Posted by IsoM on March 9, 2002, at 3:32:41
In reply to chronic pain -- it's baaaak, posted by Elizabeth on March 9, 2002, at 2:25:20
Elizabeth, I don't know the cause of your pain in your shoulders/back/neck but it's that the area that troubles me the worse. Inactivity (even relative inactivity which would be considered by others as not inactive) will make it flare up again. I need to stay active on a daily basis. One of the reasons I gave up trying to get a degree - the pain became unmanagable & badly affected my sleep & concentration.
Ibuprofen & acetaminophen do nothing for me. Codeine helps but after a few days won't work. I've got a new prescription for an NSAID called Vioxx - I'm sure you've heard of it. It's not bad but still not quite enough. Muscle relaxants will help some too - not OTC, but prescription strength ones.
I've developed my own Tai Chi type exercises for stretching & limbering up the muscles in these areas. One is similar to the way an archer would pull an arrow back from his bow done in slow motion slowly stretching all the muscles there. What you can do is imagine movements from different animals or whatever & enact those motions. Another is to imagine you're slowly flapping your wings like a heron does before taking off in flight. Always keep movement very fluid not sharp or jerky.
I also love music - classical & Celtic mainly but many other types too. I can't hold still when I hear music & will dance & sway to it. You might enjoy putting music on & with your eyes half-closed, move your upper body - arms, hands, head, shoulders & waist to the music. I half-close my eyes as I imagine, along with the music, that I'm all sorts of diff dancers from diff cultures & times. It's fun & very therapeutical.
Lastly, my best friends are two hot water bottles that I make liberal use of around my shoulders & neck (like I'm going to do so tonight). The warmth is long-lasting from hot water & will loosen up tense muscles. For me, cold compresses wwould only make my muscles spasm.
poster:IsoM
thread:97162
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/97167.html