-all-day general neck and shoulder tension. That "clenched" feeling. Muscle pain is probably the source of more and worse pain than people realize and muscle responds very well to heat.

So what does heat actually do besides sooth?

• Beyond the comfort of warmth, applying heat to these muscles increases tissue elasticity. 
• Heat will reduce your muscle tension and helps relax away those pesky knots. 
• The sedation and soothing that comes from the heat will also soothe any irritated nerve endings. 
• Deep heating increases your blood flow to the area of pain. This brings nutrients to the injured or painful area while flushing out any injured debris.
• And last but not least, deep heat stimulates your natural metabolic rate. In plain English this means there is more energy available to heal the injury quicker. 

Having said that, a heat therapy pack is probably the best favor you can do yourself all year! And it just so happens I make them. Hop over to my website where you can design your own and choose the essential oil scent that appeals the most to you. I'll make it and you'll have it delivered to your doorstep to envelope you in soothing, healing warmth. 

A Little Bit About My Journey

Hi. My name is Lorri. 

In order to understand my desire to delve into more healthy alternatives, I should probably spill a little bit about my personal journey. 

I've been fatigued and in pain since I can remember. My mom was a real ball of energy and I struggled to keep up with her as a kid. When I say ball of energy, I mean when she said she wanted to go to "the mall" what she really meant was three malls. I used to sit on the floor nearby where she was looking for clothes and she'd shake her head and say, "Gee, I hope I never get as old as you." I was about 10 or so, as best as I can recall, maybe younger. I should have had boundless energy. I always thought she was some sort of SuperWoman. Me, not so much.

Anyway, it wasn't until many, many years later I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, and chronic fatigue. I was told my pain and fatigue was due to depression. While this was partly true, it wasn't the answer. I'm still on antidepressants and will need to be forever. But the pain and fatigue continued. I was sent to a pain clinic where I was subjected to all sorts of delightful painful procedures; steroid epidural injections, radiofrequency ablation to nerves, etc. I was given pain pills of every shape and color; morphine, fentanyl patches, Nucynta, Vicodin, Percocet, methadone, Toradol, and the list went on. And when they stopped working ( your body develops a tolerance after awhile) they tried combining them. The relief was minimal, I felt like a walking zombie and I spent far too much time visiting the pharmacy and the doctor. (Later, I would find out they caused liver damage.) I decided I'd had just about enough and started researching alternatives. I read somewhere that most people were deficient in Vitamin D and that it could help pain. I tried it. The pain lessened! I began the trek to wean myself off of the pain meds (nope, not fun) and successfully did it on my own. I figured if a vitamin could help so much, what else out there could help? And so began the journey. I embarked upon it supported by my husband as well as my best friend who is a clinical nutritionist and is a functional medicine educator.  

(I should add that I work in the medical industry as  transcriber and have for years. Over the course of this career, I've learned that while Western medicine has a place in our lives and is truly amazing, most doctors treat the symptoms with drugs instead of finding the cause of the problems and trying to use a functional approach. I also discovered this when my mother developed stage 4 breast cancer. She was given six months to live with surgery to remove her breasts, one side of her rib cage, and one lung, with chemo and radiation. She decided against all that therapy (much to my dismay at the time). She went to a friend of hers who was into alternative health therapy. She drank potions of green goo she tried to get me to drink, take tons of vitamins and tinctures, and did a whole slew of things while I watched in part awe and mild interest. But lo and behold, that women lived for 12 YEARS on her special regimen.) So here I am nine years later, on my own journey.  

I have found heat to be a tremendous help but one can't live their life in a jacuzzi or bathtub. Especially when one works with electronics for a living, haha. I use a heating pad a lot for pain but those cords are only so long. So I decided to make a hot/cold therapy pack for myself. And then some as gifts. And then some more because my husband was selling them at work. And then I decided I wanted to help as many people as I could get some relief from pain, be it chronic or acute.  I spend significant time making prototypes of these heat packs. I wanted something long enough to cover my shoulders or wrap around my neck. I didn't want to seams to be in uncomfortable places. I wanted to fill it with the right mixture of grain so that it wasn't too heavy, didn't conform nicely, or was bulky. I started studying up on essential oils to see what the best ones were to add to my packs to aid in relaxation and healing. And Grains For Pains was born. (The website is nearly finished but not up at this very minute.) 

So in conclusion to this long and rambling post, I've decided to post here information I accumulate for healthy treatment, wellness, and healthy alternatives to help with pain. I hope you find it helpful and I will be adding more frequently. To start with, I've added some information on essential oils I've found through attending seminars, etc. 
(See pages listed at top of blog.)  I'm also going to be offering a pain cream, some aromatherapy bottles and inhalers for headache shortly. I hope to add more as I attend classes. Meanwhile, here's a photo of my hot/cold therapy packs. (They can be found in my Etsy shop currently until my website is up.)