Chronic Pain, ...and instrumental playing Options

[Celeste]

Thanks notmusimum - think I might give those a go. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm a bit wary of acupuncture... I've seen it work for animals and people alike so I'm not 'sceptical' per se, but I don't really like the idea of having it done to me.

[icklechick]

I wouldn't say kinaesiology was "doing something" in a physical sense - unless you count someone placing their hands over certain parts of your body (over clothes) and "feeling the energy" as doing something...

I'm a scientist through and through - biomedical scientist at that (ie interested in what happens in the body at a cellular and chemical level). I never in a million years thought that any of the alternative therapies could help. I went into the consultation a skeptic (so wasn't expecting it to work, which might then have been a placebo effect) and left it "cured".

He didn't even charge me (funnily enough exchanged a HK session for a piano lesson for his wife - which as a HK session costs £40+ I thought was a good deal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) )

[Dugazon]

I wouldn't say kinaesiology was "doing something" in a physical sense - unless you count someone placing their hands over certain parts of your body (over clothes) and "feeling the energy" as doing something...

I'm a scientist through and through - biomedical scientist at that (ie interested in what happens in the body at a cellular and chemical level). I never in a million years thought that any of the alternative therapies could help. I went into the consultation a skeptic (so wasn't expecting it to work, which might then have been a placebo effect) and left it "cured".

He didn't even charge me (funnily enough exchanged a HK session for a piano lesson for his wife - which as a HK session costs £40+ I thought was a good deal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) )

You have me slightly confused - what you describe sounds more like Reiki or Meridian Healing, not very much like Applied Kinesiology, which is mainly used as a diagnostic tool (if you believe in it or not is another question (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)). That some AK people use chiropractic methods, cranial therapy or meridian healing further on is another matter.
Kinesiology as such (not Applied Kinesiology!) is very scientific indeed and has nothing to do with quackery - they are two completely different things. Kinesiology has a lot to do with ergonomics and proper movement etc, so I would say that doesn't sound very much like what you experienced. Alexander Technique ad Feldenkrais are quite firmly rooted in kinesthetic principles.

One of my former singing teachers also had a diploma in complementary therapies, so I got in touch with quite a few of those. I am quite open, but some of it didn't make sense to me and also didn't work (maybe because of this very fact), although I have to admit that the placebo effect alone, and also getting in a state of relaxation, sometimes works wonders.

Acupuncture however is a different thing again, and I firmly believe in it. Even the WHO recognizes it, although of course you will always find critics who say that studies were not scientifically solid etc.
Either way, a lot of conventional practitioners meanwhile accept and introduce this into their practice as well. It has a quite established part in pain relief already, and gets used a lot with cancer patients, or people with chronic conditions.
I have a very good, anaesthetist friend in Germany, who is probably one of the most level-headed women you can imagine. That didn't stop her to do PD in TCM, and using a lot of acupuncture with her chronic pain patients. She tried to explain the background to me once - al lot about neurohormones, analgesics etc, but quite frankly, that just went right over my head (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I tried it myself against chronic back and knee pain, neither of which you need if you have to dance a lot. The alternatives would have been to quit completely, which was out of the question back then, or to constantly fuel myself up with heavy painkillers, which I didn't want because it affected my ability to memorise and stay focussed.
Acupuncture absolutely helped me - placebo or not doesn't matter to me. And it's not painful, Celeste - you just have to be prepared that it causes all sorts of weird physical responses (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Especially with chronic pain, I would absolutely recommend it. You have nothing to lose if you try it with a qualified practitioner.

[Scratchet]

for anyone with chronic pain (ie pain that lasts for more than 6 months) and once you have visited your doctor to rule out anything serious. I would recommend this book. MindBody Prescription by Dr John Sarno.

Read the reviews on amazon.

Also have a look at this website. http://podolsky.everybody.org/rsi/

I had RSI for about a yr and after reading this I'm virtually pain free in about a week

Let me know how you get on, I would be interested to know.

[Solari]

Don't knock it until you've tried it I say.

I have tried it. I drink water every day.

I posted this once before, but it *is* good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif)

[Crotchetymum]

Sympathies to both Celeste and David.

Homeopathy - whether by chance or who knows what - appeared to work for my elder son several years ago. Maybe it was the placebo effect, or coincidence or who knows what - but it improved noticeably.

Massage might help, or manipulation, but it would have to be very gently, I think, so as not to aggravate any inflammation - a good physio would at least be able to advise.

I tried acupuncture for morning sickness once, but gave up after I walked out of the session and threw up (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) Having said that, the actual experience of the acupuncture wasn't at all unpleasant, and it turned out that there was an underlying problem to the sickness, so that had to be sorted first.

[Fran*Piano]

I can offer nothing but sympathy, I'm afraid, but I wish you both the best in getting your pains sorted, Celeste and dcmbarton (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thereThere.gif)

[river]

Don't knock it until you've tried it I say.

I have tried it. I drink water every day.

Well, that's nice for you, but if that's all you have to contribute to this thread, then I shouldn't bother. It doesn't help anyone.

I think informing people about nonsense fake medicine does help them, by stopping them from wasting time and effort on things that don't work.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough: homeopathic medicine is water. There is nothing in it except water. It's not something else diluted in water. There is nothing left except water. According to the principles of homeopathy, you could take a homeopathic remedy for a headache, pour it into the sea, and then anyone who had a headache could dring seawater and be cured.

