I received two emails this past week from people with extensive discomfort and pain. The really cool thing is they were both thank-you notes from people who took action and are getting better. Part of one is below.
Remember: It doesn’t matter if you educate yourself about your pain and other uncomfortable symptoms unless you take action.
There is a saying that you can’t hire someone to do your sit-ups for you. You have to do them yourself. (But I am not a fan of sit-ups; just suck your belly into your spine and hold it.)
“I stumbled upon your site and was astonished at my complete ignorance about the mechanics of my own body – specifically how my neck, shoulders and arm were all so closely related.
When I read your article that explained how the muscles of the shoulder can become imbalanced – I knew I was on to something – you described many of my issues and the subsequent pain perfectly. I immediately put some of your tips into practice – the shoulder rolls, the arm circles and using the bed as a resistance training tool..and even though the movements were painful at first, I kept at it because it was a good pain, if that makes any sense.”
I have experienced and heard about ‘good pain’ many, many times. That means the area being treated is the correct area. It is the area of muscle and soft tissue that is causing the pain or symptom.
Working on or treating just the symptom often doesn’t let the symptom relax or go away because it cannot relax. You have to get to the cause of the symptom. Then it can relax and you will feel better. 🙂
There may be some discomfort as you try new movements but it’s your body and you can control the discomfort. Just move slowly and thoughtfully. As your body becomes more and more happy, neutral and balanced, the discomfort will be less and less.
The video that demonstrates the arm circles in the quote is at http://budurl.com/CircleArms.
So, keep reading, watch the video, educate yourself and take action!
You can’t always count on your doctor to help you get rid of your pain because most of them don’t understand the connection between muscles and pain; that’s not what they learned in med school.
Taking action will help you get rid of your muscle aches and pain naturally.
2 replies on “Take Action and Get Rid of Pain Naturally”
Hi Kathryn,
I found your site while googling back pain articles and you seem to have helped lots of people so I thought I would try my luck.
I am a relatively healthy 23-year-old, but for the past 4 weeks I have had discomfort in my upper back, at the base of and sometimes in between my shoulder blades, and down towards my mid-back. It started (I think) because I had a coursework assignment to hand in at the beginning of April and worked very hard on it at a desk/computer station that I was not used to and therefore I did not maintain very good posture while working.
The pain does not seem to affect me particularly badly during the day (although sometimes i’m aware of an uncomfortable dull aching in my lower back which i think may be linked). However when I go to sleep it usually begins to hurt again and often i have to wake up in the middle of the night and take painkillers, which does not completely get rid of the pain but does help a bit. The pain is the worst when I lie on my back; usually however (even before the pain started) I have always slept in the foetal position (with a pillow between my knees) or often also on my front with a pillow propping up my head and upper chest (incidentally this latter position provides the most relief from my pain whilst sleeping). Is it OK to sleep like this? Or should I try and sleep in the “painful” position as much as possible to “realign” my back?
I went to see a massage therapist for two sports massages, however these do not appear to have made much of a difference (other than loosening tension/knots in other parts of my back).
I have been doing various stretching exercises that I have found on the internet but again they provide only moderate and temporary relief (I found that rolling my shoulder blades in opposite directions seems to target the pain most directly although again it doesn’t provide much relief). I have also tried to continue my running 3-4 times a week as I read that it was important to keep active. Unfortunately being a student means that I lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle at the moment, but this pain is really starting to bother me and I have exams coming up quite soon so I want to be able to focus on them rather than being disturbed by my pain.
If you have any specific advice or targeted stretches that you think will help then I would be incredibly grateful. Thanks in advance,
James
Hi James,
Thank you for writing and I apologize for my delay in responding. Well, here’s my best long distance thinking about my painful upper back.
The ‘comfortable’ sleeping position you are using is okay for you to use. It’s not the best position for your neck but it’s good to arch your back like a gymnast. Eventually, work your way to sleeping on your back. You might find it more comfortable with your legs propped with pillows under the calves. Use only a small soft neck roll if you can so you’re not pushing your head forward. You can make your own neck roll from fiberfill or a small towel.
The lower back may exactly be linked! All of the parts of the body work together.
Squeezing your shoulder blades toward your spine may help with this because it (1) stretches your chest muscles and (2) strengthens your back muscles.
Did the massage pro work mostly on your back? If yes, that’s why you didn’t get much relief. I’m sure the muscles in the front of your chest and body need to be relaxed, too. They got short when you were hunched up studying. And maybe they were even before that. The chest and rib muscles (maybe abdomen, too) are quite likely causing the back pain.
Please watch the position of your head when you do your shoulder squeezes and rolls and run, walk or sit. Lift your breastbone and the crown of your head. Feel your spine lengthen. You don’t want your head leading your body. It should be over your body.
It also makes me think that maybe the small muscles that are very close to the spine are in spasm now. They are tucked away behind the larger, stronger spine muscles that run the length of the back. You might ask the massage pro to check them out if you go again.
Have you found your way to http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com yet? That’s a sister site and has lots more info about upper back muscle spasms (and lower back, too.)
I hope this helps get you on the road to getting rid of your back pain naturally and quickly and good luck on your exams!
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach