Walking Wounded: Waiting for the Next Pain Incident

One of the most debilitating facets of Tension-Based Pain (TBP) is that the involuntary tightening of muscles in the back, neck, shoulders, etc. cause a lack of blood flow, which depletes oxygen in those muscle structures. Over a period of time this state of chronic hypoxia will weaken the muscles and will eventually cause them to spasm and fail.
If you are a sufferer of TBP you may have experienced episodes of sudden, and very severe pain after doing something as benign as sitting in a chair or bending down to put on your shoes. The pain may be startling in its intensity, and frightening. That is a message that tells you that those muscles are in crisis, and they do not have enough oxygen to be able to operate properly.
Are you walking around today with tight muscles in your back, neck, shoulder, or legs? Is this a chronic problem, and have you experienced one of these terrifying pain incidents?
If so, you are probably at risk for more of these episodes in the future, maybe today, tomorrow, or next week, there is no way to know for sure.
What will change this situation for you? You can:

• Rest
• Take a muscle relaxant
• Have a chiropractic adjustment
• Buy an ergonomic chair or mattress
• Do yoga
• Workout
• etc.

Those interventions may delay your next pain event, but it will not change the underlying situation.
The condition is an involuntary muscular response to stress. It is the classic flight-or- fight response turned on in the body - all the time.
There are two things that can be done in order to help make sure you are no longer the walking wounded.
1) Understand, and deal with your negative emotions, and 2) use deep muscle relaxation techniques to restore proper blood flow, and oxygen to the troubled muscles.
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All the best to you in your healing.

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