Hi there, my name is Lara and I am in my early 20s residing currently in Pennsylvania. In addition to finishing up college, I teach yoga and mindfulness and other freelance public health work to get a feel of where I want to take my degree. I have always been passionate about wellness, movement, and exercise. Growing up, I was a gymnast for 10 years as well as a lacrosse goalie for almost as long. Despite my active lifestyle, I suffered a crippling experience from muscle strains and I want to share how acupressure helped me heal.
As most kids believe, I thought my body was invincible- I had never broken a bone or gotten injured in any of my sports. I liked to push myself and notice how my body changed as I got stronger, more flexible, or faster. However, during my senior year of high school my ambition turned out to be too much of a good thing.
After I stopped gymnastics, I wanted an outlet for my strength and flexibility, but something less regimented and more creative. I found aerial trapeze which became a quick passion. It came rather naturally for me because of my experience with acrobatics and flexibility, so I progressed quickly without taking the time to properly acclimate my body to these new positions and apparatuses. Unfortunately, I had the bad habit of not properly warming up all my muscles and specifically my back before putting myself into pretzel like positions.
Eventually my beginner’s luck ran out. I injured my lower back due to chronic stress on the spine and over stretching of the supporting muscles. I experienced the low back pain while still practicing for my first aerial showcase, but often downplayed it and treated it with more stretching and heat like I would any other sore muscles. However, in the months afterwards I had such severe pain that after sitting for even short periods of time I wouldn’t be able to walk for several minutes until I could slowly get my back into a proper position. Daily tasks like driving, sitting in class, and even watching TV became arduous and painful.
Since the pain and discomfort was not responding to stretching or heat, I started looking for alternative solutions. What I was experiencing was more than just sore muscles from an intense workout. In my case, the muscles of my low back were actually extremely overstretched and worn out. This was due to the lack of proper support from surrounding muscles like my glutes, hamstrings, and core.
I opted to go with a more body focused practitioner rather than the traditional route because I wanted to treat the issue at the root and not just take pain medication to deal with the symptoms. I decided to try out acupressure because my mom had some success with it for neck and nerve pain. My mom consulted with her acupressure therapist, who recommended I treat my muscle strains with her. So I decided to give her a try myself.
Acupressure is a TCM modality where the practitioner presses specific points on the body with their hands and other tools. As you will see later, acupressure can be quite helpful for muscle strains. It follows a different body system than the alignment of the muscles like traditional massage. I had no idea what to expect but my mom reassured me of her experience. After our consultation, I received only a couple hour-long sessions. I laid on a massage table fully clothed while the practitioner worked her magic. Honestly, it was not nearly as relaxing as a massage because many of the points and pressures were actually quite painful. It was mainly focused on my back and legs, which were the most sensitive parts at the moment.
In addition to the acupressure sessions, the practitioner also gave me a strict regimen to follow on my own. The acupressure and the regimen combined was the “prescription” to alleviate my muscle strains. I needed to take an herbal tincture three times a day to reduce inflammation. Also, I needed to use biofreeze and tiger balm on my low back every day to soothe it. Lastly I needed to wear a supportive back brace I wore around my waist that had magnets in it. I adhered really closely to the regimen because I was open to anything that could help at that point. I persisted even though the herbs tasted down right awful and I smelled like walking menthol from the biofreeze and tiger balm.
The brace was really helpful though in supporting my back while I was in sitting positions. It helped me make sure I was strengthening those muscles instead of slouching and stretching them further. In addition, the hardest part of the process for me was to take a whole summer off of yoga, trapeze, and most other exercise.
After about 2 or 3 months of that whole protocol, my back felt significantly better. From then on, the balm and biofreeze became used as needed and I only wore the brace for periods of long sitting. I was honestly amazed at the difference a few sessions and the other supplementary pieces could make. I can report that several years after treatment and returning to yoga and trapeze I have had no recurring episodes. Neither have I had a need for any of the treatments since that initial period.
Experiencing this injury helped me return to my practices with mindfulness, form, and respect for the pace of my body. I discovered that these are some of the best preventative measures for injuries. This whole experience really shaped the way I move and also guide others through movement in my yoga classes.
I am really grateful I chose acupressure to help heal the muscle strains in my back and so much more. If you’re curious if it will help you, I say it is definitely worth a try for a variety of different issues. It is non invasive as opposed to acupuncture- so no needles- and may change your perspective along the way. This is because in order to heal holistically, often lifestyle changes are needed at least for a time, but they might stick around for the better.
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