Diabetes as the root cause of muscular pain and tightness.

As an athlete, I developed a good deal of back, hip, knee, and shoulder pain.  Several years ago I was fortunate enough to discover trigger points, foam rollers, and myofascial release - all of which are starting to hit the mainstream.  I was able to make a lot of improvements, but what I didn't realize is that I was fighting an uphill battle because my undiagnosed diabetes was causing my problems and undermining my attempts to fix my body.

Shortly after being diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic, I read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution (which I highly recommend).  In this book Dr. Bernstein explains that glycosylation of tendons and muscles (from high blood sugar) can cause tightness, particularly in the shoulders, hips, and ankle/calves.

This blew my mind. 

I had spent years loosing sleep because my hip was tight, finding it impossible to achieve good squat form, and icing my shoulder through my volleyball years.  My upper back basically bothered me constantly.  AND ALL BECAUSE MY BLOOD SUGAR WAS HIGH!

It has been over 7 months now since I was diagnosed and I have brought my AIC down from 12.6 (yikes!) to 5.5.  As my blood sugar came down and my body has had a chance to heal, I have seen huge improvements in my flexibility and decreases in pain.  I still make frequent use of my foam rollers, balls (lacrosse, tennis, softball, spikey massage ball), and Theracane.  I'm not totally free of aches and pains, but I'm looking forward to continued improvement.

If you are diabetic and have issues with back pain, tight shoulders, etc. - the first step is to get your blood sugar under control.  Without that, every time you loosen something up it will go right back to being tight.  There is a growing wealth of knowledge on the internet about triggerpoints and techniques for improving your mobility.  Some great resources include mobilitywod.com, and triggerpoints.net. 

It's totally worth the effort.