Calf Cramp

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to post a message about calf cramps, and then someone came onto the http://www.allexperts.com website where I'm the repetitive strain injury expert. She posted a question about cramping and I decided to post it on my forum at http://www.julstro.com, and here. Then when I answer it I could be helping her while also helping you.

Here's her message (copied from the allexperts.com forum)
"Julie. I am an avid sports women. I am 40 years old and teach aerobics three times per week - amongst other things. Friday of last week and Monday of this week - I was halted half way through the routine by the pain in my left calf. I thought the first time it was just cramp - but the pain and tenderness stays with me for days. Stretching doesn't really help and my calf feels bruised for days after. When it happens, it just 'goes' and I cannot put my heel down. The pain is in the middle of my calf running up and down and slightly on the inside of my leg. the lower part of my calf feels very tight and I have trouble flexing my foot upwards for days after. How can I prevent this happening and what am I doing wrong. I have never suffered from cramp before in my life."

Muscles have a phenomenon called "all or nothing" which means when a muscle begins to contract it is going to contract 100%, it won't stop in the middle. Now, normally only a percentage of the muscle fibers are contracting at any given time, but each of those fibers will contract 100%.

When a muscle goes into a cramp, all of the fibers are violently contracting all at the same time. I don't need to tell you how painful that is, it's terrible! People automatically want to start to stretch the contraction to stop the pain, but that is the exact opposite thing that needs to be done. The muscle fibers aren't going to turn around and stretch until AFTER they have finished the contraction. So, the muscle is pulling one way, and you are stretching in the opposite direction. The fibers then tear in the middle, which is why you limp for days afterward.

I can't put pictures onto a website (I know the body, computers are still a major challenge for me) so I can't show you what I'm going to tell you next. If you have any of my books/ebooks, this treatment is in all of them except [i]Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You[/i]. The treatment is also on the Lower Body DVD, so if you would like to see how it's done, you can find it in any of those places.

When you feel a cramp coming on, sit down and put the cramping leg bent in front of you. Let's say it's in your left leg so it will make this description a bit less confusing. Put your left thumb directly behind your knee, and your left fingers along your shin bone, and put your right thumb at the top of the Achilles tendon (bottom of the meaty part of your calf) and your right fingers on your shin bone. Then, as hard as you can, push your two hands together. This will hurt like crazy, but only for about 5 seconds.

You are forcing the muscle to complete the contraction, and since it's going to complete it anyway, you may as well make it finish as quickly as possible. Hold the push until you are again breathing normally (about 30 seconds or so), and then just release your grip. Again breathe normally for about 15-30 seconds and do the grip/push again. This time it won't hurt and you're only doing it again so you can help any slower fibers to finish the contraction. Hold it for about 30 seconds and then you are going to squeeze the muscle from the back of your knee going down toward your ankle.

I tell people to pretend you have a big wad of dough and you're trying to make an Italian bread. Knead the muscle all the way down your leg, only going from your knee to your ankle and not the other way around. This will feel really good. You're forcing out lactic acid and bringing in blood to heal the muscle fibers. Do it for as long as you want, usually about a minute or so.

Now it's safe to gently stretch your calf muscles. Ease into the stretch, allowing the fibers to gradually lengthen without tearing.

You'll be able to get back to running (or whatever you were doing before the cramp) without any residual pain. I've had several Ironman triathletes tell me how effective this treatment is at preventing injury to their calves, so I know for sure that it works. I also know it from my own personal experience. Hurts like mad while it's happening, but the difference is so noticeable that you'll be glad you took the time to work it out.

Wishing you well,
Julie

Moving Along

Life has been extremely busy, especially since I decided to leave the cold of the Northeast for the winter and I'm now in beautiful Southern California, Indio to be exact. I love it here and I'm preparing to start driving around the country teaching. I hope to meet you somewhere during my travels.

Have you been to my forum yet? There's so much information there that you'll need a comfortable chair and plenty of time to read. I've been answering questions for several years so there's a lot of good stuff all in one place. Just go to http://julstro.com and look through the website, then go to the forum.

