Managing Pain and Injuries
Foods and Supplements That Heal Joints and ArthritisLast September, I hosted my first DIY alignment and pain relief workshop, where I taught some basic corrective exercise concepts to help people with their chronic pain. While self massage and exercise techniques can cure and relieve many muscular weaknesses and pain issues, looking at our lifestyle and what has caused this pain is a must for success. Here are some things to keep in mind:
HABIT AWARENESS:
Chronic pain can often be attributed to overuse injuries. One example of this is running way past your pain threshold until the tendons start to fray, causing knee pain or shin splints. Another example is hunching over a laptop several hours a day causing impingements in the neck. When we overuse muscles without allowing them to recover or move them in a dysfunctional way, overtime, we may start feeling pain.
Corrective exercises are implemented to counter damage caused from unhealthy patterns. However, if you keep doing the things that cause pain, corrective exercise may not be enough, we need to change our dysfunctional habits.
During our workshop, I asked the class to be very aware of their patterns and habits. We are often unaware that what we do everyday adds up to pain. One thing you need to ask yourself is if there is an unhealthy physical pattern you are doing, such as hunching over a desk (steering wheel, texting device etc.), wearing inappropriate shoes, doing an exercise with improper form or working one muscle while neglecting the opposing muscle (ie.building up the chest but not the upper back)?
For tips on proper lifting click here:
General Tips For Proper Lifting
Habit research shows that the best way to be successful is to replace that habit with something else. Ask yourself what you can do to change this habit and visualize yourself doing it. You might have to change the ergonomics of your desk, learn to lean back and put your head on the head rest of your car when you drive or even change your exercise routine. Maybe you just need to make time to rest and recover.
PSYCHOSOMATIC PAIN:
Is there something in your personal life that may be a source of pain (a relationship, job situation or grudge you refuse to forgive?) More often than not, physical pain is just masked psychological pain.
Have you been ignoring it? Can you change your situation?
If not, change your mind set.
Sometimes our pain is just telling us that its about time we change our situation. Is there a career change you have wanted but have been putting off? Are you in a dysfunctional relationship you should have ended long ago? Have you been lying to yourself or someone else and its about time you come clean? Do you have a medical condition you have been ignoring and its about time you get medical help? The solution may be right around the corner but you have unconsciously chosen to live in pain instead.
But if there seems to be no logical solution, research on mindset has shown that simply changing your perspective can relieve mental anguish. For example, believing you are the only one who has trouble fitting in can cause anxiety but when a psychologist started a study that convinced college freshmen that they are not alone in their insecurities, these students did better in school and the drop out rate went down. Our point of view on how damaging stress itself can be can make or break us. Mindfulness meditation experts have found that simply accepting that there is pain can at least ease some of the anxiety that makes the struggle hard. For more information on this research, click here:
NUTRITION:
What we eat can build and nourish our body or it can poison it. Are you eating in a way that nourishes your body and mind or are you slowly killing it with a junk food diet? For example if you don’t have enough carbs to fuel an intense workout, your muscles will fatigue which may cause them to use improper form, adding pressure to your joints.
We need adequate protein to repair and build. If you are doing strenuous exercise but not consuming enough protein to build back your muscles, bones and connective tissues, then you are just breaking down your body.
Micronutrient deficiencies can be the cause of pain. For example, muscle cramps can be the result of a vitamin B or D deficiency. It is also the side effect of a lack of minerals such as calcium, magnesium or potassium. If you are not sure about your diet, talk to your doctor about getting tested for vitamin deficiencies. For more on diet, click here:
Foods and Supplements That Heal Joints and Arthritis
APPLY WHAT YOU LEARNED
During the DIY Pain Relief Workshop, we learned how to assess common postural and muscular weaknesses in the body that could be causing pain. We learned self massage techniques, various stretches and other exercises that help to fix these deviations. For example, if your pelvis tilts forward, it can cause lower back and hip pain. Exercise and a change of habit can fix the problem. I encouraged my students to take the one most important thing they learned from the workshop and apply it to their lifestyle.
The DIY workshop covered a lot, so I am having another workshop on this subject in February. We will review the basic tenants of the last workshop and maybe add more exercises for those who have been applying what they learned and want to take it to the next level.
For More information on the next DIY Pain Relief Workshop, click this link:
For more information on how to relieve hip pain, click here:
For information on relieving shoulder pain, click here:
Release Neck and Shoulder Tension
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