Pain, Yoga and Other Common Misconceptions
When I ask my friends to practice yoga with me, the standard response is either an enthusiastic “yes” or a “no way.”
To the dissenters I’ll ask, “why not?” To which they’ll say any variation of the following:
“It hurts.”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“I’m no good at yoga.”
“I’m not flexible enough.”
For anyone practicing yoga as a beginner, these are common misconceptions. But it’s important to understand these misconceptions before stepping on your yoga mat.
Let’s take a look at each idea one by one:
1. “It hurts.”
Yoga should never hurt. Ever.
If you are in a pose and experience pain, you should back out of the pose immediately. Pain is your body saying, “you’ve gone too far.” And going too far will do nothing but harm.
It’s remarkably easy to stretch or pull a muscle, and feeling pain is the first sign that something isn’t right. By harming your body, you’ll not only suffer, but you’ll slow your any progress made during your practice.
2. “It’s uncomfortable.”
I admit, sometimes yoga is uncomfortable. But here is where the misconception comes in: feeling uncomfortable is actually good thing, not a bad thing. In order to allow change to occur in your body, you have to feel some level of discomfort. Don’t fight this discomfort – embrace it. It’s a necessary thing to improving your asana practice.
Be cautious, however. There is a fine line between discomfort and pain. Hold a pose and allow discomfort, but as soon as you feel pain – back out of the pose slightly.
3. “I’m no good at yoga.” or “I’m not flexible enough.”
Pain With Multiple Sclerosis – Understanding it and What You Can Do to Help
What Causes Pain With Multiple Sclerosis?
Many people with MS experience spasticity, or muscle stiffness and spasms. It usually affects the muscles of the legs, arms and back and may interfere with the ability to move those muscles freely.
Spasticity can occur either as a constant stiffness or as spasms that come and go, especially at night. It can feel like a muscle tightening and can cause severe pain. Spasticity can also produce feelings of pain or tightness in and around joints and can cause low back pain. The intensity may vary depending on your position, posture, and state of relaxation. Spasticity may increase or decrease with an increase or decrease in movement.
What Causes Spasticity?
Spasticity is the result of an imbalance in the electrical signals coming from the brain and spinal cord, often caused by damage to these areas from by MS. This imbalance may cause involuntary contractions of the muscle, and increased muscle tension.
What Triggers Spasticity?
Like other symptoms of MS, spasticity may be aggravated by extremes of temperature, humidity, stress, exhaustion, malnourishment or infections. It can even be triggered by tight clothing – or seemingly, nothing at all.
What Are The Least Invasive Ways to Treat Mild Spasticity?
Mild spasticity can be treated by trying some of the following techniques:
Try changing your daily routine. Limit the amount of walking or moving around you do. Try it for several days in a row to see if that helps the spasms to settle down.
Try gentle exercise by standing and sitting, walking, or other methods that move your body more and help stretch the muscles. Try this for a few days in a row to see if it helps to settle the spasms.
Pain Relief Tips For Wrist Pain
Wrist pain can show up from a variety of actions, whether it be sports, typing, carrying a baby around, etc. Regardless of the activity, whether the pain is from a one time event, or repetitive motion over time, it really doesn’t matter. Pain is pain, and the following tips will help reduce your pain.
You experience pain because of a set, predictable mechanic in the body. Muscles get tight, connective tissue gets tight, the Inflammation Process releases chemicals which release your sensitivity to pain, and the nervous system gets defensive which makes anything worse.
To relieve pain, here are some simple effective things you can do.
Gently jostle/wiggle your wrist and fingers: When the body feels pain it is programmed to tighten things down. Muscles get tight, and stay tight. This reduces circulation and traps waste product and pain enhancing chemical. Keep your wrist and fingers moving. This causes a little lengthening, and a little shortening, and prevents immobility. Western medicine likes to use splints and braces and casts, but immobility is generally not beneficial to the body.
The more gentle movement you can do, constantly throughout the day, the better.
Natural Anti-Inflammatory foods: Sure you can take something like Ibuprofen, just to get your through the day. The problem is, people come to depend on them, but they don’t actually fix anything, and there are various negative side effects. Adding in natural anti-inflammatory foods can help your body effectively deal with a pain dynamic, and they are safe..
Pain Relief With a Sobakawa Buckwheat Pillow
Should you try a Sobakawa buckwheat pillow? Let’s see…do you regularly experience neck or back pain? Are you allergic to other fibers or fabrics typically used in pillows?
Are you an arthritis sufferer? Perhaps you suffer from TMJ, headaches, snoring, or muscle tension – does this sound like you?
If any of the above symptoms or conditions applies to you, you may want to try this brand of buckwheat pillow to help relieve, and sometimes eliminate, the pain you are experiencing every day.
