Anyone experience this? I have what appear to be stress knots around my shoulder blades. That, I can live with. However, it appears they bump against some nerves that go into my shoulders, which of course affects my swimming.
My question is, what have you done to combat this? I have seen a massage therapist, a chiropractor, but this keeps coming back. I use heat and cold on the areas, to no avail. Thoughts?
Former Member
I will second Donna's approach. Let me load you up with some more terms to google.
Foam Roller (love mine, but not much help with the back. Great for the legs.)
Theracane (don't have one)
Myofascial Release (the "other" name for trigger points)
I will have to look at Donna's book suggestion. It sounds like a more scientific approach to what many people, me included, do. Find a painful spot with a foam roller/tennis ball, press on the spot until the pain deminishes, repeat.
Maybe a physical therapist could help you figure out a regimen to strengthen and stretch the muscles in there. I have chronic shoulder and neck injuries that I manage pretty effectively with a Pilates program putting special focus on my upper back and "shoulder girdle." My Pilates instructor worked with a PT in her same practice to figure out some exercises that would be especially good for me.
I actually have this same problem. The answer....Tennis Balls! Yes, I take a Tennis Ball and sit or stand against the wall with the tennis ball between me and the wall. If you are working on trigger points(knots) under the right scapula you would use your left hand to hold your right arm across your body then lean against the tennis ball. You can bend your knees to move the tennis ball up or down against the knot you are working on. You control how hard you press the ball against the knot you are working.
There is a book I highly recommend "Trigger Point Therapy Workbook". You can find it using google.
Any time you work a trigger point you may find you have pain that actually radiates to other places. The book is an excellant read and you will find it invaluable.
Good luck.
Donna
Man, I am going through the exact same thing right now. To a point where i cut my swim to 1500 this morning due to pain. I'm going to give you all the info i got. i've been all over this for a while.
1. Posture. not only while walking but, when you are at work. If you sit at a desk make sure everything is at 90 degrees with you feet flat on the floor. your eyes should be no higher than the top of your monitor. Think about this when you watch tv at home as well. you don't want your head out of alignment...so no plasma's mounted above the fire place. (I'm a EHS specialist and should have known this)
2. i was at this site, it's goofy but all makes sense.
www.drbookspan.com/NeckPainArticle.html
3. stretch.
I don't know about you but, this upper back/neck pain is affecting my quality of life. so whatever you find out please post as well.
Do you work at a computer all day? I get "computer back" around the top of the shoulder blades and between the shoulder blades and spine. My massage therapist says the answer is to stretch the chest muscles and that seems to work. It seems counterintuitive, but when you're reaching forward for a keyboard and mouse 8 or more hours a day, the muscles in front get shortened and tight and the ones behind your torso are constantly overstretched and weakened. Rowing exercises and double-arm backstroke are also good for the problem.
One more thing I thought of this morning related to back pain, posture.
Be sure that you are not slouching, and your shoulder blades are lying flat on your back, and the tops of the shoulder blades are approximately level.
It is kinda counter intuitive since it seems like you are tightening muscles that you want to stretch out, but you don't want to stretch those muscles, you want to let then be relaxed and heal themselves.
I will definitely check out that book. I have used foam rollers, but only for my legs. The tennis ball, I have never tried, but I will most definitely do that.
Thanks everyone! I was just thinking about that this morning again as I pushed my tempo in my workout last night, and almost immediately, those nerves were flaring up.
A little follow up here. Friday evening I began to really concentrate on strtching my pectoral muscles and pushing my shoulder blades together. This morning I was able to drop 4k without issue. I also used some heat therapy and had 2 massages over the weekend. The biggest help has been the stretching so far. Something to try.:)
