neck and shoulders

[PR83]

Hey all,

Over the years my anxiety has manifested itself in various forms. Even though I have made a lot of progress in terms of my anxiety, and panic attacks are rare, I hold massive amounts of tension in my shoulders and neck area. I've seen a chiro for this in the past, have tried various forms of stretching and self massage. As we all do, I'd like to get to the root of the problem and work on prevention of holding stress in this area in the first place. I have a lot of built up muscle memory, so the moment I start working hard and become even a little bit anxious or worried, my muscles subconsciously tense up. Any tips or help out there for prevention of this? I think self talk helps and meditation but it is sometimes difficult to incorporate that all the time.

Thanks everyone!

[PIEMASTER]

I do the same... the only thing that seems to help is consciously thinking of relieving the tension and getting massages. I always have knots in my shoulders from it :(

[gypsylee]

Oh same here.. My shoulders are like rocks. The best thing I've found for it is heat - I have two hot water bottles because I use them constantly as a source of comfort.

[Ponder]

Hey all,

Over the years my anxiety has manifested itself in various forms. Even though I have made a lot of progress in terms of my anxiety, and panic attacks are rare, I hold massive amounts of tension in my shoulders and neck area. I've seen a chiro for this in the past, have tried various forms of stretching and self massage. As we all do, I'd like to get to the root of the problem and work on prevention of holding stress in this area in the first place. I have a lot of built up muscle memory, so the moment I start working hard and become even a little bit anxious or worried, my muscles subconsciously tense up. Any tips or help out there for prevention of this? I think self talk helps and meditation but it is sometimes difficult to incorporate that all the time.

Thanks everyone!

The only way to reprogram that muscle memory is to spend as much time relaxing as you've done stressing.

It sure can be difficult. This is why I have taught myself to keep telling myself that "everything is going to be OK" "It's OK I did not get things done because I know the sun ... will still come up" "I too will get back up and keep on keeping on" "If I can't get from A to B today , I'll reach B by day three" ... and so on and so on.

We all choose the tapes we play. Time to start reprogramming the way you think so that when non causation control methods run their cause you go back less and less until such a point you've taken back control and nailed the cause.

You have the power ... beleive in yourself.


~Dave.http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/spiritual/meditate-smiley-emoticon.gif

I'm still working on myself. Sigh ... Yea It's hard work, but it's great that the pain is less than it was yesterday!

[The Intolerable Kid]

I have the same type of problem. Chiro didn't work for me, I ended up extruding a disk in my spine and then rupturing that disk. Surgery was the ultimate fix for me, but I still suffer from spasms and muscle pain in that area. Things that have helped me are:

A pillow that supports your neck
Hot tub time (hydrotherapy)
Cyclobenzaprine
Icy Hot Smart Relief
THC consumption

I hope you find something that helps with your chronic pain.

[PR83]

Thanks all! Ponder, thanks for reminding me to use some of my mantras, I often forget! Intolerable kid, I don't think I'd mind some THC consumption, lol. It's been a few years but I could use it.