Life on Wheels (31 page)

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. It must be accompanied by vitamins A, C, and D, as well as magnesium and phosphorus. It is crucial to bones and teeth, as well as the proper function of muscles, which cannot contract and release without calcium. The best known source is in dairy products, but calcium is also found in many fruits, vegetables, and grains, particularly in figs, greens, and soy products.

Iron exists in every living cell. It works with protein and copper to carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body. It is found in liver, oysters, lean meats, molasses, and green leafy vegetables.

Potassium is involved in maintaining the water balance of cells, which is necessary for cell growth and to stimulate nerve impulses to muscles. It also stimulates the kidneys to eliminate toxins from the body. Potassium is found in all vegetables, oranges, whole grains, sunflower seeds, potatoes, and bananas.

Zinc is a crucial nutrient for chair users because of its importance to blood formation and the skin, particularly the healing of wounds.

The behaviors of nutrients in the body are a complex set of interactions. Certain vitamins, proteins, or minerals do not work on their own but, instead, rely on interactions with others to accomplish their task. Supplements are poorly absorbed unless accompanied by a balanced diet; they are not food and should not be relied upon to provide the basic needs of your body. However, a good vitamin-mineral supplement is a worthwhile addition to support a balanced, whole-foods diet.

More and more people are exploring so-called alternative healthcare options to maintain their health. Many have been in use for a very long time. Chinese acupuncture is thousands of years old. Herbal medicines are even more ancient. One man, a polio survivor, reports:

Using these health practices does not mean that modern medicine has no place or that you should eschew the use of drugs altogether. Modern medicine continues to uncover amazing discoveries and therapies that reduce suffering and promote quality of life. Those who use alternative health practices typically try to find a balance—partaking of more natural and less invasive (and costly) measures where they make sense, while relying on modern, technical medicine for the things it does best. Following is a brief description of some widely used alternative health practices you might be interested in exploring.

Yoga may be one of the best activities for a person with a disability. The stretches that a physical therapist teaches you have essentially the same effect. Even if stretches are performed passively with assistance to improve and maintain your range of motion, the body benefits in much the same way.

When muscles are not used—whether paralyzed or due to a sedentary lifestyle—they shorten and get tight. This shortening of muscles is the reason that you feel stiff when you wake up in the morning and want to stretch—which shows us that the process can happen pretty quickly. As muscles get short, they become weaker and begin to restrict movement and eventually define and limit posture. Scoliosis, for example, sometimes results from muscles adapting into shorter lengths, pulling the spine into curvature.

The fact of sitting for most of the day gives the muscle-shortening process even more opportunity to advance and is all the more reason that a regular habit of stretching and range of motion is important to offset this effect. Specific muscles at risk of chronic shortening include the psoas muscle—which connects from your pelvis to the lower part of your spine—and the hamstrings—a group of three muscles that connect just above and below the knee. A surefire way to judge if contracture is taking hold is if your knees do not lay flat when you lie down on your back.

Alex Barchuk, physiatrist at the Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital in northern California, feels that yoga and stretching are some of the best habits a person with a disability can develop:

Most yoga exercises involve the whole body, but you can adapt them to your capabilities. If you can, get a consultation with your physical therapist to develop a set of yoga stretches that work for you. The therapist will advise you on how often to do the stretches and will guide you in subtle issues of how to move and where the stretches are having their effect. Yoga has made a difference for this woman with an L5 SCI:

Chinese medicine—which has developed over the last 5000 years—believes the body has a great capacity to heal itself and uses the body’s own forces to accomplish healing. The basic life force is called Qi (pronounced “chee”). Pathways throughout the body—specifically mapped—relate to all systems of health and life. A practitioner working in this mode will activate points on these pathways to free up blockages and promote the movement of Qi to allow the body to regain its natural state of health. An acupuncturist activates these points by use of needles; acupressure involves pressing on the points with the fingertips.

If you have never tried acupuncture, you might fear that it is painful— the same as getting an injection with a syringe. This is not the case. Acupuncture needles are very thin and do not go in very deep; a skilled acupuncturist knows how to apply them in a way that is not noticed or that feels like a very small sting. There are some points on the body that are sensitive, so an acupuncture needle is sometimes briefly painful.

Acupuncture and acupressure have been found helpful for pain management, to promote healing, to level intense emotions, and to aid recovery from illness. Acupuncture has gained much in popularity. Increasingly, scientific study is bearing out the positive effects of this approach.

Although the Feldenkrais and Alexander methods are two distinct disciplines, they have similarities. Each method involves an awareness of the body. Instruction/treatment in each discipline guides you to become attuned to your movements. Practitioners are certified in training programs that last for years and are often trained in other health fields as well.

Both methods are based on the observation that people use their bodies in an unconscious fashion, not fully aware of how they are moving, what muscles are involved or their relationship to the environment, and missing the chance to use energy efficiently. Both methods seek to increase your awareness of subtlety. You are shown how to use small movements to renew your brain’s awareness of its connection to your whole body. Large movements are not the goal. The act of thought is powerful; almost the exact same impulses are sent out through your nervous system when you imagine a movement as when you actually perform it. You can enhance the quality of how you use your body by employing small, subtle movements and by using your mind.

Frederick Matthias Alexander was an actor in the late 19th century who developed chronic laryngitis. Rather than give up his craft, he devised this method of body awareness to regain his voice. The Alexander Technique, as it is called, is commonly taught to actors today. You are taught to be aware of the spine, to imagine lengthening and opening it as you sit. You are taught to allow the rib cage to open and close with the breath, freeing the lungs to expand and receive more oxygen. By being aware of the forces at play in your movement, you increase the ability to move fluidly and naturally.

Moshe Feldenkrais was a scientist who saw that people suffered poor health because they were not integrated and because their life experience created “sensory motor amnesia,” in which the brain is not fully in contact with the body. A person slumped over in pain, he saw, was suffering from chronic muscle tightness that could be relieved by teaching him to renew contact with the muscles so as to release them and regain control:

Chiropractors are fully trained in anatomy and physiology. The central skill they are taught is to make adjustments in your skeleton, usually the spine:

Osteopathic physicians are fully trained medical doctors, but they take an extra level of study in what they call osteopathic manipulative treatment. Both osteopathic and chiropractic practitioners are focused on the spine and overall skeleton and tend to be holistic in their approaches. Osteopathic manipulation is gentle compared to the high-velocity method used by some chiropractors. Osteopathic physicians focus more on soft tissues than chiropractors. Each works well in conjunction with massage therapy and exercise to keep muscles well conditioned.

You will also find differences within each field. Osteopathic manipulation is actually practiced by a minority of osteopaths these days, whose practices are closer to traditional—or allopathic—medical doctors. Although there are chiropractors who perform spinal adjustment as their entire practice, many have begun to incorporate other disciplines. In both cases, you will often find practitioners who have studied for and become certified in subspecialties such as orthopedics, nutrition, or various holistic practices such as herbal medicine.