Carpal Tunnel Pain Helped with Natural Pain Relief Gel, Study Shows

A recent study showed that biofreeze natural pain relief gel decreased chronic pain and symptoms associated with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by as much as 31%. The study conducted in Copenhagen Denmark studied the effects of a placebo cream vs biofreeze on workers in a slaughterhouse.

The Median nerve in the wrist contributes to carpal tunnel syndrome often. When the nerve becomes entrapped due to inflammation of the wrist tissues, a person can have resulting wrist and hand pain. Often people get this type of wrist pain with repetive movement or overusing their wrist.

One of the main ingredients in Biofreeze is menthol. It has helped patients also with arthritis in the knee, neck pain, and lower back pain. Mechanism is through cold therapy where the menthol activates cold receptors to decrease pain.

Source: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Pain Relieved by Topical Analgesic


Additional Reading:

• Biofreeze Gel, Biofreeze Roll On and Biofreeze Roll On
• Treat a muscle spasm using ice and biofreeze
• Treating Muscles Spasm in the neck or low back
• Cold Packs that Work
• Low Back Pain Relief

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“Great, I’m on Vacation and my Neck Pain is Acting Up!”

You don’t want this to happen to you. I can tell you from experience however that this happens all too often. You may not be on vacation, but traveling away from home for work. The bottom line is you are away from home with a different pillow, bed, and surroundings than what you’re used to.



Two things I recommend when you travel are a travel pillow and the Trac-Collar. Actually, three things because there are two kinds of neck travel pillows. One is a U-shaped pillow. These are great in a car or on a plane to keep your neck in good position. The other is a travel pillow that’s simply the smaller version of a standard sized pillow. This helps because it keeps the neck in alignment when you sleep. The Trac-Collar helps relieve immediate pain by stretching the spine out, opening up the nerve holes, and relaxing the spine. It’s super light and even has a small travel case. Literally buckle it around the neck and pump it up.



These are just a few things that I highly recommend for traveling neck pain sufferers. There are many other things also, like Biofreeze, Formula 303, hot packs, other spinal supports, you name it. These are the 3 most common that have been a big success to avoid neck pain while traveling.





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Neck Muscle Spasm: How it Happens and How to Get Rid of Them

Most often what happens is some kind of injury to the neck. Now, this can be a serious injury like a car accident whiplash, but it can be a much less traumatic neck strain from moving too quick or the wrong way.

Here’s an example: I was reaching for something in the cabinet above my fridge. Instead of getting a step stool I was reaching and turning my neck … wham, it hit me, a sharp spasm of pain in the side of my neck.

Thank goodness I have the tools and know-how to fix this problem. Using my traction pillow is one of the biggest things that helps, but even before doing that, I recommend a few other to-do’s to cure the neck spasms.

The first thing I did was warm up my hot pack to put on that side of my neck. I may also let the how shower soak on my neck when I shower. I was lucky enough that my wife was home and gave me a little neck massage with Biofreeze. Lastly, I rotated my pillow to the traction side; I use the linear gravity support side often, but when I do something to my neck or want to do some gentle traction, I use the neck traction side. Having the know-how and tools to correct neck spasms and neck pain will save you a lot of trouble down the road.


Additional Reading Resources

• Neck Traction on Arc4life.com
• How to Treat Tight Muscles
• My Hands Go Tingly When I Sleep?
• Neck Exercises
• How Should I sleep with a neck Injury

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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Recent Study Shows that Biofreeze Reduces Pain and Blood Flow & Increases Muscle Function

For tight muscles, sore muscles or tender trigger points, on treatment option is to use a natural pain relief gel like icy hot, bengay, or biofreeze.

A recent University of Louisville study compared Biofreeze and ice, and their effect on pain, blood flow, and muscle function.
While they both reduced blood flow, Biofreeze Natural Pain Relief Gel actually did it much quicker. Both the ice and Biofreeze reduced pain. The one difference was that Biofreeze showed significant increase in muscle function where the ice did not.

Biofreeze works similar to ice in how it helps to heal. Ice therapy initially constricts local blood vessels and decreases tissue temperature. This constriction decreases blood flow and cell metabolism, which can limit hemorrhage and cell death in an acute traumatic injury.
The fact that Biofreeze was able to help restore muscle function was significant because allowing muscles and ligaments to work like they should reflects that nerve function is also better.

In our Central CT office, we use ice after muscle therapy and sometimes following adjustments, or we give home icing instructions. We also do the same with Biofreeze. The reason is to speed the healing process. We have found both to be natural means of getting our patients better faster. One of the nice things is that you don’t need to be in the office to use them; both can be utilized right at home.



Additional Reading Resources:

• How to Treat Tight Muscles Using Biofreeze
  
• Hot and Cold Therapy for Pain Relief
  
• My Trapezius Really Hurts, How Do I Find Relief?
  
• Neck Muscles Most Responsible For Your Stiff Neck And Trigger Points: The Levator Scapulae and Trapezius
  
• Treating Neck Pain without Surgery or Medication
  

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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Help, I woke up with a Stiff neck ! How do I get rid of it?

Help me i have a bad stiff neck ! how do i get rid of it???? please help!!!!
Imagine, you wake up one morning, and you have stiffness in your neck and you cannot move your head.

