What does this tennis ball have to do with my poor aching back?
I've had neck, back and shoulder pain off and on for several years. And in the last 5 months, I've developed a very serious condition. It's called "blogger's neck". Blogger's neck is what comes from hours spent hunched over the laptop keyboard. It's a pain in the neck, shoulder and upper back. I use cold packs, ibuprophen and tennis balls to relieve my pain. Yes, I said tennis balls. Here's a trick I learned a while back. It's a way to give myself a back massage. For me, it helps to work out some of the kinks.
Stand with your back up against a wall, heels about 2 inches from the wall. Drop a tennis ball down behind your shoulders, and "capture" it between your back and wall. Lean forward just a bit to move the ball down to the spot that feels tight. Now move your body around in circles to press the ball into the tight spot. You may want to do this where no one else can see you. My family is so used to seeing me try strange things, that they just walk right on past me, taking no notice of any strange movements on my part. I "massage" my back and shoulders for about 3-5 minutes like this when they're tight, and then I can get back to whatever I was doing.
Another pain treatment I use, comes on advice of a friend who's a PT, cold packs -- those flexible-while-frozen packs to wrap around inflamed areas. Great for sprained ankles, twisted knees, and my shoulder. You can make your own cold pack with rubbing alcohol, water and a freezer ziploc bag. Mix alcohol and water in a 50/50 mix and pour into the ziploc bag. Don't fill the bag up. You want the bag to be limp and flexible when frozen. Freeze for a few hours. Obviously, this is one of those things that you have to do in advance of pain or injury-causing swelling. Otherwise you'll be waiting around for 3 hours till your cold pack is ready. But if you want to be prepared, or you have chronic pain, as I do, then you can make these up and keep in the freezer. When placing ice or a cold pack on the skin, always keep a layer of paper towel, or thin fabric between your skin and the pack. My friend, the PT, recommends an old, worn pillow case to put the cold pack in.
The final thing that has helped me with this pain is doing my exercises. Doing the doctor-prescribed exercises not only helps to relieve the pain, but keeps me from re-injuring this same spot. Exercises for injury treatment are site specific and usually don't take that much time. My 5 exercises take me less than 15 minutes per day, and that's enough for me to receive benefit. Worth it to me.
And, as always, this is not medical advice, but what has worked for me. It's important to see your doctor when you've injured yourself. You could do further damage by treating an injury in the wrong way.
The most effective cure, of course, would be to turn off my computer for good. But where's the fun in that?!
Have you found any unusual ways to treat aches and pains?
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