I haven’t done one of these Ronni Recommends posts in awhile, and I figured I might as well. No, it’s not about marriage. Or family. I guess it’s about momhood, ok? It still makes sense why I’m posting about this, ok? Moms get muscle tension too and need products for upper back pain. 🙂
You probably don’t know this about me, but for years now I’ve suffered from occasional bad upper back/neck/shoulder/muscle tension pain. I’ve pretty much narrowed it down to a combo of anxiety and tension (and probably lack of stretching and poor sleeping habits and other lifestyle factors that I should work on). Blah blah blah. I’m not here to whine about my physical ailments in this post. I’m only bringing it up to explain why I have so many of these products below.
If you regularly suffer from upper back, neck, and shoulder muscle tension or pain, first, try stretching more often. I know that sounds too easy, but really. Stretch your back and shoulders and neck in all ways you can think of. Or look up stretches online. Stretch all the time. Or do yoga. All are good choices. But omg, stretching helps so much.
Then try one or more of these “Ronni’s Recommendations”:
1) Sunbeam Renue XL Neck & Shoulder Heating Pad Wrap – the one I have is slightly different than this one but it’s pretty much the same thing. And oh my goodness I love it so! I’ll sleep in it, work at my computer and watch tv with it, and pretty much use it whenever I need it. It’s a bit pricey for a heating pad, but if you regularly suffer from neck/shoulder/upper back pain or muscle tension, it’s totally worth it.
2) LiBa Back & Neck Massager for Trigger Points – KP bought this for me recently, probably to save himself from me asking him for shoulder massages all the time, ha ha. Ether way. I’ll take it! I don’t really know the “right” way to use this, but I don’t really know if there’s a wrong way, so I just use it however I can make it work. And it does.
3) BeeCool Muscle Balm Stick – I got this once, for free I think, through one of the Ultimate Bundles as a bonus. But now I’m in love and use it often. I don’t know if other companies make a similar product to this, or if it’s something you can find on Amazon or not. But I don’t care. I know that this works and so whenever I run out I will buy more from MadeOn Skin Care.
4) Epsom Salt Bath – you can get epsom salt from almost anywhere, CVS, grocery stores, Amazon, I’ve even bought in bulk from Azure Standard (I love buying in bulk! See this post for how I never go grocery shopping anymore 🙂 ). It’s pretty darn easy. You draw a bath. Dissolve 1-2 cups of epsom salt in the water, get in and soak. I don’t know the exact science behind why it helps, I think it has to do with magnesium. Ether way, epsom salt baths are an old and familiar and trustworthy remedy for sore muscles.
5) Stretching & Good Posture – I have not watched this video. I just found it right now. You can stretch and have good posture without watching a video, but in case it helps, I didn’t want to leave you empty handed here. This video is free on AmazonPrime and is supposed to be good for back pain, neck pain & stress relief.
6) Laptop Table Stand Adjustable Riser – if you spend a lot of time on your computer, what’s your posture like? Are you looking down at your monitor screen? Or is it eye level? Apparently constantly bending your neck down to type can really mess up your posture and cause neck pain. This laptop riser is a newer purchase for me, and it took me a little bit to get used to typing with my hands up a bit higher off the desk (although at some point I may just buy an extra keyboard and keep it on the desk under the riser). But it keeps me sitting up straighter and my neck feels better.
7) A Soft Murmur white noise app – this also isn’t a product, but it’s an app. I’d been on the search for the perfect white noise app for awhile now. I like music and all, but when I’m really caught up in anxious state of life music sometimes only stimulates my mind further…when what I really need to to zen out and turn my mind off. Music with words is the worst because the words get stuck in my head and play on repeat. Complex and beautiful music like classical or symphonic music just makes me feel deeply. “New-agey” piano/waves/trance-like mixes only put me on edge because they feel unnatural and fabricated. But natural white noise sounds like rain, wind, waves, birds, cicadas, etc? That’s what I really needed. And oh, the sound of cicadas! This alone won me over. It reminds me of camping, of warm summer nights, of calmness, stillness, a life before cell phones and being bombarded with constant information. You can create your own mixes to match your current moods. I love this app. I’m so glad I found it. I believe you can listen to all the sounds for free online, but it cost $1.99 to unlock everything in the phone app.
I hope this was helpful to someone who might also be suffering. Don’t be like me and keep suffering in pain because you don’t know what to do about it! Try these and see if they help. Especially the regular stretching!
