Muscle Pain Relief Using An Acupressure Mat

The best pain relief products are those that have no side effects whatsoever. A version of acupuncture, the acupressure mat, can provide just that.

Having pain means your body is telling you that something is not right. Of course, acupuncture will not heal a broken leg (but it might lessen the pain!).

However, acute or chronic pain is very often caused by the stresses everyday life imposes on your body.

The body's muscles and skeleton cannot cope with sitting still in front of a monitor for several hours every day, or doing repetitive movements all day.

Since the muscles are not allowed to relax enough they will over time develop an inflammation - and the pain starts.

When muscles hurt, a shoulder or a knee for example, the normal reaction is to tense more and thus a vicious circle is formed. To be able to relax and let your body take care of the pain is not easy or natural.

We are conditioned to pop a pain killing pill instead, since it works quickly and we all crave "quick fixes". But in the long run this is not the best way to help your body fight the pain you may be having.

If at all possible the underlaying cause of the pain should be researched and removed. If your job demands that you sit in front of a computer ever yday, you should try to have a quick break every 15 - 20 minutes.

Just by getting up and walking or stretching for a minute, and looking away from the screen will work wonders.

It is usually not possible to work without stressing your body and causing some pain, and sometimes we will hurt for no obvious reason.

It is telling that sales of pain killing drugs increases all the time - it doubled between 1997 and 2005, also a forecast made by the pharmaceutical industry in the spring of 2010 predicted a massive increase in sales of pain killers.

Acupuncture is a way of naturally stimulating the body's own pain killing system, and recent studies also indicate it helps the brain "shut off" certain areas that deal with pain.

You can also get the positive effects of acupuncture in your own home, simply by resting on an acupressure mat. This has been made into the modern acupressure mat, drawing on old techniques from India, as well as research from the US, Russia and Sweden.

If the pain is not too bad it effectively relieves it completely. If the pain is more severe you will find it helps keep you pain free longer between visits to your acupuncture therapist.