All posts by Kathryn Merrow

Causes of Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief, Self Help

How Stress Causes Back Pain and How to Get Rid of Stress-Induced Pain

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Do you really mean it when you say that someone gives you ‘a pain in the back’?   If they cause a lot of stress for you, that could be exactly what’s happening.

We tend to use words that describe how we feel.  Getting a pain in the back, the neck, the rear–those are all real feelings that can turn into real honest-to-goodness pain.

Stressful emotions can cause back pain.  Here’s how:

Think of a stressful situation or person for a moment.

What happens to your body when you feel stressed?  Some part gets tight.  Muscles get tense.

Is it your jaw?  Your upper shoulders?  Or, do the muscles in your lower back tighten up?

How can you get rid of the pain in your back naturally?

  1. Meditation can help.  When you learn to meditate you become an observer.  Things are not so stressful because you just let them happen without emotional involvement.
  2. Breathing can help.  Deep, even breathing settles down bodies.
  3. Exercise helps.  We were born to move!  When we stop moving, stress builds up.  You need active movement!  Choose something you enjoy and JUST DO IT!

This may seem very simplistic.  In fact, way too simple especially if you have a lot of pain.  But here’s the deal:

Bodies heal all the time.

The more help you, yourself, can give your body the quicker Continue reading How Stress Causes Back Pain and How to Get Rid of Stress-Induced Pain →

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Neck Pain, Shoulder Pain, Upper Back Muscle Knots, Upper Back Pain

Pain In The Left Side Of Your Upper Shoulder And Neck

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Why do I have pain in upper back
Pain in upper back and shoulder

If you have pain in the left side of your upper shoulder and neck, right about where they meet, guess what the cause might be?

Sure it’s muscles, most likely.  But why are they complaining?

1.  Do you type?  Do you sit facing toward the right while you are at the computer?  The best way is to face the monitor or your material squarely in front of your nose.

2.  Do you always watch the television from an angle?  Or sit in the same corner of the same couch with your head tilted?  How about changing position so you look directly and straight at the television or book?

3.  Do you sleep on your side with your head tilted either up or down?   You can prop your neck and head in a more neutral position to avoid neck muscle strain.

4.  Do you tuck the phone Continue reading Pain In The Left Side Of Your Upper Shoulder And Neck →

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Causes of Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief, Self Help, Upper Back Muscle Knots

What Is The Most Common Cause Of Back Pain?

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Muscle knots in back

What is the most common cause of back pain that you wouldn’t normally think of?

We expect to have back pain when we work our muscles too hard but what else could make your back hurt?

Here are three causes you might not have thought about:

The most common cause of back pain is under-use of muscles!

This happens when you spend too much time sitting.  We were built to move–to walk, swing from trees and all the things we don’t do much anymore.  We are supposed to use ALL of our muscles but we mostly use just SOME of them.

That makes muscles unhappy so they get knots and they complain.  Weak muscles are easily overstretched and that is a common reason for muscle pain in your back.

Poor nutrition causes muscle pain in your back.  Muscles need minerals to function well and a lot of the things we eat don’t supply all of the nutrients that used to be in (real) food.  (<–click to article.)  Worse yet, some of the things we eat actually deplete our bodies of necessary vitamins.  Yikes!

Poor posture causes back pain, too.   Poor posture is often caused by poor habits–slouching, leaning to one side, sitting with your head way forward, ‘forgetting’ to stretch.  If you have the feeling that you are curling forward it’s time to stretch.  Get your arms up and back, (<– click to article.)  squeeze your shoulder blades to your spine, lift your chin.

You may have noticed that all of the most common causes of back pain are things that can easily be fixed.  But you have to take action!

Take control of your posture and nutrition, get moving and USE your body and you can get rid of the most common causes of pain in your back.  🙂

I created a program to help people get rid of the nasty muscle knots in their upper back but it actually has solutions to all of these causes of “plain old back pain,” too.

Just click the link –> to learn more about Knots In Your Back Gone!

 

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Causes of Back Pain, Self Help, Upper Back Pain

Muscles In The Front Of Your Body Cause Muscle Pain In The Back Of Your Body

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get rid of muscles knots upper backMuscles in the front of your body can cause pain in your neck and back.  It’s true!

Sometimes pain in your back is caused simply because tight muscles in the front of your body are pulling and causing strain and stress in your back muscles.

Sometimes the tight muscles in front cause trigger points.  Trigger points are crabby areas of muscle that cause pain elsewhere.

By massaging, rubbing or pinching the following muscle groups you can help the muscles relax.  You might also be able to knock out any trigger points that are causing your back pain.  🙂

Chest muscles can cause back pain.

