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Hi Nutmeg,
So first of all, I hear you saying "As I've been healing, I've gotten a bit more energy and can accomplish things faster, so that helps." That's great -- congratulations! A sure sign that you are heading in the right direction! I think that healing in a slow and steady way is a really good thing.
We're both learning about this. I can tell you what has helped in my own experience and that of some of my clients, but of course it is all trial and error since every body is different.
It also sounds like you are pretty aware of your body and notice when it tightens up and you try to loosen it up. That's excellent. Yes it is easy to clench but awareness is the first step in making changes. Keep relaxing them whenever you feel the muscles tighten up. Create a new habit by doing this.
So you have all the FM trigger points. I've been working with one client for 1-1/2 years and she has made a slow and steady recovery and is doing much better. In addition to receiving massage regularly (2 - 4 times a month) she went to a holistic chiropractor who helped her with nutritional supplements in addition to chiropractic treatments. I recall that the chiropractor worked on treating the inflammation condition that often comes with FM, and doing that helped everything get better for her. I'm not certain how this was done but it did seem to help considerably.
My client also stretches every day, and walks daily when possible. At my suggestion, she also saw a psychotherapist to help her learn how to manage stress and challenges in daily life with much more ease. All of these things, synchronistically, helped her slowly over the 1-1/2 years.
For both her and me, stretching is an important part of feeling better. After 1-1/4 years of stretching every day for 30 minutes, I felt like I had a new body. I'd be interested in knowing more about what you are doing with stretching. How long have you been doing it, and what do you do?
There is a fellow named Robert Masters who has a set of cassette tapes. He provides different gentle movements to retrain the neural pathways which have become stuck in a certain pattern. The idea is to get the body to move differently on a regular basis than the old, painful way, and that retrains the nervous system. These movements were helpful to me and I included them in my daily stretching program. However the set of cassettes is expensive, it is $180.00. If you're interested let me know and I'll tell you how to find them.
What kind of purse do you carry? Is it on your shoulder? Last year I switched to a backpack style purse with two straps that go over both shoulders. The ordinary shoulder bags pull the entire body out of alignment, so if you use one, you might switch to a backpack or other style bag such as a handbag.
Another thing that sometimes comes into play with chronic muscle tightness is calcium. I have clients who, if they don't take their calcium supplements, end up with muscle spasms. I'm not trained in supplements, so you might get some advice from HY about this. Muscles cannot release without calcium.
If you think you're reaching alpha states, and if you can reach them sooner than 20 minutes, you might try doing shorter, more frequent SR sessions since Walt says we only need to reach and stay in alpha for a short time at each "sitting". That would give your body more frequent reminders to relax. If you're still interested in checking your SR with biofeedback, here's some information from the archives. You can contact:
Biofeedback Society of America, 4301 Owens Street, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 at 303-422-8436.
Contact the American Associatin of Biofeedback Clinicians at http://www.biofeedback.net/AAPB.org.
http://www.fiof.com/biofeedback.html, http://biomedical.com. I called the first one with the phone number since it's in my area code and they are still there. I don't know about the others. There might be more in the archives. You might also try a search on the web for biofeedback and the name of your town.
One other thing that is helping me a lot is the rebounding. I find that if I tighten up during the day (or if I awaken with tight muscles at night), if I go bounce for 10 minutes it loosens me up.
Another thing I've noticed makes a difference is the quality of my thoughts. If I'm having a rough day, I sometimes catch myself thinking negative thoughts, and indeed it does cause tension in my body. So, I switch the thoughts around to be positive, in any way I can. Even if it is something as silly as, "Wow! I just washed those dishes perfectly and I'm wonderful!" It does have a relaxing effect. The mind-body connection is real! So being aware of your thoughts, and then creating positive ones, might also be helpful. Again, self-awareness is the key.
Tomorrow I will go for my first Magnesium IV. If you do that too, we can compare our experiences!
So again, it sounds like you are moving in the right direction. Keep giving your body messages that it can relax and give it gentle movement in different patterns. The self-massage and rolfing will help with this. Do some deep slow relaxed breathing, too.
That is what I can offer you, along with my best wishes for your steady recovery.
Regards, Happygal
In Reply to: A few thoughts posted by Happygal to Nutmeg on June 30, 2002 at 23:46:05:
Happygal,
Wow!! Thank you so much for your detailed post. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your concern and sharing of so much information. It will give me a lot to think about this week while the board is on vacation!
Just to touch quickly on a few things you mentioned...
Yes, the body awareness thing was something that I developed while reading and following this board and it has been a tremendous help to me. In the past I would have just tried to ignore it when I tensed up, and just continued doing what I was doing. Now I stop and redirect myself, if possible, or at least take a few seconds to change my position, do a little stretching, or untense a tight spot.
