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 nutrients to function well. Give it all the vitamins and minerals it needs–not a skimpy amount but the FULL amount–and it can repair itself. Not the “minimum RDA,” but enough to counteract all of the environmental hazards we are exposed to every day in our air, water, food, houses and cars.

2. Give your body the water it needs–your body is largely composed of water–and all of the cells will function optimally. Your kidneys will be able to flush out metabolic wastes and other unwanted materials. When you are well-hydrated, the biochemical reactions that are supposed to occur, will be able to occur.

3. Your body needs good posture. When you supply this “Vitamin P” all of your organs will function better. Your lungs will be able to fill fully with life-giving oxygen, your intestines will not be squashed, your heart won’t be compressed…your organs will have the space they need to be healthy. Your headaches and other physical pain symptoms will be less. You will feel better and look better, too.

4. You need “Vitamin T.” Touch is unbelievably important to your good health. Even if you do your own self-massage, you will benefit. If you can trade with a friend or loved one, or go to a professional massage therapist on a regular basis, even better.

5. Get rid of the junk. You know what I mean, don’t you. The closer you get to eating natural foods, instead of factory-created and chemical-laced “foods,” the healthier you will be. You will have fewer diseases and disorders. Eat as much colorful and fresh foods as possible. If you can buy at least organic butter and spinach, you will keep some hormones and pesticides–that your body doesn’t want or like–out of your body.

When you give your body what it needs to have happy muscles you will have less muscle pain.

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 down.  It has to be.  Equal and opposites. Bodies are logical.  Not always anatomically symmetrical but logical.  If one hip bone sticks out farther, the other has to be farther out in back.

How can you tell?

You might be able to assess your body in your mirror.  Place both feet at the same place and line up your toes, point them forward, hip width apart, and look really hard in the mirror. (It does take lots of practice to get good at observing like this.  If you can imagine straight lines running through your body, that may help you see.)

• Is one shoulder lower than the other?
• Does one hip stick out to the side more?
• Does your waist look even? Or is it flatter on one side?
• Does one hip bone stick out farther in front than the other?

Those are all clues.

What do they mean?

They mean that you now have to figure out the next step.  It may be a lift in your shoe, a therapeutic massage for the short, tight areas or changing the way you sit.  There can be lots of causes for being “out of balance” (asymmetrical.)  That means there are lots of natural cures, too.

Lots of folks will tell you, “Oh, no one is perfect,” or, “No one is symmetrical.”  But the truth is some people are symmetrical.  LOTS of people.  But some of us aren’t.  And that can cause muscle pain.

Here’s an interesting interview I did with a woman who is an expert in the endocrine system.  She had to be in order to overcome her own problems.

If you’re not sure what the endocrine system is yet, be sure to listen.  This is a jam-packed interview and is only about one hour long.

BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND LESSEN YOUR PAIN

People who suffer with muscle pain, fatigue, joint pain, various diseases and aches may have an unhappy endocrine system.  There’s a really, really good chance.  I want you to feel better and that is why I interviewed this expert for you.  When your endocrine system is happy, you will have less pain in your muscles and joints.

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 doing resistance exercises.  If you are a big strong man  you might prefer to go to the gym or lift weights.  That is absolutely fine if you are careful to lift perfectly.  If you are lifting more weight than you can while moving perfectly, you are lifting too much and you aren’t using your muscles properly.  That means the potential for injury or strain and pain.

I used to work with a competitive body builder and she said if you can only do one repetition perfectly, then only do one.  You can add more when you can do them perfectly.

If you are NOT a big strong man, you may prefer to use the methods to get a strong back that I prefer.  I have written lots of articles about getting strong simply while you are on your back in bed at

http://SimpleStrengthening.com

I designed the movements that I talk about in most of the articles so that anyone can do them.  Even you and me. 

You do have a smart body and it wants to be well.  It just needs a little help from you.

I’ll bet I told you before:  You can’t hire someone to do your push-ups for you.  But I do try to make it easy for you to have natural muscle pain relief.

