Natural Pain Relief Using Whole Body Vibration
Suffering any kind of pain, chronic or acute, is quite frankly a pain in the butt! BUT, there are natural ways to reduce and dampen pain, whether it be that associated with chronic joint pain such as arthritis or pain associated with an injury. One such way is the use of whole body vibration using Power Plate.
Firstly, let’s establish how and why we feel pain. Pain is a chemical signal transmitted through the body by neurotransmitter receptors attached to the surface of cells. These receptors allow the pain message to pass to other cells through the body. So how do we stop pain transmitting around the body?
Think about a time when you’ve hit your elbow or knee against something hard! Other than screaming ‘ouch’ your first, instinctual reaction is to rub the joint to ease the pain away. The mechanical action of rubbing the joint increases blood and lymph flow to flush out the chemical signal of pain, and your joint pain starts to ease. Power Plate’s vibration is a giant mechanical action that causes an even more rapid increase in blood flow and lymph flow around the body as the platform vibrates at between 30 and 50hz of frequency. This action when done just once will instantly provide relief of pain. When used regularly, whole body vibration is a fantastic way of keeping pain at bay.
In addition to this, the vibration can help lower cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that can spike when stressed, chronically fatigued or with intense exercise. This spike causes inflammation and associated pain. Power Plate has been found to reduce the production and transfer of cortisol around the body, hence preventing inflammatory related pain. Furthermore, Power Plate’s vibration increases the endorphin production in the body, which is our ‘happy hormone’, enhancing a feeling of wellbeing.
Lastly, vibration is highly effective in helping with myofascial release of the muscles, aka getting rid of tight knots and lumps in the muscles that are painful to touch. When using vibration for massage exercises, it facilitates the release of the fascia and any associated discomfort.
You can use Power Plate’s vibration for stretching exercises to further ease out tightness and pain in the muscles. This can include hamstring stretches, hip and back stretches. You can use the vibration to accelerate your workout results with squat, lunge and pushing exercises, and these especially will boost those endorphin hormones. And last, and certainly not least, massage the fleshy part of your muscles on Power Plate at the highest frequency to maximize pain relief and myofascial release.
Written by: Caroline Pearce
