muscle mist, just got some and love it, have been sleeping like a baby for 3 days, they sell it on amazon. my shoulder muscles feel less tense than they did a few days ago. just spray it on before you start. also make sure your posture is good

I get muscle pain in my left side of my neck and shoulder. My gym therapist told me to use a tennis ball and run it along the wall and my back shoulder muscle. It took a while but did give me so much relief.

I have a long arm . I quilt on this and small machine. I do it in 20minute sessions or move from one to the other. I learnt my lesson first time I used long arm. I spent 2 hours none stop. For the nest few days I was in agony and could hardly move. This system I started does work very well especially if I am quilting and piecing.
I have a very serious neck injury 3-6 vertebrae so am very careful.

I really like my tilt table which lifts the back of the machine so I'm not forcing myself forward to look down on my work. I can sit back in my chair & still see my work without the strain. I have a real bad back, so sitting forward not only gives me the shoulder/neck pain, but extreme back pain. I don't get it anymore with the tilt table.

I hear ya! I wouldn't trade my Chiropractor or massage therapist for anything! Deep tissue or Therapeutic massage helps. I also have a Shiatsu massager that sits in a chair from Homedics.

Pat

So many good suggestions & sometimes none of them work. I had the bad spasms & pain for years. I quit all sewing for years because of the back pain. And then.....I had a CT scan because the pain & spasms started up again & I wasn't even sewing! The pain starts down my back on both sides over my shoulder blades, then starts fingers of fire along the same path, then ends with a feeling that my muscles are knotting up & want to come out of my back. Lo & behold, I have a herniated disc at the top of the back. It's not bad enough for surgery, but it sure does get my attention.

All of the suggestions about setting up your sewing area so that it is ergonomically correct do help some, but didn't keep the pain from happening for me. Trying to manage the weight of the large quilt sandwich caused more problems & a lot more pain. Breaks from sewing so that you can relax all those muscles are a MUST.

So, fast forward....I managed to get 8 tops ready to quilt & then bought a very preowned longarm. I have to take breaks, but the pain when using the longarm is about 5-10% of what I get when using a regular sewing machine. I use pantos or free hand with very open quilting & can get it done in a day. I stand to do the quilts. I am not good enough with free hand to do anything except the larger patterns & have found that when I try to do something more intense, my back tells me NO!

I think the reason the longarm is better is because you are almost constantly moving. This lets nerves that are hurting be rearranged with each step you take.

Have you tried stretching to get those muscles moving before you start the sewing? That helped me some.

Another solution could be making your quilts in sections, quilting them separately then joining them. There are many tutes out there on that procedure. That was going to be my next method of choice, but I got the longarm, so didn't ever try that out. Good luck & happy quilting!

I tried all of the wonderful ideas already mentioned and they helped, but what really made the difference for me was to find some music that I enjoyed and had the right beat, turn the volume up and "body dance" while quilting. Not only did I relax and enjoy the process more, but the fmq also improved. Play with it and find what works for you and most of all RELAX.

No one has mentioned using "Machingers".. They are gloves with rubberized fingers which help you to get a better grip on the quilt and relieve the pressure on your shoulder.. Be sure to get a size that fits your hands snugly so it doesn't turn on your fingers. I find that this helped me a lot with FMQ. Also, my old Brother had a bed slanted toward the front and this helped to see the work. Try raising the back of the bed a little.

Terri, the pain you describe comes from the fact that your surface is not the correct distance from your seat height, the best relationship is a 12 inch difference, so if your chair height is 18 (standard usually) then your sewing surface should be 30 inches, if you are putting a portable type machine on top of a 30 inch surface then you are positioning your arms too high which will stress the neck and shoulder muscles. I am 74 and prone to all kinds of muscle spasms. also you should not quilt until your neck muscles are stiff. Learn to listen to your body, it will tell you what it wants you to do.
Hugs Pat

I worked at a sewing factory for many years and had that problem too. Recently I started taking Vitiam D3 and magnesium and it seems to helping.