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Trigger Point Massage for Forearm Pain From Overuse

My husband and I walked a bit in the park today [he went to the gym without me as my knees are still achy.]  My issue for the day relates to sore forearms from my kickboxing work out on Thursday afternoon.

I haven’t done a kickboxing session since the end of March when I hurt my hand and began a serious bout of traveling!  While it was great fun to be back [and a serious surprise that I was still conscious at the end of the hour] I have been incredibly sore.  My shoulders and forearms have not recovered from my trainer’s tabata rounds of push up and pull up exercises.

All the podcasts I’ve listened to so far agree that strength exercises are best.  Of course they also agree that 90 percent of weight loss is determined by diet and nutrition rather than exercise.  I am easing my way into better nutrition.  As I mentioned previously, I will start by avoiding high fructose corn syrup. 🙂   That’s harder than you’d think as we are attending a Staten Island Yankees game with All-You-Can-Eat tickets.

In the interim, I have just ordered Clair Davies’ The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief, Second Edition from Amazon.com.  I hope that I can begin to work on getting the kinks out of my legs and arms without having to go to a massage therapist.  I decided to use a small racquetball rather than purchasing any massage equipment; the foot log that I purchased a while ago may also come in handy.

I found an article online called Trigger Point Massage. Simple Self-Help for Chronic Pain  by Christian Lemburg, that seems to cover the basic points. 

Trigger Point Rules
1. Trigger points are small, localized muscle cramps that feel like hard lumps or knots in your muscles.
2. Trigger points arise at predictable places in the muscle and cause predictable patterns of referred pain.
3. Trigger points hurt like hell when pressed, and referred pain may be felt, according to the characteristic pattern for that trigger point.
4. Trigger points can be treated by massage.
5. Massage with short, slow strokes in one direction, applying deep pressure.
6. When massaging, use your elbow, your knee, your knuckles, or a ball instead of your fingers. Use a ball between your body and a wall or the floor to reach hard spots.

Read the entire article:  http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/37_05_trigger_points.pdf

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Walk Around the Park and Torn Pinky Tendon

My knee is still cranky so I took a walk around the park instead of doing kickboxing.  With the added errands after the loop, I clocked approximately 4 miles.  Woo hoo!!!  That’s about 443 calories burned according to the on-line calories calculator I found at: http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi.  Despite wearing a knee brace, it was still uncomfortable walking.  I think I may pick up a new pair of sneakers. 🙂

I had the pinky looked at by a Dr. Andrew J. Weiland, MD, a hand specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery.  The consultation didn’t take very long but they took x-rays and everyone there was especially nice and professional.  I did, indeed, tear a tendon but there is nothing that can be done at this point.  It will always be a little sore and sensitive when I do kickboxing.  The X-ray showed  a small mallet fracture as well.  It’s probably a good thing that I tried to address the very crooked pinky finger with duct tape and paper clips a la McGiver. 🙂  Otherwise, the pinky would have been really askew!

Next, I will visit my regular doctor and see how my cholesterol level is doing.