Category: Health

The next item in this article is “eliciting the relaxation response.” Let’s start at the basics, with progressive muscle relaxation.

 

There are two steps to progressive muscle relaxation: tension, followed by relaxation of the tension muscles. You will focus on one muscle group at a time, on just one side of the body. Let’s say you’re starting with your right hand. As you inhale, squeeze your right hand as hard as you can for five seconds (be careful not to hurt yourself when tensing muscle groups). In these five seconds, focus on what the tension feels like. Then, exhale and quickly release your fist. Let all the tension dissolve from the right hand for five seconds. These five seconds are the most important part of this exercise. Focus on what relaxation feels like. Contrast that with tension. You will repeat this sequence until you have tensed and relaxed all the muscles groups on both sides of your body. You can use this video to guide you.

 

The point of progressive muscle relaxation is to make us aware of the feeling of tension. I so often see people walk into the office with their shoulders drawn up to their ears. They are no longer aware that those muscles are tense! It will take more than one session, but by consistently doing this exercise, you will relearn what tension actually feels like and become more aware of when you are tense throughout the day.

As promised, this is the first post of a series, exploring the points introduced in this article.

 

We’re going to give some thought to breathing, which is so instinctual, that we don’t think about it. However, breathing is not only a necessity; it can help us relax and manage pain.

 

Here’s what happens when we breathe:

 

1. Muscles contract
2. Diaphragm expands
3. Low pressure is in the lungs, high pressure is outside
4. Air goes into the lungs through the mouth/nose and then through the trachea
5. Air passes into the bronchi
6. Air passes through the bronchioles
7. Air passes to the alveoli and gas exchange occurs
8. Muscles relax
9. Diaphragm contracts
10. Pressure increases in the lungs
11. Air is breathed out
12. Repeat

 

We take this system very much for granted, but if it were to fail, we would give anything to breathe again. Indeed, most people would lose consciousness after not being able to breathe for two minutes; brain death usually occurs four or five minutes after cessation of this process.

 

It’s no surprise that breathing is essential to life. But is that its only purpose, to sustain our existence? No. Breathing consciously is a powerful tool for relaxation, and through relaxation, pain management. Breathing therapy has been used successfully in managing chronic low back pain. So, how do we breathe consciously? Try this (an oldie, but a goodie).

 

How’d that go? Let me know in the comments!

I’d like to share this great article from Harvard, that speaks on the effect that the mind can have on the perception of pain. It states, very importantly, that the brain can continue to perceive pain without noxious stimuli; this is called central sensitization, in which the mind is so wired and so used to the perception of pain that it will create the sensation of pain without any external influence.

 

In chiropractic philosophy, it is said that three things cause subluxation: psychological stress, mechanical stress, and chemical stress. In other words, stress, physical trauma, and toxins will individually and synchronously cause misalignment of the joints of the body. Indeed, the mind can work against us, but what is learned can be unlearned.

 

In the coming weeks, I will discuss the six techniques overviewed in this article in detail. (I’ve got to put that sport psychology degree to use.)

Take a look at this abstract of a recent research paper. It finds favorable outcomes for female VA veterans utilizing chiropractic care to manage lower back pain. Very exciting!

Today, I got an EMG, a diagnostic procedure to identify neuromuscular problems. It’s famous (infamous?) for delivering a series of shocks and the insertion of needles. I’m here to report that it’s not that bad! Yes, it’s a series of shocks. Yes, there can potentially be multiple needle insertions. But my experience was not horrid because I held one truth in my head: that we often perceive strange and unfamiliar sensations as pain. If we consciously focus on the sensation, we realize that no, “pain” is not quite an accurate description.

 

This is what I tell patients who have never seen a chiropractor or have seen a chiropractor but have not experienced a high-velocity, low-amplitude adjustment (in other words, the type of adjustment that can elicit “popping” or “cracking” noises). These types of adjustments, as the classification “high-velocity” suggests, are very quick. The first time your joints move in this manner will be strange and unfamiliar, quite like the electric shocks an EMG delivers. The sensation is over in so little time that one’s brain can hardly process it as anything other that pain. Given time or habituation, we come to realize that indeed, an adjustment cannot be accurately labeled as painful.

 

In addition to consciously focusing on the sensation and allowing my brain to process the difference between the shocks and pain, I also tolerated the procedure by not looking to closely at the insertion of the needles. Once the needle pricks the skin and enters the muscle, the pain subsides to an achy sensation. However, the movement of the needle in and out of the muscle can be grotesque, so looking elsewhere in the room is calming.

 

I hope these two suggestions help, if you ever find yourself in need of an EMG.