Spa Fit AZ

Of course beautiful, sexy shoes aren’t nearly as comfortable as old slippers. But as Christian Louboutin told Vogue magazine, “This little act of discomfort pays off in lots of other ways.”

“There is an element of seduction in shoes that doesn’t exist for men,” the French luxury bag and shoe designer explained. “A woman can be sexy, charming, witty or shy with her shoes. That’s why women are happy to wear painful shoes.”

If you’d rather have the beauty without the pain, though, some of these tips might help:

1. Check the fit.

According to Hillary Brenner of the American Podiatric Medical Association, nine out of ten women are wearing shoes the wrong size. Since it’s easy to tell when a shoe is too large, more often the problem is a shoe that’s too narrow or too short.

For the best results, stretching should be done by a professional shoe repair shop. Still, when all you need is a quick fix, you might try:

• Stuffing them with damp newspaper until it dries
• Wearing them with thick socks and walk around, working your feet
• Inserting an oversize peeled potato overnight, then wiping off any residue
• Putting a watertight bag inside, filling it with water and freezing overnight — don’t remove the bag until it thaws

2. Pick up some gear.

A quick trip to the drugstore can result in much more comfortable shoes.

If there’s extra space in the toes, fill them with lambs wool. Used by dancers for decades, it’s comfortable and effective.

To reduce friction areas, take your choice of:

• Moleskin (cut a piece slightly larger than a blister would be)
• Friction Block (or as a fallback, try any roll-on lubricant)

Those solutions apply to individual pairs of shoes, but changing styles is equally important.

3. Alternate heels and flats.

If you wear only one kind of shoe, switching to the other for a special event — like a day at the beach or a gala dinner — can be hard on your body.

Wearing only ballet flats and flip-flops means losing arch support, which can lead to problems with your feet, knees and back. Wearing high heels regularly results in shorter calf muscles and stiffer Achilles tendons, which can lead to imbalance as well as pain in your toes and ankles.

Either way, give your feet and legs a break by changing your heel height frequently.

4. If you can’t switch?

Some people can’t bear to switch from high heels to low, and some would rather skip an event than abandon their flip-flops. Fortunately, there’s a solution for both types.

When you’re committed to flat soles:

• Use arch-support inserts
• Add gel insoles or heel pads
• Ask your doctor about orthotic inserts

When you’re committed to high heels:

1. Stretch your calf muscles by sitting on the floor with both legs straight and flex one foot toward your ankle, then away. Switch feet and repeat.
2. Stand facing the wall, right foot behind left. Lean against the wall, straighten your right leg, then bend it. Switch legs and repeat.
3. Still facing the wall, act like you’re slowly sitting down until you feel your lower calf stretching.

Those stretches help keep your calf muscles from shortening to the point where going barefoot actually hurts.

5. Get a massage.

No matter how carefully you stretch your muscles at home, there’s nothing like a professional massage to relieve the pain of gorgeous-but-uncomfortable shoes.

Be sure to tell your therapist about any issues in your feet, ankles, legs or lower back, because a Swedish massage or various other massages can make a big difference. Not only that, you’ll leave feeling relaxed…and ready for the next event featuring your favorite shoes.

After all, even when they hurt, the right shoes can make a powerful statement. As Christian Louboutin observed, “Think about Marlene Dietrich crossing her legs — the whole attitude. The language starts with the shoe and radiates over the whole body.”

And keeping your body pain-free, no matter what kind of shoes you like best, will be easier with these five techniques.

Laurie Schnebly writes for the Tempe Massage Envy Spa, a national leader in professional, affordable, customized and convenient massage. With a master’s in counseling and 11 years as a therapist, she focuses on issues that affect daily life for people who want to improve their health.

 

 

Some mornings, it’s hard to look as good as you feel. Or even as good as you looked the night before. After a sleepless night or a little too much partying, the mirror reveals puffiness or dark circles under your eyes.

The skin around your eyes is thinner than on the rest of your face, and it gets thinner every week. Because that skin is so fragile, it’s frequently troubled by fluid retention, says New York dermatologist Dr. Valerie Goldburt. “Water always travels from areas in the body where there’s low salt concentration to tissues where there’s more salt.”

