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Do Legs Cause Migraine Headaches? What’s The Fix?

Migraines can be caused by having a short leg.

According to a study by the US Army, approximately one out of ten people have an actual leg length difference. Additionally, about one out of one hundred people have pelvic bones which are smaller on one side than the other side.

According to myofascial (muscle and soft tissue) pain experts and medical doctors, Travell and Simons, a leg length difference of 1/8 inch or more puts you at risk for pain and dysfunction.  Why?

Because your body does things automatically to try to correct or adapt or accommodate that difference such as tilt, twist or rotate.

There are two types of “short legs.”  Both can cause migraines.

One is an actual anatomical difference which could be caused by Continue reading “Do Legs Cause Migraine Headaches? What’s The Fix?”

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Neck Pain – What Causes Pain In Your Neck?

Neck pain can be caused by all of the muscles in your neck.  When they “push” or “pull”  on your spine the muscles can cause pressure on the nerves in your neck.  But wait!  There’s more!

Your neck is also attached to the rest of your body.

That means that muscles as far away as your feet (!) can cause neck pain.  Your whole body is one unit; all of the muscles act together.  Even when you are not aware of it, the muscles in your lower body affect your neck and your posture.

This means the more ways you use your body–all of the muscles instead of only the same ones over and over–the less pain and more “balanced” you will be.

This may sound strange but how about starting off by rotating your feet?  When Continue reading “Neck Pain – What Causes Pain In Your Neck?”

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Massage and Pain Relief – Does Massage Help Get Rid Of Pain?

Massage therapy can be an excellent way to get rid of physical aches and pains.  It’s likely that 90% of our pain and dysfunction is caused by muscles, according to at least one solid researcher, so it makes sense to help your muscles with massage.

If you have back pain or headaches or other pain, maybe you have already seen a massage therapist.  Perhaps it helped  a lot and perhaps it didn’t.

If your massage did not help much, you will Continue reading “Massage and Pain Relief – Does Massage Help Get Rid Of Pain?”

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TMJ Pain – Causes of Pain in Your Jaw

TMJ is shorthand for Temporomandibular Joint.  That refers to your temple area and your jaw bone (mandible.)  The joint is supposed to move smoothly but when it doesn’t you may end up with a diagnosis of TMJ Dysfunction or TMJD.

What can cause your TMJ to stop moving smoothly?

  • An injury or trauma that causes the joint to dislocate.
  • Overuse of the powerful jaw muscles in certain positions.
  • Sleeping always on the same side which may cause your jaw to “drop” to one side.
  • Having a “forward head” posture which puts a lot of strain on your neck and jaw muscles.
  • Dental work which Continue reading “TMJ Pain – Causes of Pain in Your Jaw”
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How To Find A Massage Therapist Who Can Relieve Your Pain

When you have muscular pain and want relief, how can you find a massage therapist who will give you the most benefit for your money?

A nice “feel good” massage has many benefits but not when what you want is pain relief.

There are many types of massage and a few different professional organizations and lots of massage schools.  There are all types of different philosophies, personalities, beliefs and training.   Some massage therapists have a ton of Continue reading “How To Find A Massage Therapist Who Can Relieve Your Pain”

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Sciatica – Causes and Natural Cures of that Nervy Pain in Your Hip and Leg

Sciatica is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve.  The pressure can be from bones or from muscle.  Most often it seems to be muscle.  The good news is the pressure can often be removed from the sciatic nerve without surgery.

Sciatic nerves are really large.

They are about the thickness of your index finger and run from the lower part of your spine through the bony hip area. The nerves pass through thick muscles in your buttocks, one on each side.

The gluteal muscles are the powerful muscles in the back of your hip (your buttocks). One of those muscles–a deeper one–is the piriformis. The piriformis muscle can be a cause of the nervy pain in your hip and/or leg. When it is, it is often called “pseudo-sciatica.” (Pseudo means false.)

If the nerve is being compressed by the spinal bones, it is Continue reading “Sciatica – Causes and Natural Cures of that Nervy Pain in Your Hip and Leg”

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Neck Pain Relief – Causes and Simple Pain Relief Tips

Neck pain, even if it’s nervy pain, is usually caused by your muscles.  Muscles move bones and that can cause pressure on nerves in your neck.  You can relax muscles that are tight with ice or heat.

The rule of thumb is:  Ice for nervy pain and heat for muscular pain.

If you use heat and feel slightly worse afterward, that means heat is not the correct treatment.  Use ice instead.  You can find more information in the “Heat & Ice” Category right here at SimplePainRelief.com.

Tiny movements are more beneficial to Continue reading “Neck Pain Relief – Causes and Simple Pain Relief Tips”

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Got Back Pain? Muscles Cause Pain In Your Back – Here’s How

Upper back pain, mid-back pain or lower back pain all have the same most common cause:  Your muscles.

Muscles are the most frequent cause of back pain.  And that’s good news!  Why?  Because muscles can be “released” or treated and get back to their normal healthy state.

Here’s more about muscles:

  • Muscles move bones.
  • Muscles can get “trigger points.”

Your muscles don’t usually act all by themselves; they pull all the other parts of your body into the act.  Why?  Because all of your parts are attached.  That means ALL of your body should be assessed to figure out WHY you are having pain in your back.

If you’ve had your Continue reading “Got Back Pain? Muscles Cause Pain In Your Back – Here’s How”

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Pain in Arch of Foot – Is It Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome?

