Yonemoto Physical Therapy

Some people go through life with composure while raising small children, handling a stressful job and being a caregiver for an elderly parent.  Others get extremely upset because a traffic light doesn't change fast enough.

Emotional stress taxes our systems leading to cardiovascular disease, cancer, digestive problems and skin disorders.   But physical components such as the autonomic nervous system may also contribute to a lessening of coping abilities.

The voluntary nervous system is responsible for muscle control and conscious movements while the autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls all the functions we don’t have to think about like heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, digestion, respiration, pupil dilation, temperature regulation and salivation.
 
The ANS maintains an internal balance in the body.  If you go from an air-conditioned office into the hot sun, the ANS regulates sweating to prevent body temperature from getting too high and cooking the internal organs.  The ANS makes sure we have adequate blood pressure so we don’t collapse from lack of blood to the brain when getting out of bed in the morning.  The ANS regulates the amount of light entering the eyes with pupil dilation so we are not blinded at night by an oncoming car’s headlights.

When we have trouble with these functions, we know the ANS is not working well.  Many factors such as excess environmental overload affect the function of the ANS.  The ANS links multiple systems together in a coordinated fashion to maintain balance in the body.  It coordinates heart, digestive, gland, lung, and sensory systems.  It does focus more on the function of various systems, but structural factors can also influence its ability to maintain balance in the body.  Many things improve this functioning such as better diet, proper exercise, enough sleep, and elimination of negative environmental factors such as reducing the poisons to which we expose ourselves, like harsh chemicals in cleaning products.  When we need additional support, acupuncture, medicine, nutritional supplements, herbs and qigong can help.

Treatment options such as bracing with neck collars for whiplash, osteopathic, chiropractic, physical therapy, and in the most severe cases, surgery, may help restore bio-mechanical balance.  Manual therapy techniques help alleviate structural problems.  It is usually more efficient to correct structural problems before the functional problems.  As the saying goes, “structure dictates function.”

You can do your part by eating well, getting enough exercise and sleep, and eliminating stress, poisons, negative influences, and overload.  Getting the Autonomic Nervous System in shape helps us to cope better with life. 

If you have any questions or are interested in participating in a qigong class, please contact.:
Sheila Yonemoto, P.T.
Yonemoto Physical Therapy
55 S. Raymond Ave., Suite 100
Alhambra, CA 91801
PHONE:  626 576 0591
FAX: 626 576 5890

Links:
http://www.yonemoto.com/ - Yonemoto Physical Therapy home page
http://www.yonemoto.com/programs/IMT.htm - Integrative Manual Therapy, a Hands-On Approach
http://www.yonemoto.com/programs/qigong.htm - Qigong to boost the immune system

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