Tag Archives: muscle spasm upper back

Upper Back Pain

How To Get Rid Of Upper Back Pain With Heat

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Oh, my aching shoulders!  My upper back aches!  My ‘traps’ are killing me!

In a nutshell, poor posture is usually to blame for upper back pain.  Here’s why:

When your heavy head hangs in front of your body and your shoulders are rolled forward it strains the muscles in your upper back.  It might not matter for a few minutes but it matters when you do it for hours on end.  🙁

Correcting your posture is the best to avoid upper back pain but heat can help in the meantime.

Here’s how to use heat to help your upper back muscles feel better:  Use it on your WHOLE upper body.

If you apply heat packs or a heating pad only to the strained part it will weaken it further.  It may feel good temporarily but then you will notice it still hurts or even feels a little worse.

But if you direct the hot water on your whole upper body–front, sides and back–it will help relax the muscles in the front of your body, too.

And the muscles in the front of your body NEED to be relaxed!  They are a big part of the problem.

You see, the muscles in the front of your body tend to get short and tight just from everyday activities.  They pull us forward and that strains back muscles.

When you use heat packs on your upper chest and arms as well as your back it will help those tight muscles relax.  Then your muscles will be more balanced and you will have less strain and pain in your upper back muscles.  🙂

You can learn more about the causes and natural cures for miserable upper back pain at Knots In Your Back Gone!

 

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Upper Back Muscle Knots, Upper Back Pain

What Causes Muscle Pain Between Your Shoulder Blades?

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What causes the pain between your shoulder blades?

Could it be stress? Overwork? Old age? Arthritis? Or maybe your nerves or bones?

Would you be surprised if I told you that the cause was most likely cause of pain between your shoulder blades is…in most cases…muscles?

But not any old muscles.

Overstretched muscles cause most back pain, especially pain between the shoulder blades.

Pain between your shoulder blades and spine can Continue reading What Causes Muscle Pain Between Your Shoulder Blades? →

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Upper Back Pain

Getting Rid of Knots in Your Upper Back

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Muscle knots in upper back
You can get rid of miserable muscle ‘knots’ in your upper back naturally!

Can you get rid of the muscle “knots” in your upper back that are causing you pain naturally?  You sure can.

All you need to do is figure out exactly why you have those miserable muscle spasms.  I’ll help you.

Here are two of the most common causes of muscle knots in your back.

Knot #1.  Muscle strain.  This can be caused by Continue reading Getting Rid of Knots in Your Upper Back →

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Upper Back Pain

Upper Back Pain–Common Causes & Natural Cures for Shoulder Pain

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What’s the most common cause of upper back pain?  Did you guess your muscles?  You are right!

Muscles are responsible for most of our aches and pains.

But the medical profession doesn’t have the time to figure out why your shoulders or back hurt.  Instead they just write prescriptions to mask the pain.

How come?  Well, it takes Continue reading Upper Back Pain–Common Causes & Natural Cures for Shoulder Pain →

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Upper Back Pain

How Sitting Causes Pain In Your Upper Back

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Can something as simple as sitting cause upper back pain?

Yes.  Here’s how:

Let’s say you are in your nice comfy recliner.  And let’s say you are reading.  Or doing hand work.  Or using your laptop.

Where is your head?

That’s right.  It is sticking out in front of your body.

When you sit like that often enough your muscles get used to it.  And then no matter Continue reading How Sitting Causes Pain In Your Upper Back →

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Upper Back Pain

Knots In Your Upper Back Caused By Forward Head Posture

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When you learned to walk, your spine did this really neat thing.  It developed curves to help you stand “straight.”

When we say, “Stand up straight,” it really means stand tall; stand with the proper curves in your spine; stand with your head over your body instead of in front of it.

See this fellow sitting with his back rounded?  Sitting, sleeping or working in a position with your back like that will cause you to lose the curve in your lower back.

You are supposed to have a curve behind your waist that creates a small hollow.

When you lose that curve, your head moves forward just like this fellow.

