This is a series on arm and hand pain causes. If you missed the beginning, go back to the Checklist.

Life throws a lot of curve balls at us. After all, life is a school, not a beach. In the process of learning positive things from these events, we are also challenged emotionally. Those stressful times cause muscle tension, commonly resulting in arm and hand pain. We also have physiological stress reactions to challenges, hormonal and chemical events that need to be dissipated with exercise and stress reduction.

Toxins in our environment and diet add to the mix. The more we take in through our lungs and mouth and skin that our bodies need to get rid of, the more physical stress our organs of elimination endure. When toxins build up and hang around in a gang, they become reactive and cause trouble. The reactions are called oxidative stress. It’s like rusting iron. The accumulated waste decomposes and becomes acidic. Acids break down our cells, causing the tissues that form them to become unhealthy. Acids also cause pain. If you put an acid on your skin, it can “burn” it. The same thing can happen on the inside.

The second part of this discussion is about what happens to our bodies after age 45. It has been found that at about this age, our digestive tract begins to manufacture fewer bicarbonates to neutralize the acids in our blood. Because a small change in blood acidity can be life-threatening, our bodies carefully guard those levels and get rid of the excess. Where does the excess go? From my research, they go to two places. The first is our organs of elimination, like the kidneys. Over time they become stressed with the extra load they are required to process. The other place the acids seem to go is out into the interstitial fluids, meaning the fluids between the tissues. So it seems that these very fluids that bathe and nourish the nerves can also irritate them. How long can vulnerable tissues stay healthy in a toxic medium?

When life events and the effects of aging cause a buildup of tension and waste, there will be muscle and joint pain.