#all signs point towards me having ehlers danlos

[sup3r-n0vaa]

life update: i am connecting the dots. it’s all coming together. my brain is huge. i see patterns everywhere. i am a genius.

but it would seem that the picture that is being painted is that i am most likely disabled. yippee.

[butyoulikethat]

Welp, another night of no sleep.  It seems like as Simon’s health decreases, so does my own.  I know that I will eventually have to get a doctor’s appointment to discuss the new development of random pains all over my body (which leans towards a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia or Ehlers-Danlos, not unheard of in those with the other medical disorders that I have) - but right now, my concern lies with Simon.

See, I’m of the belief that when you adopt an animal, it's forever - not until you get bored or tired of said animal.  My first cat lived until he was 22-23 years old, next cat lived to be 10 when Megacolon (and potential cancer) claimed her, and now Simon, who’ve I’ve had for just over two years (He’s now roughly 4 1/2 - 5 years old).  But I’m now being faced with the prospect of euthanizing a relatively heathy cat due to behavioral issues.

I know, I know - hear me out.

Simon has always been an extraordinarily vocal cat (no, he’s not a Siamese), which we’ve more or less learned to cope with.  He also, looking back, showed some signs of separation anxiety but, again, our behavior was easily modified to ease his anxieties.  

The first week of September resulted in me sleeping in another area of the house, away from him, while my mother recovered from knee replacement surgery (my own knees are.....bad, so constant, repeated trips up and down the stairs when she needed something were just not an option).  Simon coped with this change okay for the first couple of days, and then I noticed he was throwing up on a daily basis.  Since this was some of the previous anxiety behavior he had exhibited, the vet and I both decided it wasn’t a medical issue and thought it would stop once I transitioned into being in the basement with him 24/7 again - insert the narrator voice, saying “It did not, in fact, stop” here.

Over the next week, it progressed from throwing up once a day into throwing up several times a day; This vomiting never happened if I was able to give him 24/7 hands-on attention.  Anything less than constant attention resulted in vomiting episodes which were admittedly gross, but at least easily cleaned up (as long as he hit the crate liner and not the bedding, which had to be washed every time).   We tried new crates, new cat trees, new treats, new toys, new toys that held treats, new litter boxes, etc. and nothing was working.  We spent an easy $400 on various new items to try and curb the behavior, which pretty much depleted our pet emergency fund.  

The vet recommended we seek help from an animal behaviorist for the low, low cost of $150 per hour (and the initial appointment would have been two hours for a total of $300 just for a consultation).  I tried to email her several times and received no response - but I continued to adjust behavior and routine to suit Simon’s unique needs.   This was hit-or-miss; Some days, he has been okay for long enough that I could get a quick shower and a few household chores outside of the room done.  Other days, I couldn’t even get an hour of sleep because he needed my attention RIGHT THAT SECOND.  This stage lasted for probably a month now, resulting in an increasing amount of frustration from myself and a noticeable decline in my own physical health as I focus solely on tending to Simon.  

A few days ago, he began showing an escalation to the point that he was urinating outside of his litterbox - and anyone who has owned a cat can vouch for how (A) difficult this is to clean up and (B) the horrible smell.  He got a free pass on the first one as a “maybe whoopsie accident” kind of thing, but it has continued at least once a day.  Now, we have even FURTHER escalation as after just three hours of sleep, I was woken up to him “rage shitting” (as my brother calls it) all over his crate because I had the AUDACITY to go to sleep rather than give him 24/7 attention.  The line in the sand has been drawn and Simon has long since crossed it.

Do I enjoy the idea of putting a cat to sleep because of anxiety issues like this? No, absolutely not.  Would I be willing to rehome? Sure......but there are legitimately NO cat shelters who will take in a cat with inappropriate litterbox habits, not when they are already full-to-the-brim with cats who do NOT eliminate in inappropriate places and are NOT Big Balls of Anxiety™.   

I cannot live in filth for the rest of his life (which, tbh, if he were healthy, could be anywhere from 1 to 20 years), and cannot force him to live a life where he is constantly stressed to the point of physical illness.

I just don’t know what to do.  I’m at the end of my rope and really hoping that a phone call with my vet today helps me decide one way or another.

[epl97]

God, I'm spiraling

I was having a good day, and then my heal started hurting.

Limping on it made my knee and hip hurt.

All I could think about was the disease that my mother had. The one that made her joints deteriorate and pop in and out of socket.

I started thinking about the research I've done that points towards the likelyhood of it being ehlers-danlos syndrome.

I started thinking about the fact that that's a genetic disorder, and that I'm already showing signs of it.

I started thinking about the fact that she had another genetic disorder, schizophrenia.

I started thinking about the fact that unlike most people who have a 1 percent chance of developing schizophrenia, I have a 15 percent chance, having both a parent and a sibling that developed it.

I started thinking that I was going to wind up being in constant pain, joints popping in and out of socket, while I start losing the ability to tell reality apart from fantasy.

That I'm not going to be able to trust any part of myself physical or mental.

That I'll fall apart mind and body.

That I'm going to lose all the parts of myself.

Sometimes I wonder what people see when they look at me. I wonder if I show the constant hum of anxiety that settled into my bones, so long ago now that I don't remember a time when it wasn't there. Maybe there wasn't one.

I am tired, but can't fall asleep. And when I do I wake nearly as tired as I was before.

I am sad, but crying brings no relief, only a snotty nose and a headache.

I am anxious, and there is never a reprieve.

On my bad days I think that my family is disappointed in me as a person. That my siblings hate me. That my nephew wishes I'd stop interacting with him at all. That my friends really find me annoying but are too nice to say so. That my coworkers hate sharing shifts with me. That my managers think I'm incompetent.

And on my worst days I think that they're right. Right to think that I'm a disappointment, annoying, incompetent. To hate me and want nothing to do with me.

Because I'm not enough.

I've never been enough.

Not smart enough

Not strong enough

Not pretty enough

Not mentally stable enough

Not enough to deserve the things I want.

Not even enough to deserve the things I have.

And, god, I'm scared that people will realize that.

Will realize I'm not worth the time and effort.

[gizedcom]

Long Road To Hollywood: Why Actors With Disabilities Have Yet To Be Recognized

A pedophilic circus performer. A comedic womanizer. A killer.

