What a pain! (part 3)

  What a pain! (part 3)

Welcome to part three of my five part series on pain management! If you missed the first two posts, be sure to go back and read them. The previous blog posts will go over soreness and tension. Today we will be going over pinching and stabbing pains in muscles. Please be advised, if you are feeling a pinching or stabbing pain in an area that doesn't feel muscular, such as kidneys, and lower abdomen you need to see a doctor, as these can be signs of very serious conditions.

In reference to muscles, pinching and stabbing pains are fairly common, and very annoying. The feeling of stabbing or pinching comes from a quick muscle contraction. The difference between these two is not subtle, as you can always tell if it is one or the other. A stabbing pain is a quick burst of muscle contractions. In contrast, a pinching feeling is a lingering muscle contraction. When you feel both of these consecutively, it is usually a stabbing pain followed by a pinch. This is the muscle getting "stuck".

In the field of massage therapy, we refer to this "stuck" muscle as a trigger point. Call them what you will, there is a fix for these nuisances! If you experience stabbing feelings this is an early sign that your muscles need some help. Some actions that will help get rid of this is proper daily stretching, drinking plenty of water, and keeping your muscles active. Daily stretching will help stop muscles from tightening up and turning into a "stuck" muscle. Sometimes, our muscles will contract because they are dehydrated. Muscles bring blood to an area by contractions, which is why big body builders get a "pump" or get vascular when they workout. When a muscle is running low on water, it will contract to try to get more blood flow to it so it can hydrate. Therefore, if you drink more water, you muscle won't have to struggle to get blood flow. The same concept goes with staying active. If your muscles are stagnant, it is hard to get blood flow to certain areas of the body. It's very important to keep moving so your  body can get nutrients from your blood. 

If you are experiencing a pinching feeling, it is not too late! There is still hope! A sharp or dull pinch is a sign of a stuck muscle. What this means is your muscle contracted, and then never let go. This results in trigger points or "knots". They can range in size, depending on where they are located in the body and how long they have been contracted. Imagine lifting weights and then suddenly halfway through, you just stop and hold it. Soon your muscle will start to hurt from holding that same position. That is, on a larger scale, how these muscle act. They function perfectly, and then they just stop, and freeze in a contracted state. To get these to let go, you must get it back to it's original position and hold it there. Much like a kindergartner on their first day of school, these muscles just don't want to let go. 

To get muscle to release you can stretch them, apply pressure, and apply heat to the area. By stretching them, it is like pulling a child of their dads legs. But you can't let go right away, or they will just run straight back and grab on again. You have to get them away, and hold them away until they are done with their tantrum. On a muscular level, you stretch the muscle back to it's original position and then hold it there. It takes about one full minute for a muscle to stretch back into it's original position. By applying pressure and heat, you are maintaining a blood flow to the area, and loosening it enough for it to return to the correct position itself. All these options are good ways to take out your own knots, however depending on their severity, you may have to talk to your massage therapist about helping release some of the muscles. 

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What a pain! ( part 2)

What a pain!

Our second type of pain in this five part series is tension. Tension is the feeling of being pulled tight and is usually paired with compression. For example, if you tilt your head to one side, one side of your neck will be in tension, and the other will be in compression.

Muscle tension is very real, and yes, quite  painful. Most muscle tension is developed from overuse, and not using proper stretching techniques. Imagine your muscles as a rubber band. If you use a rubber band that is at room temperature it has no problem stretching. If you use a rubber band that has been heated up, it is even more flexible! However, if you put a rubber band into a freezer, it will snap much sooner than the other rubber bands.

When you wake up in the morning, it is like your rubber bands ( or muscles) are just coming out of the freezer. As you walk around, and move about your day, they start to warm up and become a room temperature rubber band. Between these two points is where most tension injuries happen. This is when it is easy for the rubber band to snap.

Tension injuries can include anything from pulling a single muscle fiber, up to an Achilles tendon rupture. These injuries happen because your body expects a certain amount of strain, but it receives something different, and cannot compensate for the difference. This would be just like someone throwing you a ball that you think is filled with air, but instead it is filled with lead. The sudden change in weight  can make your body use muscles it was not expecting to use. If during this change your muscles are properly warmed up, they can stretch, and are less likely to sustain injuries. However, if they are still "cold" you can experience painful injuries.


One way to prevent tension injuries is to stretch. Although static stretching is fine, I prefer dynamic stretching, as it warms up your muscles better. Here is a video from personal trainer Dan Holguin that shows proper dynamic stretching techniques. Not only are these great to do before exercising, they are also wonderful on a day to day basis to help loosen up stiff muscles.

If you have already experienced a tension injury here are some other tips to help you manage your pain and recover.

