Rolling your shoulders is one way to get your shoulder muscles back into balance. It help them get “un-stuck.” What do I mean by “rolling”? Just watch the little video below.

I demonstrate how easily you can start making circles with your arms–2 different moves–that will help the muscles all around your shoulder. This gets the circulation going. It gets your muscles cooperating again. It will help relax your back and “massage” your arms.

Pay attention to the feelings in your shoulders, upper body and arms as you do these movements. Don’t worry if you hear a little “clunking.” That just means there is some imbalance. You may notice that it becomes less over time as your muscles get used to working together again.

If it’s very difficult to do these movements, then only do them to the best of your ability and comfort level until your shoulder muscles and joints become used to moving again. And remember: It’s your body and you always have to make the decision about what’s best for you.

Here’s the video.

What are symptoms?  Your pain, tingling, numbness, headaches, sleeplessness, knots in your back and more; all of those are symptoms.

Your doctor may say, “Oh, a nerve is being pinched.  That what’s causing your pain.”  Yes, but WHY?  There is always a reason for our symptoms.  There is always a “why.”  Let’s get rid of the “why’s.”

Here’s how you can find WHAT natural steps you can take to get rid of your pain:

1.  You can listen to Carpal Tunnel Radio.  I pack each episode with as much information as I can to help you become pain-free naturally.  You can click on that link or go to the link on the right hand side of this page that says “Listen to Carpal Tunnel Radio blogtalkradio.”

2.  Another option is Carpal Tunnel Pain Relief.  It’s loaded with articles that cover lots of the causes of your symptoms.  You can discover WHY you hurt and the natural steps you can take to get rid of your pain.

You have a smart body.   It wants to be well.  It needs your help.  You must take action.

You can have carpal tunnel pain relief.

I received some email from Raven Fisher who has MS.  Raven is a remarkable woman who is proactive in her care.  She does things for herself.  She is an inspiration!  And that is her message.

People write to me and basically say “I feel better now because of something that you said.”  Everyones’ words are different but their message is similar.  Something that I said made a difference for them–it helped them feel better.

The reason it worked is because THEY worked!  They did something to help their smart body feel better.  I only provided a little bit of information that they needed.

When Raven first contacted me, she told me that my carpal tunnel pain relief information was helping her even though she did not have carpal tunnel syndrome–she had MS.  How could this be?  It is because each part of your body is attached to every other part.

I asked Raven if I could share parts of her following emails with you and she graciously said Yes.

Here is her story.

“Four years ago when I was diagnosed with MS I also got the terrifying news that my life expectancy is 2yrs.  Knowing what is actually wrong with me I immediately thought no way, who said so?  God did not say it so I don’t believe it!  I was in a wheelchair, could not walk, talk properly, read a book, focus on touching things.  My brain told me to pick up that pen but my body did not want to.  I did not know when ever my bladder and colon wanted to work, it always came as a surprise.  Even when I was in public, embarassing, but hey, I blamed it on being a paraplegic, wonderful how people just assume that is the way it is supposed to be for me!”

“I refused to accept it and started pulling myself up!”

Within six months I started walking, robot-like.  Everything I did was an achievement for me! I started being able to read again, my speech and abilities improved.  I still kept on losing weight, I am 1.79m and weighing 44kg was a bit much! Today I’m a healthy 55kg, and will be staying on 55kg.  When I was diagnosed I kept faith for my daughter then only 12, and my 2 cats!  There is many other things that was wrong, that is now in the past.  I do not like talking about me having MS.  In the end I will not be Raven anymore, I will be that woman with MS.”

Here’s an example: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is very often caused by trigger points in your muscles.  The trigger points in this case are in the neck, upper chest, front of the arm and lower arm.  They “fire,” or refer, pain into the area of the carpal tunnel in the wrist.

