[QUOTE=Akash;1108213]I understand you mentioned chronic neck and shoulder pain.. but did you also have nerve pain - tingling, numbness in your fingers or hands? Any particular patterns in your pain and has it reduced?
Also, were there any breathing exercises given to help?

I am thinking of trying these.


I did have tingling and numbness, but not a ton (except at night when my left arm fell asleep regardless of position). My pain started out in the junction of my shoulder and neck (towards the back) and gradually expanded to my shoulder blade, and side and front of my neck and upper chest on my left side. I had instances where the outer portion of my hand and wrist would have a burning sensation (this wasn't that often).

I started out doing typical breathing exercises in which I would lie down on my back with a hand on my chest and one on my abdomen and consciously try to breathe using my diaphragm for 5-10 minutes. I have also become very aware of the way I breathe, especially when I'm sitting at my desk at work. The danger here is that becoming so aware of the way you breathe often causes one to over breathe or hyperventilate. I did this quite often in the beginning, but I'm getting better. Again, because I knew that I had a habit of breathing with my mouth and that mouth breathing = shallow breathing, concentrating on breathing through my nose has been my focus.

As for symptom and reduction in pain, I would estimate a 60% reduction in pain over the 1st month in a half. My first rib which had been stuck for 9.5 years is now mobile again and my muscle tone in my neck has been reduced by about 75-80% for most muscles (scalenes still have a way to go, but as I mentioned before, my night breathing is still probably aggravating them, so until that's completely fixed, I may still have an issue there).

Here's some advice I'll give you if you think breathing is an issue - ask loved ones and friends to give you some feedback about your breathing. It's hard to make a self assessment as your breathing patterns tend to change when you become aware.

Hope some of this helps.