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

Psychosomatic Pain Part I

Have you ever felt as though your chronic pain was being downplayed because it was “all in your head?”  That may be true.  The fact of the matter is that mental and emotional states can have a profound and very real impact on pain levels.  A high stress level has physical consequences.  It can exacerbate pain that is already present, such as arthritis.  Or, it can generate new pains that were not previously present, as is often the case with those suffering from Fibromyalgia.  

There are some key players in the stress-pain correlation;

Adrenal Fatigue
Hypoadrenia (adrenal fatigue) occurs when your adrenal glands become overworked, expelling too much adrenaline and cortisol.  These are your ‘fight or flight’ hormones.  In the absence of need to flee from, say, saber tooth tigers, today’s human is expelling far too many of these hormones in response to things like getting the incorrect order at Starbucks.

Adrenal fatigue can express itself as chronic pain and is often misdiagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia.  Muscular pain is a common symptom of adrenal fatigue, most specifically those muscles found in the legs (sartorius, gracilis, posterior tibialis, gastrocnemius, and soleus.)  These muscles impact the balance of the pelvis and can subsequently cause low back pain. Left unremedied, this unbalance can travel up the spine, generating mid back, upper back, shoulder, and even neck pain.

Sleep is often disturbed by adrenal fatigue. The imbalance of cortisol production makes falling asleep and staying asleep difficult.  Lack of quality REM sleep has long been known to impact pain levels negatively.

Learn more symptoms of adrenal fatigue here.

Check back next month for part two of the Psychosomatic Pain article. 


*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

Cold Laser Therapy and Pain

Cold lasers are becoming more commonly implemented for pain management on a personal level and in alternative medicine and pain management offices.  These lasers interact with photo receptors in your cells to decrease inflammation and encourage tissues repair in injured areas.

Cold lasers penetrate through the upper layers of skin to reach their target area and stimulate mitochondria.  They may be useful in reducing pain and stimulating healing, which makes them a valuable asset to any pain or injury management regimen.

Find some more great information about cold lasers here;
Integrity Chiropractic 
ColdLasers.Org

{Sources: Coldlasers.org, Spine-Health, Integrity Chiropractic}


*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

Promoting Spinal Disc Health

{Source}

 Maybe you’re one of many who suffer from herniated/bulging discs or nerve impingement that cause you pain.  Maybe you’re just trying to be preemptive in avoiding future problems.  Either way, there are certain steps you can take to encourage spinal disc health

1.  Aerobic and Resistance Exercise.  Even something as simple as taking a brisk 20 minute walk 3-4 days a week can promote spinal health.

2.  Supplements.  Supplements like Vitamin C, Glucosamine and Magnesium can help promote bone and disc health as well as decreasing inflammation, which promotes back pain.

3.  Weight.  Excessive body weight strains the back and encourages bulging discs.

4.  Posture.  Poor posture puts undue stress on the spine, encouraging pain and herniation.

5.  Proper Alignment. A visit to a chiropractor will ensure that your spine is properly aligned, and that your discs are given proper space to function, as well as discouraging nerve impingement.

These are a few simple ways you can do your best to keep yourself healthy and pain free!  However, if you’re experiencing back pain, keeping Sore No More on hand is an excellent way to manage it naturally!

{Sources; Spine-Health, Livestrong, Dr. Weil Blog}

*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