At the ESM centre we have treated many different physical conditions and have found that many painful physical problems are the result of muscular imbalance in the body. Although some pains may feel like they are a really bad problem, or sometimes feel like a joint is affected, again we have found that most of the time the problem is only muscular.
Muscular pain can appear in the body in many forms, as a dull ache, a sharp pain, a chronic deep aching pain, shooting pains, pains that feel like they are in the joint, pains that seem to wander around. And many of our clients have found that they have tried many other forms of treatment without any great success. This is because the muscles have not been worked on sufficiently to remove the problem.
When the muscles are corrected and brought back to their correct function, pain is either significantly reduced or removed from the body altogether.
Below is a short explanation of how muscles function and how this leads to pain.
Your body is made up of approximately 700 muscles. Muscles make us move, they power ALL action. Without them nothing in the body would be able to move. They move the body by pulling on the bones of the skeleton because they are all attached directly or indirectly to the bones. The muscular, skeletal and nervous system are all intricately related. Muscles get stimulated by nerve impulses, resulting in contraction of the muscle, the pulling on the bone and movement of the body. Muscles are intertwined with blood cells and nerves that help deliver nutrients, oxygen and function to the muscles. The more muscles are used, the more oxygen and nutrients they need.
When muscles contract, the fibres they are made up of slide over each other to pull together. Muscles work in a balancing of tension with other muscles in the body. When a muscle contracts its opposing muscle relaxes. The stability of joints depends on the balance of all the body’s muscles working together correctly. When a muscle becomes tight due to overuse, injury, bad posture, nutrition etc, the fibres that slide over each other stick together and the muscle will not be able to contract properly. This affects the length of the muscle, the strength of the muscle, the ability for oxygen & nutrients to be delivered to the muscle, and it also affects the stability of joints, the alignment of the body’s structure, and the mechanics of the body overall.
When muscles are tight pain eventually occurs because nerves become irritated and inflammed by the mechanical, muscle, and soft tissue changes within the body. Chronic muscle tightness may result in areas of inflammation building up and causing more pain. When left untreated chronic pain cycles occur. Muscle tightness also has the ability to travel through the body if left unchecked as more and more fibres keep sticking together. This just keeps affecting the way your body operates.
Healthy soft tissue and muscles will function without pain or weakness. Correct body balance helps conserve energy & ensure freedom from strain & fatigue.
This is why the skilled application of massage can help the muscles of the body, because massage is muscle therapy and alot of physical conditions are a result of problems with the muscles of the body.
Massage therapy aims to remove these soft tissue restrictions and dysfunctions, break up the sticky muscle fibres and promote oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. This in turn promotes optimum muscle health, length, mobility, flexibilty, and function.