A “syndrome” is a collection of symptoms.  Symptoms are things like pain, numbness, tingling.  If you can get rid of the symptoms, or the causes (triggers) of the symptoms, you get rid of the syndrome, too.

Trigger points are hyper-irritable (very irritated or crabby) areas of muscle.  Trigger points can also be found in other soft tissues like skin and organs.  Soft tissues are everything except our bones.

What do trigger points do?  They cause pain and symptoms in other parts of the body, sometimes at a far distance from the trigger point.  This is called “referred” pain.

We ALL have the potential to have them, because we all have soft tissues.

When a nagging pain or symptom won’t go away with treatment, that most likely means that a trigger point is causing the pain and needs to be released. Whatever caused the trigger point also needs to be corrected.  Everything has a cause!

When I was making my notes for a recent Carpal Tunnel Radio show, I noticed a relationship between Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and trigger points:  All of the things that cause trigger points also cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!  And, so it is with a lot of our body pain.

A great deal of our pain and other uncomfortable symptoms are caused by trigger points.  Trigger points and muscles are largely overlooked by the medical community (your doctor) as a cause of pain.  It’s just not widely taught in medical schools.  In fact, very few doctors understand the roles of muscles in pain syndromes and fewer still understand trigger points.

Here are some of the things that cause (create) trigger points:

* abnormal bone structure that you may have been born with (like a leg or arm length difference or a partially formed spinal bone)
* posture that causes muscle stress (poor or collapsed posture is a very common cause)
* doing repetitive motions, especially doing them incorrectly
* vitamin & mineral deficiencies or incorrect levels of needed nutrients
* thyroid or certain blood disorders
* stress; allergies and chronic infections

How are trigger points treated?  A manual or massage therapist can release trigger points naturally by locating them, pressing into them AND releasing the surrounding muscles that caused them in the first place.  A few doctors use a “spray and stretch” method or injections to release the trigger points.  Sometimes the injections help, sometimes not.  Depends on the knowledge and ability of the doctor.

There is a very good book on self-treating trigger points.  You can learn about it here.  You can release many of your own trigger points when you understand where they are and how to get to them.

And, there are trigger point charts that show the areas they distribute pain to.  A good manual therapist or massage therapist will know by your symptoms where your trigger points are and will be able to release them.  A good therapist will also help you get rid of the cause of the trigger points.

No more trigger points equals no more muscle pain!

If the “knot” between your spine and shoulder blade “won’t” go away, blame the scalene muscles.  It can’t go away until the scalene muscles are released (relaxed.)  The knot is a symptom; the scalenes are the cause.

If your carpal tunnel symptoms “won’t” go away with conventional treatment, blame the scalenes.  The symptoms can go away when the cause (the scalenes) are released.

Nerves run from your neck bones to your upper body and arms.  If those nerves get compressed, or pressed on, by the scalene muscles they can cause uncomfortable sensations in the areas that the nerves serve (enervate.)

If your doctor thinks your pain is “all in your head,” boy, is he or she ever wrong!  It’s all in your neck!

Most doctors are not muscle therapists or specialists.  That’s why the scalenes are rarely suspected as a cause of knots in backs, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and carpal tunnel symptoms.

If you go to Carpal Tunnel Radio you can find an episode called “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – Is It All In Your Head? Or In Your Neck?”  It’s only 15 minutes and you will discover what you can do about your scalenes.

Pain happens for reasons.  When you understand WHY you hurt and discover WHAT to do about it, you are on your way to becoming pain-free and getting rid of your knots and carpal tunnel syndrome forever!

And if you go to http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com you will find more information (and a free report) about how to get rid of the muscle knots in your back.

When I was getting a presentation ready about the causes of trigger points. I realized that the same things that cause trigger points also cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!

