How Does a Tens Unit Work on Muscle Spasm- Pain comes from electroechemical impulses relaying the pain message. A TENS unit interrupts this pathway. T.E.N.S stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. It is often used to treat low back pain and neck pain. Tens units use a low voltage electrical current to induce pain relief. Continue Reading Article
Neck Exercises- Learn effective neck stretches and strengthening exercises for the cervical spine
End Neck Pain by Improving Posture- How Proper Posture Improves Your Spine Relieving Nerve Pressure- How does posture have anything to do with neck pain?--Neck pain comes from pressure on the nerves. How does this happen?--Usually pressure from a misaligned neck spine. When your spine is misaligned (some call that subluxated) it does not move like it should and in turn creates inflammation in that area. Either out-of-alignment spinal vertebrae (spinal bones) put direst pressure on nerves or the inflammation, or built up degeneration causes the pressure. Continue Reading Article
How to Reduce the Chances of Getting A Stiff Neck- A Stiff Neck.... Horrible especially when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is going to be one painful day. You are stiff, your neck hurts, you cannot turn your head, even brushing your teeth hurts. We get questions about how to treat a stiff neck all the time. Continue Reading Article
How To Avoid Neck Pain While Doing Abs- If you do your Abdominal crunches correctly with proper form, there is no reason to suffer from neck pain or sore neck. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is that involve there neck muscles while doing these exercises- that is a NO-NO. Bringing your head and neck forward puts unnecessary pressure on the neck and it is not healthy. So when you do your abdominal crunch look at the ceiling.Continue Reading Article
I love sharing ideas and products for pain relief that can help patients for everyday life. The arc4life cervical linear traction pillow is one such product. Check out this recent testimonial from a customer who has literally tried everything:
I have spinal stenosis c1-c7. More moderate through 5-7.
I haven’t had a good nights sleep in a very long while. I got desperate enough I wanted to have the surgery. Insurance of course offered hoops needing to be jumped through before this could happen.
So I started with PT. Which only made the headaches much more unpleasant, I couldn’t continue the exercises. Next is a shot or infusion to offer relief. I couldn’t use any pillows any longer because I couldn’t ever get comfortable. I opted for a very small throw pillow and a heating pad turned on the whole night just to try to offer rest. In the mornings I would wake and no matter how early my neck causes me to give up on bed. I could not find a comfortable way to sleep. It’s taking a toll for sure. Triggered my fibromyalgia and with out restorative rest my arthritis was unhappy also.
I bought this pillow in a desperate state to try anything. Along with a traction neck thingy inflatable and a hard curved one to find any relief. It’s like my shoulders no longer want the responsibilities of holding up my neck and head..
I tried this pillow last night for the first time, and I slept. I didn’t have pain in my neck like normal. I did not ease into it, I was going to but I felt no discomfort. Having the ability to sleep on my side was also offering no discomfort.
For me, this gave me a nights rest I haven’t experienced in many many months. I hope tonight is just as pleasant. I woke up with a body that felt rested.
I hope others can find relief with this pillow also. It’ is well worth it in my opinion.
I’ll update if it changes to a negative instead of the positive outcome I am desperately seeking. - LeesandFam, September 2020
Its's July 1st, 2020 and it looks like Corona Virus News is just not going away. Still more and more people are working from home, setting up workstations, and rooms to accommodate their work. Working from home can be great, but there can also be a lot more distractions.
Whether you are studying, working on a computer, working on the phone or on a zoom call, here are some great tips to help you avoid neck pain and back pain while working from home.
Whether you are on your phone, computer, or other screen make sure the screen is at eye level. Many patients will get "text" neck from constantly looking down on their phones. Try not to put your screen on your lap or on your stomach.
Take breaks while you work. Being glued to your computer or phone for hours on end is not healthy for you or your neck. It can cause tension in your neck, shoulders and upper back. Taking a break every 30-40 minutes is a good idea. That is easy to do when you are home too.
