muscle pain | SIMPLE PAIN RELIEF with Kathryn Merrow, the Pain Relief Coach

5 Natural Steps for Happy Muscles and Less Pain

Muscle pain happens for reasons. The good news is that you can get rid of those reasons by taking simple, natural actions. I’ll tell you about five of them shortly.

As a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, I learned a lot from my clients, my instructors and my own body and pain. That’s how I know that bodies want to be well. Sometimes they need a little help, but they are able to get better.

Bodies change all the time. Bodies can heal. Bodies do heal.

That means your body, too.

Bodies are brilliant. Give them what they need, and they WILL get better.

So what do bodies need?

1. Your body needs Continue reading “5 Natural Steps for Happy Muscles and Less Pain”

March 4November 5

Muscle Pain Is Caused By Being Crooked

Muscle pain always has a cause. Sometimes the cause is a crooked body.

This can happen from an injury, poor standing or sitting habits or bones that are not equal in length.

Bodies are really logical. And smart, too! But sometimes they need a little help. From you, of course.

If you have muscle pain in your lower back or neck, you might be crooked. You may have a tilt. You might be able to figure it out or you may need someone else to ‘eyeball’ you.

Here’s how your logical body works:

When one shoulder is high, that means the other side is Continue reading “Muscle Pain Is Caused By Being Crooked”

January 16November 6

How To Get Rid Of Pain Caused By Collapsing Posture

If your posture begins to fail–if you start to collapse forward with your heavy head leading the way–you will begin to have muscle pain in your lower, mid and upper back and also in your neck and head. Maybe even in your arms and hands.

That is not a good thing.

But, if you strengthen your back muscles, they will keep you from collapsing forward. How cool is that!

You can strengthen your back muscles by Continue reading “How To Get Rid Of Pain Caused By Collapsing Posture”

January 10November 6

Detoxing for Muscle Pain Relief

Certain drugs and processed foods can cause muscle pain. A reader asked me what to do for muscle pain that has continued even after she ended her course of medication. I’m not a detox expert or a doctor (and I can’t play the piano, either) but I will share what knowledge I have.

1. Certain medications affect the endocrine system. Endocrine systems get damaged and unhappy when we put certain things (including certain food ingredients and medications) into our bodies. We need our thyroid and Continue reading “Detoxing for Muscle Pain Relief”

November 2November 6

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.

October 15November 7

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?”

October 3November 7

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.

October 1November 7

Get Rid of Your Muscle Pain by “Break” Dancing!

Muscle pain starts when we stop moving. When you were a little child you were always moving. You used all of your muscles all of the time…unless you were asleep. Maybe even then.

As you grew you stopped using all of your muscles and that was the start of aches, pain and dysfunction.

Here’s a guest post from my friend Gini Maddocks. She’ll explain why “break” dancing will help you get rid of your muscle aches and pains:

Do you take breaks during your busy day?

You should.

Research shows that the human brain is more efficient when allowed to rest in intervals.

Try this:
Turn on upbeat, familiar music–the kind you like to dance to.

Now let yourself Continue reading “Get Rid of Your Muscle Pain by “Break” Dancing!”

May 5November 7

When Muscle Pain Won’t Go Away, Look For Trigger Points

If you have muscle pain or other symptoms that just aren’t going away with conventional (medical) treatment or with massage therapy, there’s a reason.

The reason could very well be “trigger points.”

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 Continue reading “When Muscle Pain Won’t Go Away, Look For Trigger Points”

April 23November 7

Why Do We Have Pain? Self-Help for Backaches, Headaches, Fibromyalgia & More

There are reasons why we have pain. We don’t get a backache or a headache or any other pain unless there is a reason.

Chiropractor Greg Fors has written “A Complete Physical & Spiritual Guide To Healing Your Chronic Pain WHY WE HURT Your Total Self-Care Guide for Backaches, Headaches, Shoulder Pain, Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.”

Yes, that is a very long title, but perhaps that’s okay because it’s a very thick book. Dr. Fors explains that pain can be healed. He tells us the causes of pain, which he believes are 3: physical, biochemical and spiritual.

Dr. Fors goes into the causes of pain, too. Some of the causes may never have occurred to you. He’ll tell you where the toxic chemicals that affect your health come from, and much, much more.

Why We Hurt is a logical, well-written, pretty easy to read pain relief book.