Using a hot and cold pack for your Neck, Shoulders and Upper Back

In this special video Dr. Bellinger discusses a great hot and cold pack that works well on your neck, upper back and shoulders. This 9x16 hot and cold pack is very versatile and works great for muscle spasm, neck pain, upper back pain and shoulder pain.

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Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief. Bookmark this on Delicious Stumble It!

"I awake with neck and shoulder pain daily"....

We recently received the following email from a desperate customer looking for the right neck pillow...

Hi, im pretty new to picking a pillow for my cause i was hoping you could help me. I am a side sleeper and awake with neck and shoulder pain daily, mainly on the right side because that's the shoulder i lay on. I may have a pinched nerve but have yet to see the doc. Any sugesstions i would greatly apprciate and would give a try. Thanks ~ Davinder


Dear Davinder,

Thank you for your email- I think that I would recommend a cervical traction neck pillow for you. This cervical support pillow has two functions: support and traction. The Cervical traction Neck Pillow is for side and back sleepers. This pillow is particularly good for patients who suffer from a disc herniation in the neck or a “pinched” nerve. The traction part of the pillow is designed to support your neck in the proper cervical curve and also to maintain proper alignment when you are sleeping.

Because of the special design of the pillow, it back take a few nights to get used to. My suggestion would be to try the CLT pillow using the neck roll side of the pillow to begin with - also use the pillow for a few hours each night and then go back to your regular pillow. Slowly use the pillow a few hours greater each night. Some soreness and achiness is normal for some of our patients because they are not used to a pillow with this built in support for the neck. I am also going to give you a link for neck stretches that you can do in the A.M: arc4life.com/neckstretches. Make sure you do these only to the point of feeling a stretch, not to the point of pain. Davinder, you will notice that you may only be able to bend your neck in a small range of motion in the beginning, but this increase as you continue the neck stretches.

For more information about a pinched nerve in the neck, visit the Neck Pain Support Blog.

I hope this helps- IF you have any more specific questions about this neck pillow, please email me directly at arc4life[at]Cox.net (change the [at] to @).


Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.


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Moms Takes Notice: New BackPack Lightens School Back Pack Load

Moms, do you cringe every time you see your kids going off to school with their back packs chock full to the point that they are going to fall over ? Personally, I notice it every morning on the way to work when the children get on the bus. These days kids have to carry heavier and heavier back packs that includes their books, lunches, sports equipment, musical instruments and other school supplies.

Kid’s backpacks should be no more than 15% of their body weight, so a seventh grader that weighs 100 lbs should have a backpack that's no more than 15 pounds.

11 year old Amanda’s back pack was so full of books that she had pain in her shoulders, back and legs. "It's just too heavy for me!" she cried.

Amanda was introduced to a special type of Backpack called an AirPack, as offered on Arc4life.com.
This backpack has a unique patented, ergonomic air transfer system. This support system is created by a hidden adjustable air chamber placed in the lower back which transfers weight to the hips. The wide, foam-cushioned straps have buckles at the top and bottom to provide a two point adjustment. These back packs self-adjust side to side to provide better fit across the shoulders. Side cinches pull the load closer to your center of gravity increasing balance and stability. These backpacks come in 3 convenient sizes: Small, Medium, Large. The Air Packs also come in a variety of colors, popular with kids.

Well how did Amanda fare with her Airpack backpack? According to Amanda,the book bag has definitely lightened her load.

“When I put on my book bag with all of its textbooks, and books, its just much lighter. If feels much better. The Pain is Off. My backpack is just…I mean its wonderful. The straps help my shoulder and I have an airpack over here which the greatest thing. I mean, It helps the spine, it helps by back.[It] carries the load off of my back and shoulders. The back pack is my favorite color- its pink. Its comfortable, its light- its just the best book bag ever. I am definitely going to keep using the Airpack. It's just wonderful !"

Additional Reading Sources:

BackPacks A Pain in the Neck
The Case of the Heavy BackPack

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of the AirPack BackPacks. Available in Small, Medium and Large.