Check your office chair. What is the height of that chair? Can you easily adjust it and move it? Do you have your back supported while you are sitting? Are you stressing your muscles, joints and ligaments by sitting too low or sitting too high? Check to make sure that your feet are comfortably on the floor. Check your desk height as well. Are you over reaching and straining your body to get to certain things on your desk? If you have sciatica or leg pain, place one foot on a step stool to elevate, taking pressure off of the lower back.
Look into getting a lumbar cushion or a seat cushion for your office chair. You can easily support your lower back and mid back with cushion when you sit for long periods of time.Then you can sit up with good posture in your spine.
When you are at home, you can have so much more flexibility. If you are home and experiencing tension or pain in your neck or back, apply heat or ice. You can also apply electric muscle stimulation (tens unit) easily to the affected area. This also increases blood flow and reduces inflammation.
Stay hydrated by drinking healthy fluids like water. Again very easy to do when you are home.
Working from home looks pretty advantageous these days. If you are lucky enough that your job or business allows you to do it- its can be simply wonderful. With some simple changes, it can be a great day at work... and home.
For the last week, I have started taking a cold shower aka cold hydrotherapy. It is initially very painful. Why would I subject myself to this? Well taking a cold shower has many therapeutic benefits:
Cold water helps the nervous system - Specifically the sympathetic system. This is the fight and flight part of the nervous system. It shocks the sympathetic system and creates a stress response. It increases blood flow to certain systems of your body. Blood is directed to the internal organs to keep them warm. This transport of blood gets your heart to work harder. It gets you breathing faster and deeper (you intake more oxygen), working the lungs. This practice also contracts your muscles deeply, thereby eliminating toxins.
Cold water benefits circulation - by shocking the heart and the lungs, blood flow also increases to your feet and hands.
It helps our stress response -Cold showers could also help cut the levels of uric acid and boost glutathione in the blood, which help reduce stress.
Allows for faster recovery- A study completed in 2009 showed that an ice bath after intense training improves circulation and helps remove some lactic acid, which could speed up the body’s recovery.
Helps to elevate mood and attitude- Studies have shown that taking a cold shower can help patients with depression. This happens by stimulating “the blue spot” on the brain that releases noradrenaline, a chemical which plays a role in alleviating depression.
It can help you sleep better at night: According to the book, 4 hour body by Tim Ferris. The book states that taking a cold shower gives elephant tranquilizer-like effect that will put you straight to bed.
Accelerates metabolism - taking a cold shower gets all of your organs working. Taking a cold shower specifically activates brown fat- which is the good fat. This fat generates heat to keep our bodies warm. Thus, cold showers can promote brown fat activity. A 2009 study found that exposure to extreme cold temperatures activated brown fat in 23 and 24 participants by a 15-fold increase, meaning someone could lose up to nine pounds in a year if they kept this practice up.
Strengthens the immune system -It can also lower blood pressure, clear blocked arteries, and improve our immune system.
Doing alternate hot bath and cold bath can also be very therapeutic.
The Tri- Sectional hot and cold pack - this large 11"x15" hot and cold pack is amazing because it fits many areas of the body very comfortable. Use it on your low back, upper back or mid back area. Use it for hot or cold. Easy to use. Also great for extremities like your legs, arms and feet. Great for strains, sprains, soft tissue injuries, muscle spasms, tendonitis and arthritis pains.
A Pillow that is U Shaped and has a hot and cold pack built in: the Headache Ice Pillo - this u shaped pillow sits on your neck and upper back area and it great for headache sufferers. - great for patients with migraine headaches and tension headaches. If you have a pinched nerve in the neck, this ice pillo can provide a lot of relief.
Digital Moist Heat Pack - This heating pad can be plugged in and provides even heat that is comforting. The dimensions of this heat pack make it versatile to use on any part of the back: 14"x 27" is a great size.
