Natural Ways To Ease Muscle Tension
A nagging pain can literally be a pain in the neck, so to speak. Let’s look at some ways you can chase away the pain as natural.
When you are in pain, it seems like almost nothing else matters. You just want the pain to go away. Most of us have an old standby in the form of a “magic bullet” – a pill that we take for nearly everything that ails us. And, it would seems that we reach for it often. If your approach has been limited to the same, you are missing out on decades of good research on pain-defying alternatives. In studies, these treatments have proven to work just as well as modern medications-and in some cases, even better! Here are some great natural ways to help you get some relief.
RICE which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation is the standard treatment protocol for mild to moderate muscle strains. At first, treatment of both sprains and strains usually involves resting the injured area, icing it, wearing a bandage or device that compresses the area. Even for neck pains, one of the simplest ways to relieve the pain is to lie down and give your neck muscles a chance to recover. But don’t use a thick pillow that crimps your neck.
Get a golf ball. The golf ball is small enough to get to smaller muscles. Stand up and balance yourself by holding the back of a chair or a wall, something sturdy. Support all of your weight on one foot. Place your other foot on the ball and apply pressure to the ball. Use a fair amount of pressure, enough so that you are aware of the ball. Apply pressure in long strokes from your heel to the ball of your foot several times. Keep moving the ball along the length of your foot. Press lengthwise along the outside of your foot, the middle, and the inside of your foot. Then, move the ball from side to side. Press firmly but gently into the ball of your foot and the bottom of your heel. Keep rolling on the golf ball for five minutes. When you are done, put your “rolled” foot on the floor. See how much different it feels from the “unrolled” foot. Now, roll the other foot for five minutes!
Warm baths, warm water bottles and heating pads can also be helpful. Applying heat increases blood flow and can be effective in relieving your stiff muscles and joints, bruising and sprains. When you need instant relief you can try getting a hand towel wet with warm water and wrapping your aching joint with it. Placing the wet towel in the microwave for a few seconds will help make it much warmer and give you relief faster. You can also stand in a hot shower. But don’t keep it up for too long. Too much heat can aggravate symptoms and cause more pain.
Massage can be helpful with painful muscle spasms and pulls. The sense of touch itself is helpful in reducing a pain. Massage therapy can be a great way to ease most pain and stiffness, even which is associated with arthritis. Research has shown that massage can decrease stress hormones and depression, ease muscle pain and spasms, increase the body’s production of natural pain-killing endorphins and improve sleep and immune function.
When one meditates, a sense of being grounded and at peace will enable the body to do its own healing without diversion. Picture pleasant, tension-reducing images such as ocean waves, or visualize your pain as an object you can manipulate and banish from your body. See the pain flow out of your body and away from you.
That’s how visualization – a.k.a. guided imagery can help keep headaches at bay. A therapist can lead you through the technique, but you can try it at home, too. In a month long study of 260 chronic tension-headache sufferers, about 22 per cent of those who listened to guided imagery tapes 20 minutes a day reported that their aches were “much better” than before the treatment, compared with only 8 per cent of the control group.
Emotional stress can trigger muscle tension. Using breathing techniques helps your body relax and takes your mind away from everyday worries. Practice relaxation breathing by taking a breath in through your nose as you count to four, hold it as you count to seven, and breathe out through your mouth while you count to eight. As you exhale, visualize the pain dissipating from wherever it is hurting. It may seem silly or uncomfortable at first, but relaxation breathing will feel more natural with practice. Slow, steady relaxation breathing can help you relax tense muscles and truly focusing on your breathing can help you break a cycle of negative thoughts.
Did you know that prayer is one of the most commonly used alternative therapies for arthritis? Research in behavioral medicine suggests that the interactions of the mind, body and spirit can have powerful effects on our health. But very few published scientific studies have examined the effects of prayer and spirituality. Adding or deepening the spiritual aspects in your life could be good for you, and unless you intend to abandon your medication and other components of your treatment programme, learning to pray each day certainly won’t hurt you.