1.  Massage.  If you have massage does your massage therapist massage, warm and loosen the muscles on the front of your chest and arms and abdomen?  Does she or he or has anyone checked to see whether you have flat arches on your feet?  Did you know that flat feet can cause neck pain?

2.  Posture corrections.  Neck muscles can pull your head forward.  I hope your massage therapist works on the muscles in the front of your neck and on the sides of your neck and not just in the back?  Do you sit and stand in a good, neutral upright position or is your head ‘forward’?  You can tell if you have a forward-head posture if you always catch your reflection in the mirror or a window with your head leading the parade.

3.  Ice or cold therapy.  Cold therapy is excellent for necks.  It works well for both nerves and muscles.  Go to the right hand side of this page to the Categories.  There is a category for ice and heat and there are articles there that will explain more.

4.  Strengthen your back from knees to head.  Maybe an exercise specialist could help you get your head
back where it belongs (if this is the case) by helping you strengthen the muscles of your upper back and the back of your neck.  Or go to http://SimpleStrengthening.com to find articles about how to do this yourself.

5.  Create long muscles in front.  Your goal is to create long muscles in the front of your body and stronger, shorter muscles in the back (except for your calves; they should be soft.)

6.  Stretch.  Stretch the front of body muscles–arms, legs and torso.  Make them loooong.  That means arms and legs move behind you (arms up and back.)  Neck and upper back stiffness and pain can actually come from your lower
body and the muscles in the front of the body.

7.  Use a different pillow.  Ideally you are sleeping on your back and using a neck roll.  Maybe you need a smaller neck roll?  If your neck roll is too firm or large it will aggravate your neck.  I make my own neck rolls from bats of fiberfill.  They are easy to cut to size and readjust as needed.  Just roll into a pillow case.  And they don’t cost much.

8.  Change your position:  Sometimes I find that only sleeping on my back can be straining on the neck muscles for me, too, so sometimes I prop my head carefully to keep my neck in line and sleep on my side.  In my case, that also means propping my ribcage with a thin pillow to keep my spine straight and another pillow between my knees.

Here is the link to several other articles I wrote (CLICK HERE) to help you get rid of your stiff neck or neck pain naturally.

1.  Driving.  Most car seats tilt back too far or have headrests that push your head forward.  Either of these will strain the muscles that cause tension headaches.

2.  Couches (sofas) and chairs that have too much backward lean.

3.  Slouching or sitting on your tailbone with a rounded back.  Slouching or leaning sideways will do it, too.

4.  Forward head posture or holding your head in front of your body.

What’s the solution?

1.  Padding the back of your car seat so you can sit more upright or farther away from the headrest.

2.  Getting a strong back, including the muscles in the back of your neck, and improving your posture.

3.  Sitting ‘up’ straighter.

4.  Lifting your chest so your head can move back more over your body where it is supposed to be and getting a strong back helps, too.

If you take action, you can start to be rid of your headaches.  I wrote a lot of articles at http://SimpleStrengthening.com that will help you improve your posture and get rid of your muscle tension headaches. 

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 it’s joint pain because that’s where we feel it.  But here’s the cool thing:  When you ‘release’ or relax the muscles that cross over the joint, the pain goes away.

When you skin your knee (as I did recently–again) you can watch it heal over the course of several days.  But when the pain is inside, you can’t see it heal.

But it can.

And it does.

Bodies heal all the time.

You have a smart body and it wants to be well.  Give it what it needs:

1.  Movement, gentle and often.

2.  Good nutrients and lots of water.

3.  Positive thoughts of wellness.

4.  Massage for your muscles.  You can do-it-yourself or have professional therapeutic massage.  Muscles love a good massage!  Massage relaxes muscles and helps them function properly.

Oh, by the way…George Burns said it’s okay to get older as long as you don’t get old. 

An abscess is an infection in the space around a tooth.  It needs to be treated by a dentist.  The first treatment is with an antibiotic to clear the infection and then you and your dentist will decide what to do next.

