I’ve read Dr. Baraki’s articles about pain, and I’ve also read Healing Back Pain, and I’m totally on board that most of the time people are completely fine and they’re just experiencing emotional stress.
However, for a few years my scalene’s and sternocleidomastoid muscles in my neck have been tightening up from sleeping in awkward positions and being hunched over a computer - and it’s incredibly irritating during the day when these muscles are tight. It’s a mild pain that gnaws at me all day, can make me feel mildly dizzy, and makes me feel like I have to get up and move.
I’ve tried massage, stretching, etc and it always seems to come back - and I realize now that’s a waste of time. When this first happened I was concerned and visited a doctor, and after seeing a few specialists they’ve all confirmed there’s nothing physically wrong with me. I also have no unhealthy stresses in my life.
What would you recommend for this?
*Not sure if it matters but my chest is usually really tight as well, but it stretches out when I train. Also, I’ve noticed in certain postures the annoying painful/restless/dizziness feeling seems to go away, just not sure exactly what I did to make that happen.
I should probably mention that I do have some difficult time sometimes with bar path because my chest gets so tight - I have to stick it out as hard as I can and go super slow. Sometimes I wonder if my chest weren’t so tight if my form would be better - it’s hard to tell without an SS coach.
I also have tried keeping my chest up these last few days, and my head up as well. I imagine a rope is pulling me straight up from the middle of my head, and this has really relieved a lot of pressure and pain.
Do you think perhaps my tight neck/chest from sleeping and slouching lead to bad posture which caused pain and other uncomfortable symptoms, or do you think this is merely all mental?
I am not sure that I would agree that your chest tightness is altering your bar bath. However, without seeing it and doing some sort of physical exam, I don’t feel comfortable saying that 100%.
I don’t think your neck or chest are tight from bad posture or sleeping or that it’s causing your pain. If you believe that to be true, it’ll be true- however.
What do you recommend I do to get to the bottom of this? I can’t ignore it - it makes me feel restless and it’s distracting. I don’t have any mental or physical disorders whatsoever. Is this something you could address better on SteadyMD?
I do have to say that when I put my butt, legs, back and arms against a flat wall I can barley get my head to touch the wall - I can feel extreme tightness in my neck and chest. I have tried to ignore it and pretend like nothing is wrong but I can see myself in the mirror with a collapsed chest, forward head, and can feel the tight/restless feeling.