My mother realized today that my arm has been hurting for a while, and sent me to see her physical therapist, early. He did some pushing and prodding, and released my psoas muscle (as near as I can tell, he’s one of the few massage therapists who includes this in his regular massage process for nearly all of his patients, for which I’m thankful; if you’re a massage therapist, do you do this? It’s worth considering, I think). And then he introduced me to a new muscle or two in the armpit, including what I think he said was the Teres major, the Teres minor, the subscapularis, and the triceps brachii.
I feel so much better.
But it meant that I didn’t get to my tai chi practice until almost sundown. (I find that when I’m in Florida I tend to measure time as sun-up, sun-down, and bed-time.) It was a really simple practice, no extraneous detail or extra work, and no particular quality to the form — although I feel like my breathwork was ok.
The really nice thing is that the soreness in my arm which has persisted for a number of weeks is essentially gone. The therapist thought it would persist into evening, but break up by tomorrow. It’s definitely better than it’s been in a week or more.
I have got to find somebody who does that release stuff and give it a try on my foot and Achilles. 2+ years of racket from my leg. Started mid Achilles, and over months and years moved down to heel and now foot. Maddening!
It’s a good idea. Really, there’s not a lot that can replace a twice-a-month regimen of good body work, but it’s apparently important to find people who can and will do certain muscles as a part of overall body care.
The psoas is one of the few muscles hat connects upper and lower body, so when it gets tight, your whole body cramps up. This guy released this muscle a couple of years ago, and I am so grateful to him. This time it was a muscle in my armpit. And wow. What a difference it makes.