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June 26, 2007

My Own Experience Of A Crick

Maybe it was accumulated stress, maybe it was the last vestiges of a summer cold, maybe it was the anticipation of jumping in the pool, but I was just sitting there doing nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly my shoulder began to draw up to my ear and my neck began to rotate and side bend toward my shoulder.

I know where to palpate the primary tension pattern of a crick, I know how much sustained pressure is needed to make the knots submit, and I know the anatomy of the neck and shoulder to make educated decisions about where to work. But in this case, I would find a very tender knot, get it to relax, and spasm would begin down the arm or down the back or up the neck. And each time I chased the secondary spam, the crick settled back into it's original place. Clearly, I needed to be working two places at once, and unless I sprouted and extra arm or two, that wasn't going to happen.

I couldn't sleep so I got up and drank tonic water. No help. I tossed and turned trying to get into a position that would allow me relief. Very little help. The next morning, I heated my rice bag and took an over-the-counter ibuprofen. This began to ease the stranglehold on my shoulder a bit, but I had a plane to catch and bags to schlep between connecting flights--never a good activity for relief of a crick. I was as careful as possible to keep my bag down by my side and my shoulder relaxed.

When I got home I took another ibuprofen and applied another heated rice bag to the area. I continued to apply pressure to muscle knots and attempted positional release, strain/counter strain technique, and muscle energy work to get my crick to release. By bedtime I was exhausted but more comfortable than I had been in two days. I slept hard and awoke the next morning feeling more like myself.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health

Posted by linda at June 26, 2007 6:59 AM