Upper back tension...and lots of it

[Roger Siggs]

Hi all,

I'm currently finding a lot of blockage at the top of my back- not the neck, but right below it, between the shoulder blades. I'm currently doing my Warrior Wellness and Be Breathed, fencing 4 days a week and I teach Medieval knife work 2 days, and Aikido another- so this lack of movement is really getting to me.

I ended up getting hit by a car on my bike 2 weeks ago, and did a high flying shoulder roll over the car- I had some soreness for a while. The soreness is gone, but there's still a lot ot tension.

Any ideas on clearing it out? It hurts to bridge (which is what I used to do all the time for upper back tension- now the muscles seem to knot up violently almost immediately) so I'm stopping that for a while, etc.

R

[kcsportsdoc]

Hi Roger,

Impossible to say for sure without the benefit of a hands-on exam, but I'd be willing to bet a large sum that you've misaligned your upper thoracic spine and ribcage a tad. Ok, maybe more than just a tad.

Get thee to a chiropractor. Or a physical therapist. And get some bodywork done while you're at it.

Maintain your Warrior Wellness practice, this will only make things easier. I'm glad you've cut out the bridges, plainly that is aggravating things at the moment. You should be able to return to those once the blockage is cleared out.

Keep us posted.

Best,

Kevin

[Roger Siggs]

You're probably right. That would make sense with the way I landed (the shoulder roll wasn't exactly as straight as I would've liked ;) )

Gee, and I thought I was done with all my Chiropractic visits for the time being...ah well.

Hmmm, after 2 bad knees and a various other stuff, the pain itself isn't a problem- mainly it just bugs me that I can't do spinal rocks or roll in my classes well right now.

I suppose that's some sort of 'advancement' though- when injury is more annoying than threatening.

Time to hang from my pull up bar for a minute.

Thanks for the quick response.

Roger

[Scott Sonnon]

Roger,

Getting hit by a car? My friend, our mysterious system acts in unusual ways. It's almost like our myofascial system must 'grieve' after such a traumatic accident, in order to 'release' the stored tension caused by the protective primal reflex.

Take Kevin's advice and see a professional. Spend a great deal of time in active recovery until you feel it release, amigo, and you get clearance from your doc. Don't do any type of resistance training until then, or you endanger reinforcing and/or worsening the situation.

[Roger Siggs]

Hey Coach-

If it helps, I didn't actually hit the car- my bike did. I just took to the air in response and made the mistake of catching part of the curb on the shoulder. Rolling and falling certainly isn't anything new for me- Shock absorption has been in my mind a lot lately, as has Body-Flow, so perhaps my body is better prepared for some things than I think it is?


No resistance training for me for a while- I'll agree with that part easily enough, and I just made an appointment with my chiro...

Roger

[Scott Sonnon]

Roger,

You don't need to hit the car yourself. Hell, you don't need to hit the car AT ALL (even via your bike.) All you need to do is perceive you will hit the car for to elicit the primal protective reflex. Our various subsystems (neural, myofascial, circulatory, glandular) cannot differentiate between an actual impact and a symbolic/emotional/perceived impact.

[Roger Siggs]

Roger,

You don't need to hit the car yourself. Hell, you don't need to hit the car AT ALL (even via your bike.) All you need to do is perceive you will hit the car for to elicit the primal protective reflex. Our various subsystems (neural, myofascial, circulatory, glandular) cannot differentiate between an actual impact and a symbolic/emotional/perceived impact.

Do you talk more about this somewhere? I read a book a while ago on myofascial release technique, are you referring to the same concept?

Thanks.

Roger

[Scott Sonnon]

I discuss this topic throughout CST, including Body-Flow, and Integrating Structure.

[kcsportsdoc]

Frankly Roger, it's a tribute to your current level of conditioning and shock absorption abilities that you're not totally messed up. Picture an individual locked up and armored with tension and restricted, rusty, dehydrated joints! They'd still be gimping around with a soft cervical collar, popping muscle relaxants from a Pez dispenser!

Best,

Kevin

[Scott Sonnon]

Well said, Kevin.

[Roger Siggs]

Frankly Roger, it's a tribute to your current level of conditioning and shock absorption abilities that you're not totally messed up. Picture an individual locked up and armored with tension and restricted, rusty, dehydrated joints! They'd still be gimping around with a soft cervical collar, popping muscle relaxants from a Pez dispenser!

Best,

Kevin

While I can accept some responsibility for it, a lot of my ability comes from having a wonderful group of instructors who helped me, and students who provide me with the initiative to keep exploring. I've been getting thrown around since I was 4 years old (my father teaches Aikido and Judo as well), so a fair chunk of it was simply 'comfortable'. It was the landing that ruined that blssful feeling for me ;)

But thanks Kevin, I consider myself to be a work in progress, my only real wish is that I'd found RMAX a bit sooner.

Roger

[Roger Siggs]

Well, it's been about a month since I posted asking for some help- and I can say that now I'm pretty well pain free. The blockage seems to be gone, and I'm back to my daily routine. I stuck with Warrior Wellness throughout the recovery period, and added a number of hanging exercises to let gravity help me back to alignment. I'm happy to say that it's all worked. I'm more free, flexible and less tense than I was even before my trip over the hood of a car.

Actually yesterday I had something of a body-flow epiphany as well. One of my goals was to be able to transition from a handstand pushup position, into a forward roll and from a back roll to handstand, etc. I finally managed to do it yesterday. I credit a lot of my ability to 'think outside the box' to Rmax and the tribe.

Thanks a lot- all of you.

Roger

[Scott Sonnon]

Outstanding!!