Does that sound ridiculous to you? That's because homeopathy is ridiculous, and cannot possibly do anything that water can't do.

People who sell homeopathic medicine are scammers trying to make money by selling water to people who don't know any better. There's a reason the NHS recently decided that homeopathy is nonsense and should not be funded anymore.

I'm not commenting on any other alternative medicines mentioned in this thread, since as I said, I don't know enough about them. But I will comment on homeopathy, because it's worthless, and it's easy to demonstrate that it's worthless. If a single person reads what I write and decides not to buy homeopathic "medicine", then it was worth writing.

[Mad Tom]

Homeopathy - whether by chance or who knows what - appeared to work for my elder son several years ago. Maybe it was the placebo effect, or coincidence or who knows what - but it improved noticeably.

It was chance (he would have got better anyway) or placebo effect.

Properly controlled experiments have shown that homeopathy does nothing.


Acupuncture is different. Like Tai-Chi, it works. It does have definite effects, and when you do the one, or are subjected to the other you definitely feel the thing the sensations that are traditionally 'explained' by some mysterious substance labelled 'Chi'. But we can't explain any of it in terms of Western physics/chemistry/biology.

[And the underlying Chinese system of medicine that purports to explain them both, with its theory of four elements, 'chi' flowing in the body, and multiple diagnostic pulses seems like unsubstantiated mumbo-jumbo to anyone with a scientific background.].

[PianoNotes]

Celeste and David, sympathies to you both. I hope you will be able to find some solution very soon because as well as the physical pain of not being able to play your instruments, I do not imagine the mental pain of having to take a rest from them either is any easier. Best wishes.

[Cyrilla]

Huge sympathies to you both.

I certainly would look into 'alternative' treatments, although I share the sceptical views of several other posters with regard to homeopathy.

Acupuncture certainly doesn't hurt and I've had some small benefits from it in the past - also from kinesiology - and (not quite the same, I know) I SWEAR by my wonderful, wonderful osteopath (physiotherapy has never done ANYTHING for me).

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[scotliz]

David - I have sent you a link about Therapeutic Touch.

[Suepea]

for anyone with chronic pain (ie pain that lasts for more than 6 months) and once you have visited your doctor to rule out anything serious. I would recommend this book. MindBody Prescription by Dr John Sarno.

Read the reviews on amazon.

Also have a look at this website. http://podolsky.everybody.org/rsi/

I had RSI for about a yr and after reading this I'm virtually pain free in about a week

Let me know how you get on, I would be interested to know.

Here is another title I would highly recommend if it is muscle damage of any type.

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook

The author was originally a piano tuner who had muscles problems due to the nature of his work and drew on quite old research which has been mostly ignored. Trigger points are knots that occur at the halfway point in muscles which have been damaged, causing tension and pain. This sets up a vicious cycle if ignored as then more knots form at the half way points between the original ones and the ends of the muscles and it goes on like that, shortening the muscles and increasing the pain. A feature of trigger points is that they very rarely occur at the point where the pain is felt and the book gives useful references on where to find the points according to where you feel the pain, then they are dealt with by self massage, which is obviously a lot cheaper than going to a therapist and means that you don't have to wait for you next appointment and can treat yourself every day for a very short time as recommended. You get at difficult to reach points on the back of your body by using a tennis ball inside a sock, which you dangle over your shoulder and roll against a wall. Sounds crude, and has caused a lot of amusement from my friends, but it works!
A friend recommended this book after I could not move my neck and was in considerable pain - a problem which has recurred over the years and which was resistant to all the usual methods except Alexander Technique, which kept me pain free for about four years. I hadn't been keeping up the Alexander Technique properly, so back came the pain, which was originally caused by computer use. I also had lower back pain which it has cured.

J do hope that you are both able to find a solution of whatever type to your pain. Keep us posted on what you try and what results you get.

[icklechick]

I think maybe HK is different from AK?

This is what I had:

http://www.hk4health.co.uk/

[skylark]

A feature of trigger points is that they very rarely occur at the point where the pain is felt and the book gives useful references on where to find the points according to where you feel the pain, then they are dealt with by self massage, which is obviously a lot cheaper than going to a therapist and means that you don't have to wait for you next appointment and can treat yourself every day for a very short time as recommended. You get at difficult to reach points on the back of your body by using a tennis ball inside a sock, which you dangle over your shoulder and roll against a wall. Sounds crude, and has caused a lot of amusement from my friends, but it works!

I had chiropractic treatment on and off for many years. Amongst other things it was good for unwinding muscles which had knotted. The chiropractor did very deep massage and I tried to do it myself but couldn't get as deep. I used to do it whenever I had to stand, eg in the queue at the sandwich shop I would be giving the small of my back a massage as I waited. I'm sure it looked odd but I was in such pain that I was past caring! It did ease the pain, and as you've mentioned, Suepea, my chiropractor suggested I use a tennis ball against a wall to press into the parts you can't reach.

I would say chiropractic was effective at treating the symptoms, which gave me relief from the pain, sometimes for long periods of time, but Alexander Technique has been effective at curing the cause.