Tip 1: Take it easy.

Remember, most tension injuries are caused by overuse. So let your muscles take a break. If you continue to overuse the muscles that are injured, the injury will continue to get worse over time. 

Tip 2: Trigger point work

Ask your massage therapist about trigger point work. Most muscle tension revolves around trigger points. If you can begin to release trigger points in your body, it will help relieve the tension in that area as well. You can also look into cupping and acupuncture which help release muscle tension as well.

Tip 3: Topical analgesics

For immediate pain relief opt for topical analgesics. These are natural alternatives to pain medication, and come with fewer side effects. These are also non-addictive and actually help in the healing process instead of simply covering up the pain. Some of these include BioFreeze, tiger balm, and arnicare. 

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Dan Holguin Fitness

https://www.youtube.com/user/UniquePhysiqueMT

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What a pain (part one)

What a pain (part one)

In the next five blog posts, I will be covering pain management. To begin, we must first classify the types of pain that are most common. Soreness, tension, pinching or stabbing, dull and achy, and compression. These are the types of pain that we will be covering. Although there are several others, these are the ones that I see most often.

 

Today we will be talking about soreness. Soreness occurs in the body when a muscle is held in tension and then released. This causes the muscle to have microscopic tears in it. As the muscle rebuilds these tears, it grows and becomes stronger. This is called muscle hypertrophy. Therefore, the soreness you feel are tiny tears throughout your muscles. These can be caused by lifting heavy objects, going through strenuous exercise, or releasing trigger points. 

To combat soreness, you must remember that we are encouraging our body to heal these micro-tears. The first thing you want to do is drink lots of water. If your body is dehydrated, it is harder for your blood to carry nutrients to your muscles. So stay hydrated!

Second, sit in a bath with epsom salt. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, which when absorbed into the body, helps it to heal muscles. If you decide to do a warm bath, it will increase blood flow and get nutrients to the muscles quicker. However, it will intensify to soreness over the next day. If you choose to take it in a cold bath, the soreness will fade due to the constricting of blood vessels. This however is a temporary fix, as it is harder for your body to absorb the magnesium sulfate in cold water. You must decide for yourself which is better suited for your soreness. 

Lastly, keep it moving! I know it may hurt, but you don't want to baby your muscles too much. While it is repairing, you body is very venerable to picking up bad habits. Make sure your everyday actions are not changing due to soreness. Some actions that tend to change with soreness are change in gait, flexion of appendages, and disuse of arms or legs. As your body begins to heal just make sure you are still walking normal, and using your body as you would any other time.

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Don't be so negative!!

Don't be so negative!

Most people think of massage as being all physical. Depending on your massage therapist, bodywork also focuses on the mental and emotional aspects of your body. Many massage therapists refer to these practices as "energy work". Before you turn off your computer screen and mumble about how this is a bunch of mumbo jumbo, hear me out.

The law of vibration states, "anything that exists in our universe, whether seen or unseen, broken down into and analyzed in it's purest and most basic form, consists of pure energy or light which resonates and exists as a vibratory frequency or pattern. All matter, thoughts and feelings has its own vibrational frequency. The thoughts, feelings and actions we choose also have their own particular rates of vibration. These vibrations will set up resonance with whatever possesses identical frequency."- William D. Gann


A massage therapist that specializes in energy work has learned to control their energy to match another persons, while also keeping their own separate energy. This is called grounding. By grounding themselves, they don't pull any negativity from the client, and the client doesn't pull any negative energy from them. It is very similar to wearing a surgical mask. No germs get shared. So how then can they "give" good energy if there is no sharing of energy?

Imagine a garden hose. The hose provides water to plants by pulling water from a tank, and transferring it to the plants. The hose does not become plants, and the plants do not become hose. Through this process however, the plants get what they need to grow.


In this analogy, the client is the plants, while the massage therapist plays the part of the garden hose. Now where do we get the water? As we stated earlier, everything consists of energy. This means rocks, trees, grass, a table, and even your couch. From your surroundings, you can pull "positive" or complimentary vibrations. What a massage therapist does is get a feel for their clients energy, or what frequency they are vibrating at. Then they "pull" a complimentary energy from the surroundings. While this takes much practice, some people are born and raised to be more receptive to energy work.

If you want to improve your skills in energy work, here are a couple tips.

Tip 1: Find a therapist who can do energy work.
Every Luke Skywalker needs a yoda. By finding someone who can help you with energy work, you will be able to learn much faster. They can coach you and help you improve your skills.


Tip 2: Meditate.

Here is a great video for meditations to help your energy. Try doing it as often as possible, but at least once a week!

Feel free to comment below and let me know what you want to hear about!

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