Author Archives: Anthony Ohm

About Anthony Ohm

Anthony Ohm is a pain specialist and a sports therapist. The technique is called Active Isolated Stretching and Strengthening(AIS). Treatment is available in Honolulu, Hawaii and Los Angeles, California The AIS method is highly beneficial for: disc issues, chronic physical pain, pain related to aging, arthritis, bursitis, sciatica, neuropathy, Parkinson's disease, and much much more... However you are presenting, whether you are crippled or a professional athlete, AIS treatment will put you in better physical condition than your current state.

My neck is killing me! I have chronic neck pain

Posted by Anthony Ohm

Four reasons why my neck is killing me!
Reason number one:
Computer usage, especially laptop computer usage. Laptop computers make us strain our neck and shoulders forward. Lurching the head forward creates neck pain by putting more strain on the neck muscles.
The further the head juts ahead, the more strain is placed on the muscles that run from the head to the shoulders. People that spend long hours on a laptop computer are jutting their neck and shoulders forward to stare at the screen.
Watch other people’s posture as they are using their laptop computers. Look at how they are pushing their necks forward to look at their small screen. Then have someone look at your posture while you are on your computer. Are your shoulders squeezed together or leaning forward?  Is your head leaning ahead of your chest? Over time, these postural problems create neck pain. Using a larger keyboard and a larger computer screen will help your posture. When using a larger computer screen, enlarge the text to maximum visibility. That will encourage you to keep your neck and shoulders back – good anatomical position.

neck pain

Second reason my neck is killing me: Weakness in the trapezius muscle. The trapezius muscle (traps) is a primary muscle of the upper back, one of the main muscles in between the shoulder blades. Many people neglect doing strength training exercises for the trapezius muscle, especially women. Many women feel that developing the trapezius muscle will make them look manly. The neck rests on the traps. When the traps are weak, then the support structure – the foundation for the neck is vulnerable.

Third reason my neck is killing me: Women with larger breasts are susceptible to neck pain. Large breasted women are more likely to be pulled forward and downwards in the upper body. Similar to using a laptop computer, women with large breasts are pulled away from correct anatomical position by the weight of their breasts. Additionally, many women are likely not to do strength training exercises for the trapezius muscle and the latissimus dorsi muscle. Two major muscles of the upper back that will help to hold up the weight of the chest. As women age, the breasts generally get heavier. This added weight increases the chance of being pulled out of alignment. As posture worsens, many women will also develop a hump in the back of their neck. This problem is called dowager’s hump or kyphosis. It is related to neck pain. And it can be reversed with Active Isolated Stretching therapy.

Fourth reason my neck is killing me: Using a computer desk that is too high.
If you spend a lot of time at your desk, then you need to be sure that your elbows are not raised too high. A high desk can raise the position of your elbows, which can cause strain in your trapezius muscle. People that put a computer on a dining room table can be straining their trapezius muscle, which leads to referred pain in the neck. That is the reason why the keyboard slot on computer desks are low.

This is not an exhaustive list for chronic neck pain. The general theme is that weakness or excessive strain in the upper body muscles will commonly lead to pain in the neck. If you are experiencing chronic neck pain, finding a qualified AIS therapist will surely help.

The Mattes Method approach for chronic neck pain is threefold:
1.) Receive treatment from a trained therapist in Active Isolated Stretching.
2.) Learn how to do the self-applied AIS stretching protocol.
3.) Do upper body strength training exercises to maintain correct posture.



Golf stretching. Improve your golf swing thru Active Isolated Stretching

Posted by Anthony Ohm

Those seeking to improve their golf swing need to know about Active Isolated Stretching. The best golf swing tip is improving flexibility in your body. By increasing flexibility in your body, you increase range of motion in your rotation. Greater range of motion in your rotation leads to more power in your golf swing.

AIS therapy is a reinvention of the stretching process. The procedures have been changed to get optimal muscle lengthening. Pro golfers already know about the performance benefits that AIS training can bring for to their sport. Professionals that use AIS techniques include: Arnold Palmer, Fred Couples, and VJ Singh. Whatever level you are at in golf, AIS flexibility training will improve your game.

AIS therapy involves a therapist helping the golfer to stretch. Results are magnified with the help of a trained stretching coach. Getting more rotation is an entire body process. Head to toe muscles are involved in the perfect swing and AIS protocol improves muscle length in the entire body. The low back and the hip rotator muscles will be opened like you have never experienced!