People suffering from lumbar or cervical subluxation or torticolis may also benefit from using a Sobakawa buckwheat pillow in place of the one they’re currently using.
What is Special About This Brand?
The Sobakawa brand buckwheat pillow is filled with organically grown and harvested buckwheat hulls, making it an obvious and wise choice of pillow for allergy sufferers. Great care is taken to wash the hulls several times in a row so the dust that would normally affect allergy sufferers is washed away before the hulls are placed inside the pillow.
Sobakawa pillows are durable and last longer than a traditional type pillow. The buckwheat hulls cradle your head and neck while providing excellent support throughout the night. Several consumer reviews mention that the pillows last ten, fifteen or even 20 years and are still comfortable!
Everyone loves the convenience of shopping online, right? Consumers can find the Sobakawa brand pillow through online retailers who simply offer bedding or through retailers who focus on providing healthier bedding options to the consumer. It’s so nice to be able to order online and have it delivered to your home! You’ll save money and time.
Pain Relief through Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
The World Health Organization (WHO) references acupuncture as being an effective treatment for the management of many types of pain, both acute and chronic.
There are 3 proven mechanisms that explain how acupuncture relieves pain;
1. Gate Theory
Once inserted, the needle activates the myelinated nervous system fibers which ultimately stops the pain message from getting to the T-cells in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (closes the ‘Gate’). Therefore the pain message does not transmit to the thalamus/cortex in the brain (these areas normally interpret these messages and make you feel pain)
2. Opiate Theory
Once inserted, the needle activates the midbrain to release beta-endorphins into the cerebral spinal fluid and met-enkephalin into the plasma. This cascade causes the release of other neurotransmitters that block the sensations of pain. Both endorphins and enkephalins are naturally occurring opiate-like substances produced by the body in situations that require analgesia. Opiates are the fundamental compounds that Pharmaceutical painkillers such as codeine and morphine are built from.
3. Antihistamine Theory
Once inserted, the needle activates a process which regulates (reduces) the amount of histamine and bradykinin in the blood. These substances are what causes inflammation and pain when chronic or acute injury occurs.
Traditional Acupuncture Theory
Energy (Qi) circulates within the body through a series of pathways called meridians, similar to blood vessels. Wherever blood flows it brings with it nourishment and life giving qualities to the surrounding tissues and organs. Qi is the vital force necessary to keep the heart pumping so that blood will be transported as needed. More broadly, Qi gives that same life force to every single cell, tissue, muscle, organ, and gland in the body. Therefore, a blockage of the flow of Qi anywhere in the body will inhibit the amount of nourishment that reaches our cells, tissues, muscles, organs, and glands.
Pain Relief From Lower Back Pain Requires Some Discipline
At some time in your life you will probably experience lower back pain. It is classified in the medical community as either acute (i.e. temporary flare-ups) or chronic (i.e. long lasting). Under any circumstances, it can be quite disabling, and is a condition that accounts for more sick leave than anything else.
Acute lower back pain is usually brought about by some kind of trauma such as heavy lifting, a fall or car accident. The cause is usually no mystery. The damage occurs and symptoms are felt in muscle tissue, ligaments or tendons. Occasionally, of course, there may be a vertebrae fracture.
The causes of chronic lower back pain are less obvious. Onset occurs over a long period of time. Frequently the underlying cause is osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, disc degeneration or disc herniation. Diagnosis of these conditions is often quite complex.
Treatment of lower back pain is most often dictated by the underlying cause. Fortunately, almost all back pain sufferers can be treated non-surgically.
Opinions regarding the best treatments vary widely. The most obvious are pain medications, NSAIDs such as Ibuprofen, muscle relaxants and analgesics such as aspirin or acetaminophen. Beyond that, however, there are some very concrete steps that can be taken that are effective beyond any doubt for most people.
Exercise: For both acute and chronic lower back pain there is no more beneficial course of treatment than staying active and exercising. And, there is probably no better exercise for back pain than back stretching, an excellent method of achieving natural pain relief.
Pain Relief: Is There an Alternative?
Do you rely on Vioxx, Celebrex or Aleve (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs) to ease pain? If you suffer from inflammatory arthritis or pain due to injuries, you probably are familiar with one of these drugs. No doubt you have also heard recent reports linking some NSAIDs with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Belonging to a class called Cox-2 inhibitors, the drugs in question work by reducing inflammation and pain, while having a minimal effect on stomach bleeding and ulcers. But several studies have raised questions as to the long-term consequences of using Vioxx, Celebrex, Aleve and, possibly, other drugs in this classification. What are the facts and do you have an alternative for pain relief?