So a salty margarita, or salty tears if you’ve been watching The Notebook, will take the effects of dehydration straight to your eye area. So what can you do to prevent this?

1. Avoid dehydration

“When you don’t have enough water in your body,” warns Dr. Howard Murad of Murad Skin Care, “your body bloats and your eyes swell. One gram of salt requires 23 grams of water to eliminate it.”

Dehydration can be caused by alcohol, while fresh fruits and raw vegetables have the opposite effect. No one needs to give up margaritas altogether, but taking in plenty of water will help avoid swollen eyes.

2. Watch how you sleep

Insomnia is a common cause of dark circles and puffy eyes. But even if you sleep soundly every night, there are other potential problems.

“More than 60 percent of people perspire at night,” says Dr. Murad, “and this gets absorbed into your pillowcase.” Choosing a soft cotton pillowcase that absorbs moisture will help keep your skin in better shape.

Dr. Goldburt offers another warning about your sleep position — fluids are more likely to collect under your eyes, causing puffiness, if you sleep on your stomach or side. “The earlier you start changing your sleep position, the better,” she advises, “because after a few years under-eye bags can become permanent.”

3. Fix a few habits

You already know the importance of quitting smoking and using sunscreen, especially in Arizona. Your eye area has only a limited amount of collagen to begin with, and smoke and UV rays will damage the collagen you need to keep premature wrinkling or sagging at bay.

But another habit you might never have noticed is simply rubbing your eyes. If you do that too often, it can create the same problems as too much salt or too little sleep.

4. Tea and cucumbers

The classic image of a woman reclining with cucumber slices over her eyes actually has nothing to do with what’s in a cucumber. Instead, the chill is what matters. While it’s not as picturesque, you can get the same benefit from a bag of frozen peas.

Celebrity esthetician Scott-Vincent Borba notes that “the cold will penetrate and help de-puff and lighten dark circles underneath the eyes.” Another method he likes: “Put your eye cream in the freezer for ten minutes before applying.”

Cold tea, though, has another advantage. New York makeup artist Kimara Ahnert recommends that you place damp tea bags over your eyes. “The tannin in tea has been shown to reduce swelling and discoloration.”

5. Consult the experts

Sometimes nothing seems to help, but a professional esthetician can offer personalized advice on any skincare issues that trouble you more than once a year.

In addition, taking time for a facial provides another benefit — relaxation. After all, the better you feel, the better you look.

So if you’re ever troubled by dark circles or puffy eyes, take heart in knowing there are solutions. And if you’ve discovered any tips of your own for addressing the problem, please share them with us!

Laurie Schnebly writes for the Tempe Massage Envy Spa at Tempe Marketplace, a national leader in professional, affordable, customized and convenient massage. With a master’s in counseling and 11 years as a therapist, she focuses on issues that affect daily life for people who want to improve their health.

 

Training for a marathon can be grueling. It requires a lot of preparation and pain that your body is not used to. Because of this, marathon runners need to pay careful attention to maintenance of their muscles, joints and tendons.

The legendary Bill Rodgers credits his longevity to several factors including “good genes, consistency in my training, and knowing when to back off.” But in his Guide To Jogging and Running, he identified another of the major factors as “an hour-long massage once a week. And the massage is not just any old massage, but a sports massage.”

Any kind of massage might sound self-indulgent at first, evoking images of a spa devoted solely to pampering. But in fact, professional sports massage provides crucial benefits not only following the marathon, but also throughout your training. These include:

Your Lymphatic System

While your circulatory system relies on your heart to keep blood pumping through your body, the lymphatic system relies on movement to eliminate toxins. When your muscles tighten and contract, they prevent new blood from bringing in the nutrients and energy needed for repair.

A sports massage helps move lymphatic fluid and blood through your constricted muscles, giving lactic acid a way out and making room for healing so you can continue training.

Restoring Flexibility

Every runner knows that training is essential. But the more you train, the harder your muscles get. Hard muscles lose their flexibility and elasticity, which means that intense training can sometimes result in very little improvement.

