Arms

The shoulder joint

Because of the design of the shoulder joint, it allows for a wide range of motion and therefore could be easily stressed, and re-stressed. Reaching above the head, stretching the arm backwards, and jarring effects in sports like tennis may strain the ligaments and muscles of the shoulder, and tension becomes locked into the joint.

The shoulder may be painful and stiff. If the pain has become intense due to build-up of inflammation, the release of body stress would most likely have to be carried out over several times over a period of time, to enable the joint to stabilize and heal.

In a long-term case, the shoulder may become “frozen”, with severely restricted movement. In certain cases, full movement could be restored after only one session, others may require several sessions for complete healing. Therefore, it is advisable to have the shoulder attended to as early as possible.

The elbow, wrist and hand

These joints may be stressed by jarring the arm, as in a fall, by twisting movements, such as using a screwdriver or opening a tight jar, or by vigorous actions like scrubbing or sawing, or continuous repetitive work, like sewing.

Tension can become locked into the elbow joint, between the small wrist bones, or between the hand bones. Carrying heavy shopping bags looped around the fingers, could induce body stress in the joints of the fingers or at the knuckles.

As a result, pain or stiffness will be experienced, and possibly numbness or tingling. There may also be weakness of the muscles when lifting or grasping an object.

Case study

A problem in one area may have its source in a completely different part of the body.

One client, aged fourty, owns a sandblasting business, and a numbness of his left hand made h is work difficult. He was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, a compression of the median nerve in the wrist area. Surgery was recommended, but he kept putting it off. As he had lower-back and knee pain, he decided to try BSR. After the first session his knee was more painful and he had sensation coming and going in the numb hand. It became quite painful after the next session, and he started feeling tightness in his neck and shoulders.

Finally, after four sessions, his hand felt normal and there was no more pain in the knee. Three years later the hand is still fine, and he visits his BSR practitioner whenever he has a very busy period at work, as lifting heavy pieces of glass causes some re0stressing of his lower back. He also finds his energy level improves with regular BSR sessions.

They key to his problems was the lumbar spine. As the compression to the spinal nerves was released, there was improved communication to the legs and feet. With the whole spine developing more mobility, he became aware of the tension stored in the neck area. The nerves supplying the arms and hands emerge from the spine in the lower neck, therefore as the body stress was released, the nerve transmission to his numb hand returned.