As far as stretches go, I have picked up many different ones in the last few years. Some from my massage therapist & other body workers, and others from the health section of the newspaper or magazine articles for necks and backs. I concentrate on my neck and upper back/shoulder region and try to open out my chest so I'm not hunched and release the tight muscles on the sides and front of my neck. Others I do for my low back and hip/trochanter area, which includes strengthening my abdominals. I don't have a regular stretching routine, although I'm sure it would help if I did. I tend to do it in response to something that hurts, rather than as a preventative. I'ts something I could definitely be better with.
I'm now beginning to believe that my major problems started with a sacral injury about 30 years ago (I slipped on the ice--my legs went out from underneath me and I fell down very hard on my bottom). I think that injury was compounded by unhealthy posture and body mechanics over the years, then moved into the acute phase with a car accident 22 years ago. After that it was 8 years or so before I first sought the help of a chiropractor for intractable pain around my shoulder blades, constant headaches, and a nearly immoveable neck. I think there was a lot more damage done in those 8 years. When I think back over all that, I think I'm darn lucky to be in as good a shape as I am now.
One chiropractor I went to for quite a few years started working with supplements and homeopathics. There was a fibromyalgia homeo. blend and I probably still have some. It was not particularly helpful at the time, but I was a lot unhealthier then. Maybe it would help me more now.
I carry a very small purse now, and have for about 3-4 years. It's a shoulder bag, but one with a very long strap. I know I sometimes hold my shoulder up (always the same side) to keep my purse from sliding down, so about 75% of the time, I wear the purse across my body. Travel always causes a lot of problems for me because no matter how many wheels a piece of luggage has, you always end up having to lift and carry it at least a little.
I've lost a significant amount of weight in the last 3-4 years, which has also helped reduce the wear and tear. I'm not where I need to be yet, but after a plateau period, I'm back in weight loss mode and that helps my outlook.
Stress sure is a killer, isn't it? My attitude for dealing with it is better, and so is my outlook, in general. There are a couple of biggies in my life right now, and that is making things difficult. My daily walk (going on 2 years, 9 months without missing a day) is my best stress-reliever.
The Masters cassettes sound similar to Feldenkrais therapy. My massage therapist does some Feldenkrais work, but it has been a while since we tried it. Maybe I'll ask him to do some with me next visit (tomorrow). I remember it was helpful.
Hmmm, I was thinking it was magnesium that the muscles needed to relax. I have also read several places that we should be taking both calcium and magnesium to keep the system in balance. I'll do some more checking on that. I know I got myself into a pickle with calves that were as hard as rocks and very achy a few years back. That was attributed to taking calcium supplements! There are areas in my upper back that are still hard as rocks and no amount of massage or chiro adjustments will soften them up.
Two things that would probably really help me are deeper breathing--I always forget to do that--and rebounding. I will work on those hurdles. I really appreciate the tips on biofeedback & SR. There is always room for improvement in SR and lots of other things.
Again, Happygal, I appreciate very much your taking the time to think about these issues and write it all out for me. It's obvious to me that your clients are very fortunate to have you on their team of healers. Thank you for extending your gift to me and to so many others on this board. Best of luck with the magnesium treatment tomorrow! I'll be looking for your report when the board is up and running again.
To your health!
Nutmeg
In Reply to: Re: A few thoughts posted by Nutmeg on July 01, 2002 at 02:20:14:
Hi Nutmeg,
About stretching, regular daily stretching is the way to go! Try 15 to 30 minutes a day, with full attention on the stretching. Since the nervous system is one piece, and muscle tension affects the nervous system, each part affects the other. My neck relaxed more after I got my legs stretched out! So did my whole body!
Stretching should be done slowly, never with pain. And be creative once you've gotten more flexible, wiggle gently into a stretch to find out where the remaining tight places are.
You mentioned areas in your upper back that are still hard as rocks and no amount of massage or chiro adjustments will soften them up. I had a similar situation. I stretched until my whole body was loose, then my back was the only place that was still tight and painful. I used the Robert Master's Psychophysical Method Tapes. They guided me to do gentle movements that loosened up all the little muscles along the spine. That got almost all of them.
To finish it up, I used a soft round bolster under my spine and moved up and down over it until the remaining spinal muscles were loosened. What a great feeling to no longer be tight!
Best wishes,
Happygal Jan
In Reply to: Re: A few thoughts posted by Happygal on July 07, 2002 at 00:17:16:
Thanks, Happygal!
Namaste`
Walt
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