These were just a few of the roles that Danny Woodburn was offered when he began auditioning for film and TV roles in the early 1990s. Woodburn, a self-described little person, quickly found that nearly every character he portrayed was “miserable,” broken or evil.

“The go-to, I think, for little people is to make them creepy or animalistic,” the actor and producer told HuffPost.

Even after landing a recurring role on “Seinfeld” and scoring gigs on shows including “Watchmen,” “Jane the Virgin” and “CSI,” Woodburn said he still came across casting opportunities that recycled tiresome tropes invoking pathos for “the sad little man.” Just a couple of years ago, casting agents tried to pitch him on a role in a Christmas special by saying he’d get the chance to kiss a famous performer.

“The big selling point was that I’d be able to make out with this well-known actress,” Woodburn said of the project. “I was like, ’Who cares about that when you’ve created this horrible, stereotypical character and the idea is that I should be so lucky to have this opportunity as a little person to be in the arms of this well-known actress and making out with her on screen?’ They were looking down on little people in that sense.”

Woodburn turned down every role that he found to be demeaning toward people with disabilities, determined not to contribute to objectifying portrayals of disability.

“It’s cost me a lot of jobs, but at the same time it’s given my career longevity,” he said. 

Jerod Harris via Getty Images

Danny Woodburn attends a Television Academy and SAG-AFTRA event in North Hollywood on Sept. 11, 2018.

The entertainment industry has always struggled to provide authentic representation of people with disabilities. In 2016, only 2.7% of characters in the 100 highest-earning movies were disabled, according to a report from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. And if people with disabilities are depicted at all in film, television or theater, they tend to be in polarizing narratives that portray them as objects of pity or inspiration. Stories approaching disabled characters through a holistic, neutral lens are few and far between.

It also takes creative people with disabilities significantly longer than their nondisabled peers to get their big break, if they do at all. 

Disabled people are often shut out of Hollywood because they “miss a rung on the ladder” early on in their careers, casting agent Gail Williamson of KMR Talent said last year at ReelAbilities, the largest festival of films for and about people with disabilities.

For some people, that means being shut out of a writers room. For many, it means dealing with unsupportive film schools or a casting director’s blunt preference for abled artists. And for others, a missed career opportunity can be attributed to nothing more than a damn broken elevator. 

Accessible, But Not Really

In January 2019, Fuchsia Carter signed up for an audition that specifically said performers with disabilities were welcome. Carter, a trained actor who uses a wheelchair, emailed the production company to ask whether the building was accessible. “Regrettably, the space we perform in is only accessible by stairs,” the company’s team wrote back, noting they were “delighted” she wanted to audition. 

Carter has had dozens of similar experiences over the course of nearly a decade. She has turned up for auditions only to discover the building doors weren’t wide enough, the elevator was out of order or there was no parking.

When she does finally make it to an audition, casting agents often assume her wheelchair is a prop. They’re floored that a wheelchair user could also be a professional actor.

“I often get asked if I can show able-bodied actors how to use a wheelchair convincingly,” said Carter, recalling one incident when casting agents for a crime show asked her if she could give lessons to another actor up for the same role. “I’m like, no, you can either hire me as the actor for the character or you can go jump.”

Even at the most basic training level, actors with disabilities are denied opportunities to hone their craft.

Actor Christine Bruno, who received degrees in acting and directing in 1998, said dance movement classes were typically a requirement for her programs — but that she didn’t have the opportunity to take them.

“They wouldn’t teach me because they didn’t know how to teach me,” said Bruno, a little person who has since been cast in “Law & Order” and, most recently, the CBS series “God Friended Me.” “They probably didn’t want to be responsible for whatever liability they thought that that would bring, so basically they refused to allow me to take their classes.”

When she asked the administration if there was another way she could fulfill the requirement, they told her not to worry about it.

“I was like, wait a minute,” she said. “I’m paying all this money for an education. I want to be afforded the same education everyone else is getting.”

I often get asked if I can show able-bodied actors how to use a wheelchair convincingly. Fuchsia Carter, actor

Other disabled professionals in the entertainment industry said they’ve faced similar roadblocks while studying the arts. 

Carey Cox, a theater actor with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, said directors in her movement classes “would physically put their hands on my body and try to adjust [me] or get me to do things I was uncomfortable with.”

“If I fell or couldn’t hold my balance, it was brought up in my evaluations,” she said.

Dominick Evans, a filmmaker, said one of his theater instructors in 2009 only gave him monologues of characters with disabilities — including a deaf character and a blind character from “Oedipus,” even though Evans is a wheelchair user. He left the school the following year and didn’t finish his program.

He graduated from a different film school a few years later, calling the experience “hell” because of inaccessibility and the fact that he was told by one professor that other instructors didn’t want him in their vocal classes because they “didn’t know what to do with me because of my wheelchair.”

That same year, Evans began hosting a Twitter chat using the hashtag #FilmDis and met dozens of other people who were upset about the lack of disability representation on screen. He turned the discussion into an organization with the same name, which released a white paper in March that found that cisgender white men made up the majority of disabled characters on TV during the 2018-2019 TV season.

“In film school they taught us, ‘write what you know,’” Evans wrote during one #FilmDis Twitter chat. “And yet all these films that feature disability are not by us.”

A Steep Climb

When marginalized performing artists are absent from the creative process, both the art and the community suffer. And that’s especially true when nondisabled actors are cast to play characters with disabilities.

In “Me Before You,” a 2016 film based on a bestselling romance novel, a woman takes care of a quadriplegic man who has chosen to die by assisted suicide (played by Sam Claflin, who is nondisabled). The movie also plays out the trope that it would be better for everyone if people with disabilities were dead. 

“The Upside” received widespread criticism for casting actor Bryan Cranston as a wheelchair user and maintaining “a weakness for sentimentality, a reliance on clichés and caricatures,” as the Los Angeles Times wrote in 2019.

Most recently, “Come as You Are,” a movie about three disabled men taking a road trip with a nurse to a brothel for people with disabilities, faced significant backlash for casting all nondisabled actors as the main characters.

But there is some evidence that the tide is beginning to turn. In 2018, for example, about 20% of disabled characters on TV were portrayed by actors with the same disability — up from just 5% two years earlier, according to a study from the Ruderman Foundation, which promotes full inclusion of people with disabilities.

