It is hard to hear that humans have a ‘glitch’ in the way we are made; we know much can go wrong with our bodies but hang on to the belief that at least the design is perfect. But human skeletal muscle has just such a glitch, and the havoc it creates is enormous. Perhaps we’ll ‘evolve out of it’ at some point, but not knowing about this ubiquitous ~ but unseen ~ malfunction causes enormous damage to human health. Let me explain.
Our cerebrum (big brain) is responsible for contracting our muscles when we decide to move (voluntary contraction), and the cerebellum (automatically-functioning little brain) has several important jobs, including the maintenance of muscle tone, a constant, low-grade, involuntary muscle contraction in all muscles. The purpose of muscle tone is to keep our joints intact and give us a little push-back against gravity.
BUT in order for the cerebellum to know how much automatic contraction each muscle needs in each moment, it has to be kept informed on exactly how much automatic contraction each muscle is being subjected to in each moment. In other words, constant and accurate “feed forward” and “feedback” nerve communication between brain and muscle is necessary.
It is the ‘feedback’ portion of this communication system that malfunctions. It starts when a muscle is either injured (wrench your knee, fall on your shoulder etc), under-used (yes, couch potatoes, we’re talking to you), or used improperly (*see below right column️), and venous blood drainage OUT of the muscle is impeded. This is the heart of the problem: lack of circulation ~ for whatever reason ~ out of the muscle tissue.
BOTTOM LINE: If the tiny veins (venules) within the muscle can’t drain that used, deoxygenated, full-of-toxic-metabolic-by-product venous blood out of the muscle quickly enough, those toxins will build up in the muscle, spill over into the nerve bodies buried in a muscle layer, and corrupt the all-important but very delicate nerves feeding back to the cerebellum. Information the brain needs to function correctly begins to fail, and it no longer knows how much contraction (‘tone’) that muscle is undergoing; not getting a feedback signal that the muscle has enough contraction to maintain the proper spaces and tension between the bones it attaches to, the cerebellum automatically calls for more contraction.
In a truly vicious cycle, nerve feedback worsens, the brain (not KNOWING that the feedback system is failing), asks for more contraction, and the muscle gets tighter & shorter.
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 (often referred to as ‘trigger points’). Hypertonic muscle 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!
*After a muscle is contracted, it should be allowed to relax; constant repetitive contractions (or holding a stretch more than a second or two) without relaxation is like breathing in, and then breathing in again, and then breathing in again without allowing the lungs to expel used air; only in the muscle’s case, it’s used blood. A muscle NEEDS to be allowed to relax between contraction, and NEEDS to NOT be held in periods of stretch without relaxing.
**Please be aware we cannot diagnose any condition. This website is for educational purposes only; statements made herein have not been evaluated by the FDA or U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.