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
– “FDA is issuing an advisory because of recently released data from controlled clinical trials showing that the COX-2 selective agents (Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra) may be associated with an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events (heart attack and stroke) especially when they are used for long periods of time or in very high risk settings (immediately after heart surgery).” Dec. 23, 2004
– “Also, as FDA announced earlier this week, preliminary results from a long-term clinical trial (up to three years) suggest that long-term use of a non-selective NSAID, naproxen (sold as Aleve, Naprosyn and other trade name and generic products), may be associated with an increased cardiovascular (CV) risk compared to placebo.” Dec. 23, 2004
Pain Relief From Neck and Shoulder Pain – My Top 5 Favorite Ways
When you are experiencing neck and shoulder pain at your computer, there are simple actions you can take to help you feel better.
It is very important to understand how your body reacts with the design of your computer work area. Of equal concern is choosing products to help you rather than create additional pain. It can be just as simple as adjusting or rearranging your equipment and furniture.
Monitor Height Placement
If you bend your neck back to see the monitor, it is too high. If you bend your neck down, your monitor is too low.
Let your head rest naturally and it will tilt slightly forward. You have left the office too many times with sore muscles!
When looking straight ahead, your line of sight is the imaginary horizontal line from your eyes to the screen. Your eyes naturally gaze down 15 – 20 degrees below your line of sight. Adjust the height to easily view the information on the screen where your eyes naturally gaze.
Center Keyboard with Monitor
If your keyboard is placed directly in front of your body and your monitor is situated to the right or left you will be forced to twist your neck to view the screen. Ouch! This twist will tense the muscles in your neck.
The longer you work with your muscles tensed the higher risk of developing neck and shoulder pain.
Adjust Your Chair Armrest Height
How often do you feel as if your neck is almost touching your shoulder? Too often, right!
Let’s not make it easy to tense your shoulders. If your armrests are too high, you will be raising (and tensing!) your shoulders up and creating pain.
Pain Relief By Epidural Injections for Sciatica and Other Conditions
A major contributor to pain reduction is the epidural injection. It is delivered into the spine within the epidural area. Pain killing drugs may be administered through a catheter for continuous use or simply a needle for one time relief. The injection affects both sensation and pain, reducing or almost eliminating them during the period while the drugs are active. This is accomplished because the transmission of pain signals through the nerves is interrupted.
Drugs in Epidural Injections
An injection into the epidural space may contain different drugs depending on the severity of the pain and what the underlying cause is. Anti-inflammatory medications, anesthetics, and steroids are delivered by way of injections into the space. Generally, this is a temporary treatment to reduce excessive pain until a person can cope with it.
The injection may help to reduce swelling and pain so that the body can heal, too. In many cases, it is necessary to use a CAT scan or fluoroscopy to aid in the correct placement of the needle so it will deliver the most pain relief.
When Injections into the Epidural Space are Used
Epidural injections are typically used for pain when other methods are inefficient. They are often taken along with physical therapy, which will naturally lessen the discomfort.
Some situations that may warrant a doctor authorizing an epidural are any problems with the spine including bulging or herniated disks, injuries to vertebrae tissues and spinal nerves, and the pain of childbirth. Failed back surgery often leaves leg and back pain that can be eased with an injection into the epidural space.
Pain Management
Pain Management People who are in pain because of their misaligned joints, arthritis or due to injuries need to undergo pain management. The best way to start is to visit a pain management physician who will determine the source of the discomfort and recommend ways on how to counter it. Incidentally, there are many kinds of options that may help eliminate shoulder pain and lower back pain. Relief is in sight if one is able to get the right treatment combinations. Also, a patient must not self-medicate and understand what kind of pain he is experiencing from.
No pain is the same and people will experience different kinds of discomfort based on their perceptions. The emotional state of a person will also depend on how he or she deals with pain, so it is not surprising that one may experience extreme pain or a mild discomfort. Pain management begins when a pain management physician is able to see people as “human beings,” so he or she is careful with that person’s emotional and physical state.
Also, there are many ways for a specialist to treat lower back pain and shoulder pain. These kinds of pain can be treated by a number of medications like narcotics, but this is not for everyone. There are other medications like antidepressants that can eliminate pain, anti-inflammatory drugs like naproxen and ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and anti-seizure medications that will ease somehow pain that is caused by nerve damage. Therapy can also help alleviate pain and this will target a person’s mind and body. Exercise is good for patients, but working out while in pain can complicate things and is not a good idea. A therapist is then needed to give the proper regimen for a person who is hurting, so he or she will not end up because of the discomfort. Another kind of therapy will involve cognitive-behavioral patterns so that people will find out where pain is coming from.
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