One man went to his doctor and to a dentist complaining about the pain in his face and the roof of his mouth.  They ‘couldn’t see’ anything.  The dentist ground down the surface of a molar guessing that that might have been the jaw pain problem.

But it wasn’t.

Neither doctor listened to his belief that he had an infection in his jaw.  (He could feel something was not right.)  Neither doctor prescribed antibiotics and the man was getting desperate to the point of thinking of killing himself.

Finally he found a maxillary surgeon (a jaw specialist) and that doctor immediately recognized the abscess from the x-rays and give him antibiotics to get rid of the infection.

The relief started within several hours.  Even though it was just a small improvement it meant a lot to the man.  Within several days he felt much better.

When his infection was cleared, he was able to have the tooth treated and has no more jaw pain.

Moral of the story:

If one doctor can’t help you, don’t give up.  Keep looking for the specialist who will listen to you and who can help you get rid of your jaw pain.

But Mike in Miami is feeling better now and he wrote this very nice email message to me.  I want to share it with you because there is a very important message here.  I’ll tell you about it at the end:

Kathryn:

I’ve been meaning to write and tell you a HUGE “THANKS”.  Thanks for helping me
finally realize where my pain was originating and what to do to relieve it.

I’m confident I found your website through various google searches.  You see, I have
had back issues for decades.  I’m 53, tall and can still hear my mother “hold your
shoulders back”.  I didn’t.  I slouched. I had horrible posture, both sitting and
standing, and I sit at a computer 8 hours a day with my right arm up on the desk
“driving” that mouse.

I have had constant pain and muscle tightness under my right shoulder for DECADES.
I have also had alot of neck pain and stiffness that was also causing headaches.
Years and thousands of dollars of massage; lots of OTC pain relievers; prescription
muscle relaxers; yoga; heat pads; ice packs; the tennis ball in a sock trick -
NOTHING helped for more than a few days.

WELL, WELL, WELL….I found your website, plugged in my email address, read some,
read some more and did 3 of your exercises that I found for FREE:  backward shoulder
shrugs; pinching my shoulder blades; and the one where you lay on the bed and do the
windmill action with your arms.   I also am now “driving” that mouse with my left
hand/arm to give my right ones a rest…. I can honestly say that in a matter of
DAYS (not weeks or months) I found relief.  It was truly magical, amazing and I was
in total disbelief that I had found something so simple.  I surely thought that my
body was simply giving out and I would be forced to deal with this pain for the rest
of my life.

I write you obviously to say THANKS and tell you my story…but also to say that I
am sorry that I never actually purchased anything from you – and for that, I am
feeling guilty.

Please tell me how I can help you in your work.  Can you recommend something (your
own program) that I can purchase?  I live in Miami, FL and would like to help.

Thanks, Pain Coach.

Mike

That was very kind of Mike to offer to buy something from me but I am simply happy that he is feeling better.

Here’s the important message:  Mike found relief in a matter of DAYS.  He says it was truly magical and amazing because it was so simple. (Give your body what it needs and it can heal.  That IS simple.)

But here’s why it worked:  Mike took action.

He found the information that he needed and he took action.  THAT is the key and that is what you must also do to make your upper back or shoulder pain go away.

Mike found all of the information he needed for free.  It’s all here or at http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com

And if you need more help and want to check out my program to help you get rid of the knots in your back and upper back pain, please go to http://KnotsInYourBack.com

Muscles are supposed to be balanced.  That means that they are all working together and none are ‘too strong.’  They are all ‘just right.’

But sometimes that’s not the case.

Sometimes muscles on one side of your body are a little tight and they pull on other muscles.  The tight, short muscles can be tender to the touch even though they don’t usually bother you.

Or, at least, you didn’t know that they were bothering you.

The muscles that get pulled on get tight, too, but it is a different type of tight.  It is called taut.

When something is taut, that means that something is pulling on it and it cannot relax.

