Massage at Eades

Pectoral work is serious stuff, strictly only treating neck and shoulders is eventually gonna turn into pushing a rope when it comes to progress.

Forcing your shoulders back won't fix a neck hump! ❌ #neckpain #posture #dowagerhump #gymtips 🔥 Eliminate Pain & Realign Your Body in 28 Days!Stop training thro...

I’m so sorry for those I talked to yesterday at St. John dates for October are the 8th and 22nd! Please tell your fellow clients.

Had a great day at Hope Fest yesterday! I enjoyed meeting so many new people, sharing what I do, and seeing our community come together. 💙

One of the best parts was getting to watch some of my colleagues succeed, too. It’s a good feeling to see people you know putting their talents to work and being appreciated for it.

Thank you to the organizers for having me and to everyone who stopped by to visit. I’m grateful to have been part of it! Massage By Alicia Blindside Grappling Explore Great Bend, KS Club 1 Fitness greatbendchamber

Today’s Chamber Coffee was hosted by The Center for Counseling & Consultation.

I missed most of the presentation this morning, but I still wanted to stop in, show some support, and thank them for inviting me to be part of HopeFest next Saturday at Jack Kilby Square.

It’s always good to see so many people from around Great Bend show up for organizations that are working to strengthen our community—especially when it comes to mental health and helping people know they aren’t alone.

I’m looking forward to being at HopeFest and visiting with everyone there!

So excited for next Saturday!! Blindside Grappling Explore Great Bend, KS

The nerves in your body work like an alarm system. The system’s sensors detect physical sensations, such as temperature, touch, pressure, pain, and movement. They tell your brain what’s happening to your body so that you can make appropriate decisions—It’s cold outside, I’ll get a jacket, or I’m dizzy, I want to get off this carnival ride.

Some things can get in the way of this normal process, however. Stress and anxiety cause the release of the stress hormone cortisol, which can wake up your sensors and activate your alarm system. That’s why stress can make existing pain feel worse, or even cause pain when there’s no actual physical threat. What’s more, stress can cause tension in your body, which can generate muscle spasms and more pain. Over a long period of time, stress and anxiety can contribute to chronic inflammation and pain.

How to calm an extra-sensitive alarm system

Stay active: Exercise can help reduce stress and calm down your brain and nervous system. It can be as simple as a short walk. Biking and swimming are other low-impact activities that can boost your mood.
Don’t overdo it: Overdoing exercise or activity can activate your alarm system. Do just enough to trigger endorphins, which are pain-reducing, happy chemicals in your brain.
Get enough sleep: Sleep is important for your physical well-being and can reduce stress.
Eat nutritious food: Whole grains, legumes, veggies, and fruits contain vitamins and micronutrients and antioxidants that reduce inflammation.
Practice mindfulness: When you focus your attention on breathing deeply and slowly—or even just on whatever task you’re currently doing—it has a calming effect on your brain and nervous system

Today’s Chamber Coffee was held in the Perkins conference room and hosted by the Pilot Club, with a focus on their upcoming autism and neurodiversity workshops.

It was great to hear more about the work they’re doing to promote understanding, acceptance, and support for people of all kinds of minds in our community.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t feeling especially social this morning, so I mostly found a seat, relaxed, listened, and took it all in. Sometimes that’s enough. It was genuinely nice to watch people from across Great Bend come together, visit, learn, and support something positive.

Another good reminder of why these Chamber Coffee mornings matter.

Pain is your brain's way of protecting you. It is an output from the brain when a threat is detected, and it does not always perfectly warn you about an injury or tell what's happening in the body.

For example, if you pick up a plate of food that is too hot and may burn you, you feel pain in your fingers. That is not because there are pain sensors in your hand that sent a message to your brain that the threshold for pain was crossed. Instead, your brain made a calculation that took into account things like the temperature of the plate, if you've been burnt before, how much you want what's on the plate and decided how and when you would feel pain.

If your brain decides you're likely to have a burn and you won't really be too disappointed if your leftovers end up on the floor, you may feel pain quickly and drop the plate. However, even if the plate is the same temperature, your brain may decide that dropping the plate immediately is too costly (you worked hard to make that meal or the plate has been in the family for generations). In this case you may not feel pain until you've safely set the plate down on the table.

Because so much of pain is rooted in the brain, it is not a good indicator of tissue damage or injury. You can feel pain when you hurt yourself, but you also many not.

You may have pain in presence of tissue damage, but you also may not

If you step in a hole and sprain your ankle, you may immediately feel the pain in your ankle. However, if you're at mile 24 of the marathon that you've been training for over the last year and you step in a pot hole, you may not feel pain in your ankle at that moment.

You can also have pain without tissue damage

You can damage your tissues without feeling pain, but it is also possible to have pain without tissue damage or injury.

People who have a limb amputated can experience pain in the limb that was lost even though the limb is no longer t here. Someone with sciatica or a pinched nerve may feel pain in the leg or the foot, but there is no tissue damage that has occurred in the foot.

Reflection

How does this information impact the way you understand your injury? How do you plan to utilize this information?

Today’s coffee… without actually having any coffee. 😂

After misreading the Chamber’s post, I accidentally showed up at USD 428 ‘s Business Fair as an uninvited gate crasher! The place was packed, and I still got the chance to briefly visit with several familiar faces and local businesses.

Thanks to everyone for being so gracious about my mistake and making me feel welcome anyway. Sometimes showing up at the wrong place still leads to the right conversations! greatbendchamber