Ice and Simple Pain Relief – How to use Ice

Ice or heat for pain relief?

Ice can help you heal and get rid of your pain much more quickly than heat.  My friend Bette will share her experience with you.  Bette was an endocrine specialist.  She LOVES ice!

Here’s what Bette said about ice therapy:

Muscle problems tend to accompany endocrine issues, especially adrenal glands that can’t or won’t keep up.

Our muscles get inflamed and “knotted up,” worse on some days than others.

Accupressure massage helps, but few therapists do it right. Several therapists have had at my back. Some felt like they were tickling me; some bruised my muscles and left me sore for days. Only one, the physical therapist who treated me when I lived in Tucson, made a real difference. He’s a magician, but most aren’t.

Doctors usually advise hot baths–the exact wrong thing to do. Heat just inflames muscles all the more.

I know, I know. Heat feels really good. Problem is, all the while it’s feeling good, it’s making things worse.

Answer me this: A half hour or so after you get out of a hot bath or the Jacuzzi, are your muscles better or worse? And how much progress have you made with your muscle pain since you started treating yourself with heat?

A lot of people, especially men and senior citizens for some reason, won’t even consider giving up hot soaks, fully persuaded that some day they’ll work, and all the pain will disappear. It reminds me of when Continue reading “Ice and Simple Pain Relief – How to use Ice”

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Stiff Neck? 3 Natural Steps to Get Your Neck Moving Again

Did you wake up with a stiff neck?

It’s amazing the crazy things we can do to ourselves in our sleep!

Sleeping with your neck tilted forward, or to one side or the other, can cause your muscles to get unhappy and become tight or go into a spasm.

Being in one position for a long time without moving (like sitting with your head turned toward someone) can aggravate your neck muscles, too.

A hard jarring sneeze or cough can cause a stiff neck, and this may be even more uncomfortable than the one that comes during your sleep.   An accident that whips your head from side to side or front to back might cause pain in your neck, too.

When the muscles go into spasm, or seize up and keep you from moving your neck, that can be a protective step by your body to prevent injury.

Be mindful as you apply the following steps and pay attention to what your body is telling you.  If something doesn’t feel appropriate, don’t do it.

Here are the 3 natural steps you can take to help your neck relax:

1.  Use heat on the muscles on the tops of your shoulders.  You can also apply heat to your upper chest and upper back.  If heat is not the best treatment for you to use, you’ll be able to tell; you’ll feel slightly worse afterward.  If you use a hot shower, direct the water to your upper back, tops of shoulders (each separately) and the front of your upper chest and neck.

2.  Use ice on the muscles at the back of your neck.  Also, wrap the ice pack around your neck to benefit the muscles on the sides and front.  It may feel like the pain is in the back of your neck, but there’s a good chance that all of the neck muscles are involved.  Some muscles run from your collar bone to the back of your head.  If you only have a small ice pack, your muscles will just have to take turns!

The rule of thumb is:  Heat for tight muscles and ice for nervy symptoms.

Since a stiff neck may involve the nerves in your neck, go for ice around your whole neck and upper chest toward the middle.  Ice will relax the muscles and also helps numb the pain.

3.  Gently, slowly move your neck into Continue reading “Stiff Neck? 3 Natural Steps to Get Your Neck Moving Again”

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Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome: Pain In Your Foot

Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome (TTS) is much the same as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome…except the Tarsal Tunnel is in your ankle.

Here’s a recent email I received from Tom:

“I came across your group on Facebook, about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Relief. I have the leg version of this complaint, Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome and am about to have an operation to rectify it. Do you have any information on Tarsal Tunnel? I ask because I’ve not managed to find much about it other than the operation doesn’t have a very high success rate. I’m clinging to the hope that my op DOES work.”

Here’s my response to Tom:

“My best resource is ‘Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, The Trigger Point Manual, Vol. 2, The Lower Extremeties‘ by Travell & Simons, MD’s.  These 2 volumes may be (and should be) on your surgeon’s or physician’s bookshelf.  Here is my translation of what they have to say about TTS in a nutshell.

Regarding surgery:

The doctors said that surgery to release the tibial nerve and the medial and lateral plantar nerves  as they passed through and deep to (behind; more inside) the abductor hallucis muscle was successful in 9 of 10 TTS release surgeries.  That means 90% were successful.  Sometimes, part of the abductor hallucis is removed.

The doctors said:  “The possible (likely) role of myofascial TrPs in the abductor hallucis was apparently not considered in these patients with heel pain.”  What does that mean?  The doctors Travell & Simons were aware that muscles and soft tissues (not bony tissue) cause a huge amount of our pain and other symptoms.  It means that if Travell or Simons were your doctor, they would be looking for trigger points as the cause of your pain before they considered surgery.  (TrPs = trigger points.)

What causes tarsal tunnel syndrome?

Running, jumping and shoes that are too tight–not wide enough–can be a cause.  Also, in 2 cases, the abductor hallucis muscle was 3 times larger than normal, and in one case, had an additional muscle belly.  In those 3 cases, the extra-large muscle pressed on the nerves.

What are trigger points?

If you go to Carpal Tunnel Pain Relief, and scroll down to ‘Categories’ and scroll to “Triggers and Triggers Points” you will find articles describing trigger points and their causes.  Basically, they are extremely irritable spots in soft tissue or muscle that “fire” or cause pain elsewhere, sometimes at a very far distance from the trigger point.

Like everything else, trigger points are Continue reading “Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome: Pain In Your Foot”

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