Active Isolated Stretching is an essential part of golf fitness. It should be started before major tournaments. Golfers can play golf immediately after an AIS session. And golfers will feel immediate changes to their rotation and added power in their drive. “Everything glides better in my swing,” says David K. an avid golfer, “I play with greater ease and I don’t experience stiffness during the game. I played better in my last tournament and I know that AIS is part of the reason.”

Those seeking a comprehensive system for golf stretching exercises will be interested in Active Isolated Stretching. Golfers schedule one-to-one appointment sessions with an assisted stretching coach and they also learn self-applied stretching exercises that can be done on their own before a game.

Results of Active Isolated Stretching are long term. Treatment sessions unwind knotted muscles that are interfering in a golfer’s rotation. Furthermore, golfers learn to hold their improved posture with AIS strengthening exercises. Once the body is reshaped thru assisted stretching, then the golfer rebuilds the muscles with strengthening exercises geared towards golf performance.

Golf Swing

Back pain in Honolulu, Hawaii, Oahu

Posted by Anthony Ohm

“Tightness in the muscles,” says Anthony Ohm, “is the major cause of low back pain in Honolulu.” Up to now, finding an effective way to treat this problem has not yielded great results. If you recognize back pain in Honolulu as a muscular issue, then you will search out the treatment that best releases the muscles.  Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) reinvented how to stretch muscles. This detailed assisted stretching method gets to the root cause of low back pain.  For those visiting Waikiki, even one or two long sessions can help reduce pain from a sudden flareup. AIS is a new type of treatment for back pain in Honolulu. Anthony Ohm is the only advanced practitioner of Active Isolated Stretching in the entire state of Hawaii. Muscles get tight in the human body. That is a natural or inevitable occurrence. Muscles also act in groups to make the body function. Low back pain occurs when a group of muscles become inflexible. When muscular pressure is lifted off the frame of the body, the pain is also removed. Its a very simple theory, the newness of the approach is that Active Isolated Stretching has reinvented stretching  with new procedures to make assisted stretching more effective for treating low back pain in Honolulu. Optimal stretching needs a therapist to help open contracted muscles. When a person is suffering from months or years of low back pain, a trained expert is going to help that person stretch more effectively than he can do individually.  Anthony Ohm says, “One AIS treatment session lasting four hours, will get you more results than nine months of yoga.” Wow! AIS therapy is highly beneficial for chronic low back pain; degenerative disc, herniated disc, bulging disc; pain around the sacrum; L4, L5, S1 low back pain; sciatica; neuropathy, numbness or tingling pain in the legs, pain in the glutes (buttocks); scoliosis; low back pain due to stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, Alzheimer’s;  and many other causes of low back pain.

Back pain in Honolulu flare-ups can happen at anytime.

The worst thing for a Hawaii visitor is to have to get on a long airline flight while in midst of a back pain episode.  Active Isolated Stretching therapy has a back pain in Honolulu treatment plan that will help people immediately reduce their pain and make them better prepared for their long flight. A person that needs to get better fast will be encouraged to do a treatment session that is long in duration. A three or four hour session is not uncommon in AIS therapy. The AIS therapist goes through every muscle, one by one, to find out which muscles are causing the problem (each body has its own characteristics). AIS is a process of gentle muscle unwinding. Muscle unwinding can not be forced. Nor should it be painful.  Active Isolated Stretching is 15 times more effective than any other type of stretching.  This characteristic makes it highly beneficial for the toughest back pain in Honolulu cases.

Back pain specialist in Honolulu.

Anthony Ohm got involved in Active Isolated Stretching because he suffered from chronic low back pain for twenty years.  Anthony went to forty specialists trying to resolve his pain.  Through his many failed treatments, he knew that he was not alone in this frustrating cycle of pain and poor treatment options. He became a massage therapist, pilates instructor, gyrotonic instructor,  and a personal trainer to get inside information on back pain solutions that were not widely known to the public.  Instinctively, Anthony Ohm knew that the problem was related to muscles.  He also knew that when he finally got help for his pain that that same method would be equally beneficial for multitudes of people suffering from back pain in Honolulu. The healing process started when he met Aaron Mattes, the developer of Active Isolated Stretching therapy. Aaron Mattes holds a Masters degree in Kinesiology and he was a professor on the subject at the University of Illinois for eleven years. A Kinesiologist studies human anatomy and function of the body. Through his academic study and detailed study of cadavers, Aaron Mattes researched the key muscles that affect low back pain and the optimal ways to lengthen muscles. Muscles need to be stretched at multiple aspects, but conventional stretching is only focusing on one aspect.  Muscles contract when they are stretched for more than two seconds, then why does traditional stretching emphasize holding a stretch for thirty seconds? Aaron Mattes concluded that conventional stretching  is not effective at resolving low back pain because their procedure is faulty. Aaron Mattes then went on develop a new procedure of stretching. He named it Active Isolated Stretching. This method started in 1972 and it continues to be improved by the developer to this very day. After years of practice on the mainland,  and 1000+ hours of direct study with the developer of AIS, Anthony Ohm is now offering back pain in Honolulu treatment sessions on the island of Oahu. AIS therapy is an alternative to physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, cortisone injections, rolfing, shiatsu, and surgery. Even failed back surgery cases can be helped with AIS therapy. Residents and visitors of Hawaii now have a new alternative to treating  chronic low back pain in Honolulu. The developer, Aaron Mattes, refers to Anthony Ohm as “one of the top five AIS practitioners that he has ever trained.” To schedule an appointment call 808-927-3997.

Lower back pain causes – psoas tightness and sitting.

Posted by Anthony Ohm

One third of the world population suffers from lower back pain. Why? Sitting for long periods of time causes lower back pain. A primary muscle that is affected by sitting is the psoas muscle. The psoas muscle lies deep in the stomach. It attaches at numerous low back vertebrae including L3, L4, L5, and S1. And it also attaches at the top of the thigh bone. When the psoas muscle tightens, it creates pressure on the discs of the low back. The L4, L5, S1 region gets squeezed and that pressure causes pain in the lower back.

Lower back pain causes

Psoas muscle tightness is almost always involved in lower back pain causes. And the prevalence of low back pain is extremely common because modern society requires humans to sit for long periods of time. We sit while driving, we sit at desks all day for work or school, and we sit while flying in airplanes.  Ten hours a day of sitting everyday will cause low back pain.

Lower Back Pain Lower Back Pain

Solution for lower back pain

The solution for  lower back pain involves Active Isolated Stretching therapy. The AIS approach to lengthening the psoas involves a strong practitioner pulling apart the psoas muscle while the client lays face down on a massage table (see photos above). AIS has a self-stretching approach to lengthening the psoas. This self-applied stretch will help prevent a psoas muscle from tightening but it will not be enough to open an already tightened psoas muscle. Walking will help keep the psoas muscle open, but similarly, it will not open it enough if the psoas is contracted. Sitting creates six times more pressure on the discs of the low back than standing. Therefore, switching between sitting and standing will also help prevent/reduce low back pain.

Rolfing reviews for pain repair. Back, neck, shoulder.

Posted by Anthony Ohm

Rolfing reviews for physical pain ailments. Rolfing is an alternative therapy used to treat soft-tissue ailments. Does it work? Some of the time, yes. Does it have value? Yes.  Is it the end-all treatment for soft-tissue injuries? No. If rolfing does not cure your chronic pain, do not give up, thinking that you have tried everything.

Rolfing is a form of bodywork that aims to realign the body to improve function and solve physical ailments. Established by Ida Rolf, rolfing bodywork is characterized by deep pressure. Some people say that it is a type of deep-tissue massage (rolfers hate this description). Others have called it an intelligent massage.

Rolfing became popular in the 1970’s. It was a breakthrough discovery for its time, because it offered an alternative treatment to common ailments such as back, neck, and shoulder pain. Currently, it is one of many alternative treatments for myofascial pain and dysfunction. In the 1970’s, rolfing was one of the pioneers in advancing bodywork as a value therapy for soft-tissue pain. But it no longer stands alone in the field of pain repair.

People will see a rolfer (a person that has been certified in this method), and many times if it doesn’t work, they will think that there is no solution because rolfing is the best… Note to consumers: be very careful about subliminal persuasion. Concentrate on whether or not you are getting better. If you are not getting better from rolfing, then move on.

Rolfing reviews show that rolfing is not the best. I assume that students of rolfing are taught to be arrogant in their training schools. Because many practitioners of rolfing are very arrogant and they exude the message that rolfing is the one and only. Maybe in 1976, this was the case for a few moments but do not be swayed by this outdated rhetoric. Rolfing can heal certain injuries, but it is not the most effective form of bodywork available in 2014.  Be careful to separate hearsay from the truth.

