Tag: yoga

Ouch!

Did you decide to go ahead and get the vaccine, and are in a ton of pain?

As a licensed massage therapist, someone who gets allergy shots, and in general, a pain-person, I am no stranger to muscular issues.

I got stuck by the giant vaccine needle in my right deltoid (that’s the triangular muscle rounding the shape of your shoulder) and while the moment of impact wasn’t that bad, that evening and following day/evening I could barely move it.

I iced it the second night — I tend to try to let my body use its natural defenses without any outside help at first (I know what you’re thinking — how interesting to read, considering I literally just said I got vaccinated — well, I hope, but that’s another story for another blog!), and the ice instantly helped reduce inflammation, as well as interrupting my pain sensors.

But that first day and night, I made sure to MOVE it, to keep those muscle fibers as stretched out as possible, to get that blood flowing! Now, I didn’t overdo it — but every so often, I did some chaturangas and up-dogs. (Did I mention I also took yoga training?) It kept my arm from getting too stiff.

That night I tried to keep it above my head when I slept, but I’m not going to lie – it was hard to sleep. The following day as the pain got even worse, I continued to intermittently do exercises to remove the blocked energy.

The second evening, I engaged in about 30 minutes of yoga practice. Rather than just popping on the floor for a push-up or two, I did some light vinyasa, flowing from chaturanga, to up-dog, to down-dog, and included some warrior poses. Child’s pose, chaturanga and up-dog felt the best on my arm — but it started to get tired and super sore, and so I was worried I had overdone it.

So before bed, this is why I put ice on my arm.

I had similar issues as the first night of sleep — sore as hell, tried not to lie on it.. but when I woke up the next day, I could lift my arm above my head no problem.

Running into it still hurts (!), but I really think that second night of more vigorous stretching helped me out.

So my official recommendation, based on what worked for me? Use ice and light stretching the first day; the second day, do a more vigorous flow, wait about thirty minutes, and then add ice again. This is assuming you already know the basics of yoga, and are physically able to engage in the following positions (or modifications thereof).

Always consult a doctor before starting a new exercise regimen!

Now that we’ve gotten through that, here’s the brief yoga practice I did:

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged seated position – sukhasana. You can sit on a yoga mat, towel or blanket. You can even prop your hips up a bit if you’d like to roll up your blanket. Lift your chin so it’s parallel with the floor, drop your shoulders down as you press your chest forward, lifting off of your waist. Stretch your arms out, and try to cup your hands over your knees for a gentle stretch. You should feel a slight pull in your arms, especially as you sit back onto your bum.

If anything is ever too uncomfortable, stretch less and relax your muscles and do a modified version of the pose. You can do gentle head lifts by painting a line with your nose down, stretching out the back of your neck, and then walking your gaze along the ceiling, bending your elbows as you do so. Straighten your arms back out as you look down. Do this for a few breaths, taking your time. Move slowly and with purpose.

From sukhasana, gently release the posture and walk yourself into table-top position. Release your palms down to the earth, bending the elbows slightly as you walk your legs back, bringing your hips over the knees. Start to straighten your arms, lifting off of the floor as you press down into the mat. Press into the tops of your feet.

Then press your hips back onto your heels for child’s pose, stretching your arms out long in front of you, palms pressing into the mat, arms slightly lifted. If this is uncomfortable, you can bend at the elbows for a more relaxed stretch. Breathe into the stretch, wiggling your arms gently from side to side, feeling a tug in the arm muscles. Press your forehead gently into the mat.

From child’s pose, make your way into downward facing dog. With your feet hip distance apart and arms shoulder distance apart, press your hips up to the sky in an upside down V with your feet gravitating towards the floor. With your palms pressing into the floor, curl your fingers a bit to take pressure out of your wrists, but make sure you arms are nice and long. Rotate your biceps forward to open your shoulders and release tension in the back and neck. Your gaze is gently focused on the fronts of your knees. Lengthen as you lift, exhale and deepen. Wiggle back and forth if you need to, working out the tension in your sore shot arm.

From downward facing dog, move forward into a plank position. No longer forming an upside down V, you’re going to have your shoulders directly over your arms. Keep your bum lifted a bit, hugging into the core. Gaze is at the floor. Hold the pose, feeling strong. Press the heels back. When you’re ready, begin to bend the arms into chaturanga, push-up position.

Breathe naturally, but breathe slowly, extending your inhalations and exhalations with each movement.

Once you are down onto the mat, lift up into up-dog, pressing into the mat. elongating your arms. Lift your legs off of the mat if you can, pressing into the tops of your feet. Press the heart forward, feeling strong.

BREATHE.

Untuck the toes, pressing yourself back into another plank.

From here, you can repeat, going back and forth into up-dog and plank, or take a breather, pressing into down-dog. You can also go back into a child’s pose. Flow between the positions until your arm gets slightly tired, and then rest completely into child’s pose with your arms behind you, palms facing up, or savasana, flat on your back.

Breathe into the uncomfortableness of your arm, and feel the energy and blood move!

Most of all: ENJOY!