So what causes both trigger points and carpal tunnel symptoms?  Here are seven causes:

• Stress.
• Allergies and chronic infections.
• thyroid and blood disorders, like anemia.
• Vitamin and mineral imbalances or deficiencies.
• Doing repetitive movements, incorrectly.
• Asymmetric bone structure: having one leg longer than the other or one-half of your pelvis being smaller than the other.
• Forward-head posture or collapsing-forward posture.  This is very common and it causes a lot of strain on your upper body muscles.  Muscle strain can cause trigger points which “fire” into your hands, arms and wrists.

Certainly, you don’t have all of those, but you may have one or more.

It’s relatively easy to release your trigger points, once you know where there are “hiding out.”

You can go to Carpal Tunnel Radio to listen to a little 15-minute audio about “Carpal Tunnel Triggers” that I did on Thursday, March 5, 2009.  It will give you a lot more information about triggers and trigger points for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

“Because You Deserve to Feel Better!”

We wouldn’t have any pain, of course, because most pain–about 90% of all pain–is caused by out-of-balance muscles. That includes carpal tunnel pain.

You might have thought that you have pain or numbness in your hand, wrist, fingers or arm because you are doing a lot of repetitive movements.

The real reason is that you are doing a lot of repetitive movements incorrectly.

Hmmm. If you were using all of the rest of your muscles, you would be pretty well balanced. If you were pretty well balanced, you would hurt less.

But we don’t.

We use only about the same 60 or so muscles over and over. Most of us haven’t used ALL of our muscles since we were young kids.

And we have a LOT of muscles.

So, there are two parts to relieving your carpal tunnel pain when it is caused by repetitive movement (also called repetitive stress or motion.)

1. Doing repetitive movements in an incorrect way, for example, over-stretching your muscles. The cure for this would be to explore and find the least damaging ways to do repetitive movements.

For example, holding our elbow close to our body instead of reaching out with our arm. Holding our arm close to our waist causes less muscle strain, and so less pain in our arm and hand.

2. Being physically out-of-balance in general. When some of our muscles are being over-stretched and some are allowed to shorten–due to poor posture or habits–we get symptoms of pain, discomfort or numbness.

When we strengthen our back and the back of our arms and neck, we take a lot of pressure off the structures that cause carpal tunnel pain.

You can find a lot of simple strengthening movements by clicking here.

“Because You Deserve To Feel Better!”

I recently saw a man walking on the sidewalk. He was obviously walking for exercise. And he looked so uncomfortable!

Someone else might not have noticed. Or, maybe they would have, because it was so obvious.

The poor guy looked like he was having electric shocks going into his hands. His hands were jumping and he was shaking them. Man, he looked miserable.

There is no doubt in my mind that he was having carpal tunnel pain. And a lot of it!

So, do you think that walking was part of his problem? Was the walking causing his painful, shocking experience?

Here’s the rest of the story…

Even as I approached in my car from the rear, I could tell that the man’s head was really far forward. His shoulders were rolled really far forward, too. When I got next to him, I thought I had probably never seen anyone’s shoulders as far forward as his were. His chest muscles were really tightened, really short.

Here’s how it works.

When our head and shoulders are not in neutral, when they are too far in front of where they should be, they cause problems. The problems range from discomfort in our backs, necks and heads to carpal tunnel pain.

The nerves and blood vessels which go through the shoulder and arm get squeezed. Then they get unhappy. They cause pain and nervy sensations. They cause carpal tunnel pain.

So the answer is no, walking doesn’t cause carpal tunnel pain. That man will have pain no matter what he is doing.

This is what is necessary for the walking man to feel better.

* He would have to take steps to open or stretch his chest muscles.

* He would need to strengthen his back muscles so his chest would stay open.

* His head would have to be repositioned over his shoulders and hips, instead of in front of his body.

If the man had help from a muscular therapist, or a skilled massage therapist, his recovery would happen much more quickly. The therapist could warm and loosen the chest and front neck muscles which are holding the man in dysfunction, and which are causing his pain.

