Hopelessness, Hormones and Hickey's!!!

Embarrassing. It should be except for the fact that these "hickey's"
are the cure to my shoulder and neck agony. So I wear them with pride. And let people think I have
 a really exciting life................

My neck and shoulder have been completely flared up for all of July.

Funny how that happened just after I had a stress/adrenal flare up in June.

Not so funny actually but a lot less traumatic this time.

Yes. I have been to this rodeo before. I had chronic neck/shoulder pain for over 18 months when I went through my rock bottom-burn out-looked and felt like shit phase in 2010/2011. Read all about that here.

The difference this time is that I KNOW that it can get better. I have HOPE. Its still annoying as hell and hurts like a bitch but its a lot less scary.

Why all the swearing? I really shouldn't but I just finished reading I HEART MY LITTLE A-HOLES and man there was a LOT of cursing in that book. So I blame her for my bad behavior........and the fact that my shoulder is throbbing.

So if you aren't feeling great - depression, anxiety, pain, whatever - have hope. You can get better. It might take a lot of determination. Some trial and error. A few $$$$. For me it even took a whack-load of hickey's.  But I know it can be fixed.............and not with a shit-load of pharmaceuticals.

How did I cure my shoulder issues last time? And how am I planning on doing it again?

Well, as my chiropractor reminded me "Chantel, it all comes back to stress management for you". Yes. If he weren't so darn RIGHT and so darn good at what he does I would be annoyed. I hate hearing stuff I don't want to hear.

But I need to hear it. Again. And again. And again.

I broke my adrenals once and they will probably never be the same. I need to baby them. I need to reduce mental and physical stress as much as I can. I need to know when to chill out. I need to eat properly for me - which means no grains, dairy and little sugar. I need to exercise - moderately, not over-train like I tend to. I need to go to sleep by 10. I need to take my supplements. I need to avoid caffeine and alcohol.

When I fail at those things and my neck and shoulder get really pissed at all the tension I am carrying around I need my chiropractor. He is a miracle worker. He uses a combination of Graston(the sad and much less interesting source of my hickey's), Active Release and Adjustments. Not sure what I would do without him. I was so hormonal the other day I started crying on the way there. Not because I was in pain, but because I was overwhelmed with gratefulness that I found him. Its cheesy but if you have ever been in constant chronic pain (for almost 2 years), tried every kind of treatment you could think of and are looking at a lifetime of painkillers..................you would know why it makes me cry. And the hormones of course.

So don't give up. Keep trying. Keep working at it. And hey, if you get a few hickey's along the way............that's just a bonus!

And by the way, if you carry your stress around in your shoulders and neck and are wound so tight you feel like you are going to snap...............find someone that does Graston. Give it a shot. I tried everything and its the only thing that worked for me. It is painful, your neck will look like a mess, but it works!