Solution & Methods In General

• Avoid caffeine, refined sugar, and artificial sweeteners at all costs. Switch to Stevia (but watch out for brands that have Dextrose in them).

Neck:

My neck is the first to hurt more than the rest of my body on any occasion. This is where the debilitating tension headaches begin.

Solution & Methods

• While watching TV, make sure you have proper neck, spinal, and head support.
• If you are on a computer a lot, give your neck a rest and a good stretch every now and again especially if you look down at the keys. Or, sit in a reclined position to keep your neck at rest.
• If you read a book, hold or set it at eye level.
• See a Physical Therapist, Orthopedic Specialist or Chiropractor.

• Do stretching exercises every morning when you wake up after resting it on a warm heating pad to relax the muscles. If I stretch before relaxing the muscles, all I get are injuries.
• Be careful when you pick things up or exercise to not strain your neck.
• If you notice your neck tenses up frequently, be mindful and catch yourself.
• Use a contour memory foam pillow at night.

Jaw:

With grinding my teeth at night, clenching, and general stress my jaw is very locked up in the morning. While the joint does click and snap it’s the muscles that are too tight for me to open my mouth in the mornings. After seeing a TMJ specialist, the best I can suggest is written below.

Solution & Methods

• See a Physical Therapist for Myofascial Massage.
• Get a soft mouth guard if you grind your teeth. This can eventually reduce grinding frequency.
• Rest your tongue on the top of your mouth and let your jaw hang. If that makes it worse than rest your tongue on the bottom of your mouth. Do this during the day and try to keep doing it at night, it will become habit.
• Use a heated gel pack in the morning by placing it on both side of the jaw.
• Gently massage your jaw in the morning after placing a heating pad on it and then try slowly stretching your check muscles by blowing them up big with air – with your mouth shut (fish face). Or even better, fill one cheek with air for 20 seconds, and then the other.
• See a TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) Specialist. They may direct you to the option of Oral Surgery if the joint is to blame.

Cranial – Eyes & Face:

Even the small muscles in my face experience pain at a regular consistency. It’s like a migraine for the entire face.

Solution & Methods

• See a Physical Therapist for Myofascial or Cranial Massage.
• Massage the temples, a form of acupressure.
• Massage the top/bridge of the nose, another form of acupressure.
• Place a heated gel pack on the forehead and around the eyes.

Gums:

They hurt when I eat, they hurt when I brush, and they even hurt when I drink.

Solution & Methods

• Talk to your Dentist about options and other possible causes for gum pain.
• Use a soft bristle toothbrush.
• Avoid carbonated drinks or drinks with high acidity (fruit juices).

Shoulders:

In relation to the neck and back muscles, this area is less painful. The pain jumps in severity from the neck to the upper back/shoulder blades (meaning there is pain in the shoulders, but more so in the neck and back). Again, the top of the shoulders are in minimal pain, but the muscles around the blades are severe. This pain primarily worsens sitting at a computer, while reading a book, or when eating high potassium foods.

Solution & Methods

• If you tend to lean forward in your chair when at the computer and despite your best efforts cannot stay leaning back because you naturally seem to gravitate in that direction, you may want to try strapping yourself to the back of the chair. It doesn’t need to be something tight, just a gentle notification that you are gravitating and need to lean back. This really does work and the best straps to use are not stretchy, even a thin piece of string may due. However, if you can identify and fix what is causing you to do this, all the better. This may be due to you subconsciously trying to reduce your back pain by not leaning against the back of the chair (which means you need a softer chair back), or this could be due to a need for an eye checkup and new prescription for corrective lenses, or just moving the monitor closer or increase text size. If you have no problem sitting back, but do have trouble keeping correct posture consider getting a chair back pad/brace and or a chair seat pad in which keeps you in a correct posture.

Endometriosis:

Definition: Endometriosis is a common health problem in women. It gets its name from the word endometrium, the tissue that lines the uterus (womb). In women with this problem, tissue that looks and acts like the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus in other areas. These areas can be called growths, tumors, implants, lesions, or nodules.

Solution & Methods

• The only method that has ever worked for my endometriosis is the birth control shot Depo-Provera. Ask your doctor about the side effects and risks of Depo and if Depo is right for you. With all of my problems and limits on medications Depo-Provera appears to be symptom free for me so far. I have been on it for 10+ years, it has no noticeable side effects (for me), and it comely knocks out my menstrual cycle, which is one less thing I have to worry about every month (and saves me a lot of money).

Forearms:

Like and IV going in all day long. While I do not have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I do have comparable symptoms. The only thing that helps this area of the body is not using a traditional computer setup. My keyboard is in my lap, and my mouse on the futon right next to me on a mouse pad. This allows my muscles to rest FAR more than a traditional setup.

Fingers:

Muscular cramping and painful joints are my major issues here. This it also where I do the most damage because I chew on them(chew is an understatement), but this give me a great deal of pain relief. The sensation of chewing, mindless busy work, and an odd form of acupressure all rolled into one form of destructive stress relief.

Before the nerve pain it was the mental frustration that drove me to this (ever since I was 3 years old), in which came from not getting restful sleep. I bit my fingernails to the point of bleeding all day and the skin around them. Not only the skin in the front, but also the skin on the back – all the way down to the first line and sometimes a little past it.

If you are trying to stop, only to find yourself doing it over and over again, consider talking with your dentist to talk about smoothing out or compositing your front teeth. The rougher, sharper, more jagged your front teeth, the better tools you have to chew. The smoother they are, the less likely you are to do any damage. However, you are going to need to find some other form of stress relief, such as chewing gum, which if done too often, will increase jaw pain.

Solution & Methods

• Try acupressure on the tips of your fingers. Simply apply different levels of pressure to the tips of your fingers until you find the right pressure for you. This relives nerve pain and stress in general.
• Learn acupuncture and do it at home on your fingertips. On-the-go you can gently press a finger nail into the fingertip.

Buttocks:

I sit on memory foam all day. There is no sitting without memory foam. Serta is a great brand for toppers (4 pound), which I use on my futon, and I use a Tempur-Pedic memory foam chair cushion for out of the home and in the car. I can only sit in a car for 15 minutes, and only drive for about that same amount of time. After that, the pain is too great and becomes a huge distraction.

Solution & Methods

• Purchase a foam pad to place on uncomfortable chairs and car seats.

• Never sit longer than you can, know your limits. Sitting to long can cause muscle cramping, spasms, and sharp pain.
• If you only sit for a short time and still have muscle cramping you can try determining if you are eating too much, or too little, foods high in potassium.

Calves & Hips:

Walking and standing are what leads to severe pain hear. Walking at a brisk pace helps, but only for a little while. Endorphins can only do so much for so long.

Solution & Methods

• Do not stand for too long or walk for too long, know your limits.
• Stick to low impact exercises.
• Try wearing orthodics, Dr. Scholl’s (brand) has quite a few different kinds you can get at your local pharmacy.
• Wear supportive shoes.

Feet:

Standing or walking for too long leads to the pads of my feet actually burning, and felling very bruised later in the day and the entire next day (to the point of crawling around the house or using my rollator to get around). They can also cramp up at night on rare occasions. The cramping was solved by taking potassium supplements when my levels were very low. Adding bananas to your daily diet and other food high in potassium can also do the trick, but too much can produce the same cramping effects.