I'm so frustrated!! I've had neck (trap)and upper back pain for almost a year now. It would come and go. Now it is "going" almost constantly. I went the medical route first....muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory drugs and rest....for about 2 weeks. It helped temporarily. (I HATE taking muscle relaxers....they make me feel tired and lazy!)The minute I stopped taking them and tried to swim, it came back.
I went to a chiropractor. He did X-rays and said my neck was straight. It is supposed to have a slight backward curve...sort of a natural "shock absorber" for your spine. He also said my neck (cervical spine) is shifted big time to the left.....explains why it hurts on the right! :doh: He said my trap muscles have been doing all the "shock absorbing" and had many knots in them on both sides. He also said my pec muscles were too tight and pulling my traps I've been going THREE times a week to get adjusted by the chiropractor. I've been stretching, icing and not swimming. The only thing that has helped is massage...and that's not in my budget! It doesn't seem to be getting better.:shakeshead: :cry: I finally went "swimming" Thursday to try to stretch it out. The doctor said it was ok as long as I didn't push it! I thought I would just kick a lot. I did try to swim some EASY strokes. It tightend up real fast! I ended up kicking on my back and doing a lot of vertical kicking in deep water. Any advice?
When I read your post, I really felt that massage is the answer because your muscles are so tight it is pulling things out of alignment. However, it is not in your budget. Here, the Community College has a program for massage therapist and they always need people to "practice" on. So you can get massages for less. Maybe there is something there you can find. Also, if insurance pays for the chiropractor, maybe they would pay for therapy by the chiropractor's office. My chiropractor has ultrasound treatments, and massage therapists on staff. Maybe look into that.
Since I play softball, I have lots of softballs around. Besides playing ball with them, they actually make wonderful massage tools. If you regularily roll a ball over tight muscles, it really helps. Maybe research different methods of self massage to work those tight muscles.
When I read your post, I really felt that massage is the answer because your muscles are so tight it is pulling things out of alignment. However, it is not in your budget. Here, the Community College has a program for massage therapist and they always need people to "practice" on. So you can get massages for less. Maybe there is something there you can find. Also, if insurance pays for the chiropractor, maybe they would pay for therapy by the chiropractor's office. My chiropractor has ultrasound treatments, and massage therapists on staff. Maybe look into that.
Since I play softball, I have lots of softballs around. Besides playing ball with them, they actually make wonderful massage tools. If you regularily roll a ball over tight muscles, it really helps. Maybe research different methods of self massage to work those tight muscles.