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Source: Rachel Ray: Back to School- Watch Little Amanda Handle all her Books with her AirPack on the Rachel Ray Show


Happy Halloween from Arc4life.com

Neck Pain, Upper Back Pain and Shoulder Pain Common in Cyclists

The American Bureau of Transportation Statistics states that there are more than 40 million Americans who ride bikes at least monthly. Over 5 million people ride at least 20 days/month. With so many Americans bicycling injuries sustained have also risen especially neck and upper back pain.
Because of the position that a cyclist takes while biking, this can increase a cyclists symptoms of neck pain. [Wilber/Weiss AJSM/Dannenberg] Wilber, et al. found that 44.2 % of male and 54.9% of female recreational cyclists presented for medical treatment of neck pain, while approximately 30% presented with back pain. [Wilber] Weiss also reported that 66.4 % of recreational cyclists reported neck and shoulder symptoms following an 8-day, 500-mile bicycle tour.

Neck pain can be made worse by several factors to include riding position, technique, and comorbid conditions. In the cycling position, the neck is in the position of extension with the back flexed for long periods at a time. Riding in a position with drop handlebars for long periods increases the load on the arms and shoulders as well as hyperextension of the neck, leading to muscle fatigue and pain.

If the virtual top tube length (top tube plus stem length) is too long for the rider, or if aero bars are used, more extension of the neck occurs. Prolonged hyperextension of the neck and associated muscle strain may lead to trigger points in the muscles of the neck and upper back.

Trigger points are hyper-irritable areas occurring as small knots in the muscles throughout the body. They send pain signals to the brain and contribute to a cycle of pain, muscle spasm and pain. Trigger points are frequently caused by direct blunt trauma, or by repetitive microtrauma, as is seen in overuse athletic injuries. Certain techniques common to cyclists may also cause trigger point pain. Shoulder pain is also prevalent among cyclists. Cyclists frequently present with pain in their left levator scapula caused by looking over their left shoulder for oncoming traffic frequently.Additionally, comorbidities must be assessed; in older riders, for example, it is prudent to question about radicular symptoms because a certain degree of neck pain may be secondary to arthritis in the cervical spine.

Source: Neck and Back Pain in Cycling
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Can Whiplash of the Neck cause shoulder pain?

Whiplash injuries can cause many different symptoms beyond the usual neck pain that most people associate it with. Pain, dizziness, headaches, fatigue are other possible symptoms. Depending on the type and velocity of a collision, other body parts can get injured such as the midback, hips, and even the shoulder. According to one study published in the Journcal of Orthopedic Surgery, out of 220 patients with whiplash, 26% suffered shoulder symptoms- and 5% suffered an impingement syndrome.

An impingement syndrome arises because of referred pain from the neck and nerve injury to the muscles that stabilize the shoulder. These shoulder muscles include the rotator cuff muscles. The rotator cuff is formed by the tendons of 4 muscles: teres minor, subscapularis, supraspinatus and infraspinatus. Direct trauma can also occur from the pressure supplied by a seatbelt during a front end collision. Cartilage damage and muscle sprains can occut. Furthermore, the acromium
can affect the tendons of the rotator cuff muscles and other soft tissues just under this bone. Finally, there are bursa (fluid filled sacs) surrounding the shoulder which can become swelled, causing pain at night. The pressure within the rotator cuff muscles increases, which results in compression and loss of blood flow in the smaller blood vessels. This reduction of blood flow causes the muscle tissue begins to fray like a rope. Activities such as reaching up behind the back and reaching up overhead to put on a shirt can cause pain.

Sometimes whiplash sufferers have shoulder pain which is thought to stem from the neck; therefore an impingement syndrome can often be overlooked. If these muscles are injured for a long period of time, the muscle can actually tear in two, resulting in a rotator cuff tear. This creates a weakness in the shoulder and it is difficult to complete simple tasks as elevating ones shoulder. This can delay proper treatment, thus causing chronic pain, and possibly disability.

You should have a proper history, consultation and phsyical examination to determine if you have an impingement syndrome. One diagnostic tool is via a shoulder MRI. It can show if the labrum (cartilage surrounding the bone) can break way causing pain. Inflammation of the surrounding tendons can also occur.

So when you have whiplash and shoulder pain- think of other things that can be causing the pain in your shoulder.

Source: Subacromial Impingement in Patients with whiplash injury to the cervical spine; Journal of Orthopedic Surgery 2008;3:25, Abbassian A. Giddins GE.