Daily Maestroism

DM #346

Thursday, May 4th, 2017

DM #346: Assess, don't guess.
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All too often I have folks with neck pain come up front at my seminars so we can assess them and figure out what kind of things they should be doing for treatment. WAY too often they tell me that they've been stretching their upper traps and levator scaps forever in an effort to relieve their neck pain and tightness, but it never goes away. TIME TO TRY SOMETHING NEW!
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There are different types of “restrictions” that can be present that can give a sense of tightness. Physiological restrictions within the tissue speak to a true loss of glide between fascial surfaces and actual adhesions. These can respond to techniques that push into the barrier. However, what most folks tend to be experiencing however is an increase in tissue tone, or a NEUROLOGICAL barrier to movement. The nervous system is causing these tissues to be tight (not to be confused with short) and thus, you simply pulling on them more ain't gonna do jack.
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Did I lose ya? Let's put it this way, the same way your muscles tense up when you get startled, those neck (or any) muscles can get tight when the nervous system senses any kind of danger, which in this case could be a lack of reflexive stability in that area. Thus, the tension you are perceiving is the muscles being held in that shortened position reflexively to help provide stability and safety to the area.
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So, how do you make them feel less tight? Down-regulate the tone in those tight muscles with something like #RockBlades, a foam roller, or @yogatuneup balls, and then activate the tissues that are supposed to be providing stability to the area but are asleep at the wheel.
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Remember, tightness is a symptom, not a cause. Figure out the cause and you'll know whether you should be stretching, down-regulating, or going after a different area entirely.
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