On Wednesday I did something to my arm...my right arm. I am thinking I strained it really good. When I got home from work, it was ok, but it gradually got worse until by 7pm I was unable to move it at all. All I wanted to do was cradle it. I could barely straighten it let alone hold it away from my body even a couple of inches. The center of the pain was where my arm met my shoulder. I knew it was not too serious because it took 4+ hours to develop. Yet I couldn't move it, which was scary. It's amazing what you can't do or struggle to do when your dominant hand is useless.
That night I was unable to sleep due to the pain caused by the weight of my arm. There was no comfortable position. Finally I Googled for an oil combination for pain relief. I found a suggestion for 6 drops of frankincense and 6 drops of marjoram or oregano. I put the frank/marj combination in a capsule and shortly after was able to fall asleep for a couple of hours (I would only do this with the doTERRA oils!).Through out the rest of the day I rubbed a bunch of oils, mainly frankincense, marjoram, white fir, basil, and Deep Blue (blend designed to work with muscle pain). I also applied warm compresses which helped drive the oils in. I worked on not cradling my arm but holding proper posture. A massage therapist friend spent a few minutes working on it as well.
As I went through this day, I found myself being so grateful for the little things I was able to do, and the blessing of movement. After my friend worked on it, I was able to move it maybe 25% of normal range of motion.
As I spent the day working through the pain and trying to get movement, I was also trying to be mindful of which process I was trying to follow...linear or holistic. The goal was to be holistically minded. I made the correlation between my emotions going on during the time I injured my arm/shoulder. I felt extremely burdened and stressed. I have some struggles at work that are making it less than enjoyable to work there. I feel it is important to acknowledge what underlying emotions are contributing to a situation and to face them and to consciously let them go.
The next day, I had much better movement, and after getting my massage friend work on my upper body and help me get a lot of knots in my shoulders and arms out, I had full ROM and little pain. I was still tender at certain points, but I was fully functional. This was my first real massage EVER. It was amazing!!!
As a nurse, I have seen injuries like this take days and weeks and even months to work through with lots of NSAID use. After 4 days, I am all better. I am overwhelmed at how by taking a holistic approach, I was able to help my body work through it's challenge. I think by using oils, addressing the emotional component and getting a good massage, and lots of prayer (!) I was able to get what I needed to help my body heal. In looking back, it was nothing short of a miracle.
*I found this info-graphic poster. It was pretty cool, so I included it.
No comments:
Post a Comment