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!
If you have stiffness in your ankles or pain in the arch of your foot, this article is for you!
My client Pat had told me about the pain that ran from her hip to her foot. We had worked on the muscles of her lower back and hip in previous sessions because those muscles can “refer” pain into the foot.
Those muscles can also press on the nerves that run to your foot. Releasing or relaxing the low back and hip muscles can get Continue reading “Pain In The Arch Of Your Foot And Stiff Ankles?”
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”
Which type of massage is best? Here’s an article from my friend and colleague Janet. She’s been providing therapeutic massage to residents of southeast Michigan since 1992.
Janet says:
Some people have a preference for a certain type of massage. This may be because they have had it in the past and enjoyed the experience. But the fact of the matter is…
There are many types of massage treatments and a skilled therapist who knows many different techniques will quite likely incorporate several into each session. Why would this be? Different techniques “talk” to the body in different ways. Some are more superficial or surface-touch. Others work deeply into the skeletal and Continue reading “Therapeutic Massage–Which Type Of Massage Is Best For You?”
Massage therapy is very beneficial for all ages.
I have had many senior citizen clients who have had heart surgeries (even an artificial heart!) and with asthma or other breathing problems. We have been privileged to serve clients in their 90’s.
Every massage therapist is different. Ask friends and relatives for their recommendations. If someone you know has been happy with their therapist, there is a good chance you will be, too.
What does massage do?
Massage boosts your immune system. That means that regular massage will Continue reading “Benefits of Massage Therapy for Senior Citizens”
Muscle pain always has a cause. Sometimes the cause is a crooked body.
This can happen from an injury, poor standing or sitting habits or bones that are not equal in length.
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 Continue reading “Muscle Pain Is Caused By Being Crooked”
Muscles respond very well to heat and ice therapy. Why is this?
Applications of heat fill the tissues with blood and increase circulation. Short applications of ice also increase circulation. This is all good!
Longer applications of cold by itself reduce the flow of blood to the area so keep application of cold in an area to less than one minute. (Water Therapy, Leon Chaitow MD)
What is contrast therapy?
Alternating heat/hot and cold/ice applications helps increase circulation, increases oxygen supply to the soft tissues and Continue reading “Use Ice and Heat Together for Muscle Pain Relief”
I had a great time interviewing and talking with muscle expert Gini Maddocks at PainReliefRadio.com Gini always has a lot of excellent input to help listeners get rid of their pain and today was no exception.
We talked about your hip, how it moves and why you have hip pain. Gini told us about her super-dooper pain-relieving tool that you probably already have in your own kitchen. And then I came up with another use for it. I’ll bet you might, too. 🙂
We had a fun talk. I always enjoy interviewing someone who knows her stuff.
I know you will have a better understanding of your hip pain after you listen. That’s important because it IS your body.
I also know you will gets lots of natural self-help relief techniques for the pain in your hip(s).
Here’s the link to the interview: http://budurl.com/hiphip (<– click here)
After you listen, leave a comment here and let me know what other pain relief topics you’d like to hear.
The interview is only 30 minutes. Don’t you owe that to yourself to get hip pain relief? I’m thinking YES!
Readers ask a lot of questions about knots in their backs. I’m going to give you several links to articles that I wrote which will give you a lot of insight into the causes of pain in the shoulder and upper back.
Usually people have shoulder and shoulder blade pain on the side of their dominant hand–the hand you use all the time. This is because that arm and hand are in front of you for long periods. But sometimes it’s on the opposite side of the body.
Sometimes you have to be your own diagnostician and try to figure out what exactly is causing your pain. (There is always a cause—it is not just “old age.”)
Sometimes it’s something as simple as carrying a heavy purse or bag over your shoulder and hiking your shoulder to “hold” the bag in place without even thinking about it.
Sometimes it’s a sitting position or sleeping position that aggravates your muscles and causes muscle knots. Do you squash your shoulders when you sleep on your side? Are you a stomach sleeper? That can Continue reading “More About Those Painful Knots In Your Back And Shoulders”
If you have pain or numbness in your hands and in your feet, it’s a good idea to see your doctor to rule out any serious medical condition like diabetes.
