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Curing Pain Naturally
By Chris Vincent CMT
PAIN the perfect warning system, it lets us know damage is occurring; You put your hand in the flame. FIRE BURNS! You move your hand promptly.
We react abruptly to ease the sensation yet most pain is an accumulation of negative sensory input, spread over time. Then out of the blue we notice something undeniable, a sharp shooting pain, impervious to alcohol, aspirin, and denial.
So what are the negative stimuli that lead to this?
• Nutritional deficiencies
• A lack of a variety of movement
• Psyche
It’s a bummer to hear this, I know, after all it’s not our fault, its genetics right? Maybe...let’s look at what we can do.
Let’s focus on 1 out of 3 in the pie of what constitutes humans, being mind -body- spirit. This ones a little less of a hot potato motion.I will share my story of pain, am sure most of us can relate too low back pain? After service in the military I found myself waking up to a dull roar in the hips and back, and then 1 day it was a full blown cyclone of pain, shooting pain down my left leg. I went to chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, all of which helped.
In time I incorporated nutrition and exercise which ended the cycle. This took me 5 years to put together, and was worth every ounce of suffering. For what I learned in the process changed my mind about my take on reality drastically. I learned corrective exercise was a vital component to basic body maintained.
So how could the lack of exercise or movement lead to pain? Simple when you use your muscles in an isolated movement, or when we fire muscles without recruiting the entire musculature to support the movement, we create an imbalanced workload. This stresses one muscle, and atrophies the other muscles. This is then recorded as the pattern to hold, so from there on the body continues to fire the muscles in an imbalanced firing order, for all ensuing activity. Why? Because the muscle holds the memory of the last movement executed, hats why we stretch before and after exercise. So what is correct movement? Like a balloon the muscles need to fully expand and fully deflate, as they work together as a team unified, and dispersing the workload evenly.
IE-YOGA-PILATES these disciplines can create new muscle memory. Sitting in chairs is a perfect example of what not to do, WHY? Because when you sit you lock the back and surrender the abs to gravity, as they hang to the ground. 1 muscle works the other goes to sleep this is then recorded in the nerve sets and all motion from there on is executed in the same manner. BUMMER...
Get
out of the chair and stand, walk, stretch, every 20 minutes, break the
cycle. Or buy a 12 dollar fit ball-excursive ball, and bounce on that
while you sit, because if you sit on a ball you engage the abs, and set
the curve in the spine back!
While you sit, breath deeply, pull the stomach in to meet the spine, focus the exhalation and work the abs, they love it! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ALL OF THAT NONSENSE! Okay, no problem hospitals make a killing off simple avoidable muscle pain, either way you will spend the time and money, usually more in the long run. The energy, time and money we spend in creating pain are the same energy, time, money required to end the pain.
There is always CHOICE... If we take the time, no more than 20 minutes every other day to do a simple, safe routine on a fit ball, this can alleviate a big chunk of that pain. Go to a personnel trainer for tips... Sitting on a ball, slowly rollback curling the spine into the ball, tucking chin to chest and bellybutton to back of spine-l
ike someone pushing in the gut. Rollback as far as you can, then slowly rollback up, 12 or more times, remember speed is the enemy. Face down, roll over the ball and let gravity pull the spine apart, and lift 1 arm and the opposite leg up engaging the abs, look up, then opposite...lift... Short and simple; front to back.
Again consult a trainer for the safest and best results. The last piece is breath. When you breathe make your exhalation twice as long as the inhalation. Pull the bellybutton back to meet the spine, and work the abs, engage them they love it and so will your back! This wakes up the abs to support the spine and releases tension in the back muscles, because now they have some long needed support! Imagine lifting a log with a partner and seeing them yawning as they half heartedly lift, while you struggle and squirm in pain! I would be tight and angry if I was the back muscles too!
I’m always happy to take money for my work, but I find it more
rewarding to help install a routine for my clients to cease the activity
that leads to the pain. Continuing the same habits and expecting a
different outcome is not the best plan.
As a therapist we can release the cemented bonds which are painful and distort posture and movement, by working the connections loose off the bone. This can alleviate years of painful muscles in a few short sessions. If you combine this with corrective exercise the results are very dramatic.
I would love to assist you on your vacation or extended stay here in Cabo.
Treatments can be soft and soothing- or-pressure to the bone. Therapy comes in many different techniques.
Some people are more comfortable with a male or female therapist, both
of which can be accommodated here at the office or at your location.
Yoga classes custom tailored for you and or the group you are with,
followed by massage are the best! 