All posts tagged: neck pain

Contributor: Go Holistic for Pain Management

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The best approach for pain management, especially long-term chronic pain, is holistic. Pain-killing medication is avoided — as well as their associated side effects, such as an addiction to prescription pain killers.  Holistic therapies are often more effective, too. The American Society of Addiction Medicine states that, of the 20.5 million Americans age 12 or older who had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million people had a substance use disorder involving prescription medicine.  The holistic way is totally natural, and the benefits are far beyond pain management.  As the population ages because of longer lifespans, chronic pain has become a bigger issue, the most common of which is lower back pain, followed closely by migraines and neck problems. Less stress using a holistic approach The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has advised that there is growing evidence suggesting complementary approaches are working for pain management.  Holistic therapies change the way the person perceives pain, and this can be as a direct result of reduced stress …

BackerNation: Is Your Cell Phone Becoming a Pain in the Neck?

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We have a guest blog today from BackerNation! *** Flashback to 1999. You get home from school, run to your bedroom while throwing your book bag down as you put on your comfy clothes and sit on your neatly made bed — thanks, Mom. Back then, having your own line, in your own room was the cool thing to have — along with instant messenger and maybe MySpace (who was your top eight?). You had to wait for your best friends to get home in order to three-way call and talk about how your crush winked at you as you got onto the bus. Photo via VisualHunt Flash forward to 2017. Everything is at the tip our fingertips (literally). We’ve replaced land lines with cell phones and phone calls with texting. We can order anything for next day delivery, Facebook Live or SnapChat fun times and call anyone, anywhere, anytime. The convenience factor of today’s technology is INSANE — and by insane, we mean insanely good. However, whenever someone says that something is too good …

The Quell Pain Relief Device: Entering the Third Year

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Here we are again, folks. We’re entering the third year (since I can’t do math), and I am still using the Quell pain relief device (give or take two weeks when I forgot to wear it because my schedule was so disrupted that I forgot). Five bands, who knows how many electrodes — both normal and the new sport model, which I very much prefer in these extremely humid summer months — and two Quell models later, we’ve made it to this point. Well, I still like the Quell! At one point before I upgraded to the new model, I feared that either my pain was getting worse or I was becoming sensitized to the electric current. Turning it up didn’t help, but I still couldn’t go without wearing it for very long before I was overcome with pain. That has been my overall plan, you know. To eventually go without wearing it, trying to set myself to absolute zero to see what my pain really is. I’ve been throwing medication at my pain since …

How to Get Work Done When You Have a Chronic Condition

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Working while dealing with chronic pain is another task on the To-Do List (or so I keep trying to tell myself). I used to crank out work at such a high level, and now I feel so much slower, like I’m trudging uphill through molasses in January. What used to be a machine is now rusted, rickety, with nuts and bolts rattling and clinking down upon the floor. But things still need to get done. Jobs and projects require my attention, divided though my attention may be. How do I focus and get through my docket when my pain tries to pull me in so many directions? Here’s what’s on my docket these days (WARNING: COLLUSION!): day job with Enjuris, editing/writing side gigs, legal side gigs (gotta love this “Gig Economy“), writing a book with my father about his work, volunteering for the MetroWest Opera as a board member (and I need to do the annual taxes), volunteering for the Pain News Network as a columnist and a board member (gotta do some writing), and on top of all that, I …

Got a Pain in the Neck? Incorporate These Stretches into Your Daily Routine

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Hello, everyone! I have been swamped with work, so we have a guest post today from Megan Wilson of PainInjuryRelief.com. She brings us a lovely graphic dedicated to neck pain relief that you can use while at work or on the go! Stay tuned for more regular content soon. In the meantime, thank you, Megan! Living with chronic pain is a trying experience. It can impact each and every minute of your life, from your interactions with friends and family to sleep and mental health. So if there are things you can do to help relieve pain in one area, or to strengthen a part of the body to help compensate for pain elsewhere, then it’s a path to pursue. One area to focus on is the neck; we need our necks to do so much. We use them to work on our computers, to talk on our phones, to read. And neck pain affects so many people—up to 70 percent. Want to learn how to help your neck? This graphic can help.