What do you do about chronic pain?

What type of pain do you have?
What have you done about it?
It is better or is it gone?
Are you still limited in what you can do because of it?

Every now and then I get lower back pain. I've discovered a correlation between it's emergence during periods when I'm a couch potato and its elimination when i get back and start peddling my road bike. This seems to suggest a couple of things to me. !. that my back muscles are imbalanced and tight 2. that ridign while bent over on a raod bike, stretches those muscles and brings them back into line. It's worked for me several times now, so I'm convinced my solution is a viable approach that last until my next period of laziness. lol

Hi Rockdoc,

Sounds like you "kind of" have a handle on it.

Stress goes right to my shoulders.
Walking does help me. I also have bad knees.
What kind of exercise can you do with knee problems.

Crazy Heart wrote: Stress goes right to my shoulders.
Walking does help me. I also have bad knees.
What kind of exercise can you do with knee problems.

Hello Crazy Heart,

Stress is one of those things where it really does not have to affect you physically. Numerous studies and real world examples show that "proper" exercise can reduce or eliminate the physical stress. How does it do this?
By exercise, you begin to take over what your body does. In other words, you control your body, you do not let it control you. Most people are very atrophied in the upper body, especially their necks and shoulders. This allows the stress to take over and cause tightness that just never seems to let go.
Massage does help tremendously, but in the long run, you must get strong and take control of yourself physically. So, learning proper techniques of exercise and massage may very well be your best way to eliminate your stress symptoms in your shoulders.

As far as your knees are concerned, depending upon why your knees are bad, such as an injury, a physical alteration of the knee structure, imbalanced muscles (strength/range of motion), lifestyle, surgery, age, etc., would have to be determined before any recommendation could be made.
Exercise and stretching can be very helpful, if not completely helpful. But again, it must be proper exercise and proper stretching. "Typical" stretching and exercise generally does not work. It must be specific to you and your concerns.

Many people have been prescribed exercise for ailments, only to find it hurts to do it, or after several months or even years, it does not help or just makes you feel better, but still does hurt and you are limited in what you can do.

Does walking cause your knees to hurt? If so, how much and when?
Have you been diagnosed with any "disease" of the knees?
Injuries? Etc.?

Sam Moy, ISSA CPT