Unlike regular massage therapy, NeuroSoma® specifically addresses hypertonic muscle spasm, a serious (and permanent, unless properly treated) condition.
The cerebellum, our “little” automatically-functioning brain, maintains a constant level of low-grade muscle contraction in all muscles in order to keep our joints intact and give us a little push-back against gravity. This is the system of muscle tone. And in order for the brain to know how much automatic contraction each muscle needs, nerve communication between the muscles and the cerebellum is necessary .
It is the ‘feedback’ portion of this communication system that is subject to malfunction. It starts when a muscle is injured, used improperly (or under-used), and venous blood drainage out of the muscle is impeded. If the tiny veins within the muscle can’t drain, toxic metabolic by-products build up in the muscle, spill over into the nerve bodies (muscle spindles) buried in the perimysial fascia, and corrupts the delicate nerves feeding back to the brain; the feedback/information system from muscle to brain begins to fail.
Once feedback to the brain on how much contraction (‘tone’) is being endured out in the muscle is muffled, the cerebellum no longer knows the amount of automatic (low-level) contraction it is calling for (and getting) in that muscle; but it doesn’t KNOW that it doesn’t know. So the brain asks for more contraction.
As more of your muscles become shorter, tighter, harder (and more filled with toxic by-product), nerve feedback from muscle to brain weakens even further; the cerebellum is increasingly less able to know the amount of muscle tone/automatic contraction the muscle is undergoing, and wrongly assumes that it needs more contraction, so orders it up. This is a true ‘vicious cycle’.
As muscles tighten, the spaces between bones (joints) is decreased, giving rise to pain in your spine, hips, knees, and shoulders, and that all-too-common and dreaded pronunciation “You’ve got BONE ON BONE”. Your doctor’s office does NOT understand this underlying medical issue, nor do any doctors specialize in skeletal muscle (even though this system makes up over 50% of our body mass).
Many nerves lie underneath muscles (designed to be protected by a cushion of flesh), but hard, contracted muscle imprisons nerves; it also adversely impacts circulation, lymph flow, and many other systems.
NeuroSoma® is a precise fingertip massage technique that stimulates feedback nerves to the brain in order to gradually, layer by layer, relax this contracted muscle tissue. That’s all we do!
We treat the cause of pain by ‘cleaning up’ nerve feedback, which strengthens the nerve’s signal to the brain, thereby allowing the brain to see & recognize how much contraction it has induced in the muscle. Then the brain begins to reduce contraction in the muscle. It allows muscles to relax! We literally hack into system that has gone wrong, muscles lengthen and relax, and the body heals itself.
We use a limited pressure to avoid activating a powerful & instantaneous contraction in skeletal muscle known as the ‘stretch-reflex mechanism’. Even so, as muscles begin ‘waking up’ and reconnecting to the brain, the owner begins to feel the actual condition of his or her muscles, so the treatment can be quite exciting.
Remember, Pain is the Messenger; Don’t Kill the Messenger!