Lauren Ridloff, who plays a deaf character on “The Walking Dead,” is set to become Marvel’s first deaf superhero in 2021′s “The Eternals.” Zack Gottsagen, star of “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” became the first actor with Down syndrome to present an Oscar in February. Ryan Haddad portrays a student with cerebral palsy in “The Politician.” And last year, Ali Stroker became the first wheelchair user to win a Tony Award.

Frazer Harrison via Getty Images

Actors Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry and Barry Keoghan attend Go Behind the Scenes with Walt Disney Studios in Anaheim, California, on Aug. 24, 2019. Ridloff, part of the cast of “The Walking Dead,” is set to be a Marvel superhero in “The Eternals.”

Many actors, casting directors and other industry figures said they’re increasingly seeing disabled actors playing more dynamic characters — which has naturally led to more authentic, groundbreaking and complex storytelling.

In “Raising Dion,” a Netflix drama series about a kid superhero that premiered in October,  Esperanza (played by newcomer Sammi Haney) builds a friendship with Dion (Ja’Siah Young) and helps him save the world. She also happens to use a wheelchair, but that’s just one facet of her character’s story. In one episode, she tells Dion that his play tent isn’t accessible to wheelchairs in a way that shows how assertive, confident and witty she can be. In another, she gets upset when Dion assumes Esperanza wishes she could walk and teaches her friend that just because someone is disabled doesn’t mean they want to be cured. 

Becoming The Norm

The increased representation of disability on screen is a result of decades of advocacy work to recognize disability as part of the greater movement for diversity in entertainment — not a separate cause. 

In 2011, for example, Woodburn and several other members of the SAG-AFTRA Performers With Disabilities Committee teamed up with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a trade union representing workers in the entertainment industry. Together, they created a task force aimed at creating more opportunities for disabled performers, which has led to new relationships with studios and better industry practices on disability hiring.

Many advocates said it’s important for nondisabled people to be involved in pushing for change. Disabled people, after all, are all too cognizant of how underrepresented their community is.

Most recently, the movie “Come as You Are,” about three disabled men, faced backlash for casting all nondisabled actors for the main characters.

In late January, the Ruderman Foundation released an open letter to Hollywood executives and production companies, urging them to cast more people with disabilities. Dozens of people in the industry — including Marlee Matlin (who in 1987 became the first and only deaf actor to win an Oscar), Danny DeVito, Eva Longoria, Mark Ruffalo and Glenn Close — signed on, and the foundation has since partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, to recruit students with disabilities and from other underrepresented communities who are looking to break into Hollywood.

The Cincinnati chapter of ReelAbilities, the film festival for and about people with disabilities, relaunched in 2018 as the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival. The name change came as part of an effort to make disability part of a larger dialogue around inclusive storytelling.

The festival drew in nearly eight times as many people as it had before the rebranding, Jack W. Geiger, the event’s managing director, told HuffPost. 

“It’s raised the level of consciousness across the board,” he said, adding that more than half of the films at the festival still feature disability-related storylines. “Since the rebranding, it’s allowed us to expand the awareness of disability to a much wider audience.”

The best part of my ‘General Hospital’ dream coming true is that the character is not written as disabled. She is because I am.” Maysoon Zayid, comedian and actor

Also in 2018, the Casting Society of America hosted its first open casting call for actors with disabilities. More than 50 casting directors participated and auditioned at least 900 disabled actors as part of the call, according to Variety — showing that the common misconception that there aren’t enough disabled actors to fill roles simply isn’t true.

“The industry has an extraordinary opportunity to do work that’s truthful,” said Lynn Meyers, a member of the Casting Society of America who has also worked on casting calls for Over-the-Rhine.

“I think that’s all of our responsibilities as producers, writers, directors and actors, knowing that there are people that want to work with them and not giving up,” said Meyers, who has cast movies including “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” “It’s easy to say that; much harder for somebody to break through that.”

But even as disability has become increasingly visible on screen and behind the scenes, disabled people of color — including women and LGBTQ folks of color — are often left out of the narratives.

“Anytime you do see disability, it’s a white boy,” said comedian and actor Maysoon Zayid, referencing Ryan O’Connell in “Special,” RJ Mitte in “Breaking Bad” and Micah Fowler in “Speechless.”  

Astrid Stawiarz via Getty Images for Together Live

“The best part of my ‘General Hospital’ dream coming true is that the character is not written as disabled. She is because I am,” said Maysoon Zaid, shown here at a New York City event last November.

“I love them and I support them, but maybe we could see some more women, huh?” she said. 

Even on “groundbreaking” shows, she said, directors and screenwriters need to ask themselves, “Who am I missing?”

Zayid spent the first year and a half of her career auditioning for movies and TV shows. When nobody wanted to cast her, a Palestinian Muslim woman with cerebral palsy, she started performing stand-up instead. Acting opportunities were sparse, and she landed only a few small roles. 

Last year, she got a recurring role as an attorney on “General Hospital.” It had taken her more than 17 years to get to that point. 

“The best part of my ‘General Hospital’ dream coming true is that the character is not written as disabled,” Zayid said. “She is because I am.”

Advocates hope that the industry will get to a point where disabled artists are taken seriously and given opportunities to play characters that have complex backstories, story arcs, personalities and lives that don’t solely revolve around their disabilities.

“I don’t want to be given a job because I’m disabled,” said Carter, the actor who was shut out of inaccessible auditions. “I want to be given the chance to show that I have talent.”

