Pain Lies by HOPE-Wellness_Institute

Pain Lies

“I have tried everything and my pain won’t go away. “

This is something I have heard my clients say for years. That they have been in a spiral of pain and dysfunction and have been to so many medical practitioners that the have lost all “Hope” of ever getting better. It really frustrates me to see so many people be in that spiral of hopelessness. It is a big part of what fuels me and keeps me going. I know there are ways to help break people out of that spiral.

Actually that is why we are the HOPE Wellness Institute. Because those same clients also told me that since we are working together they feel that life can be different. They had HOPE again. My goal is to help as many people as possible stop the pain cycle and take back their life. I love to teach my clients ways they can help themselves, and I know there are many people who for a variety of reasons cannot come to see us at HOPE Wellness Institute. I am providing this E-book as a

way to help you help yourself.

Medicine as we know it has become so segmented that it often forgets that you are a whole person. Your beliefs, your words, your posture, your actions, your movements, your food, your environment, your family, friends, and coworkers all have an impact on how you feel, an impact on your health, your pain and on your life.

in them. To change we must address the all of the stories, even the ones we have forgotten about. That doesn’t mean we have to go back and rip open old stories and relive them, we just have to acknowledge that they are a part of us.

Pain decreases your focus and concentration

I look at Life as if it were the inside of nautilus shell. Each layer of the spiral encompasses the layer under it. Each Chamber is different. Each chamber holds a part of your life’s story. All of those stories have a combination of sadness, hurt, joy and beauty

Everything in your past, in your life, has left traces on your body, mind and soul. All of this contributes to the pain that you are experiencing. Most medical practitioners work with the current obvious symptom, or the latest in a string of symptoms, or the one that is screaming the loudest at

this moment in time. All of those small and not so small events in your life have combined to create the pain you find yourself in today. It has created your habits, your way of moving, your beliefs, both conscious and unconscious. It has created your pain.

To “heal” you have to come into balance. When you apply this idea into your life you can significantly increase the progress and speed of your healing. Which results in less pain and more stamina, energy and productivity. Because when you do that, all the healing works together synergistically and builds on itself.

The first thing I want you to do is start being aware of when you are in pain. Are you in pain all the time? If so what is the level of that pain? When did you start being in pain? Was there an incident or accident that created your pain or did it come on gradual? If you are in pain all the time, is it the same level all the time or does it go up and down. If it varies does it change many times during the day or is it worse some days than others. Is it worse when you first wake up and then get better throughout the day? Or is it the opposite? What are the triggers that cause your pain to

increase? We are going to look more deeply at a few of these triggers and help you decrease your level of pain.

What I have learned in the over 30 years in working with people chronic pain is that there is never a single thing or component to the pain. It is always multifaceted. The more facets you work with the higher the possibility that you can drastically decrease or get rid of your pain all together.

but.... Having worked the thousands of clients that I have over the last 30 years, I have learned that this is true. The majority of the time where you feel the pain is not the cause of the pain. There are many reasons for this but the two we are going to look at today are Compensation and Trigger Points.

1.Compensation:

I was taught many years ago “pain always lies”. Now we know that there is no always,

For most of my clients who have pain that cannot be quickly addressed we can trace it back to an injury 20 years ago or more. When the body is injured, even if it is a minor injury, the body works differently. A painful area will result you using it differently so it hurts less. As you continue to move differently this creates muscle

memory. So even when the injury has healed, and you are no longer in pain, the body continues to move in a dysfunctional way. This affects other muscles and areas of the body. Your body compensates so it still functions, but differently. The longer the muscles move in a compensatory pattern the more dysfunction is established. The more dysfunction, the more pain will eventually result possibly over a wide area of the body.

A. Make a list of all your old injuries, even the small ones. It never ceases to amaze me how many of us have forgotten about the major injuries we have had, let alone the minor ones.

Great so what do you do about changing your pain as a result of a long ago injury. Here are two things you need to do for yourself to start reversing your pain and take back your life.

B. Have someone watch you walk and move. Do you use the two sides of the body the same or different such as, does one arm swing differently than the other? When you walk, is there a small limp, does one foot turn out? Start consciously moving that part of the body the same as the other side. Your daily activities also have a huge impact on your pain

levels. As you hunch over your computer with your shoulders rolled forward and your head projected, the muscles in your chest and the front of the neck tighten and shorten. This causes the muscles of back of the neck and upper back to become overstretched and painful. Normally an overstretched muscle is more painful than a shortened muscle. The longer you do an activity that uses muscles incorrectly or over uses a muscle the more likely you are to end up with pain as a result.

Compensation usually happens on opposites, either from side to side, or front to back. If your neck hurts on the left side it is usually because the muscles are too tight on the right.

I look at the body as a series of short muscles versus stretched muscles. A muscle that is too short or too tight will cause a corresponding muscle to be overstretched. The area that is painful will usually be the overstretched side. So in this case the green arrow is the short side where you need to relax the muscle. The red arrow is where you will usually feel the pain and where most people will rub to get rid of the pain. That just allows the muscle to stretch more, potentially doing more damage, not just causing pain.

