Anyone else get these ?

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Leeana

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Does anyone else get these regularly or ever had one OUCH! Painful! I have one right now in my lower shoulder. I get them in my back normally, but this one is in my shoulder and it hurts that much more. I have tried stretching, having someone rub it out, i heard hot packs help ? I think i will have to go pick up a few of those. They normally come and go, every once in a while. Its been about four days and STILL there.

Anyone else get these? They are such a pain in the .....back
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Ohhhh Leanna, I feel your pain! I suffer on and off with this condition for many years.

I find that one of those wheat bags that you pop in the microwave to warm up my best friend! I sit on the couch with the heat bag squashed behind my shoulder and put pressure against it. It just helps to relax the muscle.

I also see an osteopath who can work those knots out of my shoulder just nicely. I have tried chiropractors etc but nothing works for me other than my osteopath. She also gave me a range of stretching excercises to use daily but I always forget to do them until it's too late!

I find that when I'm stressed, my shoulder gives out on me. That's where I carry stress.

Good luck Leanna, I know how rotten that is.
 
I have a lot of back problems from years of riding and other sports, and honestly I find that a little bit of yoga every day has cut way back on my aches and pains.
 
Ohh i will have to try that! My chiropractor told me all my stress goes straight to my back, so i guess i bring this on myself
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I feel your pain Leeana! I have been going to a chiropractor for 20 years now and am past due again. I get so out of whack, all the way up to the bottom of my skull- and then I get horrible migraines with it. I get knots in my shoulders that are so bad, it hurts just to touch the skin sometimes.

I always tell the chiropractor I came to 'get my head screwed back on straight', but yep, when working on a computer all day, all my stress and tension goes to my back/neck also. OW!
 
I'm only 15... and I get these all of the time. But... I've had neck/back/hip problems ever since my Quarter horse mare slammed me into a stall wall... I go see a chiropracter and get massages regularly.
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Yep, for most of my life. I carry tension in my neck & shoulders, and get those big knots under my shoulder blades. As I've gotten older I have almost completely stopped getting migraines (something to look forward to!!) but I still get the knots from time to time. Something I've found that helps is being aware of when I am sort of hunching my shoulders up. Used to do it all the time, but I've learned to recognize and relax them - sometimes - before it gets bad. Failing that, the microwavable things are the best!

Jan
 
Yup, owwy do they hurt too. I get them like right below almost underneith the shoulder blade. It takes alot to work them out and sometimes after a massage they only just feel better. I wish I knew what caused them.
 
I am a Massage Therapist and sometimes your cure is basically drinking more water. Alot of people dont drink enough water and your body gets dehydrated. Sometimes it is better if you ice first before you apply heat. Like ice for the first couple of days you are experiencing the pain and then use heat. The ice helps to relieve the inflammation.Heat sometimes only aggravates it if not iced before. Little things you can do to help. Stay away from refined sugars.Lots of fluids like water and tea. Green Tea is awesome .ok now that I have rambled on forever I will go now...
 
Yep, used to have them all the time when I worked. If you can't get massages or anyone to work on them, you might try what I did. I took a tennis ball, a nail and some rope (or sturdy string). Nope, didn't hang myself...LOL. Take the nail, tie a string on it and push it all the way into the tennis ball. I usually had to start the hole with a knife. I then hung the tennis ball on a wall and would back up to it and press it against the pain. It sometimes hurt really bad, but if I could stand it, my shoulder would ease a little and I could get back to work. My co-workers used to look at me funny, but I didn't care, it worked for me.

In fact, I had to make one at home the other day as I had another 'attack.' If you don't want to hang it on the wall, you can back up to a wall, hold the string and manepulate (SP) the tennis ball to wherever you're hurting.

Pam

P.S. I do have a wonderful hubby, but when I would ask him to rub my shoulder, he would take 1 or 2 fingers and rub around for a minute or two and say, ok, is that better? I'd say yes,
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didn't want to hurt his feelings, but it actually wasn't, so I'd go get the tennis ball
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Here are a bunch of suggestions for you.............

I'm not giving medical advice to you, because I'm not a doctor, I am just sharing my personal experiences and things I've come across and tried along the way that helped me feel better. For anyone that didn't already know this, I broke my neck about five years ago and tried conservative medical treatment (drugs, physical therapy, etc.) before finally having surgery to fuse two levels in my neck with donor bone and titanium hardware. I felt better, but still had problems with neck and back pain and muscle knots and ultimately what worked best for me was finally finding a great chiropractor that did a combination of massage, electric muscle stimulation, adjustments and accupuncture. I saw him a couple of times a week for a year and all of the problems I was having were absolutely gone and I've felt great and haven't had to go see him for almost two years. Unfortunately, a couple of nights ago I was really tired and slept in a weird position with no pillow and woke up with a very painful and stiff neck and shoulder that has not gotten better and I am probably going to see the chiro tomorrow if he can fit me in his schedule.

Here are a few home remedy suggestions that I picked up along the way when I was really having trouble and I did them in addition to seeing the chiropractor. Try a few and maybe one of them will make you feel better.

Google it and you will find out that tennis balls are very popular and are cheap to get rid of muscle knots and tension. You put one or two tennis balls in a long sock and then either hang them to the bottom of the sock while you center the balls against a wall and move around until you know you are hitting the knot and lean against the wall and put pressure on the knot and roll around on the tennis balls or if you can handle it, lay on the floor and do the same thing. Lay on the tennis balls and roll them around targeting the muscle knot to work it out.