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[2whatcom-blog]

How Singer Mandy Harvey Misplaced Her Listening to and Discovered Her Voice

Regardless of having full lack of listening to, Mandy Harvey sang her option to a fourth-place end on the tv present "America's Got Talent" in 2017. Nevertheless, her journey to the highlight wasn't a straightforward one. Harvey started progressively dropping her listening to from the time she was born. When she was a toddler, she was recognized with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a illness that weakens the connective tissues of the physique. "There were moments when you stop understanding certain things, and so you go through the day, and you realize that you couldn't actually hear certain things anymore, that they were figments of your imagination of what you thought you could hear," Harvey mentioned. "I'll never forget the moment I realized I could no longer hear my zipper." Along with listening to loss, EDS induced her to have a number of different problems together with knee points, which required surgical procedure. "I had about six or seven major procedures starting my senior year of high school through that first year of CSU, and I was on a lot of medications and under a lot of stress during that whole period," she mentioned. Regardless of the deterioration of her listening to, Harvey wished to pursue a profession in music. In reality, practically 10 years earlier than she wowed audiences on "America's Got Talent," Harvey was a music training pupil at Colorado State College. It was there she first observed she may now not hear. "I was in a music theory class and I had my hearing aids on. I was waiting for the dictation test to start, which is when you listen to the piano and note rhythm for rhythm what's happening. I was staring at my teacher waiting for the test; I just couldn't do it," Harvey informed Healthline. "I was dropped from the class." Dropping her capability to proceed on with music was overwhelming for Harvey who had been in choir since she was 4 years previous. "Being dropped from that class in college meant I could no longer be a music major. I went into scrambling mode because I had another knee surgery coming up, and I didn't even have time to be able to process it all," she mentioned. After transferring to a different class, Harvey was capable of end the semester, however then dropped out of CSU. That is when Harvey's life took one other tough flip. At some point she was hit by a bicyclist who could not cease on ice. Though the bicyclist was shouting for Harvey to maneuver, she could not hear him. "It was a very dark time for me. I was just trying to figure out life at a certain point and I just started working really hard to keep up. Once life started to settle down, that's when I had enough time to really process what happened. And that's when I started spiraling," she mentioned.

Falling out and in of despair

Based on a examine by the Nationwide Institute on Deafness and Different Communication Issues (NIDCD), greater than 11 p.c of individuals with listening to loss additionally had despair in comparison with solely 5 p.c of people that mentioned they'd glorious listening to. "People with hearing loss may struggle in social settings or become embarrassed in social settings so they can start to isolate themselves from people, and we're wired to have connections. That isolation can have a snowball effect, which can include depression and anxiety and other health ailments," Nora Stewart, audiologist and chief imaginative and prescient officer for Entheos Audiology Cooperative, informed Healthline. These are statistics with which Harvey says she will be able to relate. She started feeling depressed shortly after leaving CSU. "There definitely were bouts of being depressed. After losing my hearing, scared and kind of went through the stages of grief that were very obvious. I was definitely bartering. And then really angry and then really sad, but I just stayed in that sadness for a really long time, and didn't think there would ever be acceptance," she recalled. She says she stopped speaking to individuals, going outdoors, showering, and consuming. "I had to figure out everything again. Waking up with a different style alarm clock and learning sign language, and how to not be afraid of the dark if I fell asleep and the fire alarm went off and I couldn't hear it," Harvey mentioned. "There are so many different things that preoccupy your mind." Whereas she took antidepressants for about six months and obtained counseling, she says it was principally time and the assist of her household that acquired her by means of. "The hardest thing is everybody wants you to be happy after five minutes of despair, and when your whole life changes, it's not something that you can just accept and move on and be happy because everybody else is tired of you not being happy. You go through grief so that you can come out of it on the other side," Harvey mentioned. To encourage herself to make wholesome choices, she made an inventory of small victories she made every day, reminiscent of strolling out of the home for the primary time. "It was a really big day and it was hard, but it was a victory. And you just kind of start moving towards a different tomorrow by making one small choice that is different today," she mentioned. Taking signal language lessons additionally helped as effectively, she mentioned. "My sister took them with me, which was huge. You never really understand how much that means and how sad it is that most family members of people who are deaf don't take the time to learn how to communicate with them," Harvey mentioned.

Discovering her voice once more

After dropping all her listening to, Harvey set music apart for a complete 12 months. Then her dad requested her to play guitar with him. "I didn't want to at first but I said yes because he's my dad and I love him. I was watching and watching the chord changes and doing those with him. And then eventually he asked me to learn a song to sing, which I thought was ridiculous," Harvey mentioned. However she accepted the problem and started to look at herself sing from word to notice and really feel her throat as she sang, listening to the vibration. She did the identical with scales after which tried to study a single line of a tune. Then, ultimately, an entire tune, which took 10 straight hours of nonstop work. "It really was mostly just trusting myself that I was right based off of not being able to hear myself," she mentioned. "It ended up being quite a freeing experience to be able to sing without being able to hear myself because I can't judge myself anymore. And that's been one of the biggest blessings for my career, not being able to judge myself anymore." Regaining confidence, Harvey recorded a tune in 2008 and despatched it to her vocal coach. Harvey's coach was impressed and inspired her to begin taking voice classes once more. Harvey agreed and determined jazz was what she wished to sing. Earlier than Harvey knew it, she was singing open mic at a jazz membership. "In November of 2008, I confirmed up and I ended up singing in entrance of seven individuals at a jazz lounge in Fort Collins, Colorado. Then they requested me to return again the subsequent week after which the subsequent week after that, after which fairly quickly I used to be singing three hours an evening and having live shows there on Saturdays," she mentioned. Harvey went on to make a reputation for herself at different jazz golf equipment in Colorado. She ultimately recorded an album, and started performing all through the nation. From there, her profession in music took off. So, when the chance to audition for "America's Got Talent" got here up in 2017, she took it. "I told them I want to encourage people, I want to show a different side of failure to prove that it's okay to fail and you have the ability to get back up again. I want to show a different side of what a disability looks like and show that there are a lot of invisible ones," she mentioned. At present, she continues to tour nationally and internationally and is engaged on her fourth album. If she hadn't misplaced her listening to fully, Harvey mentioned she'd most probably be working as a choir trainer and getting her doctorate in music. "It's funny that people think that because I've been on TV that what I'm doing is way better than what my original dream was, and I don't think that that's necessarily true at all," Harvey mentioned. "I think that I would have accomplished a lot in my field, but I never would have gone into performance. For music to still be my career is a huge blessing." She is especially grateful, given the truth that greater than 70 p.c of deaf individuals are both unemployed or underemployed, based on a survey fielded by Communication Service for the Deaf. "In the United States, it's a known fact that with hearing loss it's harder to get jobs. The more severe the hearing loss, the less income you make, so it affects socio-economic health," Stewart mentioned.

