Back Pain Portal Blog

This month I am really focused on my neck and shoulders. This is where I / we carry so much tension! Besides the on-going desk posture syndrome, I started this venture into neck and shoulder pain because my eyes were unusually tired and hurting. Guess what! Neck and shoulder tension really affects the eyes! Not to mention posture and the entire back.

There are many good reasons we have tight neck and shoulder muscles. And there are many things to do that will help.

One big reason that our neck carries so much tension is just the weight of our head! Our little necks are literally balancing a 10-15 pound ball all day long! So to speak. If posture is good, it rests comfortably without much effort. But if the spine pulls the head to the side or pushes it forward, then the fairly small muscles of the neck are strained and spasm until they are unable to relax.

The second reason for neck tension is a shoulder muscle or pinched nerve that pulls the head off center.  But this is the chicken and the egg, because the shoulder muscle typically tightens up attempting to hold the head in place. Yes, it is all connected.

We tend to raise our chin and lower our shoulders in a forward slump. Anything you can do to reverse this forward slump is good. One of my favorites is to lay down over a rolled up towel placed crosswise under the shoulder blades. You will feel this pull your shoulders backward and your chin down.

Sitting for long periods of time in a bad posture almost guarantees neck and shoulder problems. The main solution to reverse the strain is movement, all throughout the day, to keep the muscles from tightening and locking up. If looking down, look up. If sitting, get up. If standing, sit down. Roll the neck around, look side to side, look up, look down. Stretch the arms overhead.

Check out some easy but effective things to do to relieve neck and shoulder pain below.

	Neck Exercises
	Shoulder Lifts
	Eye Training

The video below shows an exercise that only takes a few minutes and this movement will help neck, shoulders, and eyes!

Well, I had another birthday this week. That how it goes, they just keep coming along. But there is good news, despite my age and my back conditions, I have a very active life!

The truth is that I have less trouble with back pain these days than I did 30 years ago when I was so young! For years after the first car wreck, I had constant back pain, and it seemed like back pain would be a permanent condition. But alas, that is not the case.

Even 5 years ago, I would go down with extreme back pain for weeks at a time, sometimes for months. My back would go out of socket, making it difficult to sleep, and requiring constant chiropractic care.

But the last few years, I’ll get a twinge of back pain, jump into action, using the steps on the main pain-in-my-back.com website, and I’m good to go in a day or two. Sometimes the pain subsides in hours. So the difference as I’ve gotten older is that I made a commitment to take care of my back. I schedule my yoga classes like a meeting, and even give up dinner dates sometimes. It is my physical therapy. Plus, there are things I gotta do on a regular basis. Little things that make a BIG difference.  Here’s what I gotta do:

• Keep the inflammation down with diet and herbs.
• Watch my posture standing and sitting.
• Stretch the muscles to keep things in balance.
• Strengthen the muscles to stay balanced.
• Reduce stress in lots of little ways., and do things that make me happy.
• Get good quality sleep, and enough sleep to be refreshed.
• Get help when needed from a chiropractor or massage therapist.
• Keep my self-care commitment.

See, simple. Over time the injuries can get worse, or can get better. Slow steady progress has reaped great reward for my previously aching back. Happy Birthday, you sweet young thing!

Being happy goes a long way in pain management.  I have attended four memorial services this year, and each one was so full of grace and expression of gratitude for the person who had journeyed with us. I am honored to have friends who have chosen to die so consciously with such love for those they left behind.

This Song of the Soul is a joyful song, dedicated to my friend Lois Joy Meyers, who lost her battle with brain cancer after 14 years.  It was her favorite song. Words are below. Feel free to sing along!

