My family went skiing over Christmas vacation. We all had a great time and no one came home in a cast.

But a few days after our return, my right arm began hurting. At first it was a barely-there ache in my upper arm, which then became a soreness in my shoulder. It soon became uncomfortable to raise my arm, and then my fingers went tingly.

After a few more days I was in such pain I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t hold a glass or a pencil and my daughter had to help me pull on a shirt.

We found a great chiropractor/muscle therapist on-line. By the time I got to his office, my arm was unmovable and almost untouchable. During his examination, Dr. Joe raised my arm a bit too high and the pain that shot through it felt like a lightning bolt. I burst into shocked tears.

Turns out I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder. Why? There was no obvious explanation. I hadn’t fallen on my arm while skiing, but I had certainly used many muscles I didn’t ordinarily put stress on. I had also done a great deal of violent tugging on ice-skate laces. And I recalled a fall down the basement stairs, ten years ago; I had landed on my right arm and it hadn’t been quite the same since.

Somehow, these seemingly minor and obscure factors must have compounded into this intense pain and immobility. Unless, of course, there were other causes  I couldn’t even think of!

Dr. Joe applied massage…then ultrasound…then some other form of electric vibration through what looked like mini-defibrillator paddles…and after over an hour of treatments my arm felt only slightly better. I was so discouraged! I had hoped to walk out of his office with my pain gone and my problem solved.

Dr. Joe recommended a sling and lots of ice packs and Advil. The key, he said, was to lessen the pain. When the nerve got pinched, muscles around the nerve had tightened to protect it. But they clenched so hard they pulled on other muscles, which tightened in response…and so on. What I had now was this Domino Effect of clenched muscles causing excruciating pain and preventing me from moving my arm.

No bones were broken, no tendons torn. But if I didn’t lessen the pain I wouldn’t move my arm and I might develop a serious joint condition called frozen shoulder.

Happily, the sling/ice/Advil combo did the trick within 24 hours.

This experience made me think about my students. By the time they get to me, so many of them have “clenched down” in pain over their learning problems. A negative learning experience, such as delay in learning to read, may cause a student to “tighten up” about other subject matter…and then about school in general.

I see so many kids who are bright and capable and very able to learn, but who have developed all sorts of obscure hang-ups and attitudes and fears which prevent them from relaxing and enjoying the learning process.

Sometimes it’s amazing how quickly kids come around; it’s as if the right tutoring intervention works like the massage/ ultrasound/sling/ice/Advil did for my arm. The key for my students, too,  is to lessen the pain, the pain of failure and self-doubt and negativity. Once the pain is reduced, students can think and learn.

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    Last reviewed: 13 Jan 2010