Self-massage to ease symptoms

[lucidity]

A week or so ago, while going through some pretty severe agitation, my wife was using a vibrating massager on my back to try to ease my suffering.  When she moved it to my neck, I noticed a strange disorienting feeling that was somewhat pleasant.  Being the curious guy that I am, I held the massager there (on the upper part of the back of my neck, right below the skull) for a few minutes.  Afterwards, the agitation was greatly lessened for quite a while (at least 45 minutes).  I have since continued to use vibration (now with a whole body vibration device) as a calming aid.

 

I did research this a bit, and found the following on whole body vibration :

 

https://www.hypervibe.com/au/blog/effects-of-whole-body-vibration-on-cortisol-levels-and-body-weight/

 

Studies have shown that vibration training can decrease the production of cortisol while maximizing muscle stimulation and boosting the production of growth hormone. 10 minutes of whole body vibration exercises can reduce the production of cortisol by up to 32% and increase the release of human growth hormone by 320% to 464%.

 

https://healthtide.com/9-benefits-of-whole-body-vibration-you-must-know/

 

One study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology showed that whole body vibration effectively reduced levels of cortisol in men while increasing testosterone and human growth hormone levels. The same results were found in men and women when researchers from the University of Cologne in Germany took blood draws before, during and after whole body vibration therapy performed by 20 participants. The vibration therapy effectively reduced cortisol and glucose levels while stimulating two thyroid hormones.

 

Additionally, amazon reviews on whole body vibration devices show many saying they are getting better sleep after using them. 

(No, I'm not a seller of these devices.  A simple massager on the back of the neck is effective for calming as far as I can tell)

 

I did notice while searching that others have found a benefit to vibration as well.

TL1802 said "Sometimes the tingling is so bad, that I take a vibrating massager and hold it to the back of my neck to vibrate my brain, which temporarily soothes the tingling. "

 

Anyway, I'm sorry if this has been brought up before, but I feel this topic deserves more attention regardless -- especially since it's drug/supplement free.

 

[souim]

Sorry if there is already a topic related to this, I didn't find it !

I just found out about this diaphragm self massage and it's awesome :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSGSmCMcZQQ
It helps so much with reducing stress and pain in the back. The guy in the video does it on the sides only, I also do it in the middle (underneath the solar plexus area) which is the most tensed part of the muscle for me. I do it in combination with belly breathing session (I tend to breath with my shoulders, which is not good). I tried doing it before and after yoga and it was really good.

Might work for chest tightness as well. (I haven't any right now though, so I'm not sure).

I thought it might help someone out ! For me, I found that breathing exercises alone didn't work as well as they should because the muscle was too tensed. So this is a real plus. Careful not hurting yourself at first by pushing to hard with your finger, it can be pretty intense if your diaphragm is really tensed. A bit of discomfort is expected though.

 

I do the massage preferably sitting on my knees, like this.

Hope this helps someone !