Pain Free 2013 Part IV :: Have a Pain Free Day

Welcome back to Pain Free 2013, in which we give you handy tools to manage your pain!  

If you’ve lived with chronic pain, or even had pain for more than a few days in a row- you know that you can get oddly comfortable with it.  There is a lot of guilt associated with comfortability in pain.  There shouldn’t be.  Being comfortable in your pain doesn’t mean that you don’t want to be pain free. It doesn’t mean that you’re not willing to work hard at it.  It simply means that you’ve become accustomed to it.  Change can be scary, even change for the better.

Today we’re going to give you some key-components to having a ‘you’ day that will not only help you manage your pain, but will give you a chance to reconnect with your body.

Step One: Take a long, hot bath or shower. Today is not the day for jumping through the shower because you’re in a hurry.  Move your body around. Feel what aches, feel which parts the warm water helps to sooth.  Indulge.

Step Two: When you get out of the shower/bath, your muscles should be relaxed from the warm water.  Now is a good time to do some light stretching. Stretch all of the different parts of your body.  Only stretch until you feel it, not until it causes hurts. Be aware of tightness and restricted range of motion and give those areas a little extra attention.

Step Three: Massage.  If you can swing it, go get a professional massage, if not, spend a little time working on the muscles that you noticed were tense earlier. Be gentle. No deep tissue work that will leave you sore and achy later. A medium strength Swedish massage is about as deep as you want to go.
(Note: This applies to most massages, many people feel that when it comes to massage- the deeper the better.  Never underestimate the power of a good, relaxing round of light muscle work. Often times it can coax the muscles into longer lasting pliability.)

Step Four: Eat a healthy meal.  Eat a meal today that is rich in vegetables, light in wheat and sugars and has a decent source of protein.  This will give your body extra fuel and encourage it to feel good.

Step Five: Drink LOTS of water.  The rule of thumb is that you should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces every day.  Most of us don’t. Today try to meet that goal and overcome it by at least eight ounces.

Step Six: Go for a walk.  No high impact exercise today! Go for a leisurely walk or hike. Notice how your body moves as you walk. The shifts in your hips and spine. Notice if a certain gait decreases your pain or increases it.  Notice your posture when you walk. Are you standing straight? Where are your arms?  Do you favor one leg more than the other? The key here is being aware of your body and letting it find a natural flow.

Step Seven: RELAX! Once you completed steps one through six, relax for the rest of the day. Pay attention to what your body feels like doing- it will tell you if you listen.  

Step Eight: Get lots of sleep.  Today is a good day to head to bed early and let your body enjoy the day it’s had.   

Now, see how you feel tomorrow. Are there places that are sore? Are there places that feel better?   Days like this every now and then allow you to connect with your body and find solutions to overcome pain.

*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com

Pain Free 2013 Part III: Add!

Last month we discussed what you can eliminate from your diet to increase inflammation and, subsequently pain.  This month we're going to talk about some things to add that can serve the same purpose!

1. Vitamin D
Studies suggest that vitamin D can help combat chronic pain, nevermind how vital it is to everyday health. Our bodies create vitamin D in response to exposure to sunligh, but most of us don't create enough.  Supplementation can be the best choice.

More Information:
Vitamin D: A Possible Solution to Chronic Pain
Vitamin D Supplementaion for Patients With Chronic Pain
Chronic Pain: Does Vitamin D Help?

2. Turmeric
It's been established that inflammation leads to pain.  This sells many over the counter anti-inflammatories every year.  A common herb, turmeric, is proven to decrease inflammation and may also combat cancer!

More Information:
Turmeric Works Better Than Drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis
How Good is Turmeric For Pain?
Alleviate Joint Pain with Turmeric

3. Magnesium
Magnesium is a relatively well known nutrient, often associated with calcium absorption.  It is also an excellent muscle relaxant and has been shown to help decrease pain levels.

More Information:
Magnesium for Pain
The Miracle of Magnesium
Magnesium Could Keep Your Muscles Free From Pain

There are many more supplements on the market that can help decrease and manage your pain levels. The important thing is to find what works for your particular condition.


*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com

Pain Free 2013 Part II: Eliminate!

Welcome to the second installment of ‘Pain Free 2013’ here on the Sore No More blog.  If you haven’t reviewed the first article, review it here.  By now you should have gotten to know your pain. Where did it come from? What do you want to do about it?  Assuming you’ve decided that you’re over the whole pain gig, we’ll move along to things that you ought to eliminate consuming to decrease your pain levels.

There are certain substances that, when consumed, increase the amount of inflammation.  As we’ve discussed many times before, inflammation equals pain and dis-ease.  

1. Refined Sugar.
2. Dairy
3. Wheat
4. Red Meat/ Feed Lot Meat
5. Alcohol

Don’t panic! It is not being suggested that you avoid all of these substances altogether.  Only that you be aware of how much you consume them and know that they increase inflammation. Consider balancing things out by increasing the anti-inflammatory foods in your diet.

See if you can pay close attention for the next week or so to how much of the above five substances you ingest and consider changing your diet to decrease them.

*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com

Pain Free 2013 Part I

Welcome to the first in a multi-part series about how to establish a pain free life in 2013.  Here, I’m going to give you cause to think and analyze your pain as well as steps to take to diminish it.  

Today, we’re going to discuss the root of your pain.  Some of the following questions may require more than a moment of thought.  Take your time. 