And that forward head posture creates a LOT of strain on the muscles of your upper back.  It can cause headaches, neck aches, lower back pain, upper back pain Continue reading Knots In Your Upper Back Caused By Forward Head Posture →

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Causes of Back Pain, Upper Back Pain

Causes of Shoulder Blade Pain and Back Pain

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What causes shoulder blade pain and back tightness and pain?

Here’s an email I received from a healthy young man who always exercised with no health issues other than debilitating back pain.

I used to work a very physical job with a lot of heavy lifting, bending, and twisting for an 8 1/2 hour shift. The job caused soreness, tightness and an aching pain between my shoulder blades and sometimes my lower back would get stiff but Continue reading Causes of Shoulder Blade Pain and Back Pain →

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Upper Back Pain

Why Didn’t Therapeutic Massage Get Rid Of Your Upper Back Pain or Knot?

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Massage is wonderful for relieving all kinds of back pain and I recommend therapeutic massage for almost every type of physical pain.

Why?  Because it works!

Massage is old medicine.  Very old.  It’s used all over the world for a wide variety of ailments as a medical treatment.  I even met a doctor from a European country who was trained do to massage in medical school.

But sometimes when you go to a massage therapist your back pain doesn’t go away.

Maybe it feels better for a short time, or even just while the therapist is working on your painful area.  (Or not.)  But, it comes right back.  Or, it is back within just a few hours.

When that has happened with any of my clients, I told them what that meant.

That meant I was wrong about the cause of their symptom (their pain.)  It means I didn’t work on the muscles or soft tissue that was the true cause of their pain.  That means we have to try again.

You see, there can be more than one cause.

The unfortunate thing is, many massage therapists only know how to do a relaxation-type massage.  Relaxation or stress-reduction massages can be really great, but…

When you have pain, a relaxation massage probably won’t give you much benefit.  In fact, you may be very disappointed.

So, if you have upper back pain and want relief you will have to find a massage professional who “knows his or her stuff.”  Someone who can Continue reading Why Didn’t Therapeutic Massage Get Rid Of Your Upper Back Pain or Knot? →

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Upper Back Pain

Knots In Your Upper Back? What Makes Muscles Turn Into Knots?

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What makes your muscles turn into knots in your upper back?  Well, they are not really “knots.”  They are a type of muscle spasm.  Here’s one example.

See this little guy?  His head is way in front of his body.  The dotted line indicates the midline of his body.  The line should be passing through the center of the top of his upper leg bones (instead of behind them.)  It should also pass closer to the opening for his ear.

This kind of posture puts a lot of strain on the muscles of the upper back.  Why?  Because your head is heavy!

Your bones are supposed to support you.  You muscles were designed to help you move.

When your heavy head is in front of your body like this, your muscles are working way too hard. Your muscles are trying to hold your head to keep it from falling even farther forward.

Over time your upper back muscles will become tighter and tighter and you will have more and more discomfort.

They become tighter because they are (1) trying to hold up your head and (2) trying to prevent damage to themselves.  That might seem like a good plan but it really doesn’t work so well.

The end result is the poor posture that you see on people who have muscles that are “too tight” in the front of their body.  Collapsing-forward posture is one of the things that turns muscles into knots.

Want to know how to correct your posture and get rid of the muscle knots in your upper back naturally and forever?  Click:  Knots In Your Back Gone!

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Upper Back Pain

What Causes Upper Back Pain & Natural Back Pain Relief

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What causes upper back pain?  What can you do to get rid of your upper back pain naturally?  Good questions!

You have a logical body and it wants to be well.  But you have to help!  And I’d love to help you help yourself.

There are lots of articles here to help you figure out the cause of your upper back pain.  When you know the cause, the next step is to get rid of the cause!  🙂  No cause = no pain.

When you take the steps that you need to, you can get rid of your upper back pain naturally.

Here’s what I can offer to you:

There are a LOT of articles here to help you understand the reasons why you have back pain and that explain what to do to feel better.

Read them and you’ll start to understand the causes for your back pain.  You’ll start to understand what you can do yourself or what kind of therapist might be best for you.

If you’d like even more information about an easy to use and easy to understand self help program that I created for you, please click here –>  Knots In Your Back Gone!

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