Posted by Carl D (64.12.104.166) on March 03, 2001 at 05:37:16:
In Reply to: PEPPERMINT OIL posted by susan on March 03, 2001 at 01:32:59:
I will have to get me some. Anything is worth a shot at this point.
As for the knots: A friend of mine is a certified massage therapist. If I go out with friends, and I see him out, he will always give me a neck and back rub right there - sitting out wherever we are.
I had not seen him for almost two years ( as he lives in St Louis and I rarely go out like I used to back in the days before), and he knows well of my CH condition. He is very good too - working on athletes and the like. I saw him for the first time in a looong time back in October (before I became somewhat stable), and he asked how the CH's were. Terrible as usual. He was like, "Sit down and I'll give you a massage." (Nice to have such friends eh?)
I wasn't sitting there two minutes before he had felt through my neck down to my lower back. He just said "You're getting them on the left now, aren't you?"
"How can you tell?" I asked kind of perplexed.
"You have alot of knots on that side compared to the right side, and your neck is completely stiff on the left."
After a good half hour of getting worked on, I felt better. Everytime he would put equal amounts of pressure on my shoulder area, I could feel the left side tighten. Eventually, after awhile, I was completely relaxed.
I am just wondering if the tension and knots is the result of stress built up on that side of the body from the CH, or if the CH might be aggravated by this tension coming from another source. In any case, I know I did feel alot better afterwards. The last time I saw hime out was in January, and he did the same thing.
I am learning ways to give myself massages on my neck. I also know that on my right side around the shoulder blade area, I have a continuous knot that cannot be worked out.
I will have to try to rub some Peppermint Oil on the back of my neck, and see how it helps.
Peace,
Carl D