Knee Hot and Cold Pack - the Elastogel Family makes a hot and cold gel pack with a cut out for the patella for knee pain patients. Comes in two sizes. This knee pad makes movement easier because of the flexibility of this gel pack
Sleeping in the wrong way, lifting something too heavy, or just having bad posture at work while on the computer can lead to SI joint pain. The SI Joint or the Sacro-iliac joint is the joint between the sacrum and the iliac bones. The SI Joint can become unstable and not give the proper support that it is supposed to. This can lead to moderate to severe pain in the SI joint area. This can affect all activities including walking, standing and change of position. If you have recently had a slip or fall and your core muscles are weak, this can also affect the Sacro iliac joint and pelvis area. An SI Belt can assist with this type of pain. The sacro-iliac belt can compress the SI Joint together for you and create a more stable moving posture.
The SI belt also works to stabilize the hip joints and helps relieve pain from the sciatic nerve and scoliosis caused by pelvic instability. One important factor when wearing a belt like this is to make sure you are wearing it in the right location. Since it comes in sizes small, through 3 XL size also matters when fitting an SI belt. Where should this belt sit? Its called an SI Belt, so you want to make sure you cover the sacro-iliac joints. If you look at a person from the back, you will notice two dimples that sit at the top of the crease of the buttocks on the right and left side. Make sure the belt covers this area. You want to be on the very top side part of the hip bone.
For the Hip Measurement: Measure around the widest part of your hip for the hip measurement. Measure at fullest part of the buttocks
You do want to wear an SI belt more on the snug side as the compression part of wearing the SI Belt will be beneficial to you the most. Give yourself some extra inches as well, as you do not want an uncomfortable type of tightness. Measurement loose vs skin tight can be 2-2 ½ inches.Best secure fitting is while laying down w/knees bent
How Should this Belt Fit? When you measure, start in the back and finish in the front.The Bottom of support should be at the (crease of buttocks) in the back The Bottom of the support should be at the groin in the front. Normally straps fit right over left. Pull the straps out away from body and then cross. Add compression from bottom to top.
Post Fitting: It is important to sit down to check fitting. Ease and Motion may be more limited.The Belt should not dig into your groin area. When removing, decrease compression from top to bottom. Also When removing, disengage velcro and attach at far posterior of belt where straps originate. **Depending on your condition, the application of the device may need to be done by a secondary care-taker or significant other.
Chronic neck pain, or pain in the neck that is ongoing can be very debilitating. It literally affects all of our activities of daily living. Simply sitting down at a table to eat your breakfast can be a difficult task. Where can this type of pain arise from?
One place that chronic neck pain can start is after a car accident. Even a simple tap from another car behind your vehicle can set into motion neck pain. Rear end and front end collisions can be big causes of neck pain related injuries. This may not start immediately after the car accident but it can start after weeks or months without the right treatment. There may be injury to facets, discs, ligaments and muscles.If this fine balance is interrupted, pain in the neck can linger for a long time.
Ergonomic Products Can Help Neck Pain
The 1st question to ask yourself is, where does your neck pain bother you:
at home
at work
at night
during exercise
during sleep
Once you establish this, we can help you choose the best ergonomic product for neck pain.
Here is a common place for chronic pain to be at its worst: Working At Your Computer?
Look at your activities of daily living to help you establish where your pain is at its worse. For example, after sitting on the computer for 8 hours at work, does that aggravate your neck pain? Maybe after working out your abs you have neck pain?
Once you determine this, you can go about figuring how to improve things. Sometimes its as a simple as tilting up/down your computer screen so that you are at the correct angle for viewing.
In the next post, we will explore products that can help you end pain at work (Part II). Stay Tuned.
Hello PainRelief4life readers ! I am happy to announce that next week I will be 28 weeks pregnant. This is a milestone for my husband and I because we had some really bad luck in the past with our pregnancies. To say that we are beyond excited is an understatement.
However, I would be not be completely honest with you with I didn't share that this time around there have been some unexpected aches and pains- things i did not have with my other experiences, but I am not complaining too loudly.
Low Back Pain
Upper Back Pain
Knee Pain
Foot Pain and Achiness
Charlie Horses in my legs
Numbness and Tingling in my legs and Feet
Sure I can say that I have gone from my usual 130 lbs to 152 lbs, but whose checking, expect my OB office? Pregnancy throws off so many things in your body and I can understand that it puts a lot of added stress to ones body. Also hormones that are normally not at high levels also make a difference to ligaments in your body.
