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

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”

December 10November 6

What Causes A Knot In Your Back?

There are muscles in your back between the shoulder blade and spine called rhomboids. There is one on each side. The rhomboid muscles are often blamed for pain and knots in their area. Actually, that area can be the “symptom” and not the cause at all!

People (including professional massage therapists) often massage the rhomboid area trying to release the knot or pain there. If it doesn’t release (relax) the knot or pain, that means the cause is somewhere else.

Let’s pretend your back pain is a dragon. Sometimes Continue reading “What Causes A Knot In Your Back?”

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 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 20November 7

We Need Organic Food – Let’s Not Kill Organic Farms

Organic farmers need you!

Note: This is an old article, originally published in 2009. However, you’ll see that organic farmers still need us to speak up for them!

Big farm money wins in Washington DC. Factory farms do produce a lot of, well, produce, but it’s laced with pesticides, herbicides and chemicals. And those things end up inside of us! 🙁

So, I wrote to my legislators. The responses I got were not even related to my letters to them. I’ve attached them at the end of this post. ~~~~~~~

We need organic farmers, too. Chemical companies are poisoning us and our children.

This bill, HR 875, will prevent organic farmers from doing what they need to do to get organic food to us.

I hope you can take the time to read, and please pass this along. If you have never written to your legislator before, this would be such a good time to start. Below is my letter to my legislator. Below that, is his response to my previous email to him.

Re: Organic Seed Harvesting & Use HR 875

Monday, April 20, 2009 11:21 PM
From:
“Kathryn Merrow”

To:
“Congressman John D. Dingell”

Dear Congressman Dingell,

I have been puzzling over your response to my email.

I believe it is in the best interests of ALL Americans that organic farmers be able to harvest and use their own organic seeds.

How else will we, Americans, be able to get organic produce?

Why are you willing to put the growing business of organic farms out of business?

Of course! That’s it, isn’t it!

If organic farmers are not able Continue reading “We Need Organic Food – Let’s Not Kill Organic Farms”