Singing for the hearing-impaired

To additional increase consciousness about listening to loss, Harvey teamed up with Listening to the Name, a nonprofit based by Stewart that sends audiologists world wide to supply underserved populations entry to listening to aids and take care of listening to loss. Harvey is headlining a live performance collection to assist the group. She hears her band by feeling the devices' vibrate by means of the ground. Half of her act is singing and half is an uplifting speak. "It's a privilege to be a part of an organization that's giving the gift of communication. I don't like thinking that we're giving the gift of sound because sound's different for every person, but the biggest isolation that I had when I lost my hearing is that I didn't have a way to talk to people and understand them," mentioned Harvey. "I felt completely alone and that can ruin people to the core." Via her efficiency she not solely hopes to entertain and lift consciousness for the listening to impaired, however she additionally hopes to encourage others to embrace who they're in the mean time. "At the end of the day, I never really get a full grasp of what sounds like, but there's no benefit to being upset about something that you can't change. I'd rather look at the positives -- that I get to experience these concerts differently than anybody else. It's more special. It's mine," she mentioned. Harvey additionally identified that she's discovered to like the individual she is right this moment. "This applies to any person. You don't necessarily need to have a disability. I mean, you're not the same person you were 10 years ago, right? And if you tried to chase who you were 10 years ago, you'd fail." Cathy Cassata is a contract author who focuses on tales about well being, psychological well being, and human habits. She has a knack for writing with emotion and connecting with readers in an insightful and interesting means. Learn extra of her work right here. Read the full article

[chronicillnessproblems]

New Hypermobile EDS (hEDS) Diagnostic Criteria:

The whole scientific criteria is up for free right here currently anyway so you can go read that for some more in depth explanations, but I’m also typing/copying out a shorter version here. I included some links to definitions, explanations, or pictures (none are graphic except maybe the stretch mark and scar ones) for people like me trying to figure out where we fit on the signs/scale. 

The Ehlers Danlos Society posted a first look at the criteria earlier in the week, but left out critical parts on some pages like what the criteria actually IS for a “diagnosis requires 5/12 criteria met” requirement, so now that we can access the actual article we now have all that information in one coherent place. 

This same article linked above also discusses the criteria for the other types of EDS, though I’m not really discussing them here because I don’t know much about them, except that the article with new criteria places a lot of emphasis on clinical genetic testing for many non-hEDS forms. If you don’t fit the criteria for hEDS or another type of EDS, you might want to check out the HSD articles for those definitions! You can find the rest of the articles from the Consortium Here and a webinar by Dr. Francomano Here.

______________________________________________________

So, to qualify for a diagnosis of hEDS under the new guidelines you now have to fit ALL THREE criteria listed below.

Criterion One: Patient must have generalized joint hypermobility, as defined by:

Beighton Score of ≥6 for children and adolescents

OR Beighton Score of ≥5 for adults under 50

OR Beighton Score of ≥4 for adults over 50

OR Beighton score 1 point below numbers above for your age group, AND two “yes” answers on the Five-Point Questionnaire. 

Criterion Two: Patient must fit two or more of the following. This means to be diagnosed with hEDS you must fit either A&B, A&C, B&C, or A&B&C.

A. Must have 5 on the following list:

Unusually Soft or velvety skin

Mild skin hyperextensibility

Unexplained striae such as striae distensae or rubrae at the back, groins, thighs, breasts, and/or abdomen in adolescents, men or prepubertal women without a history of significant gain or loss of body fat or weight

Bilateral piezogenic papules of the heel

Recurrent or multiple abdominal hernia(s) (e.g., umbilical, inguinal, crural)

Atrophic scarring involving at least two sites and without the formation of truly papyraceous and/or hemosideric scars as seen in classical EDS

Pelvic floor, rectal, and/or uterine prolapse in children, men or nulliparous women without a history of morbid obesity or other known predisposing medical condition

Dental crowding and high or narrow palate

Arachnodactyly, as defined in one or more of the following: (i) positive wrist sign (Steinberg sign) on both sides; (ii) positive thumb sign (Walker sign) on both sides

Arm span-to-height ≥1.05

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) mild or greater based on strict echocardiographic criteria

Aortic root dilatation with Z-score > +2

B. positive family history, with one or more first degree relatives independently meeting the current diagnostic criteria for hEDS.

C. Musculoskeletal Complications. Must have at least one of the following:

Musculoskeletal pain in two or more limbs, recurring daily for at least 3 months

Chronic, widespread pain for ≥3 months

Recurrent joint dislocations or frank joint instability, in the absence of trauma (a or b)      a. Three or more atraumatic dislocations in the same joint or two or more atraumatic dislocations in two different joints occurring at different times      b. Medical confirmation of joint instability at two or more sites not related to trauma

Criterion 3: For hEDS diagnosis, ALL of the following must be met: 

Absence of unusual skin fragility, which should prompt consideration of other types of EDS

Exclusion of other heritable and acquired connective tissue disorders, including autoimmune rheumatologic conditions. In patients with an acquired connective tissue disorder (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.), additional diagnosis of hEDS requires meeting both Features A and B of Criterion 2. Feature C of Criterion 2 (chronic pain and/or instability) cannot be counted towards a diagnosis of hEDS in this situation.

Exclusion of alternative diagnoses that may also include joint hypermobility by means of hypotonia and/or connective tissue laxity. Alternative diagnoses and diagnostic categories include, but are not limited to, neuromuscular disorders (e.g., myopathic EDS, Bethlem myopathy), other HCTD (e.g., other types of EDS, Loeys–Dietz syndrome, Marfan syndrome), and skeletal dysplasias (e.g., OI). Exclusion of these considerations may be based upon history, physical examination, and/or molecular genetic testing, as indicated.

__________________________________________

So, this criteria is significantly more strict than the old Brighton criteria. In the old criteria, a Beighton score of > 4 and chronic joint pain was enough to diagnose hEDS, or either one of those and two minor criteria, or four minor criteria, or two minor criteria and an unequivocally-affected first degree relative.

You now need significant signs on Beighton scores, a combo of other criteria/family history/musculoskeletal complication, AND exclusion of other HCTD-like diagnoses for the diagnosis of hEDS. (hEDS is one hypermobile diagnosis, versus new terms Generalized Joint Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (G-HSD,) Peripheral Joint Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (P-HSD,) Localized Joint Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (L-HSD), and Historical Joint Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (H-HSD.) Those are the new non-HEDS diagnoses for hypermobile individuals who don’t fall into hEDS, another EDS type, or another hypermobile related HCTD, such as Marfans, Loyes-Dietz, Stickler Syndrome, etc. 

