Pain between shoulder Blades

Pain between shoulder Blades2008-03-13T22:39:27+00:00
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  • Arte
    Participant
    Post count: 1

    sometimes ****** Yoga helps, sometimes not.

    Underneath my right shoulderblade is some kind of a “trigger point”…if I do too much typing, ironing, paddling in my beloved kayak – it can trigger some kind of a muscle spasm what really hurts. It stays there for minutes, I have to Breathe ! a lot and then it disappears. (Have been in ER because of that..its NOT the heart..)

    I had an injection..did not help

    had accu puncture and massage..helps for a while..

    should I concentrate on certain postures and avoid some others ?
    in addition I had a pretty bad fall (Cross Country)..not much fun to try yoga…any ideas ?

    and could I download the “ebook”..I am new here..a German living in Canada..thanks Angelika

    Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
    Forum Owner
    Post count: 3048

    Hello Angelika

    It does sound like some action you are performing stops your ‘spasm’ from resolving. It could be the smallest thing too.

    I think from your message that you must be right handed. If ironing and typing are setting it off it could mean that in order to operate you need to adjust yourself to accommodate the height of your ironing board or table. Often with the effort to of ironing one raises the shoulder a bit to drive more weight through the arm into the iron.

    Maybe you can lower your ironing board or better still get someone else to do the ironing ;). Do like I do, and simply don’t iron. 😆

    You may need to sit higher at your desk. I am not familiar with all the muscles you use to kayak (that’s a confession!) but that is definitely a more heavy-duty activity. What I do sense is that moving your shoulders down and back at every opportunity in yoga and in your normal everyday life is going to benefit you enormously. And of course with correct shoulder position you are practically forced to sit and stand with a straight spine. You may like to feel that your breastbone is also lifted which is another way to achieve your aims. Your neck will also lengthen through decompression of the muscles and spine.

    Angelika, you may find you have some more questions that are pose-specific. Feel free to post them too. Most of shoulder, neck and upper back pain is going to be at least partly resolved with correct shoulder and arm movement.

    Namaste
    Gabrielle 🙂

    jstein
    Participant
    Post count: 11

    Angelika,
    Before I started Bikram yoga, I too would get spasms in the muscle just below my right shoulderblade, while washing the dishes, ironing etc. I found that stretching out the back helped. Before I knew about Bikram yoga, I would find a table or counter top that was hip height, grab onto the edge of the counter top and stand far enough away so that my legs and torso were at a 45 degree angle to each other. Then letting my hips move away from my hands so that I would be stretching my back in opposite directions.

    I was developing a curve to my thoracic spine though because of weak chest muscles and over stretched upper back muscles. The yoga classes have help correct my posture, but Gabrielle’s tip on putting your elbows in your back pocket helped my much more in correcting the alignment of my spine.

    Additionally, I just watched Gabrielle’s video on creating core strength using a small ball under your lowest vertebrae and doing leg raises. (Please watch her video for proper instructions). Just for fun, though, while lying my back, on the floor, I placed the ball in between my shoulder blades, and just relaxed into savasana. WOW! I felt the muscle that tends to spasm release as well as my chest muscles stretch, and my thoracic spine got a nice back bend. I generally have trouble with back bends in my thoracic area.

    Gabrielle, do you see any problems with this passive back bend?

    Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
    Forum Owner
    Post count: 3048

    Hello Jeanne

    That’s a wonderful thing to do! Something else to add to the tool box. :cheese:

    Namaste
    Gabrielle 🙂

    Robert Scanlon (Webmaster)
    Forum Owner
    Post count: 266

    Another thing my massage therapist recommended (I had a very sore shoulder & arm from waaaay too much computer work on Gabrielle’s sites LOL!) is to place a reasonably stiff tube (like a rolled-up towel for example) under the spine, along the spine and lie down on it in savasana.

    Also great for aiding the whole “shoulders in the back pockets” principle which also might help (watch Gabrielle’s video on that here)

    And here is the link to the “core strength” video mentioned above.

    Robert

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