This link will take you to an article with more information about stretching your chest muscles.

http://simplepainrelief.com/2012/08/19/a-good-stretch-for-neck-and-upper-back-pain/

Rib muscles can cause back pain.

The good thing about the rib muscles in the front and sides is that you can reach them yourself to rub and massage them.  Pinch them if you can and lift them.  Roll tender areas of muscle and skin between your fingers.

Abdominal muscles can also cause back pain.

You can also massage, pinch, lift and roll the muscles on the upper abdomen.  You want to pick up muscle, not just skin.  If you lean forward a bit it will be easier to pinch the muscles. This is much easier to do if you don’t carry too much weight in your abdomen.

When you find tender areas, those are the muscles and tissue to focus on.  Spend more time massaging tender areas than places that don’t have discomfort.

You may discover some very, very uncomfortable tissues in the front of your body.

And if you pay attention you may also find that your back feels a bit looser and more happy after you treat and relax the muscles in the front of your body.

You could also notice the next day that you feel a little tender or bruised where you were treating.  That’s a perfectly normal reaction that happens when tight tissues are manipulated.

Drinking extra water (and lots of it!) can help prevent a lot of the tenderness following ‘deep tissue massage.’

We want to have long, relaxed front muscles.  By helping the muscles in the front of your body relax you will prevent muscle strain in your back.

If you’re suffering with “knots” or muscle spasms in your upper back, you may like to check out this page:  Knots In Your Back.  It will tell you all about a simple program I created to help people just like you (and me) get rid of our knots forever!

P.S.  I don’t have knots any more. 🙂

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Natural Back Pain Relief, Upper Back Pain

How To Get Rid Of Muscle Knots In Your Back Naturally

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Do you know…

  • Why your back muscles are complaining?
  • What causes muscle knots in your back?
  • How to relieve them naturally with steps you can take NOW?
  • What trigger points are and how they cause knots?

Chris emailed me after he got a free report from me and said:

I have gotten rid of my knots. It’s first time I haven’t had back pain in awhile. I couldn’t have done it without your expertise! Thank you so much. ~ Chris

Imagine!  He got enough information in that report to get rid of his knots.  But I have to tell you:  It’s because he took action.

He got the report, read the report and took action.  That’s the best way to get better.

Sometimes you just need a little bit of help to get rid of knotted up muscles in your upper back.

You might not find that free report around here now but there are lots of articles right here that will help get you on the road to understanding WHY you have muscle knots and the steps you can take to get rid of them just like Chris did.

If you don’t feel like sifting through all of the articles, I’ve created an easy to use, simple system to get rid of your upper back muscles “knots” and pain.  Just click this link for more info –>  Knots In Your Back Gone!

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Upper Back Pain

Trapezius Muscle Spasm In Your Upper Back? Or Rhomboid Muscle Spasm?

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The Trapezius muscles in the upper back can be painful.

Do you have a muscle spasm in your trapezius muscle?  Here’s some background:

Muscle spasm is a contraction.  Your muscle has tightened up and doesn’t feel good.  Muscle contraction in the upper back is very often caused by over-stretching the muscles.  Read more to discover why.

In this picture the trapezius muscle is shown on the right side of the back.  There is one that matches on the left side but it is cut away.

You can see the shoulder blades and where the muscles attach.  All muscles attach to bones and that is how we are able to move.

The muscle that goes from the shoulder blade to the spine on the left side of the back is the rhomboid.  You have a matching one on the other side of the back hidden by the trapezius muscle.

Rhomboids get blamed for upper back muscle spasm all the time.  But they are not usually the problem.

Tennis Ball Therapy, heat or cold therapy or massage can often get rid of the muscle spasm (“knots”) in your trapezius.

But not always.

Sometimes you have to Continue reading Trapezius Muscle Spasm In Your Upper Back? Or Rhomboid Muscle Spasm? →

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Self Help, Upper Back Muscle Knots, Upper Back Pain

How To Keep Muscle Knots In Your Upper Back From Coming Back

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Muscle knots in back

Here’s a good question I received about muscle knots in your upper back:

I am a student and find my self working in forward head posture every day.  My goal is to get rid of my knots and once I get rid of them I was wondering what i can do to keep them at bay? I don’t have the option of changing what I do or my future career.

Many careers involve forward head positions and working with hands stretched out in front of your body.  That posture makes upper back muscles very unhappy.

The good news is those muscles can be happy again!

Once the knots are gone here’s what you can do now and forever to keep those miserable muscle spasms from coming back:

Here’s how in a nutshell:

Strengthen your back muscles.  It doesn’t have to be a hard workout; it just has to help you get a stronger back.

One way to do this is to squeeze your shoulder blades toward your spine.  Be sure to have your head over your body rather than “out in front” when you do this.  Laying flat on your back in bed makes it easier.