1. How long have you been experiencing pain? Is it chronic or acute? The duration of your pain tells you how much you’ve learned to live with it and how attached you actually may be to it.
2. Where is your pain located?
This one can actually be surprisingly difficult for some people.  If you can’t pinpoint the location(s) if your pain at a moment’s notice, it’s time to sit down and think about it. 
3. Is there a known cause for your pain?Did you have an accident? Did it just manifest? What happened when you first started experiencing the pain? All of these are keys to eliminating it. 
4.  Are you ready to get rid of your pain?This seems like an obvious question.  Sometimes, however, pain is a useful tool. Take the work-a-holic who only lets himself have down time when his back hurts.  Are you using your pain as a crutch in another area of your life? Until you’ve established this, you won’t be able to make a choice about whether you’re ready to eliminate it or not.  (And yes, it’s okay if you’re not ready.)

Take some time to think about these questions. Write them down if it will help.  They’re important questions leading to the next step in living a pain free life.   

*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com

Keys to a Pain Free Pregnancy!

Being pregnant can take a toll on your body.  As the tiny human being inside of you grows, the pressure on your lumbar spine increases.  This creates a ripple effect that can cause sciatic pain as well as shoulder and neck pain. (Remember! Everything in your body works as a unit.) Nevermind the headaches, fatigues and other miscellaneous aches.  Following are a few tips to help you combat the aches and pains of pregnancy.

1. Yoga and Stretching:
Keeping your muscles limber and flexible is key to limiting the amount of pain you experience.  Try these eight yoga poses for pregnant women.  You may also look at these stretches for pregnant women.   Want to get a little more in depth in your exercises? Try these!

2.  Natural Pain Relief:
-Drinking more water while you’re pregnant may actually help you combat aches and pains.  Yes, you’ll have to visit the restroom more often, but it will keep your body in much better working order.  
-Prenatal massage is a viable option to both soothe aching muscles and combat stress.
-Sleep the right way! Use pillows to make sure that you’re sleeping in ways that keep your body structurally aligned. Good neck support is key and a full body pillow between the knees and to wrap your arms around can help keep your hips from becoming misaligned.
-While you’re at it, get plenty of rest. Even if you have to take a nap every day!  Fatigue has a magical way of making your aches and pains worse.  Let your body rest!

3.  Sore No More!
Applying Sore No More to the parts of you that ache is an excellent and all natural way to have a pain-free pregnancy.  Even better?  For a limited time you can receive a special discount from our ad in Healthy Mom and Baby Magazine, which you can read free online!

Remember- when you’re pregnant, you and your baby are a top priority. Take care of yourself and enjoy a happy, healthy, pain-free pregnancy!  


*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com

Modalities: Rolfing

There are so many different ways to deal with physical pain available.  The important thing to remember is that not everything is going to work for everyone.  However, if it’s on the market, the likelihood is that it has worked for at least a few people. It’s important to stay open minded and be willing to try new things in your pursuit of a pain free life.

Rolfing is a form of structural integration.  The idea is that by manipulation of soft tissue,  your body can be realigned.  In this particular form of manipulation, movements are used to break up adhesions in the fascia that may be restricting skeletal muscle movement and thus causing pain.

Developed by Ida P. Rolf, Rolfing has been in the works since the 1930’s and The Rolf Institute of Structural Integration has been around since the 1970’s.   

Rolfing is very deep work and is generally performed over a series of sessions aimed at normalizing body function.

To learn more about Rolfing, you can visit the Wikipedia article here.
Watch a Rolfing video here.


*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com

Psychosomatic Pain Part II

This is a continuation on last month's article on Psychosomatic Pain.

Emotions and Pain
Chronic pain can be tied to abuse as a child, or even as an adult {source}.  In fact, the brain processes physical pain and mental pain in a very similar manner, making the correlation between the two entirely feasible.  Without proper coping mechanisms, emotional pain can easily manifest itself into physical pain.  Likewise, physical pain can lend itself to emotional discontent.  In many cases, chronic pain and depression can be found living in a parasitic harmony, each feeding off the other.   

In her book ‘You Can Heal Your Life,’’ Lousie L. Hays lists the probable emotional cause for many different ailments and suggest affirmations to solve them.  It provides an interesting insight on how working through emotional pain can have a positive impact on physical pain.

Neurotransmitters and Pain
Neurotransmitters are responsible for delivering messages from your brain to your body and vise versa. They play vital roles in physical, mental and emotional reactions. Much like the hormone imbalances discussed in the adrenal fatigue section, neurotransmitter imbalances can impact physical pain levels and emotional wellbeing.  

Neurotransmitters work as filters in the communication network of the brain.  If the pain management filter is not working effectively, it can cause or worsen chronic pain.  

Solving the Problem
The first step to solving any pain problem is trusting yourself.  Trust that there is a way to solve your problem and that you are worth the effort required to get there.  You must be strong enough to seek out physicians and other healers who are able to help you.   

Adrenal fatigue, emotional stress and neurotransmitter imbalances can all be helped by lifestyle choices including nutritional changes and stress management techniques.  This may require adding things to your diet, finding a therapist you can communicate with, taking up a new exercise routine, and/or treating yourself to monthly massages.

Psychosomatic/psychogenic pain is very real.  Often times it is downplayed because of the difficulty in finding a physical cause.  A bruise hurts when you press on it.  It is an obvious physical pain with an obvious physical cause.  Just because the cause of a pain cannot be seen, visually does not make it less relevant.  Over time, pain that is caused by hormone imbalance, emotional struggle or neurotransmitter dysfunction can cause obvious physical problems (tightened muscles can move bones, generating disc, bursa and ligament problems to name a few).  As many of you know, at this point in the progression, problems become much more difficult to fix, so why not start trying to solve them now?

{Sources: Pain Center of Orlando, NaturalNews.Com, National Sleep Foundation, NCBI, Psychology Today, LA Times, Wikipedia, IWR.Com}

*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com