It gets blamed for pain all the time but it is usually NOT the muscle at fault!  Poor rhomboid.

Rhomboid area pain is typically caused by that area being over-stretched.  The burning is a symptom.  You have to figure out the cause and get rid of it.

Your neck could be involved if the scalene muscles on the side of your neck are causing you to have a ‘knot’ in your back.  The scalene muscles in your neck can have trigger points that cause burning in the rhomboid area or knots in your back but the burning can also be caused by simple mechanical over-stretch.

If you strengthen the muscles in the back of your neck, back and thighs and stretch and lengthen the muscles in the front of your body from knees to chin, you will be working to re-balance your body.  This is good!

Since there is an excellent chance that the muscles in the front of your body are too strong and tight and short already, they don‘t need strengthening.  They need lengthening.

There are ways to sit more comfortably at the computer so you don’t over-stretch your rhomboid area.

Using a mouse?  Try this:

1.  Switch hands.  It really can be done. 
2.  Bring your elbow closer to your waist when you work–no stretching.  Stretching aggravates muscle in the rhomboid area–it gets overstretched and complains.
3.  No slouching.  A strong back will help prevent slouching.
4.  Using a laptop?  Get a separate monitor or keyboard so you can work more ergonomically.

A foam roller or roll made of a long towel or piece of carpet is excellent for laying on to allow you to stretch and lengthen the muscles in the front of your chest and arm.  If it’s narrow enough for you to lay on long-ways (with the full length of your spine and head on it) you can also use it as a tool to squeeze your shoulder blades against.  That will help strengthen the muscles between your shoulder blade and spine.  Then those muscles can better hold their own against being over-stretched.

If you need more self-help ideas and ways to treat the knots in your back,<– click here.

Taking these actions can help to get rid of this nasty ache in your rhomboid.

The first thing is to figure out WHY you are getting these knots.  I’m not being silly here.

There are always reasons why you have pain.  Usually the reasons involve muscles.

Muscles move bones.  Muscles can press on nerves.  Muscles are usually overlooked as being causes of pain.

So the answer is not to attack only the area where it hurts because those are just symptoms.

The answer is to get to the root cause of your knot. Figure out the cause of your back pain and get rid of the cause.

It could be posture-related. Do you slouch or slump?

It could be that you always lean into the same corner of the couch.

It could be your heavy book bag that causes you to lean forward.

It is something and that something needs to be changed so you will stop getting these knots.

And muscles need minerals to function their best. Do you eat a good diet that supplies lots of vitamins and minerals or do you eat mostly pre-packaged, highly processed foods and fast foods? They cannot supply what your muscles need.

You cannot fool your muscles with fake foods.

One more thing: The knots in your back may be caused by tight muscles in the front of your body.

Most of the time we have our hands and heads in front of our body and this shortens the muscles in the fronts of our chest, abdomen, arms and neck. That means the muscles in the front of the body need to be stretched. They are most often the culprit!

If you can give your body movement, nutrition, stretching in the right directions and good posture you can get rid of the knots in your back naturally.

1.  Hold in your stomach muscles (that’s the best and easiest way to strengthen them.)  Just suck them back to your spine.

2.  Lift your chest (this strengthens your back.)

3.  Create a small hollow behind your waist if you don’t have one (you should have one.)

4.  Try to use ALL of your muscles around your whole body–front, back and sides.  Most of us use only a portion of our muscles each day–like 70 out of 300.  Not so good–it causes back pain when muscles are not balanced.

5.  Practice flexing your spine forward and backward, forward and backward.  This improves the circulation around your spine and strengthens your torso.

6.  Roll your shoulders up and back (this strengthens your back muscles.)

7.  Use a lumbar cushion behind your waist when you are seated.  (You can fold a hand towel to the right size for you.)

8.  Stick your tailbone ALL the way back into your seat.  Or if the length of the seat is longer than your thighs, place a large pillow behind your back.

9.  No slouching allowed!  If you catch yourself slouching, just straighten up again.  And again.  And again. 

Whew!  That a LOT of stuff to remember.

Yes, it is a lot but the more little changes you make the easier it will be to keep back pain from getting worse.  In fact, you may even notice that your back feels better and that you feel better all over!

That’s what better posture can do for you!

Oh, and maybe a good, sturdy pair of arch supports for your shoes, too.  If you have flat feet without natural arches, that can cause back pain.  Arch supports can help you get rid of your back pain naturally. 

Could it be stress? Overwork? Old age? Arthritis? Or maybe your nerves or bones?

Would you be surprised if I told you that the cause was most likely…in most cases…muscles?

But not any old muscles.

Overstretched muscles cause most back pain, especially pain between the shoulder blades.

