So I have had some ups and downs lately. This is the latest chapter. Last Saturday I went to a stargazing party. It was great. I learned how to identify some constellations and we sat around a fire and sang. But, oooh, the effect on my neck muscles of looking up at the sky all that time! I woke with the most terrible of headaches, referred pain from the sternocleidomastoid muscles, which were so full of trigger points.

Monday I was still suffering, so I looked up a massage therapist on the internet and went. She found the right spots on my neck and it really helped. Turns out she is a neuromuscular massage specialist and had charts of trigger points on her wall. She does this thing with pushing the muscle beyond the artificial stopping point it has developed. Maybe that is not it. I will know more when I go back to her.

I had to go to this chiropractor (her ex-husband, I live in a small town!) to get a diagnosis. So he told me a lot of things I already know, but then he had this great tip. When you bend over, he says, hinge at the hips and don't curve your spine over. I tried it yesterday doing the laundry and it was a revelation. You just hinge like a jackknife when you need to reach down. It was so much easier than the other way I used to lean over. Of course it uses some muscles a new way, so some are complaining afterwards.