Is my foot pain Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome?  This question was asked by a reader.  Here’s her question.

I was wondering if I have tarsal tunnel syndrome or if it’s something else. Normally my feet don’t hurt, but when I excercise (especially jumping excercises) I get severe pain at the bottom of my foot (in the arch area). The pain is often really bad and this is preventing me from doing a lot of the exercises that I like. I also know that the pain is not caused by bad shoes, because it happens with all shoes, even running shoes. Does this sound like tarsal tunnel syndrome?

Here’s my response:

A “syndrome” is a bunch Continue reading “Pain in Arch of Foot – Is It Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome?”

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Roll Your Shoulders to Relax Your Back and Arms

Muscles get “stuck” in the positions that we use the most. Doesn’t matter whether the position makes you feel good or not-so-good. Muscles become “comfortable” in the positions they’re used to. Doesn’t matter to them whether YOU are happy or not!

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.

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How to Get Better Posture for Back Pain Relief

Back pain is often caused by posture.  When your posture collapses–you “fall forward” with your head leading the rest of the group–the muscles in your chest get short and tight.  That makes it hard to breathe, hard to hold your head up, hard to have good posture.

At the same time, the muscles in your back get overstretched and strained and so they complain.  (They hate being stretched too far!)  They give you pain to call your attention to the fact that something is wrong.

Collapsed posture also causes lower back pain, headaches and migraines, constipation and lots and lots of other problems.

It’s a primary cause of “old age.”

You had wonderful posture when you were very young and with a bit of help from you, you can have it again.

In a very small nutshell, strengthen the muscles of your backside from knees to head.  Lengthen (stretch) the muscles of your calves and the whole front side of your body from knees to head.

If you happen to see a baby, a cat or a dog stretching, imitate them. 🙂  They are stretching the correct muscles to be functional and pain-free!

 

 

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Walking Can Relieve Your Back, Hip and Pelvic Pain

Does walking cause back pain?  You bet it can!  It also causes pain in your hips and pelvis IF you don’t move the way your body was designed to move.

Every week I do another episode of Pain Relief Radio.  Today we talked about how to walk to prevent or get rid of back pain.  We talked about how our walking patterns become faulty and how that causes pain.

We talked about walking with stiff knees and hips.  This kind of stiff walk contributes directly to arthritis in your hips and knees and fragile bones in your pelvis.  But bones stay strong and healthy when we use all of our muscles as they were designed to be used.

Meir Schneider wrote a great book, “The Handbook of Self-Healing, Your Personal Program for Better Health and Increased Vitality,” and I quoted lots from Meir and threw in plenty of my own thoughts, too.

Meir is a brilliant bodyworker in San Francisco.  I’m so fortunate to have taken classes from him.  There are people who understand how bodies work and what we must do if we are to be pain-free.  Meir Continue reading “Walking Can Relieve Your Back, Hip and Pelvic Pain”

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Yoga and Head Pain: 6 Ways Yoga Helps You Get Rid of Your Headache

How can yoga help relieve your headaches?  Oh, let me count the ways:

  1. It relaxes the muscles around your chest, ribs, shoulders and neck.  These are the same muscles that get tight and cause headache symptoms.
  2. Yoga helps reduce your stress.  When you’re feeling all stressed, your muscles “clamp down” on nerves that go to your head.
  3. It helps strengthen the muscles of your backside, and makes you long and strong; it creates muscular balance.  A strong back and a long, strong body helps you have good posture.  Good posture, with your head over your body instead of out in front, reduces headaches.
  4. Yoga gets your circulation moving and that helps move the metabolic (body) wastes out of your body.  It reduces Continue reading “Yoga and Head Pain: 6 Ways Yoga Helps You Get Rid of Your Headache”
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Muscle Pain, Vitamins & Minerals: What’s the Connection?

Do vitamins and minerals cause muscle pain?  They do if you don’t have enough!

You have a smart body and it wants to be well.  In order for that to happen, you must provide everything it needs.  Some of its needs are small–like vitamins and minerals are–but so, so necessary for your muscles (and brain) to function well.

Many vitamins and minerals interact–they work together.  If you are lacking enough magnesium, for instance, that will prevent you from absorbing enough calcium.  A magnesium deficiency will cause a calcium deficiency.

According to Travell & Simons MD’s, you need iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium for normal muscle function.  The B-complex Continue reading “Muscle Pain, Vitamins & Minerals: What’s the Connection?”

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Pain Relief Radio Answers Your Questions About Muscle Pain!

Got muscle pain?  You can get answers for your questions–even the questions you didn’t know you had–at Pain Relief Radio.com.  And don’t worry if you can’t listen live.  The replays are always up within minutes so you can listen at your leisure.

Muscle pain happens for reasons. On this Internet radio show, I’ll share those reasons with you.  I’ll also give you simple pain relief techniques that you can use to become pain-free.

Your body is smart and it wants to be well.  When you have aches and pains, it’s giving you a message:  HELP ME!

You can get plenty of help right here at Simple Pain Relief and also at Simple Strengthening.com.   At Simple Strengthening, you can discover how to exercise easily in your bed!  You’ll also find out which are the most important muscles to strengthen.  Hint:  They’re not in your chest.

Now you have another option for natural, simple pain relief information.  It’s at Pain Relief Radio.com.

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