Each section changes something major compared to the old criteria. In Criterion 1, it’s new that the Five-Point Questionnaire is included along with the Beighton score, and that the Beighton score varies by age, both problems that have long been associated with the high emphasis that the old criteria placed on the Beighton score. In Criterion 2, the big change is the 12 part criteria of which 5 must be met. There is now a slightly bigger emphasis on genetic differences like arachnodactyly and arm-span/height ratio, and also on acquired signs such as prolapse, scarring, hernias. (This is actually the part I’m most less than happy with... it seems subjective and I haven’t seen anything in the papers that convinces me that this criteria was chosen empirically, but that’s it’s own post.) The last big difference, in Criterion 3, is specifically including that diagnosis can only be given in absence of any other suspected genetic disorders, which I believe was technically a genetic recommendation before, but never “official” diagnostic criteria. Since connective tissue disorders are so similarly presenting, and seem to overlap in presentation though we don’t know how the genetics do or do not overlap yet, this may be the hardest part for non-EDS specialists to sort out when evaluating the new diagnostic criteria. 

[lopezdorothy70-blog]

Federal Funding Provides Incentives for States to Take Children Away from Families Even When No Abuse is Present

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) laid the foundation for families such as Sarah Carter's to be torn apart. Photo provided by Carter family.

by Terri LaPoint Health Impact News

When Child Protective Services (CPS) takes children from a loving, non-abusive family, the parents, and sometimes grandparents, aunts, and uncles, often seek out information about what is happening. Many gravitate toward groups on social media that provide education and support for those fighting CPS for their children.

As the confused parents try to sort out the information and learn how to get their children back, one question dominates their search: How can this happen in America?

It isn't long before they will hear of ASFA – the Clintons' Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which provides billions of federal dollars to states to place children in foster care and adopt them out to strangers. Parents quickly learn that ASFA is one of the most destructive pieces of legislation to ever impact American families. Activists and parents alike are calling for it to be abolished.

However, before there was ASFA, there was CAPTA. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974, or “The Mondale Act,” doesn't receive nearly the attention that ASFA does, yet it is the piece of legislation that established Child Protective Services in all 50 states.

It remains in existence today. It has to be reauthorized periodically. Since its passage, it has been re-approved every 4 to 6 years, with new amendments added each time.

Richard Wexler, the executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, calls CAPTA “the one-stop shop for bad ideas.” In a recent article called, “CAPTA Law Codifies Everything Wrong With How We 'Fight' Child Abuse,” Wexler writes:

Since it has to be reauthorized every few years, there are endless opportunities to do further harm by adding new provisions.

Laws and practices regarding child abuse and the protection of children existed long before CAPTA, but there was nothing uniform among all the states before its passage.

For a more detailed look at the history and development of Child Protective Services, see:

From Child Protection to State-sponsored Child Kidnapping: How Did we Get Here?

1960s Pediatrician Brought Child Abuse to Forefront

It was a pediatrician who was one of the first to bring the issue of child abuse into the national spotlight.

Dr. C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues from the University of Colorado School of Medicine published their ground-breaking article, “The Battered-Child Syndrome” in the Journal of the Americana Medical Association (JAMA) in 1962.

The article chronicled some of the same symptoms that Child Abuse Pediatricians today assert are indicators of abuse, symptoms which are sometimes found in real, non-abusive medical conditions that mimic abuse, such as: fractures, subdural hematoma, failure to thrive, and sudden death.

All of these symptoms can occur in medical conditions that are often missed by Child Abuse Pediatricians, such as infantile rickets, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, osteogenesis imperfecta, antacids in pregnancy, pitocin-induced labor, tongue and lip tie, gastrointestinal conditions, and vaccine injury.

Dr. Kempe's paper led to the establishment of the Kempe Foundation. Photo source.

According to the book, Making an Issue of Child Abuse, by Barbara J. Nelson, JAMA editors made speculations about the frequency of child abuse, saying:

…it is likely that [the battered child syndrome] will be found to be a more frequent cause of death than such well recognized and thoroughly studied diseases as leukemia, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy.

Nelson says that the editors qualified their comparisons, but:

Politicians and journalists were not always as careful. Official after official and article after article repeated the comparison as though it were fact.

Over the next decade (and since), articles about child abuse became big news. While certainly child abuse existed then and exists now, the numbers may well have been inflated as the cry for legislation grew.

Much as “the opioid epidemic” seems to be continual headline news, child abuse was pounded into the American consciousness in the 60s and 70s in the effort to pass laws and fund agencies to deal with the issue. The non-profit organization Prevent Child Abuse America admitted in a 2003 piece:

It is almost certainly true that the strategies employed so successfully by the child abuse and neglect prevention field to generate media coverage and public awareness in the mid-1970s have resulted in a vicious cycle in which new communications on the issue tends to conform to, and reinforce, the existing frame of reference….

While the establishment of a certain degree of public horror relative to the issue of child abuse and neglect was probably necessary in the early years to create public awareness of the issue, the resulting conceptual model adopted by the public has almost certainly become one of the largest barriers to advancing the issue further in terms of individual behavior change, societal solutions and policy priorities.

Out of this “public horror,” CAPTA was written into law, giving social workers the power to snatch children from their families and ask questions later.

Though CAPTA funding doesn't reach the levels of ASFA, it still opened the door to federal funding for states to take children and place them into foster care. It was later, with ASFA, that billions of CPS dollars were redirected to the adoption of foster children.

Mandatory Reporting

Wexler points out some of the more harmful provisions of CAPTA:

CAPTA encourages states to enact mandatory reporting laws requiring certain professionals to report child abuse, despite the fact that there was then - and is now - no evidence that they actually reduce child abuse, and many of those who once championed such laws now have second thoughts. (Source.)

Health Impact News has noted that mandatory reporters often have the idea that they need to report any possible slight sign of abuse “just to be on the safe side” in order to protect their own licences, under the notion that Child Protective Services will investigate the case and that innocent parents will be exonerated.

It is clear from hundreds of cases investigated by Health Impact News that this is not the case.

Any report simply opens the door for CPS social workers to come into a family. If they decide they want to take the child, if they want funding for the children, or if they have an adopter that they want to find a child for, the evidence doesn't seem to matter.