Pain between your shoulder blades and spine can be on both sides or just one side, depending on how you use your body. Some people only get pain on the dominant side, which means if they are right-handed, the right side of their back will hurt.

When your muscles are continually overstretched, like your back muscles are if you have “forward head” posture, they have to react. If they did not react, the muscles would tear and we would be unable to function.

So, instead of tearing, the muscles “splint” themselves.

They become taut and protect themselves from being damaged or ripping off the bone. (Although that can happen in extreme cases.)

When your muscles become taut (taut:  a rope being pulled from both ends that can’t relax because no one will let go) they become less able to function fully.

They also become crabby.

The overstretched muscles are working way too hard. They are not working the way they were designed to work. Muscles are supposed to help us move. They let us flex and bend and stretch.  That’s their job.

Bones are supposed to support us. That’s the job of bones.  We are not supposed to use our muscles as bones.

Here’s good news:  You can stop your muscles from being overstretched!

You can get your muscles back to being the way they used to be, but it will take some time and effort and you’re the only one who can do it. Well, you could get some help to loosen up from a knowledgeable massage therapist, but basically you are in charge.

The reason I said a knowledgeable massage therapist is because many of them only work where it hurts–your back, in this situation–and your back pain is the symptom, not the cause.

There is a big difference between a symptom and the cause of the symptom.  He or she will also need to loosen the muscles in front of your body.

• You need to eliminate your forward head or forward arm posture to stop overstretching your back muscles.
• You need to strengthen your back.
• You will have to practice lifting your shoulder blades and rolling them backward, so they will become more movable.
• Practice squeezing your shoulder blades toward your spine.
• Read the rest of the articles here.

The purpose of this article and this site is to help you get rid of the miserable knots in your upper back.  You will find lots of additional articles about natural ways to get rid of the pain between your shoulder blades here and there is a free report waiting for you at http://KnotsInYourBack.com that will help you understand WHY you have muscle knots and WHAT you can do to get rid of them.

The study compared patients in three groups:

1.  Conventional medical treatment of medicine and exercises
2.  Structural massage (deeper pressure)
3.  Swedish massage (more gentle form of massage)

Guess who won? 

1.  4% improvement in back pain for medicine and exercises
2.  37% improvement in back pain for structural massage
3.  And a 37% improvement for Swedish massage recipients

And the folks who had the conventional medical treatment spent more time in bed and were less active.  Now, only 4% seems quite low to me for that treatment but, actually, 37% improvement for massage also seems low to me.

One hour of professional massage a week was enough to deliver results and either type of massage helped.

Here’s an article to help you find a massage therapist who can help you:  (click this link–>)  http://simplepainrelief.com/2009/11/22/how-to-find-a-massage-therapist-who-can-relieve-your-pain/

I had an elderly client named Bob.  He had lower back pain from the time he was a very young man.  He used to get his children to walk on his back to get the muscle spasms to go away.

Bob had surgery later in life.  That helped some but his leg length difference was so great that, in the xrays, it could be seen that the fusing hardware had broken.

His doctors never looked at his legs as a possible cause of his low back pain.  But when I did an assessment I could see there was quite a bit of difference.  I told Bob about John Wayne, the cowboy movie actor.  John Wayne had a leg length difference–and quite a large one.

Bob knew exactly what I meant.  He said, “My tailor told me that!  My tailor always had to hem the pant leg on one side!”  It was actually between 1-1/2″ and 2″.

That’s an easy way to tell if you have a large leg length difference–does one pant leg seem short or one seem long?  Is it on every pair of pants you own?

A recent article said that if the leg lengths are different by one inch or more it might strain your lower back. That is too generous.

Physicians and muscle specialists Janet Travell MD and David Simons MD said if the difference is 1/8″ or greater it will cause pain and dysfunction!

So if you have lower back pain this could be the cause.

First, try to find someone who can help you make that determination.  It could be a doctor with xrays to determine the length of your leg bones or it could be a neuromuscular massage therapist who can give a good estimate.  It could even be your mirror or a tailor.

Second, get your shoes built up on the short side.  You can make a fairly reasonable guess on how much (if you have to do this yourself) by standing on a magazine or writing tablet on the side you think is short.

Try different thicknesses of the magazine or add more magazines until it feels ‘right’ to you and you feel balanced.

This can be very time consuming but, in the end, well worth your effort if your low back pain is caused by the difference in the length of your legs.

“Kathryn – Hi, maybe you have some ideas.  I am considering breast reduction.  How much do large breasts play into my back strain?  I used to belly-dance but I think the extra weight up top & out front puts me out of alignment.  I always get low back strain now when I try to dance.”