You probably slept uncomfortably in an awkward position. A stiff neck often results when you have slept incorrectly, thereby straining the muscles of the neck. It can also result after being on the telephone for too long, or for driving long periods. You want to first of all deal with this stiff neck. Take a warm/hot shower and slowly flex your head forward and backward as far as you can without pain. Also laterally bend and turn your head side to side. Use a natural pain relieving gel like Biofreeze. To properly use this read this Neck Pain Support Blog Post on how to decrease muscle spasm using biofreeze. Also, get used to doing some sort of neck stretches every morning to prevent a stiff neck in the first place. Read our Neck Pain Support Blog for Fast and Easy Stretches for the Cervical Spine. Finally, you need to have a good cervical support neck pillow while you sleep: Try the Cervical Traction neck pillow. It is the best neck pillow for sleeping and preventing a stiff neck. This neck pillow will keep your neck in the proper position while sleeping.

Visit us at Arc4life.com for informative articles on neck pain as well as neck pain relief products.

How to Treat a Muscle Spasm with Ice and Biofreeze

Muscle spasm or muscle tension in the neck or in the lower back? One way to treat this simply at home is to use a combination of ice and Biofreeze, a natural pain relieving Gel. A muslce spasm often feels like a tightness and sometimes it can be painful. I originally wrote this article on ehow.com and now i want to share it on my blog as well. In this particular blog I am talkinga about treating a muscle spasm in the neck region specifically. I have also given you ideas for your lower back region as well. Here is what you will need:

• BioFreeze Natural Pain Relieving Gel
  
  
• 6 x 20 Cold Pack for your neck OR 10 x 12 Cold Pack for your lower back region
  
• 1 towel
  
• 1 glove (non latex preferrable)
  

Step by Step Instructions for treating your muscle spasm:

1. Make sure your 6 x 20 ice pack has been in your freezer for at least 4 hours.
   
2. Take your ice pack out of the freezer and wrap your ice pack in the towel
   
3. Put one glove on and squeeze a small amount of biofreeze from the tube onto your finger.
   
4. Apply to your neck. Start from the top of your neck in the back (just under your hairline in the back) and start to massage in small circular strokes. First do the right side, then the left side. From top to the base of the neck. Keep your head in a neutral position.
   
5. After you have a massaged for about 1.5 minutes on each side, apply the ice pack that has been wrapped around the towel. Apply this ice pack right around your neck, allowing the ice pack to hang from your upper shoulders. Relax, sit (or lie down face down) like for 10-15 minutes.
   

It is a good idea to have someone else do this for you, but this is not always possible. BioFreeze Natural Pain Relieving Gel is odorless, and greaseless but you don't want your fingers tingling afterwards. Wearing a glove will also save you a step from having to wash your hands (you can concentrate fully on your neck pain or lower back pain)
Also, It is a good idea to keep your ice pack in a seperate plastic bag so that it does not pick up the freezer odors. You want to get a 6 x 20 ice pack because this will fit nicely around your neck or a 10 x 12 ice pack for your lower back region.



NJ
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The Dreadful Unwanted Muscle Spasm and one Researchers Story

Recently Mr. Dhaliwal presented to our office with left sided neck and upper back pain. Mr. Dhaliwal is a researcher who uses his computer quite a bit. He doesn't realize it but he when he types he keeps his shoulders up in a scrunched up manner and looks down at his keyboard at hours on end (doing research). He is also under a lot of stress at work to complete deadlines and this definitely does not help the situation. After a consultation and examination it was found that Mr. Dhaliwal was having muscle spasms of the neck and upper back muscles.
What exactly is a muscle spasm, you may ask? A Muscle Spams is an involuntary contraction of a muscle or a muscle group. It is often very painful. Many times a muscle spasm keeps a muscle's motor unit continuously firing. This motion of continuous flexion of the neck (looking down) can have a negative effect on the soft tissue and nerves of the neck and shoulder region. It is suggested to our patient that he take frequent breaks to stretch your neck as often as possible.
Without sufficient movement, over time, nerve supply flowing from the neck to the arms can be obstructed and lead to tingling or numbness in the arms and fingers and eventually, headaches. Just as there is a continuous flow between the fluids on a cellular level, there is also a certain natural flow, similar to electricity, within the nervous system. Whenever there is an obstruction of the nerve flow, the part of the body that is supplied by that nerve does not function at its fullest potential.
Because Mr. Dhaliwal is in acute pain today, one of the first things we do is use an ice pack for 10 minutes in the upper back and neck. We use a 9 x 16 tri-sectional ice pack because this will cover his upper back and neck area well.
We follow this up with the application of Biofreeze- a natural pain relieveing gel that works effectively on muscle spasms. Pressure is put on the upper trapezius as well as muscles of the neck with the Biofreeze similar to a deep tissue massage.
It is also suggested that Mr. Dhaliwal take more breaks during the day. The simple activity of standing up and walking can stimulate nerve flow and allow his muscles to relax. Simple stretches for the trapezius muscle are also suggested; To stretch the trapezius muscles you drop your arms to your sides and slowly rolling your shoulders in a circular motion. You can also gradually add light hand weights and gently raising the shoulders upwards towards your ears. This will allow the muscles to eventually become stronger. Strong muscles reinforce and support the joints, and the neck consists of many joints between the individual vertebrae. Mr. Dhaliwal agrees that this stretch is very simple, something he can incorporate into his day.

Finally, gentle cervical traction is also suggested. By placing a cervical roll or medium sized, rolled up towel under his neck, he can help relax the neck and shoulder muscles. Doing traction to his neck will support the cervical curve and increase the nerve and blood supply. Here is an example of a cervical roll: The Jackson Roll