By releasing the muscles which have become shortened in front from the years of incorrect posture, and regaining strength in the muscles of his back which have become overstretched and weak, the man would find a great deal of relief.

A skilled therapist would also warm the muscles in his arms and wrists, and that would help, too.

There are simple steps anyone can take to relieve their carpal tunnel pain, but when someone has as much pain as he obviously was, the help of a well-educated muscle therapist would hurry the process along.

Oh! I almost forgot. There are correct and incorrect ways to swing your arms when you walk. Walking incorrectly, with the backs of your hands facing out, will shorten your chest, or pectoral, muscles. That will cause your shoulders to roll forward.

Walking correctly, with your thumbs pointing forward, as though you are going to shake someone’s hand, is much healthier. Your arms should swing freely from your shoulders at the sides of your body.

If you watch, you will see people who let their arms cross in front of their bodies when they walk. Don’t be one of them.

Be the one who walks healthy, and pain-free.

I’d pretty much bet you are. And, I’ll bet there is a good chance that something is hurting you while you are reading this.

How about trying something different?

Stand up to read. While you’re at it, reach up to the sky with both arms. Big stretch, that’s good.

You know how a cat or dog stretches their back legs when they wake up? One leg at a time goes into a backward stretch, away from their body. While you are standing, stretch your right leg out, behind you. Ahhh, that’s nice. Now stretch your left leg (while you are standing on the right leg, of course.)

Reading while you are seated is not bad. It is fine, as long as…

1. You are using your strong posture muscles to be upright.
2. You aren’t collapsing forward.
3. Nothing hurts.

Otherwise, try a different position to read. You could kneel, or stand, or sit on a big, round ball which will cause you to balance and use your muscles.

Or, start a program which will delevop your strong back muscles so they can hold you up while you read.

Oh! By the way, I am so excited! I recently taped a video just for that purpose – to help you get strong and powerful and pain-free, just like you used to be, when you used all of your muscles. As soon as it is ready, I will let you know.

My goal is for you to be pain free!

I was reviewing some carpal tunnel information from Wikipedia and it said that carpal tunnel syndrome is idiopathic.

“Idiopathic” basically means: no known cause.

Well, then, why did we just recently develop carpal tunnel pain as adults? We used our hands and arms even more when we were children. We did more things, used more different positions, challenged our bodies more, climbed ropes and trees and…

Wait a minute! Maybe we are onto something here.

We did a lot of things. We used all of our muscles. We were in balance. Our posture was great because we weren’t stuck in just one position for long periods of time (at least, not until we started school.)

Then we grow up and somehow get into pain.

Hmmm.

So I propose that carpal tunnel pain is not “idiopathic.” Rather, it is caused by imbalances in our muscles.

Sure, it is possible that some of us have a smaller than average carpal tunnel. Yes, it is possible that the contents of the tunnel swell and cause pressure on the median nerve.

But, why? For no reason? Or, is it because….

We managed to get the muscles in our necks, shoulders, arms and hands out of balance? Is it because the contents of our carpal tunnel became inflammed and swelled due to something we are doing…or not doing?

And getting back to using ALL of our muscles and correcting our posture and developing a strong back side from knees to head could just be the answer.

Serious cases of carpal tunnel syndrome may possibly require surgery to reduce the possibility of permanent nerve damage, but early stage CT syndrome can benefit from self-treatment and/or physical therapy. True carpal tunnel syndrome sufferers have more numbness or nerve sensations than pain.

If you haven’t been to your doctor yet for diagnosis, it is possible that your pain in the vicinity of your carpal tunnel may not be CT syndrome. Relatively few people have true CT syndrome. More people have pain caused by overuse, underuse or abuse of their muscles. Poor posture and a forward head position can contribute to pain in your hand and wrist, too.

In conclusion today, whether you have carpal tunnel syndrome or plain old pain in your arm, wrist and hand, you can get better. You can benefit from following a program to get your body back in balance.

And get out of pain.