To combat that, it’s important to stretch your muscle tissues. Deep massage accomplishes this effectively, helping to soften the scar tissue that forms as a result of miniscule tears in muscles.

It all adds up to greater flexibility and improved range of motion, both of which are useful for preventing injuries while running and training for a marathon.

Early Warning System

A certified sports massage therapist is trained in spotting problem areas, and can address potential difficulties before they worsen.

“An experienced massage therapist,” says two-time Olympic marathon runner Pete Pfitzinger, “will find sore muscles you didn’t know you had.” An exercise physiologist himself, Pfitzinger recommends a sports massage that’s “pleasantly uncomfortable” as the most effective.

Of course you should tell the therapist when any technique feels painful, and also when any technique proves particularly effective. The advantage of regular massage means that your professional therapist can remember what works best for you.

Stress Relief

The repetitive, often aggressive movements required for marathon running can result in overwork and stress of not only your muscles, but also your entire body.

While every athlete welcomes the endorphins that accompany a challenging event, a marathon — no matter how satisfying — isn’t designed to leave your muscles feeling great. In contrast, the endorphins created by massage are a benefit that comes without any tissue damage.

Add those endorphins to the other results and it’s no wonder Bill Rodgers observed that, “The greatest benefits from massage, as with stretching, come from doing it regularly.”

Laurie Schnebly writes for the Peoria Massage Envy Spa located off Lake Pleasant Parkway and Happy Valley Road. With a master’s in counseling and 11 years as a therapist, she focuses on issues that affect daily life for people who want to improve their overall health. Take some time to commit to a better balance of health and wellness by scheduling a facial or massage at one of the Phoenix Massage Envy area clinics.

 

Water, Water Everywhere: Five Tips for Getting Enough

We all know the importance of staying hydrated. Water not only delivers nutrients to your
cells and removes toxins from your body, but it also keeps your skin healthy — which keeps you looking good.

If drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day was all you had to remember, hydration might be simpler. But in Arizona, the heat can make a difference in the amount of water you need. Anything that involves sweating means you’re losing water, and you need to replenish it regularly.

Here are five ways to make sure you get enough water to stay hydrated:

Eat water-heavy foods

Think about an ounce of raisins compared to an ounce of watermelon — or, if you want the same amount of calories, think about 10 ounces of watermelon. It’s easy to tell which will give you more water.

The same question is true of tomatoes compared to broccoli. Both are healthy and nutritious. But foods like watermelon and tomatoes, with about 90% of their weight coming from water, help you stay hydrated as well as nourished.

Keep a water bottle handy

Taking a detour to the kitchen or drinking fountain may seem like more trouble than it’s worth when you’re engaged in something interesting, but it’s easy to take a gulp anytime when you have a bottle or glass of water right by your side.

Work up a thirst

It’s true that when you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. But if getting thirsty reminds you to drink more water, soon you’ll be in the habit of drinking enough to stay hydrated.

Eating salty, highly processed foods might have the same immediate results as a vigorous workout, although the effects of each are considerably different. Remember that if you’ve already exercised but would like to perspire a bit more, spending some time in a sauna or steam room can work wonders.

Use other liquids too

While water is the most healthy, low-calorie and commonly available beverage for staying hydrated, the Mayo Clinic notes that juice and milk contain quite a bit of water as well. In fact, they even advise that beer and wine, coffee and tea, and soft drinks — with or without caffeine and sugar — can also count toward your daily intake of fluid.

If you’re trying to minimize caffeine, though, keep in mind that spreading it throughout the day is better than chugging a triple espresso first thing in the morning. Remember, too, that while too much sugar can make you thirsty, that’s not the kind of thirst you want in your life.

Reward yourself

Building up the habit of drinking water can be more fun if you plan a reward for each time you meet your daily quota. Before long, you’ll feel the effects of maintaining good hydration, which is the best reward of all!

Laurie Schnebly writes for the Scottsdale Massage Envy Spa, located off the 101 and Scottsdale Road. With a master’s in counseling and 11 years as a therapist, she focuses on issues that affect daily life for people who want to improve their overall health. Take some time to commit to a better balance of health and wellness by scheduling a facial or massage at one of the Phoenix Massage Envy area clinics.