What is Upper Body Pain? Is it Discomfort caused by a Trigger Point? Surrey, White Rock, BC

How to Overcome Pain

I do love this quote:
"Fast we can only do what we already know. That is how the brain works. To learn and master new skills and overcome limitations, the first thing to do is slow way down. Slow actually gets the brain’s attention and stimulates the formation of rich new neural patterns. Slow gets us out of the automatic mode in our movements, speech, thoughts and social interactions.” -Anat Baniel 
Coral-Lei rolling out the shoulder tensions





Every trigger point class has at least two or more muscles dedicated to a potential trigger point release. Taking the time to move SLOWly when searching for a TrP can be done by self-exploration with the use of different props. This means to stop, to breathe, and to move mindfully when traveling over a TrP. It is then very important to follow with a complementary stretch. The ultimate goal is to resolve the issue once and for all. 


One thing I would like to mention is the overuse of the word pain. We all do it and perhaps identify with any sensation to be serious enough to call it painLet's call it for what it truly is, an uncomfortable sensation, and then perhaps give it a number on a scale of 1 to 10 as to what you may be feeling this 'sensation' means to you. That way you can determine for yourself whether or not the pain has decreased in one session. That being said, knowing that pain is subjective, definitely call it what you will with the knowledge you have.

Odds are that you can relate to pain, whether it be tension, inflexibility, weakness, or damage in the tissue during a movement. The likeliness of having a rare condition known as Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), also known as congenital analgesia, in which a person cannot feel (and has never felt) physical pain is not likely. Let's just say it is good to feel something, right?

  
Please take the time to learn more about trigger points. 
The red marks are referred sensations away from the TrP.
The black dot under the armpit is the subscapularis.
Subscapularis is one of the four rotator cuff muscles that can be strained by activity, such as ball pitching, swimming, forceful overhead lifting, or stopping a fall by reaching backward. Oddly enough, even when the arm is not moving and it is close to the body when sleeping, injured, or pressing a purse or child close to the chest, it will leave the chest tight and the subscapularis can prevent the arm from rising. 

If you find it difficult or painful to reach up and behind your head to comb your hair, this muscle is likely to be involved. When left untreated, other shoulder muscles (including the pectoralis major) will tighten and shorten causing even more pain. The result is commonly known as frozen shoulder, which can progress and last for years if the trigger points are not released daily.





When the back of the wrist aches, this is a sure sign of a trigger point in the subscapularis. A clicking or popping noise when you move your shoulder may be indicative of a TrP in both subscapularis and supraspinatus (another rotator muscle on top of the shoulder).


The treatment is relatively easy with the trigger points near the edge of the shoulder blade. All that has to be done is to position the arm in a way that will move the shoulder blade forward and around the side of the body.


If you can, please come to a class soon...













Comments