Although some people are more prone to get diabetes than others, it is largely a disorder caused by lifestyle and what we eat. Some doctors will have you exercise and change your diet to control it. Some doctors don’t have faith in their patients, so they will offer medications to you.
But sometimes it is NOT a whole-body issue. Sometimes the cause of pain or numbness in your hands and feet is caused by separate things.
If the muscles in your butt–your gluteal muscles–are tight, they can cause Continue reading “What Causes Pain and Numbness In Your Hands and Feet?”
When your back hurts you might think you will have back pain forever. Not so!
You have a smart body. Your back pain is a message. Your body is telling you that it is not happy about something that is happening.
There are a lot of causes for back pain but most involve your muscles.
Muscles move joints, bones, disks in your spine and press on nerves.
Muscles rule!
My client Sharon said, “My mom’s been having a lot of back pain lately. She tried one massage and hurt more afterward so she’s afraid to try again. She’s going to have hospital tests next week.”
I called her mom and asked her about her back pain. (Pain is a Continue reading “You Don’t Have To Have Back Pain Forever!”
Knee pain can be caused by strains and tears to ligaments, injuries to the structure of the knee, or by soft tissues. Soft tissues means everything that is not bone. That includes muscles.
You may have to see a doctor if you have an injury which requires repair. But for knee pain which has come on over a period of time, the following steps may be all you need to get rid of your knee pain.
1. Re-balance and strengthen the muscles in your upper leg. The front and back of your thigh were balanced when you were a child and used to always be on the move. You used ALL of your muscles then. But, now?
Well, now you have knee pain, right? 🙁
Start using all Continue reading “Natural Relief for Knee Pain”
There are many causes for knee pain. Sometimes painful knees may have several causes working at the same time. The good news is that most of the causes involve muscles and soft tissues (not bone) and can be easily “fixed.”
Sometimes knee pain is caused by an accident or injury to the bones and ligiments. And, sometimes surgery is required to repair the damage. In that case, muscles may still be involved.
Working on your muscles–getting them balanced by using all of them, relaxing those that are “too tight” and releasing trigger points–will still benefit you.
Muscles in your thigh can cause knee pain.
Muscles in the hamstring can also cause knee pain.
So can the muscles of your lower leg.
And so can the muscle directly behind Continue reading “Knee Pain Has Many Causes”
Can food cause pain?
A very common reason for your aches and pains, tiredness and fatique, diabetes, lack of energy, osteoporosis and other problems and diseases is…TA DA! The stuff you put into your mouth. 🙁
You may have heard me complain before about the state of our “food.”
Too much highly processed food (gee, I hate to call it ‘food’) comes out of the supermarket. The packaging is pretty. The tastes and smells and colors leap out at you. It’s planned.
Did you know there are “food chemists” and whole industries whose only job is to get you to buy more of their company’s products?
Do you know that a lot of the flavors and scents they create and add to your food are petroleum based? Yup, the same thing that fuels your car. But your car was built to use petroleum. You were not.
And ‘spices’? Turns out that Continue reading “How Food Causes Pain”
Pain on the bottoms of you feet as you age? Could happen!
And what can you do to have happy feet again?
Feet do change as you age. Some people notice that the fat pads on the bottoms of their feet aren’t there anymore. However, other people do NOT lose their fat pads.
Let’s talk about age-related changes and I’ll share my thoughts.
Me:
Yes, the fat padding on the bottom of the foot does Continue reading “Simple Pain Relief As Your Feet Get Older”
Tingling, creepy, crawling, wiggling, bugs-under-your-skin feelings? This is what restless legs can feel like.
It’s really quite annoying because it usually kicks in just when you start to relax or fall asleep.
Dr. Andrew Weil is an alternative M.D. and he suggested there is no cure in an article but he had several suggestions. I do, too. I’ll share mine in a bit.
Dr. Weil said:
1. Stop smoking. Smoking impairs blood flow to the legs.
2. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. They can both make symptoms worse.
3. Take a calcium/magnesium supplement at bedtime. He suggested 500 mg of calcium citrate and 250 to 500 mg of magnesium to calm muscles.
4. Exercise, stretch or massage your legs. He said this helps most people who Continue reading “Restless Legs Natural Relief”