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!
Bodies heal all the time.
Sometimes when you have pain or discomfort you think, “I’m getting old.”
Or maybe you (or your doctor) says, “It’s arthritis.”
Well, maybe it’s arthritis. Maybe not. But it’s probably muscles and muscles are fixable.
Joint pain is often really muscle pain. We think Continue reading “The Good News Is: Bodies Heal All The Time”
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”
Does massage help relieve muscle pain?
Oh my goodness! Don’t even get me started on the benefits of massage.
I am SO biased! I LOVE massage!
Pain happens for lots of reasons but therapeutic massage can help with virtually ALL of them. Why? Because muscles are responsible for so much of your pain.
Massage ranges from so light it barely touches the skin to very deep, specific and corrective. There are almost as many types of massage as there are massage therapists! 🙂
The very light or subtle forms of touch can help comfort people who are dying or who have fibromyalgia or RSD. I remember barely tracing Continue reading “Massage Therapy for Muscle Pain”
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”
Did you ever think that there may be a simple, logical reason for most of your pain?
I’m going to share a secret with you. This is not something most doctors learned in school. That is why they cannot share it with you.
The most common reason for pain is, are you ready, muscle imbalance.
Let’s say that I sit for eight hours a day at a desk. Maybe I walk around for ten minutes during the whole day. My muscles get used to being in that seated position. Some muscles are shortened in that position. Some muscles are being unused, so they shut off.
Or maybe I drive around all day in my pickup. I like to stick my left elbow out the window and keep my right hand down low, on the gear shift. Of course, I have my right foot on the accelerator.
By and by, when I get out of my truck, those muscles will stay where they have become used to being. My muscles now think that this new position is comfortable. Now when I sit on the couch, I assume the same posture, because now it is “comfortable.”
We are always most comfortable in our dysfunction. Whatever we get used to is what feels comfortable to us.
Is it best for us? Will it help us grow older strong and straight?
The answers are no.
What muscle imbalance does do is cause us pain. Sometimes current pain, always future pain.
When we lose that nice balance we used to have, when we were toddlers, we are setting ourselves up for future pain and dysfunction.
Headaches, migraines, neck and shoulder pain are all caused by muscles complaining. Upper and lower back pain, carpal tunnel pain, almost any pain you experience is caused by muscles. When muscles are unhappy, they complain. When muscles complain, you experience pain.
It is never too late to get back into balance, and start getting out of pain. It takes some work and dedication, but is well worth the payoff: Having straight posture with a strong back will take us into old age in a healthy, happy body.
If you are already doing an exercise program of some sort, be sure to incorporate exercises to strengthen the backside of your body from neck to knees. Squeeze your shoulder blades toward your spine. Do exercises to strengthen your shin muscles.
Get more information on how to strengthen your whole backside at SimpleStrengthening.com.
Be strong and be happy.