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Mary's right shoulder blade sits a little differently than her left but the real problem is the fact that it often aches or even burns. She's tried rubbing it, moving it around, applying heat and ice, but nothing seems to help except briefly. She saw her doc recently but he didn't think it was anything to worry about and gave her something for the pain. The prescription helped but Mary's not much of a pill taker and stopped using them.  Mary is probably suffering from irritation or injury of one of several nerves that service the shoulder blade region. The fact that...

Monica endures upper back aching most days at work, where's she's a floral designer. The pain's not always there, just at work, though bottling peaches recently became unbearable. Massage feels great, heat always helps and pain-reducing creams and lotions bring relief, but it's temporary relief, and not available when she's hard at work. The fact that the pain comes and goes is a good sign. Although Monica should discuss her discomfort with her doctor, her pain likely has a mechanical rather than a medical cause. When she works leaning over, she hurts. When she's upright, the pain goes away. Cause and...

Terri blames her chronic neck pain on the car accident she had ten years ago, or maybe on her noisy kids or stressful job. This morning she blamed her pillow or maybe she just slept wrong. So she rubs and rolls and tries to pop her own neck but it still aches. The hot shower feels good and so does putting a bag of rice in the microwave and then wrapping it around her neck. Over-the-counter meds help for a while but nothing's helping this time so she reluctantly decides to visit her favorite caregiver. Hold it, Terri! There's plenty you can do...

  Larry, like most everyone else, experiences recurring low back pain. It started years ago while lifting something in the garage and now returns more and more frequently. When it does, it's usually a low-grade annoyance but sometimes it becomes so severe he's miserable and not much good for anything to anyone. Fortunately, the agony usually passes within a few weeks if he's careful. If not, he gets help from his doctor, physical therapist or chiropractor, which usually gets him going a little faster. However, he'd rather avoid the whole ordeal if given the choice. Well, it is his choice and...

Shelly has two children and developed pain located in the boney area to the left of her lower back during her second pregnancy. It remained after the baby was born and her MD told her the SI joint was likely strained during gestation or delivery. She tried an SI belt designed to squeeze the SI joints together, and some exercises. Both helped but in time she found the belt inconvenient and hot and the exercises took too much time. The pain never fully left and was easily provoked whenever she lifted her children or twisted to pick up toys or make a...