The Sports Medicine Doctor
The Sports Medicine Doctor
Chiro-ssage: neuromuscular chiropractic massage
"because tight muscles pull you out of place!"
What do arthritis, bursitis, neuritis, tendonitis and myositis have in common? The answer is that they all started with a simple muscle spasm. No, not the quivering muscle type of spasm, but rather a series of muscles acting together that are just too tight. This type of spasm is called a hypertonic muscle spasm. It is this type of spasm that is the culprit of most of the aches and pains in your body right now.
Given time, those tight muscles progressively lead to the more serious conditions listed above. Most commonly found in your neck and shoulders, as well as your lower back, hypertonic muscle spasms can be found almost anywhere. Ever heard of carpal tunnel syndrome of the wrists? Tennis elbow? How about plantar fascitis of the feet? Or how about bursitis of the shoulder or hip? Ever had knee meniscus problems? Herniated spinal discs? This list of common ailments can go on and on, and so can their respective treatments, such as hip replacement surgery. It makes sense that stretching would be the natural cure for these ailments if it's tight muscles that are causing the problem. Trouble is, when you have these conditions, stretching often makes them worse.
There's a good reason for this. You see, these overly tightened muscles are actually being caused by your own brain. When muscles become irritated, they can contract too hard and cut off their own blood supply, thus allowing lactic acid to accumulate within those muscles. This weakens the nerves inside (called flower-spray nerves) so they can't get their signal to the brain to inform it that the muscles are too tight. Without that signal, the brain believes the muscles to be too relaxed, so it orders the muscles to contract further. Stretching, massage and even exercise will be counterproductive until the brain is properly communicating with the muscle again. This can be corrected through a miraculous neuromuscular chiropractic massage procedure known as Chiro-ssage. Chiro-ssage is performed by applying careful and appropriate pressure across the hypertonic muscle fibers, unlocking the muscle spindle and thus stimulating the nerves inside (flower spray nerves) to get their proper signals to the brain.
Once the brain receives the proper feedback on what the muscle is doing, it is the brain itself that releases the spasm. Then blood vessels open and lactic acid gets carried away to the liver, kidneys and bladder. The muscle can finally return to its normal state of health. It is important to note here that applying too strong a pressure will stimulate a different series of nerves entirely (annulospiral nerves). These nerves serve to protect the area by causing the muscles to suddenly contract. This will make you worse! Careful attention must be made at all times to insure the muscle is releasing and not contracting. Not only does properly administered Chiro-ssage correct the disorder, it feels great! A series of therapy sessions is generally needed to penetrate to the proper depth within the tight muscle for sustained relief. Visits are 50 minutes in duration.