Ridiculoulsy Tense Neck and Traps

[thendanisays]

I have always carried most of my stress in my neck and upper traps, but lately the pain has become damn near unbearable. Short of a massage, which i cannot currently afford, does anyone know any stretches, exercises, tips on how to relex them thoughout the day, etc, that could possible help this extremely painful situaion?

 

Thanks in advance guys.

[gee]

Are you sure this has nothing to do with your bed / pillow?

[thendanisays]

it may have something to do with that....i don't really know actually. i know that i sleep on my stomach with my face to one side (or the other) with that arm up under my head and under the pillow....i change sides several times a night, but its almost always the same position. any suggestions on what to try differently? or a different type of pillow? My i usually like my pillows a little thin and kinda dense, not those big fluffy ones..... oh man its killing me!

[sydneyvegan]

I know where you are coming from on this one, as I have exactly the same problem.

Sometimes my traps get so tight they give me a headache from pulling at the back of my head.

I usually go for the massage option, you can get a great acupressure massage in those little chinese massage places

for less than $20.

Another thing to try is Rugby style neck stretches, I find these really help, and have resulted in my neck being a lot less tight.

http://www.coaches.nswrugby.com.au/NSWRugbyCoaches/_Downloads/Documents/NSWRU_Coaching_Resources-%5BStatic_Neck_Exercises%5D.pdf

You can also try dymamic versions of these where you apply a little pressure and have controlled movement.

[djshrew]

acupressure might help. I can relate to this pain! I think it is part of my shoulder issue. (I constantly feel like someone is squeezing my muscle between their fingers)

My Physical Therapist showed me some acupressure techniques and they help make the pain bearable anyway.

As far as how you sleep goes, it coulddefinitely be a part of it, sleeping on your stomach is not only bad for you neck but also for your back (trust me my Physical Therapist has yelled at me for this numerous times). i can tell you though, that the your neck should be completely parallel to the bed and not at an angle. Learned this in therapy also.

[vivalasvegans]

I can relate too, my traps are usually way too tight.

 

One option is to call one of the schools around here to get cheap treatment from students. Western States for chiropractic, NCNM for naturopathic, OCOM for accupuncture (or outside in) and there are a few massage schools too.

 

Hope you feel better.

 

If all else fails, there's always the hot tub with the creepy gross foot guys at 24.

lol

kinda

[Vegan Joe]

Aspirin,

They do have some fairly inexpensive massagers (electric/battery) you can buy that will help to loosen the tension. sounds like you need to learn better control over these muscles, in being able to tense them and then release the tension. When the pain has subsided maybe some tension relaxtion exerciseses will give you better controll over these muscle groups. Hope things get better for you. Aspirin is a good friend of mine. Others prefer other drugs, but I like the idea that aspirin is basicly derived fron birch bark. Athough it is synthesized nowadays.

[djshrew]

another thing to be aware of, it is one of my issues, is posture. It can affect just about every part of your body and may not be helping the painful situation. hope it gets better! if you find something that works well let me know. I have been thinking about some massages (better idea than the cortisone shot crap they want me to get)

[Odidnetne]

Short of a massage, which i cannot currently afford,

 

Don't you have a boyfriend? I'm just saying...

 

Anyway, breathing exercises are great, simply because you can use them to de-stress anywhere, just breathe deeper, more slowly, through your nose. I've noticed that deep breathing alone is stress reducing, and it does make pain a tad more bearable (In my opinion).

[thendanisays]

thanks for all the replies guys.

 

@sydneyvegan-i've never seen a lot of those before. i just did them all and it kinda hurt just to do them, but maybe its because its something new for those muscles and they will adapt as i do them? anyway i'll keep at them, and acupuncture is something ive never had, or even really thought about ever--so i'll look into that-THANKS!

 

As far as how you sleep goes, it coulddefinitely be a part of it, sleeping on your stomach is not only bad for you neck but also for your back (trust me my Physical Therapist has yelled at me for this numerous times). i can tell you though, that the your neck should be completely parallel to the bed and not at an angle. Learned this in therapy also.

 

see i thought sleeping on your stomach was ok, as long as your spine stayed parallel to the bed....? i dont know, i just cannot sleep on my back! ...i'll try tonight.-oh and my posture is fairly atrocious.

 

One option is to call one of the schools around here to get cheap treatment from students. Western States for chiropractic, NCNM for naturopathic, OCOM for accupuncture (or outside in) and there are a few massage schools too.

 

i was thinking of this-i'll look into it. as for the 24 hour hot-tub......i just can't bring myself to do it. nothing is that painful....

 

@Vegan Joe-i actually have some white willow bark here, i forgot about it, but i have been taking ibuprophen, which i rarely do. but learning how to control those muscles specifically is very hard for me as i've been tensing them when i'm stressed since i was about 6 or seven. weird huh? what can i say-i was a stressed out little lady.

 

Don't you have a boyfriend? I'm just saying...

yeah we tried that today. neither of us is especially good at giving massages. he's just terribly awkward, and my hands cramp up quickly, so it was pretty painful, although i did appreciate his efforts. he's so darn cute. And breathing deeply is something that i am ALL ABOUT! Giacomo sees me doing it all the time and says "oh look, dani's channeling wind again" lol. oh well. it really does work to de-stress....just not so much for the pain.

[gee]

it may have something to do with that....i don't really know actually. i know that i sleep on my stomach with my face to one side (or the other) with that arm up under my head and under the pillow....i change sides several times a night, but its almost always the same position. any suggestions on what to try differently? or a different type of pillow? My i usually like my pillows a little thin and kinda dense, not those big fluffy ones..... oh man its killing me!

Try sleeping on your back with a bed / pillow that is comfortable in that position.

I'm in the process of trying various pillows to find THE one for me, we are all different we need different stuff

[Odidnetne]

You could always try asking Robert *REALLY* nicely...

[djshrew]

I think the problem with sleeping on your stomach is that your neck is turned, it's not meant to be in this position for extended periods of time. I have found some help sleeping my using a body pillow. I also bought a pillow my therapist recommended that is a water pillow, it' wonderful. you can actually adjusst the pillow to your liking depending on how much water you put in it.