Lesson 3- The 7 Most Overlooked Causes of Pain

Welcome to Part 3 of The Seven Most Overlooked Causes of Body Pain & What You Can Do About Them Today series.

Let’s get right to it!

HEY! Are you sitting upright in your chair? I’m kidding of course; you can sit however you choose. But maybe you don’t even realize that you’re making a choice and that the choices you make in how you sit or even stand are affecting the way you feel.

Most people don’t have physical clues (such as immediate pain) reminding them to sit up straight or keep both legs on the ground, uncrossed, so it’s not even a thought that comes to mind. It really should be though.

Poor posture will put unnecessary stress on your muscles and even your spine. Any time you put undue stress on your body, you are literally creating more aches and pains for yourself.

Over time, the bad posture will cause some of your muscles to shorten, others to lengthen. It will also lead to fatigue because some muscles work harder than others. The imbalance that is created will definitely affect the way your muscles work and cause you more aches and pains in parts of your body that you generally wouldn’t even have to deal with if you were sitting and standing up straight.

Maintaining good posture for yourself will actually allow you to do more with more energy, and you’ll experience less stress and less fatigue. When talking about overall good health, posture ranks right at the top of the list along with eating right, stretching, exercising, and getting a good night’s sleep.

So make a choice today to break the HABIT.

Using good posture is really easy! It just takes a little conscious effort. But if you do it (or anything else for that matter) for 21 consecutive days it will become your new habit. It may seem like a long time but 21 days of concentrated effort for a lifetime of the reduction in the amount of chronic pain you have is truly priceless.

I hope this new information is helping you on your journey to the pain free you, you once knew!

Take care and be WELL!

Barbara M. LaDrig LMT #4409, NCTMB

http://www.MuscleTensionRelief.com

Please note: This is only my opinion and is not to be treated as medical advice, I am not a doctor.

Lesson 2- The 7 Most Overlooked Causes of Pain

Welcome to lesson number 2 of The Seven Most Overlooked Causes of Body Pain & What You Can Do About Them Today series.

I am about to explain to you a vicious pain cycle that you may or may not be familiar with. In a typical day most people get up out of bed only to sit for a large part of their day.

We sit on our way to and from work or shopping and then we sit when we get home from work to watch TV or at the computer. Since we are doing all of this sitting, we can’t possibly be doing a whole lot of movement, unless it’s repetitive movement using and overusing only certain muscles.

All of this lack of movement and sitting leads to serious muscle imbalances. The imbalances then cause pain because some of your muscles are at a shortened state for too long.

When you finally decide to use those shortened muscles it overtaxes them very quickly since they have lost elasticity and pain occurs. Also lack of movement causes lack of circulation and lack of circulation causes the build up of toxins to happen and pain occurs.

The pain you feel then reduces the ability or desire you may have had to move in full range of motion. Movement is key to maintaining your muscle and joint health. Lack of movement creates a viscous pain-spasm-pain cycle.

Along with the pain cycle the lack of movement increases chances of carrying excess body weight and the more body weight you carry the less movement one tends to be motivated to do. I’d say this could easily be called viscous cycle number 2.

So what to do about it? GET UP! You don’t have to go over the top with movement but making a conscious choice to wake up in the morning and get into the habit of doing some light stretches to lengthen your muscles can really help.

Bend over, reach towards your toes, it’s not rocket science just do a few things that are out of your normal body habits to give some of those stagnant muscles a turn.

Many people don’t realize that Massage when done properly is an easy way to give your muscles a workout. You’ve got to lengthen those muscles more than once a week however so this isn’t going to be a cure all answer. But along with the stretches you do every day and the stretches your massage practitioner will facilitate for you, you’ll be well on your way to the pain free you, you once knew!

The very reason I created the Knot Works Tools was because I was a chronic pain sufferer and even with being a Massage Therapist and having easy access to massage once a week, those sessions just weren’t enough. Now I use my Knot Works tools everyday and I encourage you to do the same. Check them out, MuscleTensionRelief.com, they are worth it.

I hope this new information is helping you on your journey to the pain free you, you once knew!

Take Care of yourself and be WELL!

Barbara M LaDrig LMT, NCTMB
MuscleTensionRelief.com
Myspace.com/MuscleTensionRelief
Twitter/KnotWorks

*Please note that this is a blog of my opinions only and is not to be treated as medical advice, I am not a doctor.

Lesson 1- The 7 Most Overlooked Causes of Pain

Welcome my friend, to lesson number one of The Seven Most Overlooked Causes of Body Pain & What You Can Do About Them Today.

Let's get right to it!

As you might already know, I'm a Licensed and Nationally Certified Massage Therapist. What you don't know (unless you've received a massage from me) is that I have had a banner in my therapy room since the very start of my career that reads, "Your body reflects what you put into it".

Of all the things I could have chosen to broadcast across the wall in my room, I chose that one saying because it is SO important and yet few people really pay attention to the reality of it.

Certain foods that we eat can actually REDUCE pain & inflammation but certain other foods WILL cause you more of it. Plain and simple.

So just what foods do you want to eat in order to reduce your pain and inflammation?

Try increasing your intake of these:

Coldwater fish such as Salmon, Halibut, Albacore Tuna, Sardines, Mackerel, and Herring.

Fresh Pineapple, Papaya, Strawberries, Raspberries, Bananas and Blueberries.

Spinach, Broccoli, Onion, Green Beans, Olives, Olive oil, Avocado, Walnuts, Whole Grains Oatmeal and Brown Rice.

Ginger, Thyme, Garlic, Turmeric, Rosemary.

Water and Distilled Aloe Vera Juice!!

The fruits and veggies are most beneficial in raw fresh form so fruit and vegetable salads are GREAT. Add some fish atop your vegetable salad and you're in for a real treat.

Your water intake is very important! Water helps your muscles relax and contract and keeps muscles hydrated. Plus if your not flushing toxins out of your body properly it may cause inflammation, tenderness, swelling and pain in the joints. Drinking water throughout your day is a MUST if you want to be pain free.

On the other side of things there are foods that you are going to want to avoid since they have been found to INCREASE pain and inflammation. Stay away from Potatoes (sweet potatoes are ok though), Tomatoes, Peppers (black pepper is ok) and Eggplant. Also keeping fatty meats and dairy to a very low minimum if you decide to eat them at all is a good idea.

I hope this new information is helping you on your journey to the pain free you, you once knew! A good idea is to print this out and stick it on your fridge for a while for quick referencing, you may even want to use a highlighter to highlight the foods you want to eat more of.

Take good care of yourself, be WELL and thanks for reading!

Barbara M. LaDrig LMT 4409, NCTMB
www.MuscleTensionRelief.com
www.Myspace.com/muscletensionrelief
www.Twitter.com/knotworks
*Disclaimer: Please note that information is my opinion only and is not to be treated as medical advice, I am not a doctor.