A pain in my neck...and back.

Unfortunately, I am not using this saying figuratively. All is literal when I say that I have a pain in my neck. And seriously, I'm so annoyed. I very rarely feel injured in any way, so when I do, it's like the end of the world. I'm not even joking. Pain is so annoying.

But I don't think the origin of my pain is in my neck. Rather, I think it lies somewhere in my trapezius. The middle of my trapezius, to be specific. And that's the beauty of the back. It doesn't matter where you hurt yourself, you'll most likely feel it elsewhere, too.

Just to confirm my trap suspicions, I pulled out the 'ol ACE study guide.

Suspicions somewhat confirmed. Then again, I'm no doctor, so I'm confirming based on my own knowledge of the muscles and how they move. And where I feel it the most.

Given that the middle trapezius is connected to the upper trapezius, it explains the pain in my neck. And the pain between my shoulder blades.

I think.
That's what I'm going with, anyway.

Saturday: I was sore from Friday's class.
Sunday: I was really tight in between my shoulder blades.
Today: I got down for 20 pushups in class and felt a sharp pain during the first three reps.

I should have stopped there, perhaps, but the pain dulled to a tight sensation that just felt as if a kink needed to be worked out. And I thought I could do just that, but by the end of my class, I was sore again. Super sore.

And here I sit. Telling you about it.

What have I done so far?

Well, holding my daughter in my left arm probably isn't helping my situation, let's be honest.

I stretched after class which seemed to help a little. And when I took a shower, I set the shower head to a pressurized bolt of water. <—Don't even get me started on how good that felt in between the shoulder blades. After that, I turned to this:

It did nothing. It never does anything for me, so I'm not even sure why I bothered except that desperate times call for desperate measures. Or whatever.

When I got back to the gym for some training sessions, I did some foam rolling which felt really good. And that's where I'm at right now. I'd pop some Motrin, but I hate popping anything more than a daily vitamin. The plan is to keep stretching, keep moving to, well...keep it loose. Good thing is, I don't have to strength train tomorrow. It's a cardio day, which shouldn't be too bad on the 'ol trap.

Lesson of the day: Sometimes the body gives in to all the physical pressure we put it through. It's normal, we're human. But to help prevent injuries that are even worse than a bit of soreness, we need to always...ALWAYS...stay in tune with our bodies. It's perfectly normal to push, but you shouldn't ever push too hard. Pull back when the going gets too tough, and take care when the body asks for it (as mine is doing right now).

Question: What injuries are you working through, if any?