Actually you need to strengthen ALL the muscles from your knees to your skull on the back side of your body.

When the muscles in back are strong, they can ‘hold their own’ against daily working postures.  That avoids pain!

I created a program just to help you get rid of your upper back pain forever.

It will even teach you how to get a strong back easily–in bed!

Check it out but in the meantime…

  • Take lots of breaks to stretch up and back, up and back.
  • Lift your breastbone and the crown of your head to the sky.
  • Eat healthy foods to support your muscles.  Well-nourished muscles function better.
  • Drink plenty of water.  Muscles that are well-hydrated function much better.

Having a strong back helps a TON and stretching the muscles in front of your arms and chest and abdomen also helps keep the nasty muscle knots in your back from coming back.

If you want to know more about this simple, easy, self-help course that I created just to help people like you get rid of the muscle pain in their upper back, please just click here:  Knots In Your Back

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Shoulder Blade Pain, Shoulder Pain, Upper Back Pain

How To Get Rid Of Pain On The Lower Half Of Your Shoulder Blade

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This post will help you get rid of the pain on the lower half of your shoulder blade naturally.  It explains about muscles and how they cause pain and how you can do your own therapy!  (That link will take you to another of my natural pain relief websites.)

Is your pain on the bottom half of the shoulder blade and on the outer side of the shoulder blade near the armpit? Then this article is for you.

If doing a movement with your arm in front of your body makes it the pain in your back worse, this article is for you.

Just click on the link and you will understand why you have pain on the lower outer edge of your shoulder blade and how to get rid of it naturally.

If you also have miserable knots in your upper back that you want gone forever, just click here:  Knots In Your Back Gone!

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Natural Back Pain Relief, Self Help

Ten Secrets For Natural Back Pain Relief

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Here are Ten Simple Natural Pain Relief “Secrets” for Pain In Your Back:

1.  Be responsible for your own wellness.  No one cares about your pain as much as you do.  You might have to do your own research and make decisions to take action or change behaviors.

2.  Take good care of your body:  Feed it wholesome foods and avoid fake foods and additives.  Highly processed food has all of the nutrition stripped away.  Sure, sometimes some stuff is added back in but don’t be fooled–most of the good stuff is gone.  Also, chemicals are added which bodies do NOT like.  Muscles need minerals to function well so consider taking a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.

3.  Reduce your stress.  Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, walking, stretching or other exercise can all help.

4.  Improve your posture.  In a nutshell, strengthen the muscles in the back of your body from your knees up and lengthen the muscles in the front of your body and calves.

5.  Stretch in the correct directions.  Usually the muscles that need stretching are in the front of your body and the ones that complain are in the back.

6.  Breathe deeply.  Breathing deeply moves your ribs and muscles are attached to your ribs so it helps them relax.

7.  Get enough sleep.  And sleep in a position that doesn’t aggravate your back.

8.  Drink sufficient water.  When your muscles are well-hydrated they will function better.

9.  Become knowledgeable about your body and the causes of your pain and know this:  Back pain symptoms lie all the time.  Just because it hurts ‘there‘ doesn’t mean the problem is ‘there.’

10.Do what you need to do to become pain-free, naturally.  Educate yourself and take action.

There you have it:  Ten “secrets” for getting rid of your back pain naturally.  🙂

And here’s another tip:

Because you’re here, I’m betting there’s a good chance that you just might have miserable knots in your upper back muscles.  If you do, and you want them gone, just click this link.

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Causes of Back Pain, Lower Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief

What Causes A Wide Band of Pain In Your Back

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Do you have pain in the middle of your back?  Does it feel kind of like a wide band of pain below your shoulder blades?

Or do you have a wide band of pain across your lower back?

Wide Band Of Pain In Your Back

You know how I’m always telling you that muscles are the largest cause of pain?  Well, this may come as a surprise.  It’s still muscles but if your pain pattern looks like the red areas in this picture, the muscle to blame is in the front of your body!

The abdominal muscles right next to the midline of your body (rectus abdominis) can cause referred pain into your back.  This happens when the muscle develops trigger points.  Trigger points cause referred pain.

Sometimes only one side of the rectus abdominis has a trigger point but it still causes pain on both sides of the back.

How can you get rid of the trigger points that cause your back pain?

You could have someone rub on your back until the cows come home but it won’t help if your back pain is caused by muscles in front of your body.  You have to relax the trigger points in that abdominal muscle to relieve your back pain.

See the X‘s on the abdominal muscle?  Those indicate the locations of trigger points.  Those are the areas to treat.

The easiest way to treat those Continue reading What Causes A Wide Band of Pain In Your Back →

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