Over the years I have shared a few injuries that I have incurred. I have probably also touched on this subject before, but as I age I find that I ache more and more.

A lot of these injuries come from previous injuries. But as I get older I find that some aches come from dumb things like sleeping wrong, twisting wrong, sneezing weirdly, etc. I am not sure where the current ache came from, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what helped exacerbate it anyway.

I have had pain behind my right shoulder blade off and on for years, but it usually subsides rather quickly. The last couple of times it’s flared up however, it has been quite a process to get it to ease up and stop hurting. This particular time nothing I did seemed to help. The only relief came when I had that muscle under constant strain, like holding a pushup position. As soon as I would stop, the muscle would spasm and hurt.

What was the cause? I have decided 2 things. I started a new workout program and was doing a weighted lat pullover. This wasn’t strenuous enough to cause the problem on it own, but it did cause fatigue in that particular muscle. Then the other day, I decided to try tuning my baby grand piano. I learned how, and I successfully tuned the piano. However, I had stood hunched over my piano for a little over 3 hours. This strained those muscles behind both my shoulder blades, and I could feel it for several days.

Unlike most sore muscles that start to feel better a day or two later, the right shoulder that was already stressed just got worse and worse. Eventually leading to this intense muscle strain. I started taking ibuprofen as that usually will alleviate the pain, but it didn’t even touch it. I then started taking my husband’s herbal muscle relaxer. Nothing. The pain intensified over the next couple of days until I wasn’t sleeping well either.

Monday morning I was unsure of how to take care of this, as it was affecting my ability to function at all. That’s when my son, who is serving a mission in Brazil, called for his p-day. I told him what was going on, and he asked if I’d searched YouTube for some help. I hadn’t even thought about it, I honestly hadn’t though about anything as it hurt constantly.

I asked him to pray I’d find something, and I prayed as well. I typed in a search for shoulder blade pain relief. The very first thing that pops up on my YouTube is usually an ad, but not that day. It was a 30 second pain relief for the exact pain I was feeling. I was skeptical that it could be that easy, but desperate enough to try since we’d both prayed.

It worked like magic! When my son called a bit later I told him what happened. He just smiled and said see! I was grateful for his council and his prayers on my behalf. I then continued to research, because I’ve learned its usually lack of strength or lack of balance in my muscles that causes these kinds of problems.

The exercises consisted of a push and then a pull of the shoulder areas. Pushing forward to stretch the muscles, and then pulling backward to activate and strengthen the posture muscles. There were also some for dynamic movement of the shoulders, to activate all the surrounding muscles that assist in shoulder movement. There were some nerve glide exercises that didn’t necessarily stretch, but helped to activate the nerves and then relax them as well. If you get on YouTube, just search shoulder blade pain relief and tons of videos will pop up. There you can find the ones that work with your body and schedule.

I found several more videos with exercises that helped to strengthen and stretch my shoulder and back. I have been doing them for several days now, and the relief is blissful. The pain isn’t totally gone all the time but it’s subsiding and the spasms have stopped completely. I’ve found that my slouching posture makes it worse. But, it is quite a bit better, and continues to improve daily, along with my posture!

Injuries are no fun, but taking care of my body is a priority. I’m grateful for the Heavenly help that I’ve received in learning how to care for my body properly, and I’m grateful for my son’s inspired comments and prayers to help me.

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