skignz: Trigger points and Your health

As part of a new feature in our Blog & Monthly Newsletter, We are speaking to other companies and asking some to provide us with an interesting feature each month.

This month we are looking at how our own health affects our working performance and WellBlocks offered to provide us with an interesting outline of the trigger points in your body. As most people who working in emerging technologies, we spend a lot of time, sat at a Desk, sat in a Car, Train or even a plane. or a combination of them all All day, Everyday.

This got us thinking here at skignz about those little niggles, aches and pains. recently our Co-Founder & CMO Si Brown was talking to Dr Caroline Keddie, the creator of Wellblocks and thought her invention was the ideal topic to kick off our monthly guest blog feature.

It’s not just skignz talking about Trigger Points in the air

Trigger points are tiny knots that build up in muscles overtime causing pain and all sorts of troubles. From migraine headaches to achy necks and sore knees. 

They are exacerbated by repetitive actions, overuse and bad posture. 

Slowly tightening and shortening muscles until imbalances occur and joints, tendons and nerves are pulled off kilter.

The smallest part of a muscle's contraction that can be seen under a microscope are Sarcomeres. 

The contraction of muscles occur when Actin & Myosin protein molecules are attracted to each other when stimulated neurologically. Trigger points occur when the Actin & Myosin fail to uncouple. The muscle fibres then accumulate into a tight knot. When this happens blood circulation through the fibres is suppressed and inhibits the fuel required for the Actin & Myosin to release exacerbating the problem further.

Trigger points can be active or latent. 

Active 'Trigger Points' cause spontaneous pain, with or without motion, and latent trigger points may only be obvious on touching. 

It is believed that our muscles slowly build up many latent 'Trigger Points' overtime and Travell and Simon, the main writers on 'Trigger Points', believe that it is this build up of latent knots in the muscles that leads to much of the stiffness and joint pain characterised by old age.

There is no operation or drug that can reduce or eliminate these 'Trigger Points'. The key is to use a treatment that increases the circulation of blood at that sarcomere bundle, or knot, therefore allowing the Actin and Myosin to separate and the fibres to run freely again. 

Massage therapists use thumbs, knuckles and elbows. Sometimes it simply takes a little on off pressure to release these points as the blood comes running back through the muscle fibres.

Not everyone can afford the time or money for massage and, actually, Trigger Points prefer a little massage and often e.g. 3-6 times a day for a minute. 

So thats why Wellblocks was created, for this very purpose. 

You would not believe the difference they can make if you simply use them on the go, or at your desk, a few times a day. By not giving the muscles the chance to build up knots you will stay pain free.

A Few Problems brought about by Trigger Points

Pictures courtesy of massagenerd.com

Headaches and stiff sore neck

Trigger points in the Trapezium, Levator Scapulae and Sternocleidomastoid can cause migraines and neck ache. 

Common for computer users and desk jobs.

The Secret Damagers

Sore thumbs from texting & using Apps:

Use Wellblocks at your desk to release muscles

Sore knees and Hips:

Trigger points in the Tensor Fascia latae (TFL), and the quadricep muscle, Vastas Lateralis,  and glutes can cause tightness that pulls the knee, or hip, off kilter. Wellblocks are much better than foam rollers for loosening Trigger points.

Runners Knees: Dump the rollers

Sore shoulders    

The main culprits Trigger Points in the supraspinatus and infraspinatus. 

Again these can be released using Wellblocks against a wall or chair.

The good news is 'Trigger Points' can be your friend as with very little pressure the circulation can improve, the knots release and your muscle become long again.

Problems can be relieved within days or a couple of weeks for more long term chronic problems. 

Then maintenance is the key. Wellblocks allow you to maintain at your desk. 

They come with a free instructional App with simple, quick programs for all sports and lifestyles. From Golf to Cycling. Dentist to desk worker.

The first production run of Wellblocks has now started and they should be available in the next ten weeks. 

For pre orders please sign up at wellblocks.com

Follow Wellblocks on twitter and LinkedIn  for up to date information.

Also watch this mini film here

For further information on skignz please visit www.skignz.com or check us out on all the usual social media channels.

Aerosure - Health and Personal Care Technology

Health is a big issue now and is getting talked about more each day. How a person lives their life, how they work and their daily activity can have a massive impact on their lives and their health. 

It won't however just affect them, it can and the majority of the time will have an effect on others around them.

Technology is getting more advanced each day

It is great that technology is getting more advanced each day as it is better for us and how we can all benefit from it; however it starts now from a young age that a lot of kids and younger children start to use technology which overall can have a big impact on themselves and their life ahead of them. 


From watching TV to playing on their games and being on the computer, all of this is a lot for kids to do from a young age.

Recently being talked about in the news a lot is that obesity levels are rising

Young Kids and Technology

high and that it’s causing health 

issues for a lot of people. Kids are starting to become more obese and so are adults. 

Being overweight and obesity can rise from how a person has lived their life each and every day. The government are recently bringing new schemes out to help people on the NHS lose weight by teaming up and joining weight-watchers referral scheme. 

This is a way to help people who can't afford to lose weight or are not able to do it themselves have the ability to be able to take that step to being healthier.

Weight Watcher provide NHS Weight Loss Referral Scheme

The team at skignz know how all of this can have an impact. We sit at computers for the majority of the day doing work and at the end of the day the first thing that is definitely not on our list is to go home and be straight on another computer. 

We have seen how widely talked about this is that the impact it can have on someone’s health. Sitting at a computer desk most of the day is not good for our eyes, focus, brain activity and more. It can affect the inside and outside of your body.

This is when we came across this great piece of technology – health and personal care: Aerosure. 

                   

‘Aerosure is a personal respiratory device that causes oscillation of the chest wall as you breathe in and out. 

Aerosure was developed by Dr Paul Sumners initially as a device to stimulate the respiratory system for scientific research, but as it progressed it was realised that the oscillation could do more than what had initially been anticipated. Initially we tried to use it for respiratory muscle training in a similar way to power breathe and it was effective but they soon realised that the benefits of respiratory muscle training were limited. 

This has enormous implications for lots of conditions where breathlessness is a major symptom of disease progression. Further in some patients whose oxygen saturation is low because of inadequate ventilation of the lungs they saw an increase in oxygen saturation whilst the patients were using Aerosure.

This suggests that Aerosure could be used as a portable ventilator. This again has massive implications for diseases involving loss of lung tissue or respiratory inefficiency. Further work is underway so it is still early days but the future for Aerosure looks exciting’.

Aerosure - Personal and Healthcare Technology

This type of technology for health and personal care is a great new advancement and will be sure to help a lot of people in the future. Whoever may develop problems from whether it just is natural causes or from the use of technology too much then this will be a great benefit for them to have.

Keep a look out on the advancements that this type of technology will make. We sure are going to, and just a last small piece of advice, if you do have children maybe limit the use of technology that they use each day. 

However don't just consider Aerosure for how it could affect you now and society, look at the long term prospect for the future. Aerosure can improve your health and help to keep you fit for longer allowing you to breathe easier and have clear airways. It is your direction to better health and keeping it that way. 

It will keep them healthier for longer and you never know just how much they may need to use it in the future with all the advancements getting made each and every day as we go on. As we said, we sit at computers each day, which is definitely not good for our health or our body weight, as we are not getting any meaningful exercise throughout the day.

If you would like to read up more on this new health and personal care technology then please use the links below.

bit.ly/1tTBdvy - Aerosure Medic 

If you would like to please feel free to take a look at the rest of skignz blogger. There are a lot of interesting articles on there that you may find interesting or useful to read about and could maybe just benefit you in some way. 

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