QuestionI am a flight attendant. I sometimes lift heavy bags above my head to stow. Sleeping in uncomfortable hotel beds/pillows seem to cause the most pain however.I don't remember specifically injuring myself but have a large knot in my posterior neck, only on the right side. It is a bout a fingerwidth below the occipital region and feels deep beneath the overlying muscle. It is about the size of a golf ball and very hard. I have an occassional twinge from the area straight up through my head and eye and occassional feeling of imbalance. NO headaches. Is there a certain exercise or self massage that I can do to rid this knot?
AnswerThanks Rosemary;
As with other jobs where the arms are held above the head, we become very conscious that the arms hang from the spine, the head.
There are a few infamous culprits that you might be mentioning. The Trapezius muscle (see www.wikipedia.org) does the hanging, as do the Levator Scapulae muscles. The belly of the muscle spasms, shortens chronically, and forms the 'knot'.
(Text is always fun to explain this stuff, but here we go....)
1. Get more blood to the muscle.
2. Stretch and massage the area regularly. Use heat whenever possible on it; heat tricks the body into flooding the muscle with new blood.
3. Strengthen the muscle.
Aaah, the lovely weights - like yin and yang, these two exercises use both the lightest and heaviest weights you're likely to ever use.
A) Holding light (starting with 2 lbs) weights in your hands, drop your hands by your sides. With your palms facing down, lift your arms slowly to the side, above your head and ending when your arms touch your ears.
B) Holding ultra-heavy weights in your hands by your sides, roll your shoulders - up, forwards, back. Shrug your shoulders and let them down slowly. Make the weights as heavy as you can really hold without hurting yourself. GO for this one - do it 10-15 times and let the weights down. Don't go to muscle failure (you'll infuriate your muscle tension) but do it every day.
Let this sink in and let me know how you do!
Cheers,
Glenn Kukkee, RMT