Though the “Right to Lie” by social workers was struck down last year by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the ruling has had little effect on the day-to-day practice of social workers throughout the country.

See:

Judges Reject Claim That Social Workers Didn't Know Lying In Court to Remove Children Was Wrong

GALs and CASA Workers – More Harm than Good?

Another provision of CAPTA only “prolongs foster care,” according to Wexler:

CAPTA requires states to appoint either a “guardian ad litem” or a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) in every child welfare case.

CAPTA does not require this person to actually speak up for what the child wants, only for what the guardian or CASA thinks is best.

CAPTA promotes this even though, as Youth Today revealed in 2004, a comprehensive study, commissioned by the National CASA Association itself, found that CASA doesn't work - indeed, it prolongs foster care.

A comprehensive law review article found that it institutionalizes the racial bias inherent in child welfare. (Source.)

Attorney Lisa Chasteen of Alabama said that the GAL advocates for “the best interest of the child” from the state's perspective, not the child's.

Isaiah Rider repeatedly tried to fire his GAL. “She doesn't represent ME!” He finally was released from Illinois DCFS almost a year after his 18th birthday. Photo provided by family. Story here.

Numerous foster care victims have reported that their GAL or CASA worker did not speak for them at all. Teenagers have told us that some of them failed to report abuse, rape, or molestation that happened to the child in foster homes or group homes.

Though an occasional parent will report a GAL who seems to genuinely care about the truth and the child, most parents tell us that the GALs and CASA workers are adversarial toward them, sometimes accusing them and making up falsehoods about the parents.

CAPTA Secrecy Gives Cover to Corruption

Wexler takes issue with the secrecy of Child Protective Services procedures and dealings:

CAPTA enshrines double standards concerning secrecy.

It requires child welfare agencies to disclose information about child abuse fatalities and near-fatalities as, in fact, they should. But it encourages agencies to keep all their other blunders secret.

That's because the way to stampede people into supporting tearing apart more families is to publicize the horror stories and hide everything else - so people think the errors go only in one direction. (Source.)

The typical response by CPS and hospitals when we report a story of medical kidnapping is that, “because of confidentiality laws,” CPS or hospitals cannot comment on a particular case.

They frequently imply, and sometimes state outright, that not all of the story is being told. The public is expected to feel sorry for the workers they imply are being unfairly maligned because they aren't allowed to tell their side of the story.

The truth of the matter is that CPS social workers and attorneys and the Child Abuse Pediatricians do tell their side of the story, in court before the judge, where it truly matters. It is the side of the parents and the evidence of their innocence that is frequently not heard in court.

In order for a journalist to report a story accurately, the allegations by the state must be examined. The medical records and other evidence must also be examined. Because the parents are often not afforded the opportunity for their side to be heard in court, they frequently turn to social media and the media to tell their side of the story and present their evidence.

Because of the twisting of confidentiality laws, any misdeeds by corrupt officials within the Child Protective Services system are shrouded in secrecy and hidden from public view. Whether there are lies, fraud, or mistakes by social workers, attorneys, judges, GALS, doctors, or foster parents, they are kept out of the way of public scrutiny and accountability.

Criminals have more rights than parents. Criminal court is open to the public view, and thus officials are held to a degree of accountability, something that is not found in family or juvenile court. This must change.

CAPTA Provisions that Are Not Being Followed

For all the harm that CAPTA does to families, there are a few notable provisions that parents may not be aware of that stand in favor of families. They are not generally followed, but they are part of the law that is legally supposed to be followed (link to CAPTA):

According to Section 107(a)1 of CAPTA, federal grants are to be made to states to assist in improving “the assessment and investigation of suspected child abuse and neglect cases, including cases of suspected child sexual abuse and exploitation, in a manner that limits additional trauma to the child and the child's family;” [Emphasis added by HIN].

The way that CPS generally investigates and takes children from their families is undeniably traumatic. According to this law, they are supposed to find a way that limits the trauma. They clearly need to do a better job.

Annalise Rivenburg cries with her mother at Baby Steffen's funeral. She is still in the hands of Tennessee Child Protective Services. Photo provided by family. Story here.

According to Section 206(5), any state receiving money under CAPTA is supposed to provide reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the state CPS performance measures, including this:

They “shall demonstrate a high level of satisfaction among families who have used the services of the community-based and prevention-focused programs and activities designed to strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect;”

Based on the reports of many hundreds of families who have fallen victim to the system, we conclude that there is not a high level of satisfaction.

The opposite is, in fact, true. There is a great deal of frustration and anger at the perceived injustice to their families, who do not feel strengthened or supported at all.

They feel attacked, ripped apart, hopeless, and destroyed. Some of them tragically have committed suicide. The trauma goes deep, ripping apart generations.

The Case Plan

Parents who take to social media at the beginning of CPS involvement or interference in their family are frequently admonished, “Don't sign anything!”

Invariably, they find themselves being pressured to sign a case plan or safety plan of some type when the social worker comes. Some social workers have been known to deceive parents and tell them that they aren't agreeing to anything at all, that they are just signing that they are “present.”

In reality, they are signing a contract with the state. If they don't follow the plan to the letter, their parental rights may be terminated, no matter what the original allegations were.

Section 101 of CAPTA makes it clear that the state will not release funds for foster care unless there is a case plan “for each such infant and young child.” It is unclear whether the case plan must be signed by the parent in order for the state to receive funds for the child.

A North Carolina mother's refusal to sign a case plan became a huge point of contention between her and the social workers.

Sarah Carter's children were taken from her when she was in a shelter with her kids while seeking permanent housing. A staff person from the shelter reported her to CPS because her homeschooled children were not attending public school. She thought that it would quickly be cleared up.

It wasn't. Sarah reports that:

The whole case centered around the fact that I wouldn't sign anything. I realized how powerful contract law is.

Sarah Carter and her children used to love to play at the park. There used to be a lot of laughter before CPS. Photo provided by family.

The children were taken in September of 2016. Guilford County Department of Social Services petitioned for Termination of Parental Rights the following April. The judge reportedly told Sarah:

Your children are not your children; they're my children.

Without any evidence of wrongdoing, she lost her children. Sarah is still fighting to have her case heard by a higher court.