If you live in a region where rolfing is your only alternative therapy option, then give it a try. But if you live in an area where there are more options than rolfing, don’t think that there is no hope for your injury if rolfing couldn’t solve it. Your best solution is very very close…

DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression Reviews

Posted by Anthony Ohm

The DRX 9000 spinal decompression machine claims that it can cure chronic neck and back pain. I suffered from chronic low back pain and neck pain. I tried DRX 9000 spinal decompression treatment. In total, I did about 16 sessions. As a practicing massage therapist and personal trainer, I attended a workshop and met some other health practitioners who spoke about it.
These are my findings.
The DRX 9000 is a form of traction; an outgrowth of the inversion table. Instead of hanging upside down, you are put in a downward angle and the machine gently pulls you apart in one position: a straight up and down traction pull.
I did numerous sessions on the DRX 9000 and it came highly touted. It only pulls the client in one position. Look at any anatomy book and you will see that few muscles attach straight up and down. If they did, then hanging from a bar would cure all neck and back ailments. “Spinal Decompression” is an excellent marketing term. Unfortunately, the DRX 9000 does not do justice to the term.

I attended a four day lecture in San Diego. The topic was the Rossiter system. A modality in which a client stretches against applied pressure. In the workshop, there were three people from an office in San Bernadino, California. They spoke highly about the DRX 9000 and stated that they saw many people make great recoveries from back and neck pain using the machine.
They were students at the workshop. And the workshop was not addressing the DRX 9000 machine. I think the San Bernadino people were genuine when they said that they witnessed many recoveries from the device.
Personally, I don’t think that using spinal decompression is an efficient use of therapeutic dollars. I’ve heard a few people say otherwise.
The machine itself is very expensive to purchase. Chiropractors are the biggest user group.
The chiropractor will sell the client on a series of sessions. The client comes into the office and is strapped into the machine and stays in the device for about twenty minutes.
Further treatment may include heat packs, electrical stimulation, and chiropractic adjustments.
Traction is good. But it alone is not good enough to solve back and neck pain. When I was pitched for the DRX 9000 it was presented as this revolutionary device that elicits major structural changes. Promoters of the DRX 9000 can counter that it is just an addition to their effective procedure which includes standard chiropractic care. Once I started to move from the DRX 9000 to the heat packs, electric stimulation, and chiropractic adjustments, I started to have my doubts. This was supposed to be something revolutionary? But its turning out to be same old same old.
The DRX 9000 was part of my journey of getting free of back pain. It was another chiropractor, physical therapist, physician, that claimed that they had the magical elixir. They built it up, and tried to sell it. The great thing for the chiropractor is if they can sell a series to a client, its passive income. The client just lays on the machine table and the chiropractor does nothing.
If it worked, it would be great for everybody.
For some people it may work.
I do not endorse it.
Too many muscles are involved in causing neck or back pain. A few of them run in the directional line that the spinal decompression machine is pulling the client. But at best, its only affecting ten percent of the muscles that are causing the problem.
If it works for you, fantastic!
If it doesn’t work, don’t conclude that you have tried everything possible and now you must elect for surgery or opioid pain killers.
The process of finding the right modality to cure physical pain is filled with many disappointments before finding the therapy that truly works.
Keep an open mind. Explore your options. Finding the right technique may be just within your grasp.

DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression

Shin Splints – Stretch Six Aspects of The Calf Muscle

Posted by Anthony Ohm

Shin splints treatmentShin splints treatment involves opening the calf muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscles. We have been taught the wrong method to stretch our calf muscles. Shin splints result from archaic stretching methods that are used prior to athletic activity. The body is not properly warmed up and as calf muscles become more rigid, shin splint pain can easily develop. The athlete with shin splints needs to know that Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) is superior and distinct to any other form of stretching. The developer of Active Isolated Stretching, Aaron Mattes’ states that the calf muscle (and many other muscles) must be stretched from six different points. Conventional stretching only emphasizes one point, the belly of the muscle. When an athlete uses learns to stretch six aspects of their calf muscle rather than just one aspect, that person is on the way towards recovering and preventing shin splints.  The way to cure shin splints is outlined in Active Isolated Stretching and Strengthening excercise.

People with shin splints have tight calves. When the calves are tight, the shins will hurt.

Athletes with shin pain will try doing a few stretches to the calves, when the pain still remains, then they will assume that the source of the problem must be something else besides muscular tension. Such a person may even try alternative methods and not get any results. The truth is that other alternative methods that have been tried are not as effective as Active Isolated Stretching. Massage, acupuncture, electric stimulation, rolfing, pnf stretching, the rolling pin, the stick… all these methods will not open the calf muscle as completely as Active Isolated Stretching.

The calf muscle must be stretched from six aspects to keep it open.