So where do these aches, pain, numbness, tingling really come from? Well, as the pregnancy progresses the uterus keep growing and sometimes can put added pressure onto nerves that innervate the lower legs. This can cause the numbness and tingling sensation that sometimes feels like there are ants crawling up and down your legs and toes.
What about the back pain? For myself the pain has been in my upper back and the lower back. One the reasons is that my posture is very "off". The mere act of carrying a baby creates a sway back when I walk. I cannot help it. Doing this over and over again puts added stress on the spinal system and that means real aches and pains. Back pain can also be caused by loosening of the ligaments.
Finally the knee pain, ankle pain and the foot pain. Just recently I got out of bed and complained to my husband that my right knee was aching. Again my body is not used to 150 lbs on my frame. The added weight puts more stress on knee joints and ankle joints. I have also noted swelling and particular pain points in my feet. Again, another byproduct of the added weight.
So what can be done alleviate all of these pains. The list seems kind of long of all the discomforts I am experiencing !
Get adjusted regularly by a chiropractor. They have techniques, and special tables to accomodate big pregnant woman in their offices ! The chiropractic adjustment can ease pressure off of nerves, and put you into proper alignment. Lots of pain relief with this age old treatment.
Wear comfortable shoes. Flat shoes, not heels.
Watch your weight. The more weight one gains during pregnancy the more pressure is put on the body. Also keep in mind, the harder it will be come off once you deliver the baby
Takes breaks. Don't be afraid of putting your feet up and just relaxing on the couch or sitting on a chair. Don't stand for long periods of time. This extra standing just puts more pressure on knee joints and ankle joints.
Sleep on your side at night and keep a flat soft pillow in between your knees. This takes pressure off of the lower back and pelvis area. It actually feels really good to sleep like this. Another great idea is to sleep with a body pillow at night. These long pillows are made especially for pregnancy and can help you get a very comfortable sleep.
When sitting use a lower back support. This makes a huge difference. A back support will support your lower and upper back and keep you from slouching. This improvement in posture will put less pressure on your spinal column and nervous system
Drink a lot of water.
Use a hot and cold pack for therapy- a warm heating pack can help relax the muscles of the back and feels so wonderful too. A cold pack can help lower back ligament pain.Get a cold pack that covers your low back and mid back well. I have found that keeping this in the freezer ready to go is the key for pain relief.
Don't be afraid to stretch a little before going to bed. This will help ease the muscle cramps and lessen the "charlie horses" that occur at weird times at night. For me drinking more water has helped with these pesky leg cramps that are a 10/10 on the pain scale. Mind you, it means more trips to the bathroom- but I would do that any day than experience a leg cramp in the middle of the night. Also watch your diet. Eating things high in potassium such as bananas can help leg cramps.
Recently I was surfing on hub pages. I came across this question that was posed by Pisethz a few years back....
"Neck pain for 10 years. Follow all the practice from doctors' advice but still cannot get rid of it. What is the problem? Just try yoga for one week now......"
Pain is a real thing. For myself, when I have a simple paper cut - it really bothers me. In fact I can tell you that the last three times i hurt myself un- intentionally, I remember it. Lets see:
- I burned myself on the left arm as I was taking a casserole out of the oven
- I cut my left thumb as I was slicing tomatoes
- I threw my back and neck out after a violent sneeze
For me personally, pain is a real thing and my threshold is very low. So when I read about a person with neck pain for 10 years, I really sympathized with them.
using your computer, tablet or cell phone regularly with your head down
Chronic Neck Pain is no Fun and sometimes it appears there is no end in sight. Here are some solutions for neck pain to try.
Hi Pisethz, I realize its been a few years since you posted this onto on hubpages. Hopefully you have had some resolution to your neck pain.
I have one pillow recommendation for you. Its called the arc4life cervical linear traction pillow- and it's not like the regular pillows you might be used to. In fact, it might even cause you some soreness, tightness & muscle spasms in the beginning.
What I find effective about this pillow is that not only gives your neck support, but it also gently stretches your neck as well. The contours on the pillow allow for proper alignment in the cervical spine.