Wishing you well,
Julie

I just took a business trip to Tucson, AZ, and sat next to a man who was having low back pain that was extremely uncomfortable. We talked about find the source of this pain and why sitting for hours is actually the cause of his problem. I explained to him that when a muscle called the iliopsoas contracts it allows him to go from standing to sitting, however when you then sit for a long time the muscle stays in that shortened position and it won't stretch when you stand up. The muscle is now putting pressure on the lumbar vertebrae and you feel pain in your low back. This is explained on my website (www.julstro.com) in the section titled "Muscles and Pain". Tension in the iliopsoas muscle also causes the thigh muscles to contract and pull down of the pelvis, furthering the low back problem.

I showed him how to use his elbow to press on his thigh muscles to lengthen them. All you need to do is push your elbow into your thigh at the very top of your leg, press down and slide to your knee. This will help your pelvis to rotate back where it belongs and take some of the pressure off the low back. Then by just doing the stretch that is demonstrated in my website, the iliopsoas is lengthened and the pressure is now off the lumbar vertebrae.

The stretch is really easy, and he just stood up right there in the aisle and did it. He was thrilled, immediately his low back felt so much better.

Give it a try, you don't need to suffer!

Violinist pain and numbness

I read several messages from violinists today, and it made me wish that there was some way I could meet with everyone, but that's impossible, so I posted a message about the nerves that cause the most problem for this dedicated group of musicians. I decided to re-write my posting here so you could also read it. Truthfully, it's the same muscles for the majority of musicians because they are usually sitting while they are playing, so the iliopsoas muscles and quadriceps will cause low back pain, as well as rotate the pelvis and put pressure on the sciatic nerve. This causes pain and numbness in the legs and feet.

Also, the three nerves that go down the arms: the radial, ulnar, and median nerves, will cause pain and numbness in the upper back, shoulders, arms, and hands.

I have been working with people suffering from nerve impingement for 18 years, releasing the muscles that entrap the nerve and cause numbness. The impingement in the radial, ulnar, and median nerves can all begin in the neck, then go across the very top of the shoulder. Then the nerves split. The radial goes down the back of the arm (under the triceps) and the top of the forearm, ending at the wrist. The radial nerve innervates all of the extensor muscles, which are the ones that pick your hand up from a flat surface, and also the muscle that enables you to flip your hand over (a muscle called "Supinator").

The Ulnar nerve initially goes under the biceps, then through the "ulnar tunnel" at the elbow, and ends up in the hand. While this muscle can get trapped in the ulnar tunnel, I've found that releasing the tension in the triceps muscle will ease the impingement within the tunnel.

The median nerve also goes under the biceps, but then it stays on the inside of the forearm, eventually going through the carpal tunnel, ending at the thumb and first two fingers. You can read about each of the muscles that entrap the median nerve by going to www.carpaltunneltreatment.org and then to the section called "Anatomy Lessons."

As for the foot numbness that was mentioned in the postings, that can start all the way at the first lumbar vertebre in your low back. There is a muscle, called "iliopsoas" that will trap the femoral nerve within the pelvis and cause the thigh to go numb. As this muscle goes into an isometric contraction from your sitting for hours, it will also rotate your pelvis, putting pressure on the sciatic nerve There are two nerves that form the sciatic nerve, and these will ultimately cause numbness in the foot.

The sciatic nerve is actually the tibial and peroneal nerves. The tibial nerve goes down the back of the lower leg (innervating the inside of your lower leg), around the inside of your ankle, and then along the bottom of your foot. The peroneal nerve goes down the front of your lower leg (innervating the outside of your lower leg), and ends at that top of your foot. When either of these muscles are trapped by a tight muscle, you will feel numbness at the end point.

People look at the area of pain and numbness for the answer, but they are ignoring the SOURCE of the problem. The source is the muscle that is impinging on the nerve. Once the muscle is released, the nerve is no longer having pressure on it, and the numbness is eliminated.

I've worked with many musicians, including professional violinists, pianists, and guitarists, and the nature of your passion will impact every muscle that can impinge on each of these muscles. I strongly suggest you find a good deep muscle massage therapist. Unfortunately, nice, relaxing, Swedish massage feels good, but it won't work for the muscles that are causing your problems, you need someone who is proficient at trigger point therapy. You can also learn how to self-treat each of the muscles that cause the problems that are common to musicians. For information on how to treat your own muscles go to: www.julstro.com

If I can be of any assistance to you in helping you find the treatment that can help you, please feel free to email me directly at: support@julstro.com (watch for verification email).

