Pain can be debilitating. I’m an expert at eradicating muscular pain. I believe this is due to the fact that in the past, I’ve experienced chronic pain in multiple areas of my body. I understand what you’re going through. I’ve had extreme pain in my low back, shoulders, neck, forearms, wrists and ankles. I’ve had minor pain in my knees and upper arms. Luckily at this moment, I am nearly pain free!
Lower back pain was intermittently my life for 15 years. Sometimes it was so bad I couldn’t stand up straight or sit without discomfort. I went to see all kinds of therapists, but nothing lasted. The treatment that ultimately did help, I discovered by accident. I moved into a new apartment and didn’t have a bed, but I did have a love seat. I slept on the love seat, on my back, with my legs dangling over the armrest for 6 months and the pain disappeared. Sleeping in this position gave my lower back and psoas muscles (deep abdominal muscles that often causes low back pain) a complete rest every night. I still sleep in this position, although I’ve graduated from the love seat. The few times I’ve felt this pain return is when I didn’t sleep in this position. This is not recommended therapy for someone with circulation issues in the legs or someone who experiences spinal discomfort when sleeping on the back.
The wrist and forearm pain was equally debilitating, it lasted for 2 years and was constant. It was occupational tendinitis and came from my work as a massage therapist! Luckily, I wasn’t self employed at the time. I was working at a hotel spa and was able to go on Worker’s Comp. The first 2 weeks, the pain was so wrenching, I couldn’t lift a cup or brush my hair. The Worker’s Comp insurance sent me to a few excellent doctors and a popular physical therapist, but nothing helped. It seemed time helped the most, but it wasn’t enough. I had pain every time I gave a massage (this is why I learned to massage with my feet!) Then I discovered a tool called Armaid in a massage magazine. It’s the perfectly designed tool for self-massage of the forearms, I use it on my upper arms, too. As soon as it arrived in the mail, I massaged by right forearm for 2 hours straight with the deepest pressure possible. My arms were heavily bruised, but the pain was gone, all of it. My forearm muscles were so knotted, they were pulling on the tendons in my wrist. The best doctors and PTs in NYC couldn’t figure that out. Maybe they wanted me to be sick, so they could collect insurance money.
Shoulder and neck pain? I’ll write another post on that one. It’s complicated.
My ankle pain was due to bad shoes. I was wearing Earth Shoes. They have a negative heel, it’s supposed to replicate walking on sand. Funny how it didn’t occur to me that walking barefoot in sand is quite exhausting. Now I wear Danskos, but I’m looking for a vegan equivalent for my next pair of shoes. Please email me if you know of any high quality vegan shoes.
If you have lower back pain that is muscular in origin, I’m your therapist. I know all the tricks to get that part of the body to open up and guess what, only some if it involves your back. And if it’s appropriate for you, try sleeping on your back with your knees propped up, that might be enough.
If you have forearm or wrist pain of muscular origin, don’t come see. Order the Armaid instead. Be sure to tell them that Sarah Awesome sent you in the comment section. http://www.Armaid.com