Bad sleeping posture = Bad neck ache

One day I woke up with a sharp pain around my right scapular. At the end of the day, the pain had spread to my neck. Initially, I thought I had injured it through lifting weights at the gym. After resting for two months, the pain was still there and massaging with medicated oil did not help. Applying heat pad provided some relief but did not treat the cause. I was having backache too each morning.

I was worried that it could be more than a bad strain and visited my sports doctor. He diagnosed as a strain to my right trapezius muscle and advised me to go for physical therapy. Trapezius muscle is a huge muscle group, consisting of a broad, flat muscle on each side of the upper and back part of the neck, shoulders, and back. This muscle group is involve in raising, rotating, or drawing back the shoulders, and pulling the head backward or to one side.

Since I had never been to a physical therapy before, it would be interesting to determine how they would treat the pain. Prior to treatment, I need to fill up a survey to describe my pain level, types of pain (I did not know there were so many adjectives to describe pain, amazing) and usual health questions.

I was given an ultrasound and massage over the muscle. My therapist could feel the tightness of my muscle whereas I just felt pain. She also taught me to sleep correctly by adjusting the height of my pillows or rolling a towel to support my neck. The position to adopt is the natural curvature of the spine, not too high where you would be facing your toes nor too low, causing the neck to arch up. The shoulders should not be rested on the pillows. When I first came to USA, I had trouble adjusting to the soft pillows and the low height. So, I had five pillows to play with the height. She also printed out some neck exercises to stretch the muscles.

I just bought a contour memory foam pillow which has the neck support. The cover was soft and plush, really comfortable. If I maintain to sleep on my back, I am on the road to recovery.

Hot sauces

I, a fan of spicy food, was drawn to try out the hottest things available. While watching a program on Travel Channel, I got to know of two hot sauces. One is 911 from Cluck-U Chicken which according to the sauce meter (left picture) is 151 degree. (FYI, 911 is an emergency number in USA, synonymous to 999 in Singapore.) Before customers could taste or buy the 911 sauce, they had to agree and consent to a waiver release. I bought a 5 oz bottle at $10.60. It was spicy but leave a bitter aftertaste like when I apply cayenne pepper powder to my food.



The second was Atomic Wing Sauce, sold by Quaker Stake & Lube. As the nearest store is 4 hour drive away, I had not tried this sauce. It is available online, selling at $5.99 for 2 fl. oz. The Scoville Heat Rating is 150000. A waiver release is also required.

The one I like so far is Hotter Hot Sauce by Texas Pete which is available in the local supermarket. It is spicier than the Original Hot Sauce which is mild to me. Further, there is no bitter aftertaste. Some people may find this preposterous. I would apply a few drips on each potato chip before eating the chip.

There is a shop in Delaware for fans of hot sauces. It carries a wide variety of sauces from all over the world. If I remembered correctly, it is owned by a brother and sister. I am trying to locate it. I saw it on Travel Channel. Anyone know this?