Song of the Soul

Love of my life I am crying
I am not dying, I am dancing
Dancing along in the madness
There is no sadness
Only the song of the soul

Echo: And we’ll sing this song
Why don’t you sing along
Then we can sing for a long, long time
Why don’t you sing this song
Then we can sing along
Then we can sing for a long, long time

What do you do for a living
Are you forgiving, giving shelter
Follow your heart, love will find you
Truth will unbind you
Seek out a song of the soul

Come to your life like a warrior
Nothing will bore ya, you can be happy
Let in the light, it will heal you
And you can feel you
Sing out a song of the soul

Love of my life I am crying
I am not dying, I am dancing
Dancing along in the madness
There is no sadness
Only the song of the soul

From the collection of Andrew Draskoy
oct97

Today I was looking at my ankles and realized that I have stronger ankles and better leg tone than I had 20 years ago. Since I made a commitment to self-help back care, my ankles and legs get a lot more attention than they used to. Strong ankles and legs give us mobility and balance.

Mobility is a precious gift and our little feet are where the rubber meets the road. But the ankles and legs are what make us move. The ankles and legs  need flexibility and strength to carry our weight and do fun things.

This is one reason that walking is so good for us. If you do nothing but take an extended walk regularly, your health will benefit greatly and you are protecting your mobility. I remember on a trip to Europe how hard it was at first to do all the walking. Since I wasn’t used to it at the time, my legs tired easily. As I walked more I felt better and got stronger.

Restless leg syndrome almost always benefits from exercising the legs. Extended sitting without taking a break and walking around is not good for the legs.

Here’s some easy things to do:

• Ankle circles are really great. Just move the ankles clockwise, then counter clockwise as you sit on the couch or at your desk.
• Point and flex your toes. This also builds calf muscle.
• Point your toes and then stretch the toes further with your hands.
• Bicycling on a real bike, an exercise bike, or even in the air.
• Balance on one leg at a time. You can do this while you stand in line… just ignore the stares.
• Squat and keep the heels as close to the ground as possible. This may be hard to do at first, but don’t give up.

There are many leg and ankle exercises that feel good and strengthen legs and ankles, like lunges or quad stretches.  Movement and repetition will strengthen  legs and improve balance over time.

Bottom line is to just keep the legs moving to keep grooving.

If there is one thing that I would have to say has sustained and helped me the most, it would be yoga. My real progress on bringing back pain and structural problems under my control came when I started doing yoga on a regular basis. A friend of mine who also sat at a desk all day, woke up one morning and couldn’t move. She went into total panic, jumped into surgery, and now is permanently mobility impaired. It was a wake up call for me. It was time for serious intervention.

I took stock of my habits and my chronic pain and the acute pain flareups that would put me under for days or weeks, even months at a time. I committed to counteracting my chronic bad posture habits with yoga 2-4 times a week to stretch and strengthen the muscles and connective tissue. In short order I felt an amazing difference. The weeks I did yoga, the pain subsided. If I got too busy and dropped out this gentle regular restorative exercise, I would usually lapse into chronic, then acute back pain.

Yoga stretching gives the most immediate relief. For me it is like getting a 1 hour massage.

Yoga strengthening takes longer, but it is critically important. Muscle strength is what helps to hold the structure in place. Muscles are strengthened by holding a posture, like standing on one leg, then tilting forward into the dancer pose. You just hold as long as you can, and the time keeps increasing as you get stronger. Leg strengthening really helps balance and mobility.

And last, yoga relaxation at the end of each class is a time when the mind and body settles into a moment of peace. It is incredibly refreshing.

At first some yoga postures will feel odd and may reveal a tightness that is painful. A basic yoga principle to to take it slow and always work at your own pace. You push into the discomfort, but back off the pain. So done properly, it should not be painful. I remember at first that my feet and ankles would restrict certain movement. Those things totally worked out over time. But I am still always pushing into my own places of discomfort to release the tightness.

I recommend going to a class where you can just follow and learn. At my health club, I can go to all the yoga I want. The classes make it fun and keeps it simple. You will find different yoga styles and different teachers, so just find one you like and make sure it is a time you can look forward to .

I found a good overview of yoga at the link below. I hope you’ll check it out and consider treating yourself to yoga classes.

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/yoga/introduction.htm