Conventional stretching only emphasizes stretching one aspect of the calf muscle. The calf muscle has two attachment sites. One attachment is closer to the backside of the knee. The other attachment site is close to the achilles heel. On each attachment site there are three aspects: the middle (medial aspect) and the two sides (lateral aspects). Considering both attachments equals six aspects on a target muscle. Active Isolated Stretching techniques pioneered this more detailed way of lengthening muscles.

People that are trying to stretch the calf with conventional methods are using the wrong position to stretch.

The runner’s calf stretch: standing and leaning forward  to stretch the calf  is widely used. So is the method where you stand over a step and drop the heel below the step while the toes and upper foot stay on the step. Both of these methods are using the wrong position to stretch the gastrocnemius. When you stand, you are contracting the calf muscle. A muscle that contracts cannot lengthen optimally. Therefore to lengthen the calf you must change the position of the stretch where the muscle is relaxed. That correct position is laying on one’s back, using a rope to stretch the calf.

In conventional calf stretching (or pnf stretching) the duration of the hold is too long.

If you stretch a muscle for ten or thirty seconds, then a stretch reflex kicks in which protects the muscle from being overstretched. If you hold a stretch for thirty seconds, the stretch reflex becomes a barrier to lengthening the target muscle. Therefore, the duration of the stretch should be two seconds, and then done in repetitions. AIS therapy pioneered the concept of two second stretching.

Shin splints can be cured. Athletes can return to their sport without experiencing pain.
AIS therapy has made a great contribution to the field of sports therapy by redefining the protocol of stretching and strengthening to help athletes perform their best. First, receive the assisted stretching treatment from an AIS therapist, then learn the AIS self-stretching techniques, and follow-up with AIS strengthening methods for the lower body that will enable you to maintain correct position and posture.

Best bodywork massage in Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii.

Posted by Anthony Ohm

Honolulu, Hawaii — If you are seeking new things to do on your next trip to Waikiki, Honolulu then consider Active Isolated Stretching therapy. AIS therapy is the world’s best form of bodywork. Three hours of Active Isolated Stretching is better than nine months of yoga. When you are finished with an AIS session your body feels like it is floating.

Active Isolated Stretching is new to Waikiki and Honolulu. Anthony Ohm is offering treatment in the Waikiki-Kapahulu area of Honolulu, after years of study and practice on the mainland.
AIS involves a trained therapist assisting a client in the process of therapeutic stretching. AIS is an optimized form of muscle lengthening. Far above our notion of conventional stretching.

AIS is detailed work, it takes time, and the results are worth it.
If you have been suffering from a chronic pain issue and now you are visiting Waikiki, then this is your opportunity to get the treatment you need.
Active Isolated Stretching is highly beneficial for:
low back pain, degenerative disc, herniated disc, bulging disc, stiffness from frequent flying, chronic neck pain, cervical pain, jaw pain, migraine headaches, paralysis, frozen shoulder or shoulder pain, sports injuries, sports improvement,
sciatica, scoliosis, neuropathy, spondylitis, alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, parkinson’s, arthritis, bursitis,

bodywork massage

Cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s is related to physical decline.

Posted by Anthony Ohm

People suffering from Alzheimer’s disease lose cognitive ability. This decline is exacerbated by the physical decline occurring in their bodies. Alzheimer’s patients are affected by poor blood flow to the brain. This is caused by tightness in a series of upper body muscles including the chest, shoulders, arms, and neck (primarily). As Alzheimer’s patients lose physical mobility in these key areas, the blood flow from the neck to the brain is weakened. Without blood the brain has no fuel. The carotid and vertebral arteries, the main lines of blood to the brain lie underneath the upper body muscles.
Muscle rigidity is a common characteristic of Alzheimer’s patients. Upper body muscles are tight and inflamed. And inflamed muscles of the neck press into the carotid artery impeding blood flow to the brain.
The solution is use Active Isolated Stretching therapy with an emphasis on upper body and neck stretching. While it may not cure Alzheimer’s, it will improve their condition. AIS therapy will reverse negative cognitive function because the brain will receive more nutrients when the body function improves. Memory, concentration, reasoning skills, emotional outbursts, and other negative aspects of Alzheimer’s disease can be mitigated through Active Isolated Stretching. The key is working with the neck.

Medication may be a necessity for Alzheimer’s patients. But is that the only treatment we use for Alzheimer’s disease? Alzheimer’s disease has a physical component.  If medication isn’t doing enough improve an Alzheimer’s patient’s life, then we need to look at complimentary therapies that may be of benefit.

Alzheimer’s disease Treatment