When a muscle is overstretched, it results in the nerve that lives in that muscle being overstretched as well. Nerves do not like to be overstretched. We have all been taught to stretch an area that is painful. This will usually result temporary relief but eventually in more pain, and sometimes even a torn muscle. A muscle does not work well when it is overstretched, so it tests weak. That is why at HOPE

Wellness Institute we always look for the areas that are shortened, and work with those first, letting the overstretched muscle relax. Because we look at ourselves

all the time we just see what is. No one has taught us to look for areas that are not level. Now look with new eyes. Take a look at your body in the mirror, look for areas that are shortened or curved. For example look at your neck; is your ear tilted down towards your shoulder on one side? These would be the shortened muscles. If you have neck pain it will usually be on the long side. So to get rid of the neck pain on the long side, you relax the muscles on the short side, this allows muscles on both sides to assume their normal length, and to decrease the pain.

2. Trigger Points:

There are many descriptions of trigger points and many books written on the subject.

The easiest non technical description is “one area of the body is overloaded and sharing it’s load with another area.”

Or a more technical description is; “It is a sensitive area of the body, that when stimulation or irritation occurs, another part the body, is stimulated resulting in pain or dysfunction.” This referral does not have to be pain, it can be itching, stinging, tingling coughing, cold, or heat or any other sensation and results in the that area to

be less functional.

It is important to differentiate a trigger point from a tender point. A tender point is tender only where you are pressing. A trigger point can be tender at the spot you are pressing and it always refers somewhere else.

Even doctors that I have worked with for trigger point therapy thought that every time they found a tender point it was a trigger point. Not so!

Some of these trigger points make perfect sense and others seem to have no logic to them at all. This picture shows a trigger point in the calf, which refers to the buttocks and to the jaw.

One of the things I have always told my students and clients, is that the only rule of trigger points is that they have no rules. They have a mind of their own.

But for the moment lets pretend that we know at least some of the rules.

A. This is the only hard and absolute rule of trigger points. They always refer somewhere else. Imagine pulling the trigger on a gun. Your finger pulls the trigger but the bullet hits something away from your hand.

B. A major trauma or repetitive small traumas may lead to the development of a trigger point. In addition lack of exercise, prolonged poor posture, vitamin deficiencies, sleep disturbances, and joint problems may all add to the possibilities of predisposing you to the developing of micro-traumas and trigger points.

C. Your job or sports, and fun activities that produce repetitive stress on specific areas, muscle or muscle groups can commonly cause chronic stress in muscle fibers, leading to trigger points.

D. Some of these activities include holding your telephone between the ear and shoulder; bending over a table or desk for a long period of time; sitting in chairs with poor support, always leaning to one side, improper arm rests heights, or no arm rests; and picking up and things using improper body mechanics. Also driving with the seat back tilted far back and projecting your head forward.

F. Scars, from injuries or surgery are often full of trigger points, causing pain or dysfunction in organs.

G. Trigger points usually fire into other muscles, not the same muscle.

E. Sports injuries caused by sprain or repetitive movements or stress such as pitcher's or tennis elbow and golf shoulder. Tissues under tension frequently found after spinal surgery and hip replacement may also set up a patient to develop trigger points.

H. There may be multiple trigger points in a chain. Such as a trigger point in your hamstrings, which fires into your buttocks, which fire into your low back. Another example would be a trigger point in your chest muscles, which fires into your neck, which fires into your head, or down your arm.

I. Trigger points can be caused by continuous overwork of a muscle and/or continuous irritation of a muscle (such as sitting in a place where there is cold air continuously blowing on your neck), or an injury that you compensate for.

J. Trigger points can fire from one end of the body to the other, but start by looking in neighboring areas to find the answer.

K. Trigger points will usually fire from a lower muscle to a muscle above it.

Let’s get rid of the trigger points!

In the above picture, the ( x’s) are the trigger point, and the areas of red are where it is firing into. The heavier the red the more pain is found in that area. It is common for trigger points to have more than one area it can fire into. Once you have found a trigger point, which means that you are touching it and you feel sensation somewhere else, use medium pressure on it. This means on a level of 1 to 10 you're using about a five pressure. What I tell my clients is, if “one” is I am touching you, and “ten” is you are going to hit me, I want the

tenderness level to be about in the middle. It can be tender but not painful. When treating pain, more is not better.

So with medium pressure, press on the trigger point, for a maximum of 12 seconds, if you are using the right amount of pressure you will feel the trigger point release. What that feels like is that you are actually letting up on the pressure when you are not.

By using the 12-second rule, with the right amount of pressure, you will not exhaust the trigger point. When it releases in less than 12 seconds just moved to another spot searching for another trigger point.

Some therapies teach to hold a trigger point until it lets go. I have found that when you hold it till it lets go, no matter how long, it will always give up, but out of exhaustion. When a trigger point is exhausted, it usually just comes back madder later, causing it to be more irritated and painful.

If it does not release within 12 seconds moved to another spot and after a few seconds or minutes come back to the one that did not release. Use static pressure again, this time using a little less pressure. You can do this up to three times.

