Some kind of injury

[afuna]

Okay, not sure what happened, but a muscle on my back, along my left shoulderblade, is hurting a lot. (It was my right yesterday, and then shifted to my left after I started babying my right).

It was probably something innocuous like I slept at a wrong angle, or something. It doesn't feel critical? permanent? But it's been hurting hard enough/for long enough that I am putting lots of thought into not aggravating it further.

Moving my arm at certain angles causes pain, but less so if I'm really slow and really careful. Lying down is a constant pain. Trying to go from lying down to standing up *hurts*. Sitting to standing is easy, though, and standing straight feels much better than slouching. Breathing too deeply causes it to twinge, probably because of the stretch (if I concentrate and breathe with my diaphragm, which I am trying to do, it's perfectly okay). Massaging the sore part makes it hurt less temporarily, but the hurt comes back on its own.

Is there any way to tell whether the massage is a good idea, or whether it could be hurting me longer term somehow? And is there any way to tell whether I'd be better off trying to move those muscles slowly and carefully over the course of the day, to keep them loose (it causes short term pain, but feels less painful long term, but I don't know if it might cause damage somehow), or else to keep that part as still as possible to avoid any further injury?

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

If the massaging it doesn't hurt when you do it, I would guess that it won't hurt you overall. Have you tried icing it? How about heat? I would try both of those things first before trying to move around. You can experiment with which feels better or if both feel good, alternate heat and ice for 15 minutes each.

[exor674]

Not sure of any advice to give but... *hugs you in a way that avoids poking or moving anything hurty*

[synecdochic]

Alternate ice and heat, move it slightly and slowly to keep it from stiffening up but if it hurts, stop immediately, and in general, go for the things that make the hurt go away. (Massage shouldn't be a problem, as long as it's gentle.)

For pulled muscles, wet heat is good, so hot slightly-damp towels or a hot bath/shower is a good plan. Shoulders are annoying, in that it's hard to get the heating pad/etc on them, so bath/shower can sometimes be more convenient.

Overall, if it hurts, stop doing it! It might also be a good idea to take regular ibuprofen/naproxen (or any other anti-inflamatory drug) for a few days regularly.

[kareila]

This happens to me with some frequency, and ibuprofen usually does the trick for me.

[distractionary]

As a massage therapist almost-done-with-training -- this is the sort of thing that I work with pretty frequently, actually! I hope I can give you some helpful advice.

For one thing, I'm not entirely sure which muscles you mean; when you say "along your shoulderblade," do you mean along the top? Between your shoulderblade and spine? Under your armpit? Obviously some of these are easier to reach for self-massage than others.

If the massage doesn't hurt while you're doing it, you're probably using the right amount of pressure. Moving your arm in a way that is very painful is a bad idea; moving your arm slowly, to keep it from stiffening, is a very good idea.

With ice: if you have some sort of ice pack, whether one designed as such (like a gel refreezable pack) or a bag of peas or whatever, make sure that you use a thin towel or something between your skin and the source of cold. You absolutely do not want to freeze the tissue, just to cool it off a lot. Alternatively, you can use actual ice, frozen water, possibly frozen into a paper cup that you can then peel off the ice and keep a handle on it that way; this, you can put directly on your skin, but only if you're using the ice to massage the sore area -- don't hold it still. Again, you're trying not to freeze the muscle, just make it numb so it stops hurting.

With heat: If you have an electric heating pad, keeping it on medium will have the same physiological effects as twenty minutes of ice massage, so if you can't reach the area with ice, or can't stand the ice, try using heat. Wet heat (whether the pad is designed that way, or you have the option of using some sort of damp towel between the pad and your skin without electrocuting yourself) is more effective than dry heat. It will sink into your muscles deeper and more quickly.

In general -- it sounds like you already know what to do, though! :) Your instincts will guide you; if it feels good, keep doing it, and if it hurts, stop! Don't jerk the arm around, but do keep moving it enough to keep it from going stiff; try some gentle stretching, maybe, especially after using heat on it, and not after using ice on it. As for lying down -- if you can find any position in which you can lie down that doesn't make it hurt, try to sleep in that position.

I really need to get back to class now, but if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them (or admit that I don't know, and ask a teacher for advice). Good luck!

[thorfinn]

The general advice for muscular pain injuries is to:

1. make sure you're using the muscle(s) correctly
2. keep using the muscle(s) in question
3. take mild painkillers in the standard dose (specifically, paracetamol/panadol) so that you can use the muscle(s) correctly without being affected by the pain

If 3. doesn't work, it's probably an indicator of more serious injury than purely muscular injury.

If it's not purely muscular pain, the general wisdom is also that you'd know because you'd be in agonising pain that would be fairly continuous, not just under certain positions/usage.

The exception to that is if you're already a chronic pain sufferer, in which case your pain threshold is a bit different.