BlackBerry Thumb

It has just recently come to my attention that many people are suffering from "BlackBerry Thumb." The highly repetitive nature of the movements necessary to type in the text messages will cause everything from pain in the thumb to wrist pain, and even can cause carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

There are two muscles that move the thumb, one at the base of the thumb which enables you to press down, and the other in the top of your forearm, which lifts your thumb back up again. As these muscles are used over and over, in a very rapid manner, they eventually shorten. This causes stress on your thumb joint, and also pulls on the bridge to the carpal tunnel. This second situation will put pressure directly on the median nerve within the carpal tunnel. You will be diagnosed with CTS, and in fact you do have carpal tunnel syndrome, but you don't need medication, braces, or surgery, you just need to release the tension in the muscles.

There will be more information about this condition, but meanwhile you can learn a lot about the muscles that cause BlackBerry Thumb, and carpal tunnel syndrome, by going to www.carpaltunneltreatment.org.

Shoulder Pain - Is it really a "Torn Rotator Cuff" muscle?

Through the years I've had so many people email me, post on our forum, or come into the office after being diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff when it wasn't really torn, that I thought I should explain what is happening in the rotator cuff.

There are several muscles that
1. originate within the rotator cuff
2. insert into the joint, or
3. have an impact on the shoulder joint because when they contract they cause the upper arm to move in some direction, therefore rotating the top of the bone within the cuff.

When one, or more, of these muscles are shortened by a knot in the fibers (AKA: "spasm" or "trigger point") the rotator cuff is strained, even to the point of tearing the muscle away from the bone. However, I've found that often the muscle isn't really torn, but it is pulling so hard that you can't move, or that it feels like it's torn. Of course, an MRI would confirm the tear, but it doesn't explain why the muscle is pulling so hard that it has torn.

To have the fibers surgically re-connected, without first releasing the tension in the fibers, will only cause tension to now be placed on the stitches, and possibly to have it tear again.

Whether the muscle is torn from the rotator cuff or not, the treatment MUST be to first treat the spasms in the muscle fibers, lengthen the fibers, and release the tension from the insertion point. This is much easier than it sounds. First you need to figure out which muscle is doing the pulling. The way to do that is to see what movement you can't make. For example, if you can't bring your arm across your chest, then I'd suggest you look at the infraspinatus muscle that is on your shoulder blade, and if you can't bring your arm back, then look at the pectoralis muscle. Whatever muscle is supposed to be stretching is the one that is causing the problem.

When you have located the muscle causing the problem, then press on the center of it and move around until you find a point that is really tender. That tender point is the spasm. Just hold the pressure on the spasm for 60 seconds, and then push the muscle as if you were trying to lengthen it (you actually are trying to lengthen it) toward the end of the limb. For example, arm muscles need to be lengthened toward your hand, and leg muscle get lengthened toward your feet.

Wishing you well,
Julie

Muscles cause pain from your head to your toes!

It's really true, muscles cause pain from your head to your toes! 18 years of working with people at the Julstro Muscular Therapy Center, at sporting events and on athletic forums, and at workshops around the USA, has proven it over and over. The good news is, once we locate the source of the pain (a spasm in the muscle) we can quickly figure out how to self-treat it. And it works the vast majority of times, preventing further complications and eliminating pain.

The messages on this blog will discuss common problems that I see every day, and explain why muscles are causing conditions such as shinsplints, bursitis, tendonitis, sciatica, Achilles tendonitis, hip pain, etc., etc.

It helps if you have a general knowledge of how muscles work. If you read "Know Your Body and Become Pain Free - How Your Body Moves" you'll understand why muscles are the cause of a vast majority of aches and pains.

Let's start today with defining a word that is thrown about as a diagnosis, but is actually just a definition. The term is "tendonitis" and it means an inflammation at the point where a muscle merges into the tendon , or where a tendon inserts into a bone.

While it's true that you may have an inflammation, it's not saying "why" you have an inflammation. As muscles get tighter and tighter, for example from exercising or doing a repetitive motion at work, a strain is placed on the tendon. As the muscle continues to pull, the tendon is being strained at the insertion point, and an inflammation forms. However, taking medication for the inflammation isn't going to work until the strain is removed from the tendon.

I always explain this by showing how pulling on your hair will cause a headache, but you don't need to take aspirin, you just need to let go of your hair. It's the same with muscles pulling on the tendon at the bone. You don't need medications, you just need to take the strain off the tendon. That's what this blog is all about, explaining where the muscle is tying into knots and placing a strain on either the tendon, or pressing down on a nerve.