If a trigger point still does not release after three times using pressure on it, is normally one of two things

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A. This is a secondary trigger point, and there is another trigger point firing into it keeping it active. Keep searching till you find what is firing into this spot.

B. This area is overstretched, which means it cannot release. In that case go to an opposite area and see if there is a tight muscle. Once you massage it a little it may relax and allow the overstretched area to relax so that the trigger point can release. Remember the opposite area will be from the front to back or right to left or a lower muscle to a muscle above it.

Common Trigger Points:

Following is a list of some of the issues I have found that have been resolved with Trigger Point (TP) work.

The important thing to remember is when you have pain always make sure you see your DR. The information in this paper is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or

available through this paper is for general information purposes only. Trigger point work is important but first you need to make sure there is not a deeper underlying medical condition. Trigger points are where you look when you can’t find the answer anywhere else or in conjunction with medical research and diagnosis.

Back pain and leg pain can be the result TP’s in the uterus.

Carpal tunnel symptoms can be results of neck, shoulder, or arm TP’s.

Plantar Fasciitis symptoms can be from TP’s in the calves.

Migraines and headaches, TMJ, sinus issues, toothaches and tinnitus can all be the result of TP’s in the neck.

Chest pain and breathing issues can come from TP’s in the chest muscles or the diaphragm.

5 Ways To Instantly Decrease Your Pain

In my 25 plus years in the health and wellness field, I have found the following 5 suggestions to be true for all of my clients, as well as my self.

1. Drink more water!

(Unless you have been restricted by your Medical professional.)

weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 100 pounds you should be drinking 50 ounces of water per day. Soda, and other liquids do not hydrate like water, so they don’t count.

Avoid caffeine! Because caffeine is a diuretic, for each cup of coffee or cola you drink you need 4 more cups of water to replace the needed hydration of your body.

The suggested daily water intake is half of your body

2. Brush!

No, not your teeth or your hair; but your body. Using a dry back brush, (bath brush) you increase your circulation. When circulation is increased pain is decreased. How to:

C. Breathe!

Most of us do not breathe deep enough. As we breathe deeply it moves more oxygen into the blood stream. The reason circulation helps is because it is getting more oxygen into the muscles.

More oxygen means less pain. Try using your abdomen more! Several of us out there are using our chest to breathe more than our abdomen.

Breathing with our chest is often shallow.

As long as I’m breathing, what’s the big deal? Well, the

Using the dry bath brush began softly brushing over your tender areas; for example: Your upper forearm is sensitive to touch, or is overall painful. Brush over the forearm for about one minute. Now test the area by touching again. Still sensitive? Brush again, a little longer this time. The direction that you brush in or the pattern does not matter.

big deal is this: Using your abdomen to breathe helps you take deeper breaths, resulting in circulation of the lymph and more oxygen into the muscles. How do you know where you are breathing? Place one hand on your chest, and the other on you abdomen. Where do you feel the most movement? This shows if you are using mostly your upper or lower lungs. Concentrate on getting your lower hand to move. Breathe and breathe deep and consciously. Again, more oxygen means less pain!

4. Move!

Unless it is broken, it needs to move. Movement increases circulation. It also increases the lymph movement. The lymph system is a major part of the waste system. It is the only major body system that does

not have its own pump. Lymph only moves when you do and with your breathing as a pump.

That is the benefit of the small trampoline or rebounder; when you bounce it moves the lymph. Another option is just to stand and rhythmically lift your heels, go to your tiptoes, then come back down on your flat feet. The more you do this the more lymph movement you have. Exercise of all kinds in great but if all else fails just walk or bounce.

D. Take sugar out of your diet

I know it sounds harsh, but sugar drastically increases pain. Sugar is an irritant to the nerves and it inflames the body, so the more sugar you eat, the more the nerves are irritated, and the more pain you are in. Sugar stimulates the brain’s pleasure center, which releases opioids that fuel a craving for more sugar.

The more sugar you eat, the more pain you will feel.

Sleep!

Sleep is your body’s way to restore and to heal. The less you sleep the more pain your body feels.

Recent studies on cravings and addictions show that heroin and morphine produce the same chemicals in the brain. Sugar also increases the inflammation process, which increases your pain responses.

Balance is key, because sleeping too much can become an issue from lack of movement. If you are having problems sleeping, check to see what is interfering. Turn

off the electronics 1 hour before bed. Make sure your room is completely dark, and turn your clock away from you so you can’t see it.

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We focus on restoring balance to our clients’

Specializing in pain relief and rehabilitation, we can develop a customized treatment plan that works best for your individual needs.

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Imbalance

Imbalance happens to all of us, whether it's physical, emotional, chemical, mental, nutritional or spiritual. The sources of imbalance can become woven together and bind us to the past, to inactivity or to pain and dysfunction. We use many methods to find the source of your imbalances. Some of the methods we use are indepth health histories, structural analysis, muscle testing, stress assessment,

Together we can restore you to your natural balance and help you take your life back.

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