SIMPLE PAIN RELIEF with Kathryn Merrow, the Pain Relief Coach
It's NOT just "old age"! Discover the truth about why you hurt and the "secrets" to becoming pain free!
Massage is the oldest pain medication in the world!
You may know that I have been in the massage field for over 30 years. In that time I have seen over and over and over how beneficial massage is for so many pain issues.
Basically massage is used for 3 things:
1. To control pain.
2. To eliminate pain.
3. To create wellness.
I love massage! It really can get rid of pain in your body. It’s good medicine.
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?”
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”
If you have pain in your back it might be from muscles on the back side of your body.
Or…it may be from the muscles on your abdomen! Your belly is the “front of your back.”
Today a client told me that she had a great weekend stretching and straining and balancing on a ladder to trim, prune and clean up her yard. She said it looked beautiful! And she felt fine until she sat down.
When she tried to get up, her back from hip bones to shoulder blades went into spasm and tightened up!
She tried to press into her muscles to relax them the best she could but basically she had spent the last two days in bed. She was very uncomfortable.
I warmed, massaged and pressed into the tight muscles along her spine for a while. They were very tender but they didn’t seem to be releasing or getting better even though she said a few times, “I think you’re on the cause!”
So I suggested we work on the muscles on the front side of her body. The right side of her abdomen was fine; no pain and no referrals.
The left side of her abdomen was “on fire” when I stretched the muscles on the soft abdomen. Her ribs were “on fire” when I pressed into the muscles that ran up from her belly.
For whatever reason, the muscles on the left side of her abdomen had spasmed or “tightened up” and they were causing her back pain. Even though Continue reading “Back Pain? Your Stomach Muscles Can Cause Pain In Your Back and Massage Can Help!”
Playing musical instruments can be a pain in the neck.
I was at a high school symphony band concert and was struck by the extremely poor posture and “forward head posture” of many of the musicians.
Even though a lot of young people have “forward heads,” it was much more so with the musicians than with the general student population.
Why would this be?
Most of us hold our arms and heads in front of us most of the day, but musicians–musical athletes–hold their instruments for extended periods without the opportunity to stretch or relax the muscles that support their instruments.
What could help? Stretching, strengthening and massage.
The muscles in the front of the body support the instrument. The are the ones that are Continue reading “Why do Musicians and Band Members Get Back & Neck Pain?”
I recommend therapeutic massage for almost every type of physical pain.
Why? Because it works!
Massage is old medicine. It’s used all over the world for a wide variety of ailments.
Why? Because it works! (Oh, I already said that, didn’t I?) 🙂
But sometimes when you go to a massage therapist your pain doesn’t go away. Maybe it feels better for a short time, or even just while the therapist is working on your painful area. But, it comes right back. Or, it is back within just a few hours. Or, doesn’t feel better at all.
When that has happened to one of my clients, I told them what that means.
That means I was wrong about the cause of their symptom (their pain.) It means I didn’t work on the muscles or soft tissue that was the true cause of their pain. That means we have to try again.
The unfortunate thing is, many massage therapists only know how to do a relaxation-type massage. Relaxation or stress-reduction massages can be really great, but…
When you have pain, a relaxation massage probably won’t give you much benefit.
If you have pain symptoms, and you want relief, you will have to find a massage professional who “knows his or her stuff.” Someone who can assess WHY you are having pain. Someone who can figure out a “treatment” plan to help you become pain-free.
If your massage therapist rubs and presses on the painful area (and some will do this for the whole hour) and your pain doesn’t go away, then that therapist doesn’t “know their stuff.”
And, if that therapist can’t figure out why your muscle won’t release (relax) then she doesn’t “know her stuff.”
And, if she says it’s the worst “knot” she has ever seen, she should not be in the massage field at all, in my opinion. Her job is to help you feel better, not worse.
When your painful muscle spasm won’t release, it Continue reading “You Went to a Massage Therapist for Your Back Pain–Why Didn’t It Help?”