Also, alternate ice and heat on the muscle spasm or knot, 10 minutes each time. For ice, frozen peas or corn work great if you don't have the ice packs that stay soft and for a home-made heat pack get a hand-towel wet, fold it in 4s and put in a plastic bag, fold the bag over and microwave it for a couple minutes. Take it out of the microwave (with a dry towel to protect your hand), and lay it on a dry bath towel, fold this over and apply this to the area you iced. Alternate ice and heat several times always starting with ice, and ending with ice. Then, lay down FLAT, and take a little 'power nap' (20 minutes or so). You will feel MUCH better all over.

Another stretching/yoga type exercise.....Lie flat on the floor. Raise your butt off the floor and arch your back to where your weight is on your shoulders. Slowly move back and forth and up and down and you will probably hear your back popping, Just putting things back in place. Get really courageous and do this ON the tennis balls.

if the knot is behind your shoulder blade, the problem is probably stemming from your subscapularis..this muscle is difficult to palpate or loosen because it lies underneath your shoulder blade. People that spend a lot of time working at a desk or on a a computer tend to have problems with that area.

You can loosen it yourself by leaning the upper part of your body (waist up) forward with your arm hanging down and shoulder relaxed (do this on a high bed or table). This will make your shoulder blade move forward, and expose the muscle. have someone massage it at that time...if they feel any knots, no matter how big or small, have them apply pressure on the knot for about 12 seconds, enough pressure that it hurts, but not so much pressure that you can't take the pain (on a pain scale of 1-10...I recommend a 6 or 7). The good ole tennis ball comes in handy for this one. Do this a few times a week, and the pain should go away...of course, you need to be aware of your posture at all times, because if you don't fix that, the pain is never going to go away.

Go to Wal Mart and get one of those large inflatable exercise balls. THey have plain ones and have balls with nubs sticking out and it is great to lean back and roll back and forth on it, great way to relax the muscles.

I'm told it helps this sort of problem to take a couple Valarian Root capsules, though I haven't tried that one.

Another variation of the alternating heat and cold treatment. If you have a shower nozzle, run the water across your shoulders or the wherever the tight muscles are, turning up the hot water slowly until it's very hot,( don't scald your skin) until the heat doesn't bother you. Slowly turn the hot down to cold until the cold doesn't bother you. Do this seven times,Hot to cold to hot and so on. If you try this you won't believe the results.

A acupressure/massage trick....if the knots/tension are in the trapezius muscles (the muscles leading from the top of the shoulders to both sides of he neck), grasp the meaty part of the muscle firmly between the palm of your hand and the flat surfaces of your fingers. Hold that grip for about a minute, then slowly release. Repeat on the other side. This is an acupressure movement that is VERY effective for tension/knots in that particular muscle group.

FYI.........If you can talk someone into giving you a massage of the area at home, use massage oil generously and use your thumb to knead the knot it top to bottom, following the natural curves of the shoulder, do not kead it from the bottom up, it will just make it feel worse later.

My chiropractor gave me packets of something called "BioFreeze" which is sort of like Ben-Gay or Icy Hot and it felt good to use, but I don't know if you can buy that or you have to get it from a doctor.

My regular doctor said a lot of muscle aches, pains and muscle knots are caused by dehydration and hardly anyone drinks enough water. Try making an effort to drink a lot of water.....8-10 eight ounce glasses are recommended and one bottled water would be equivalent to two glasses of water so try for finishing at least five bottles of water a day. Gatorade or Powerade would help replenish fluids too and I buy powdered Gatorade that can be mixed with bottled water and it is a lot cheaper than just buying Gatorade. Eating Bananas is good for potassium which if your body is low on will cause muscle cramps.

Soaking in a hot bath that has epsom salts should be relaxing and might help.

If you don't want to take prescription painkillers, for a couple of days you can alternate Ibuprofene and Tylenol every two hours (you don't have to wait four hours since they are different types of meds)

If this is a chronic thing you may want to learn a little bit of Tai Chi. It will promote balance, strength, relaxation, movement and general control.

Hope I was helpful. Good Luck.

OH......and I can relate to THIS..........

P.S. I do have a wonderful hubby, but when I would ask him to rub my shoulder, he would take 1 or 2 fingers and rub around for a minute or two and say, ok, is that better? I'd say yes, didn't want to hurt his feelings, but it actually wasn't, so I'd go get the tennis ball
I can do better than that, before I met my husband he took a massage therapist course and tells everyone he did it to meet women, but I've known him for twenty years and have gotten just one quickie massage from him and it was right after I'd met him. The best I can get now (and this too has been years) is the same 1 or 2 finger two minute rub.
 
My chiropractor gave me packets of something called "BioFreeze"
Great stuff, and I think only available through chiropractors/doctors. I buy it at my chiropractors, comes in a roll on now too which is great.

I can relate also to the home massage......couple of minutes, okay now? LOL.....this is from someone though who has NEVER had a headache.
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Jan
 
You don't need a script for bio-freeze but will have to get it at a medical supply store. My local pharmacy has an independent medical supply section in their pharmacy. Medial supply store....where they sell wheelchairs, speciality slings, canes...that kind of stuff.

I can relate also to the home massage......couple of minutes, okay now?
I know the feeling, the only way my hubby will give me a massage, is if I give him one first.

There are also daily stretches you could do to help it...look on line or ask your chiropractor. It sucks to have constant pain (my broken collarbone is a constant pain and it's been 4 months now). Good luck and take care of yourself.
 

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