How has living with mechanical pains been like for me?

What many know about me, is widespread but limited to my chronicle mechanical body pains.

For the past 2 years, I have been fighting different muscle aches and different symptoms, not to mention the underlying head factor of many illnesses… — known as STRESS.

What are — MECHANICAL PAINS — :
Mechanical pain is an accumulation of muscle aches that due to lack of oxygen in the blood flow, or overstrained nerves, or a lack of flexibility in the nerves or in the muscle areas. When one of these has a disfunction it may have many outcomes, and this may start to express in severe aches and blockages depending on the usage of one's body.

This can be caused by a disruption in the way the components of the back work(the spine, muscle, intervertebral discs, and nerves). I can only say, I regret that: I did not always take precautions when experiencing some aches. I also did downplay it, due to the lack of my understanding and that of the outside world. Being a young lady with body aches is not something, many will know how to place understand, or take seriously.

DOWN PLAYING our illnesses is something I have seen happen all around me, especially in the African communities, it is like bodyaches and pains in your younger years get cancelled as a topic,… WHY is this, pls?

It is extremely pivotal to use your body in the right way. When working out, when cleaning and doing your job. Only when we get the pain do we understand what we got warned for.

I live in a constant state of high tension in my upper body, from my neck to my shoulderblades. As I am someone who is and tries to stay positive, I was quick to dismiss my aches in the beginning stage, this also followed with a lack of understanding on how complex back matters can become, or how to heal them.

I started to work at a young age (as a student — 15y), and I have done many different jobs after. My pains started at the age of 23 years young — when I was 26 years old, the pains reached their ultimate highs, until this day…
This happened in my previous employment working in a law firm.
As much as I liked my job, my body aches became too domestic, my body did not support — the mostly seated desk job. Despite the multiple attempts to make my job execution less painful. To keep it flexible, I had to include multiple stretches, physio treatment, acupuncture treatments, and osteopath sessions on a weekly basis. The aches and blockages got worse. Let's not forget that having an illness that is chronic, lives with you day in & day out…

A golden tip: STAY ON YOUR OWN HEALTH, only you can tell or translate your pains. Since misunderstandings will occur, mechanical backpains is a highly complex illness to have to translate to elders or to professionals.

1 year later

Now in my recovering moments — I can hand out some tips, and also share my slow recovery story, bit by bit…

Let me tell you, having muscle aches is one thing, but having continuous complaints in the same area while working hard to build a brighter future, is another (mental) struggle, in the maintenance of what one wants to do, and what one should not be doing.

I did not do it, at the time and now I can see how it played out. I still wake up daily in pain, and gradually during the day, do the pains increase or decrease…I like to use my platform to write about my own life experiences, because only here can I share with clear transparency that it is and will remain complex, and ongoing…

What are the most helpful methods for me to relieve my daily pains?

1. MOVEMENTS:

An awareness of the daily movements we make + keeping everything moving & flexible. — You can move more by doing stretching exercises. Yoga, stretching, workout, outside activities. I prefer to keep moving, once I get in on this, I combine the 3, of course, time matters, and you have to do it in the best of your own daily routine... If your daily life is too busy, I can advise you to do a few stretching movements in between, when experiencing the pain. I admit I do this sporadically. I can be quietly waiting for the train, or in a line — AND BAMM, you can see my arms crossed over and me making weird stretch movements, I have been doing this with no shame in my game at all.

Extra helpful is YouTube, the playlist for yoga- stretch/exercise

2. HEAT stimulations — or ICE COLD Stimulations
The heat helps the muscles to take on a more relaxing state. I love hot showers, and not just normal hot but, steamingly hot, and do some stretch exercises in the shower. I have so much relaxation in the shower to do all this SELF-love. Also using a big towel and letting it pull from one side of the shoulder-neck area onto the other, also helps soothe the aches

Tip: now that it's summer, hot showers are not always convenient, in that case: ICE COLD showers, —( daily) also help to reset your body and when doing this daily, you will start to feel overall stimulants for your full body, and not only your back, and also mentally.

3. A WATER PITCHER —
A water pitcher, is also one of my favorite ways to relax my muscles, mostly when I know I want to sleep or deeply relax. My water pitcher is also my cuddle friend in bed, when I have cold feet or other aches this can be easing and comforting.

4. ALOE VERA HEAT LOTION — from Forever
This soothing heath lotion is a natural lotion, that focuses deeply on the aches. Most people go to Tiger Balm, but this was not enough to ease my aches. I find this gel to be the best of the various gels it tried. The creme works immediately and like the name states: you will feel how it goes deeply into the tissue and helps it to relax the muscles by this instant heat.

5. A MASSAGE ROLLER
A massage roller is a cheap but very helpful tool, for the upper body or the lower body.
Rolling over it, until you feel pain reduce, of course, this is a hard material, and laying on it with your full body can feel painful for a short moment but this is very effective, and doing this when waking up or before going to bed is a quick fix, to make your aches loosen up.

— Where to buy: A very cheap tool, you can find in the Action, or on bol.com, and Amazon

AND don't forget:

SHARING IS CARING. I share my experience in the hope of prevention and to give someone a fair way to aid themself, in experiencing the more common back pains complaints.

________TO BE CONTINUED ________