Pain

Do you know the most common cause of physical pain?

The most common, and most overlooked, cause of pain is soft tissue.  Soft tissue includes your muscles.  Soft tissue is every part of your body that is not bone.

Why are muscles and other soft tissues almost always overlooked as being causes of pain?  It’s pretty simple:  I didn’t learn about how our bodies work when I was in school, you didn’t learn it, and neither did most doctors when they were in medical school.

And even if your doctor did understand the relationship between muscles and pain (and a few do,) he or she simply does not have the time to explain the cause of your pain to you.

But I do.

What did Dr. Pert say?

The next couple of paragraphs have the longest words that you will ever read from me.  I like to speak simply.  It contains the truth about your body:  Every part in your body works with every other part.

Dr. Candace Pert is a psychoneuroimmunology researcher and internationally recognized pharmacologist.  She formerly worked with the National Institutes of Health.  Here are comments made by Dr. Pert to the American Massage Therapy Association.  She said, “I can no longer make a strong distinction between the brain and the body.”

Dr. Pert said, “I almost cannot speak of an aspect of medicine where the application of massage therapy wouldn’t apply.”  She continued, “Massage effects…certainly are more profound than a visit to a doctor.  You don’t sit around feeling better at the doctor’s office!”

Dr. Pert also said she believes that if everyone had a massage once a week, we would have 90% fewer illnesses!  90%!

What Dr. Pert is saying is this:  Our muscles play a huge role in causing pain and disease.

So therapeutic massage is very beneficial.  It reduces pain and studies show it even boosts your immune system.  But, did you know that you don’t always need to go to a professional massage therapist for pain relief?

There are a lot of things involving muscles that you can do for yourself to reduce your pain.  You just need to know what they are.

What did Dr. Travell and Simons say?

Other researchers, like Doctors Janet G. Travell MD and David G. Simons MD, have uncovered and shared an absolute wealth of information about trigger points.  Trigger points occur in one area and cause pain in other parts of your body, sometimes quite far away.

There are ways to treat trigger points and to get rid of the pain they cause.  We’ll be talking about what you can do to get rid of them.

Postural distortions (poor posture from various causes) also cause pain.  Muscles cause postural distortions.  That’s something else we will talk about.

What about your pain?

Every one is different.  Every body is different.  None of us are exactly the same.

Still, there are certain natural laws that govern our bodies.  That means that there is a pretty good chance that the cause of your pain will be the same as someone elses’ pain in the same area.

I know that you are unique and special.

Your body and your pain are unique.

Sometimes you might think I am making a generalization.  Sometimes that will be true.

I have to write in a way that I can get the most information out to the most readers while using the fewest words.  If I have not explained something clearly, please let me know.

If you want me to be more specific about your physical pain, please tell me.

When you understand why you hurt and what you can do to reduce or eliminate your pain, you will be on the road to recovery.

I’m glad to be on the road with you.

“Because You Deserve To Feel Better!”

Kathryn Merrow, The Pain Relief Coach