Hi there!
When people ask me “what’s the #1 thing I need to know to get out of long-term pain?”
… I NEVER hesitate with my answer.
The answer?
Your body & your brain are an incredibly sophisticated system. To stop the cycle of chronic pain, we have to look at the body, the mind & the environment around you.
If you want to get out of the pain cycle, a good place to start may be to understand the body system, and also take a good look at how our brain is involved.
So if that sounds good, then buckle up, – because today I’m sharing a resource with you that can really support you as you get to understand pain & get out of the cycle.
Today I’ve got the blog for you, which is just the tip of all the juicy details I go into with my 1:1 & Online group of clients.
Prepare to be surprised 😊
I mean, Andrea was, just check out the message I got –
Just like Andrea, I’d love for you to get a look inside the method I’ve put together, as a cutting edge cornerstone inside the Vitality Method Experience 😊
So go ahead, grab your cuppa, and get some insight into the goodness
Meet the Pain-Spasm-Ischemia-Cycle:
Tension or contraction in a muscle can give us the feeling of pain. The greater the tension, some people feel the muscle wanting to spasm. A spasm is intense muscle tension. It’s an involuntary contraction of a voluntary muscle due to stress, injury, or chronic tension. If the muscle “thinks” it is about to overstretch or overwork, it produces a guarding action, a protective action, which at the time, if the muscle spasms – we really can read this feeling as something going ‘wrong’.
This contraction limits our blood supply (ischemia) and nutrient flow through the muscle and forms a pain → spasm → pain cycle. Toxins build up in the muscle & this is part of what feels like ‘knots’ when you press into a sensitive muscle.
It is clear that we have got to break this cycle.
The good news is we can break the cycle – by taking away one factor at a time.
We can absolutely start with factors that help our physical body – the tissues, the blood flow & our freedom of movement. **Please note – The brain has a mind-blowing impact on persistent pain, and I will cover that in my next blog**
Now everybody’s body is unique, this is not a ‘must-do’ list, it’s a ‘find what feels good for you’ list. For more personalised recommendations, I would be asking you about your specific medical history, current situation & carrying out a detailed movement assessment.
The following are the avenues I explore with a client who has long-term intermittent pain (that their GP is already aware of)
Take a look, and see if there is something here that you can do today to make a difference to you…all it takes is ONE thing (consistently applied) to start breaking the cycle.
See which one speaks to you:
- Long-term intermittent pain – try heat
20 mins of indirect heat, and then 4 hours off, & repeat. (Note this is not for acute pain or a flare-up where you feel heat in the area of pain)
Heat, like a hot water bottle or heat pack, really helps to promote blood flow which has an active role in healing the tissues.
- Cramps or spasms – increase magnesium uptake.
According to research, 75% of us are magnesium deficient. It is a crucial mineral & needs to be present for over 300 reactions in the body to take place – and our soils just are not what they once was. Getting magnesium from your leafy greens may not be enough; if you have symptoms of low energy & mood, muscle spasms & cramps, upping your magnesium intake is a really good idea.
Epsom salts in your bath is great, as is high quality powdered forms of magnesium that have been formulated by highly qualified nutritionists & dieticians. I particularly like the range at Nutri:
If you would like to use my practitioner code for 10% off until the end of June, please email me here & I’ll get you set up. There are different formulations in the range, and I can help you find which one is right for you.
- Getting Cramps? Increase daily potassium & elecrolytes
One small banana may be all you need in a day to replace your potassium levels which aids the muscles. Electroyltes are important, especially as we get hot & sweat them out through summer. The best natural source of elecrolytes is coconut water.
- Feeling pain all over? Treat the top trigger points
Trigger points are painful points on the body, which can refer out in predictable patterns. My aim in massage is to assess and treat at the root cause. Often when we get to the primary trigger points, the satellite ones ease off and disappear. See this one in one of the rotator cuff muscles (the infraspinatus) which is referring down the arm to the fingers? Treat at the cause & the referral pain starts to diminish. It feels magical to feel the difference!
- Feeling stiff? Do specific stretches
Knowing which stretches are the best for you specifically is worth its weight in gold. For chronic pain, I find stretches known as ‘Muscle-Energy-Techniques’ are profound, and I often teach clients how to then perform these themselves. This is a technique where we fire up the muscle, before softening unwinding and finding a new range.
I talk through some of these in my online classes, especially where the chest & hamstrings are concerned.
- Feeling stiff? Move little & often – motion is lotion
If we immobilize the sore tissues, they get weaker & less healthy. The key is to modify the intensity to what feels good for you. Start slow & small, and gradually build up as your muscles register the safe way in which you are moving. If you are stuck, and feel drawn towards how I may be able to help, give me a shout. I show many levels & modifications within my in-person & online classes, as well as the 1:1s
Now, over to you! Is there a strategy here that you feel you can take action on? If so, which one? I’d love to know.
Do drop by next week for my blog where we look at the brain & it’s role in long-term pain.
Love, Jana xx