“The Dr I went to for cosmetic assistance (enlargement) went overboard.   Do you think breast reduction will help?  I am 5’4″, weigh 120 lbs, with a slight build.  I wear 36DD.”

Here’s my answer:

Yes, large breasts do cause back and neck pain issues.

I don’t know how much weight implants have but if they are about the same as natural breasts that’s a lot of weight.

The women I know who have had breast reduction surgery said it made a great deal of difference in their neck and back pain.

In the meantime, you can still do things to strengthen your back and that will help you hold yourself upright.  And if you have flat feet wearing a good sturdy arch support will also help you stand up straight and take strain off your upper back.

There are articles on strengthening your back at http://SimpleStrengthening.com  They don’t cost a thing but you will have to sift through the articles to find the best ones for you.

And the Video Category at http://CarpalTunnelPainReliefNow.com  has some good videos for backs, too (also free).

Breast reduction surgery will get rid of the extra weight that pulls you forward and strains your back muscles.

Note for women without breast implants: 

Before you consider surgery, if you are overweight, you may find that losing weight will also reduce the weight of your natural breasts and help get rid of your back pain naturally.

“I drive for a living.  Drive up to 10 hrs a day, my hip & back hurt nearly all the time.  I am 51 years old.  My hip (I think it’s the iliopsoas, but my rehab guy says tight quadriceps)… anyway that little muscle will go into spasm and it’s quite miserable.”

Here is what I told Linda:

I’m thinking that your seat may be not quite close enough to the wheel.  That would cause you to strain the upper back muscles.

Additionally, it causes less upper back strain if you hold the wheel at 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock rather than higher.

And if there isn’t a lumbar support that fits you, you can make one from a folded hand towel or create a  “pillow” from a batt of fiberfill.  Get it at a fabric store or KMart and fold it to where it feels good for you.

You can put it into a pillow case or not.  Make a few different sizes and you can switch as the day  goes on.  Muscles like to be in a lot of different positions.  Sometimes use a lumbar support, sometimes not.  It goes behind your natural waist.

Both you and your rehab guy could be right about the muscles involved.  Tell me the really specific location of your hip pain and I can give you more ideas.

Is it actually AT the hip joint on the side of the upper leg?  More in the buttocks?  Which part?

When you sit all day long the front of your leg muscles will get short and tight and that includes both iliopsoas and quads and the medial (inner thigh)  muscles.

The more information (clues) that I have about symptoms, the better job I can do of long-distance assessing to help you get rid of a back or hip pain problem.

But I do know this:  The muscles that need to be stretched are all in the front of your body from knees to neck and that includes the quadriceps and iliopsoas.   And a tight iliopsoas will cause lower back pain.

Stretching the muscles in the front of your body and strengthening the back muscles, as well as using appropriate props like lumbar supports when needed, will help you get your muscles back in balance and get rid of your hip pain and back pain naturally.

Did you know there is a right way to swing or move your arms when you walk?  There is!  Moving your arms correctly takes the strain off your upper back muscles.

Here it is:

Thumbs up!

Just as though you are going to  shake hands.

Stand up and look down.  If the backs of  your hands are facing forward, that means the muscles in the front of  your body are short.

Those short muscles are turning your hands like  that.  They are also straining your upper back.

Now, try to hold your hands with your thumbs pointing forward.  Feel the difference in your upper arm?  Does it make your posture a little better?

And when you walk,  swing your arms from the shoulders with your thumbs facing  forward.

Let your arms swing freely at your sides rather than  crossing in front of your body.

Walking with your arms in this position will use your muscles  in a more neutral way and the tight muscles in your upper back will be happier!

Stretching your calves and strengthening the fronts of your lower leg (the shin) can help get your leg muscles balanced.

When you stretch your calf muscles be careful not to stretch tooooo much.  Just a nice, small stretch and no bouncing.

You can strengthen your shin muscles by  tilting your toes upward toward your knees. At the same time that movement also stretches your calf muscles.

Flat feet are another cause of back pain. 

If you don’t have your own natural arches, running shoe stores sell arch supports that will go into your shoes.  They probably work best if you wear loafer type shoes or athletic shoes.  You have to buy arch supports that really have a firm arch to them and that fit where your own natural arches would be.  Mushy, soft shoe liners are not the same as arch supports.

Running shoe store employees should know how to make sure they fit well.  They should cost around $30.

Also, try “making” arches with the muscles in your feet.  If your muscles feel like they want to cramp, back off and go slowly.  Eventually your foot muscles will get better at doing this and you will to have at least some benefit.

If you have knots in your back your flat feet could also be part of the cause of those knots.  Flat feet put a lot of strain on your upper back and neck as well as your lower back.

But when you have arches in your feet, your head is more balanced over your body and so there is less back  muscle strain.