The goal of massage is to relax your muscles and help get them back into balance.  But sometimes a massage therapist only works on the muscles that are complaining the most.  Those are usually the taut muscles.

That tends to be a very unsatisfying massage.  Why?

Because the muscles that are causing the problem–the shorter, tighter ones which are usually in the front of the body–are not relaxing.  They just keep pulling and pulling even more.

Not good.

Massaging muscles which are taut (weak and overstretched, too) can be very uncomfortable.

On the other hand, if the massage therapist understands HOW bodies work and WHY you have uncomfortable or painful symptoms, then all is good.

That educated, skilled therapist will spend time relaxing the short, tight muscles (not just the taut ones.)  That might cause some discomfort but you will say, “Yes, that hurts but it is GOOD pain.”

Can you imagine such a thing?  Good pain?

But it’s true.  When your muscles are being treated in a way that will help them relax your body says:  “Yes!  This is the right thing!” even though it is causing discomfort.

So, when your muscles are tight, there can be pain when you are massaged.  But the discomfort may feel like good or appropriate pain OR it may feel non-productive and not appropriate.

If it feels ‘wrong’ do not hesitate to tell your therapist.  We appreciate feedback that helps us to do a better job and not to ‘hurt’ you needlessly during a therapeutic massage session.

If you feel that your massage therapist needs to understand how your body works a bit better, maybe this article will help.  Please feel free to share it.

Your therapist may not be doing a favor for you when it hurts to have a massage.

We used to swing from trees.  (Well, okay, our ancestors used to swing from trees but maybe you did when you were a kid.  At least, I hope so.)

And at that time you were using ALL of your muscles.

And now, you’re not.

And that’s the problem.

But that’s okay.

Muscles can heal.  Bodies get better all the time.  That includes you!

You can find articles here that will help you and you will find more at http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com

If you educate yourself about the real cause(s) of your upper back pain, you can get rid of it.  You will probably end up learning things that even your doctor doesn’t know. 

Why are muscles spasms such a common problem now?

Lifestyle.
Computers.
Couches.
Laptops.
Car seats.
Working positions.
Habits.
Weak back muscles.
TMS (Too Much Sitting)

But all of these can be overcome.  Honest!  It’s your body and you have to take action to get better.  No one can do it for you.  (But some people, like a skilled massage therapist, can help.)

I have faith in you.  Just start taking action and you can get rid of the muscle knots in your upper back.

If you are depressed, you must hunch forward.  You get a depressed posture. If you don’t, you cannot stay depressed.

If you are sad, it’s reflected in your mouth and face and in your whole body.

When you are happy, it also shows all over.  You smile, your posture improves, you may even glow.  And your immune system will be happier, too!

If you continually keep thoughts that affect your body in a negative way, your body will get used to being in that position.  And when your muscles get ‘stuck’ in a position like that you will end up with pain.

This little video will give you insight into how thoughts affect your posture.

And, it will cheer you.  It has a good ending and shows the power of persevering.

If you are not familiar with the movie Star Wars, the main actors were capable of using their personal ‘force’ to control events or things.  That is what the child is trying to do not knowing that it was only a movie.

Click the link –> to discover why:   http://www.kathrynmerrow.com/massage/massage-is-medicine/#more-373

You may know that I have been in the massage field for over 20 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.

Upper back muscles get strained from being stretched and overused.  Then they get cranky and start complaining.

You might feel the complaint as muscle strain, a headache or neck ache, a muscle spasm near your shoulder blade or “knots” in your upper back.

But guess what?

You CAN get rid of upper back pain.    I have seen it happen over and over.

Once you understand WHY you have pain in your upper back you can start taking steps to STOP hurting.

You have to take steps.

Other people may be able to help on your road to natural recovery but your good health–and happy body–are in your hands.

You can’t hire someone to do your sit-ups.

1.  Claim your special report about upper back pain at http://KnotsInYourBack.com

2.  Go to http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com for lots of helpful articles about natural upper back pain relief.