1.  Certain medications affect the endocrine system.  This is why I suggest http://TooPoopedToParticipate.com Bette is an exceptional expert about who knows about boosting your 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 all of the other endocrine glands to be healthy and function well so that WE can be healthy and function well, too.

I bought Bette’s book at http://PepForThePooped.com which has all of her info in it.  Sign up and Bette will send you a free chapter.  But if you go to the first link, she sends out free newsletters which are very informative and also does free teleseminars and responds to questions.

2.  Minerals bind with toxins in our bodies and then we flush them out through the normal route–the kidneys and bladder. Taking a very good vitamin/mineral supplement and/or a good liquid mineral supplement will supply your body with minerals to replace and bind with the residue from the medication.

You can find a good multivitamin-mineral and also liquid minerals at a health food store.  If you go to one with a knowledgeable staff, they will help guide you.  You can also find detox products there but I don’t have any personal knowledge about them.  The staff could help you more.

There are also some doctors who can do a detox procedure by infusing minerals into your blood.  That may be quicker than taking a good multi and minerals, but no doubt costs more.

It may take several months before you get the residue out of your system and feel really peak again.  About 7 months after I first started taking liquid minerals I noticed several major health differences in my own body.

The minerals I take are from New Vision in Utah.  They are an MLM company but I’m not affiliated with them.  I just buy from them.  I like the taste and they’re easy on the stomach.  This is the brand that made such a big difference for me.  Just take tiny doses if you get minerals from a health food store and be sure to dilute them to avoid a temporary “heavy” feeling in your tummy.

You can find the vitamins I take by scrolling down the right side bar here at Simple Pain Relief.  I take the Omega Plus and the daily multi from the same company and sometimes I mix it up with other brands, too.

4.  Drink lots of pure or filtered water to help flush the drug out. Plastic water bottles aren’t the best.  They have toxins, too.

5.  Massage can be helpful as it moves metabolic wastes and toxins from the tissues to be flushed from the body.  Have general relaxation massage that is deep enough to move the soft tissue and muscle.

6.  Support your body with lots of fruits and vegetables and, if you can, organic meat and eggs.  They will supply you with lots of minerals, too, to help you recover.  Muscles have nutritional needs.  If you don’t give your muscles what they need, muscle pain can result.

If I wanted to do a detox program these are all steps I would take.  In fact, even if you are not detoxing, these steps will help you have happier muscles and muscle pain relief.

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.

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 vitamins are all important, as is Vitamin D3.  You can get more vitamins and minerals by selecting healthier foods or by supplementing with a good multi-vitamin and mineral tablet.

Smoking, eating a diet with a lot of heavily processed and artificial foods, heavy alcohol use, sweets and table salt (sodium chloride) can all lead to deficiencies.  If you’re not changing your eating or social habits, consider taking a really potent supplement to help meet your bodies’ nutritional needs.  Also, sea salt (probably especially Himalayan sea salt) has minerals that regular table salt lacks.

As always, I remind you that I’m not a doctor, not a dietitian, not a nutritionist.  I’m The Pain Relief Coach and I’m sharing information today to help you get rid of your muscle pain.

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.

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 of HolisticMatters.com.  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 relax into the groove, changing your focus to let your self MOVE.

It doesn’t have to be much to release tension through movement:  a little swaying… some foot tapping… nod your head, jiggle to the beat or close the door to rock and roll.

Studies reveal that even “imagining movement” offers good benefit via your nervous system.  So, close your eyes and give it a try.

Break dancing, the new rage in wellness!

That’s so cute–”break” dancing.  Gini has a way with words!  Take her advice to heart.  When you start to move again and get back into your “groove” you will start to have fewer aches and pains.

Now don’t just jump into exercising all at once.  If it’s been a while your muscles will need to adjust so start gradually.  But start.  Even if it’s break dancing.

You have a smart body and if you have muscle pain that means your body is complaining and wants a little (or a lot) of help from you.  You can relieve your muscle pain.

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!