Upon waking this a.m., my ribs and sternum hurt badly; it hurts to breathe. I have pain in my shoulders, wrists, and temples.
I probably smell like a drugstore because my husband covered my back with mentholated CBD cream and I’ve applied it to my abdomen, ribs, sternum, jaws and temples.
My husband helps me with a stretch I can’t do alone and is kind of hard to describe but I’ll do my best. I lie flat on my back, no pwillow. Starting just under my sternum, close to the middle, he uses his fingertips to push on the abdominal muscles. He does this gradually moving down and outward in the shape of a tree. When he applied pressure through his stiffened fingers, he holds it for a few seconds. At different points along the way, I can feel muscles stretching from my neck all the way down to my lower abdomen. It’s pretty painful but I have him push as hard as I can tolerate. This releases tension from the muscles that attach at the ribcage and run down to attach at the front of my hips. I wish I could figure out a way to get such a good stretch independently, but it’s kind of a weird spot. Bending backwards doesn’t give me nearly as good of a stretch.
I’m going to take naproxen sodium today because Tylenol did absolutely nothing for me yesterday. I’ll also take a muscle relaxer. Wearing a tank top under work shirt instead of a bra because the pressure from that wraps around my ribcage, aggravating that pain.
I really need to make it through my complete shift because the company I work for based medical benefits on average number of hours worked per week. I’m just above the cut-off with no sick leave left and five more weeks in this measurement period.
SurvivingSara 