The Solution? End Federal Funding for Foster Care and Adoption that Provides Incentives to States to Take Children Out of Families

Both CAPTA and ASFA provide federal funding to states for foster care. For too long, these legislative acts have enabled and incentivized states taking children from innocent parents who have committed no crime, who have not abused their children.

By any definition this is human trafficking.

It is time to cut off the flow of tax dollars for the destruction of families, and instead find ways to help and support families.

Comment this article at MedicalKidnap.com.

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[bintaeran]

Yoga for Varicose Veins

Yoga for Varicose Veins Nina Zolotow

by Ram

Here on the YFHA blog there has been a number of discussions on varicose veins and the role of yoga in treating them. For example, see Baxter’s reply to a question about this condition Friday Q&A: Varicose Veins and Other Circulation Problems. Varicosity is a condition in which veins weaken and flush the blood backwards and away from the heart. These weakened veins are termed “varicose” veins. In fact, if the condition is chronic, you can actually see the varicose veins popping out as dark purple or blue colored knotted and enlarged structures (see Friday Q&A: Blue Feet). Varicose veins appear twisted and swollen. Since humans are bipeds, standing and walking upright adds more pressure to the veins of legs and feet and these tend to wear out easily. Thus, while any vein may become varicose, the veins of the legs and feet are most commonly affected. Symptoms that signal the presence of varicose veins include among others:

Heavy feeling in the legs

Burning and/or swelling in the lower legs

Extreme pain after prolonged sitting or standing

Constant itch in these areas

Bleeding

Spider veins (so named because they look like a spider's web) are similar to varicose veins but are smaller and found closer to the skin's surface.  The function of veins is to carry blood from the rest of the body and return it to the heart for recirculation. From the extremities (your legs and arms), for the blood to return to the heart, the veins must work against gravity. The small muscles surrounding the blood vessels, together with the tiny valves inside the vein, act as pumps and facilitate the flow of the blood to the heart. These tiny valves operate such that blood flow is unidirectional: towards the heart. The valves open and allow the blood to flow towards the heart and close to stop blood from backflow. But there are conditions when the valves and surrounding musculature become weak and lose their pumping flexibility. This results in accumulation of the blood in the veins, which triggers varicosity. On occasions, blood clots can also form in these areas. Some of the causes of varicose veins include: Age. Veins can lose elasticity and start to stretch as the individual gets older. This causes the blood to accumulate in the veins, resulting in their enlargement. The blue coloration is due to the impurities in the blood (deoxygenated). Family history. The risk of suffering from varicose veins is greater if other family members had it. Obesity. Being overweight puts excessive pressure on the legs that can often lead to varicose veins. Standing or sitting for long periods of time. Blood does not flow well if the individual is in the sitting or standing position for long periods because muscles that have lost their flexibility or elasticity cannot pump efficiently. Pregnancy. Circulatory changes happen during pregnancy to support the growing fetus and a side effect of that to the mother is enlargement of the veins in the legs. For treatment, there are both invasive and non-invasive treatment options. Unfortunately, no treatment procedures can prevent new veins from becoming varicose. Depending on the condition of varicosity, doctors will either recommend compression stockings, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, laser treatment to cauterize the varicose veins, or ablation to destroy and ultimately close the vein.  As it turns out, varicose veins are common in those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and can be painful (see My Personal Experience with Ehlers-Danos Syndrome (EDS). So, I, too, had spider veins in both legs. And because my work involved a lot of standing, I used to experience a lot of pain in the lower legs. When I consulted with my primary care physician, she suggested sclerotherapy, a procedure involving scarring and closing the veins with a solution that then reroutes the blood through other healthier veins.  Since I was not ready to undergo a surgical procedure had already gotten my 200h RYT Certification, I thought of using myself as a test case (numero=1) to see if yoga poses could alleviate my condition. If my condition did not improve with yoga, I was willing to undergo the chemical procedure to scar the veins. So, with that intention, I started a judicious homepractice with a set of specific poses. It included three rounds of Sun Salutations, followed by three rounds each side of Warrior 1-3 poses and Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana). In all these poses, I consciously kept moving my legs and the leg muscles continuously to facilitate the pumping action and the venous flow. This was followed by a set of two inversions to get my legs upside down, including Headstand and Legs Up the Wall pose or Handstand and Shoulderstand. The rationale for doing these inversions is both easing the pressure on the legs and using gravity to promote circulation. To get the maximum benefit and to make the poses more effective, I started focusing on the legs and consciously engaged in pointing and flexing just the feet as a way to contract and relax the lower leg muscles. I ended the practice with three rounds of alternate nostril breathing and five minutes of stillness. I did this entire sequence mindfully for six months. Sure enough, there are absolutely no visible signs of spider veins on my legs and presently I am free from any varicose veins or spider veins.  You may wonder how by simply elevating the leg or exercising the leg muscles "cures" spider veins or varicose veins. Further, following a yoga session, as soon as I stand up again, the valves will still fail and, in my case the spider veins will still be there. And yet, after six months of a judicious practice, I was able to alleviate the condition. The only explanation that I can offer is that by mindfully engaging those leg muscles, I was strengthening the muscles and the tiny valves that prevented them from further decay. As I kept doing the poses daily I was sustaining all the beneficial changes at the cellular level to the stage where the tiny valves turned more stable and strong to prevent any backflow of blood. To support my explanation with any evidence-based studies, I checked the medical research websites for any research published linking yoga and varicose veins. I did not find a single relevant paper or case report. So, until there is at least one major trial to prove the causal link between yoga and varicose veins, you can use my case as an example. Let me also admit that the reversal did not happen in one or two weeks, it took nearly six months of daily practice. Additionally, when I started finding significant relief after three month of practice, I added other lifestyle changes all of which may have further accelerated and sustained the benefits. (These included: a diet rich in fiber (plenty of greens and fruits) plus watery based veggies, including cilantro, basil, fennel, dandelion greens, cucumber, and asparagus, transitioning frequently from a stand to sit position and vice versa, while sitting, frequently shifting/moving my heels and feet, and while sleeping elevating my legs to be slightly by placing a pillow under my legs.) These days, when I discuss the benefits of yoga and talk briefly about varicose veins, I cite my own experience to declare that yoga is an excellent practice to treat varicose veins and relieve the aching pain associated with it. Time to roll out my mat! Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and Twitter ° To order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being, go to Amazon, Shambhala, Indie Bound or your local bookstore.

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