Anyway, just a suggestion from someone who helps patients with neck pain. If you need further suggestion or advice,send me an email right here on the Pain Relief Blog- I could suggest some other things based on what you have going on.
Also keep in mind that this is just a pillow- this is one thing that may "help" your condition- often times you need to be doing a combination of things.But sometimes, if you have find just one thing that gives you some resolution, it can be starting point- and then you move on from there.
Another thing to try for 4-5 weeks is neck traction at home. Stretching your neck, and steadily increasing your weight per session is key. Doing this under the guidance of a professional such as a physical therapist or chiropractic is suggested.Often times, your Dr. may recommend a course of traction in the office. This is a good idea because then you can make sure that you are doing the traction correctly. In that way, you are less likely to have soreness in the muscles and see improvement in your condition.
In addition to doing neck traction and using a special support pillow, I would recommend therapy such as heat to help relax the muscles. You can also use a tens unit in conjunction with that.
Finally, doing neck stretches is important for increasing your range of motion in the c spine. Normal motions in the c spine include: flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral flexion. Doing neck stretches will increase your flexibility and decrease overall tightness.
Chiropractor Showcases some simple neck exercises
The Importance of Seeing a Professional
Having a chronic condition like neck pain can cause someone a lot of strife in their daily life. It can not only impact your activities of daily living, but it can cause emotional, and social stress as well.
Seeing a professional is important. Whether its your family doctor, an osteopath, or a chiropractor. Especially if this is do to a car accident or a fall, its even more imperative that you see someone. They will do a proper consultation: ask you the OPQRST about your problem. The how, why, where, when's about your pain. They will be able to gather a timeline to see how this started, and what are the symptoms.
Keep in mind that seeing a professional also notates that you are having pain- you are creating a timeline. You can assess later: how long has this pain been going on? What treatments provided relief? How has the pain changed over the years? Is the pain different now?
Second,they will do an exam. They will check your vitals, your range of motion and do appropriate orthopedic testing. This can also involve a neurological exam where they check the sensory, motor and reflex aspect of your pain.
Third, they will refer you out for x-ray, an MRI or some other type of diagnostic testing to further "see" what is happening.
Chronic Pain can be very difficult to deal with not only for the patient but for family and friends around you. I believe you have to be pro active everyday and seek ways to make the pain more bearable. Some things are going to work, others are not. Having a great attitude towards thinking that you will be better is important too. Please email us if we can help in anyway. I realize that not everything is going to work for everyone - but if our blog and information can make a difference in at least bringing the pain level down, and making it more tolerable its worth it.
Most likely it's the latisimus muscle. A great way to stretch the lat muscle is to grab something like a doorway, and lean back. It’s probably easiest to grab one side at a time, just grab one side of the doorway with one arm.
You can stretch both sides too. Grab a pole or something you can reach across like a secure desk… You can also reach up to the top of the doorway with both hands, and lean in.
What is a muscle strain or a muscle sprain? That's a good question! First some background:
Attached to all the bones are ligaments. Muscle that connects bone to another bone is a ligament and are often composed of thick bands of cartilage. Muscle that connects to bone is called a tendon.
A muscle strain involves injury to the muscle or tendon. Usually these are acute in nature that occurs when you overstretch or over contract. They often occur in response to a tear, twist or pull of the muscle . This will usually be accompanied with pain, muscle spasm and weakness.
A muscle sprain involves injury to the ligaments. This occurs when the ligaments stretch or tear. A muscle sprain will often present itself as a pain, swelling, instability and pain with movement. They occur with a traumatic event such as a fall, or blunt force trauma to the area. The surrounding joint is displaced from its normal alignment.
Essentially part of the muscle gets a slight tear. This injury causes an inflammatory response (part of the body's healing mechanism), which intern may cause so swelling. A complete tear is referred to as a "tear" and not just a strain or sprain. Something that is completely separated from a tear may have to be surgically repaired.
So that sprained or strained area may be red from inflammation or heat, and may be swollen also. If it's a joint like a wrist or ankle you may visualize the swelling whereas in the spine you may not but you may feel heat.