Why my pain does not stop?

Hi everyone,

Do you feel frustrated that even after you have stretched, massaged and exercised, you are still having pain in your muscles? Maybe in your neck or lower back? Check it out! This could be the cause!

Muscle Spasm !!!

Muscle spasm is the most common response of the body to stress. It can occur as a response to emotional, psychological or physical stress. Common examples of physical stresses are traumas such as may occur in a fall, car accident, or a blow. Other less well-recognized examples include engaging in repetitive movements or “bad habits,” such as sitting at a desk with slouched shoulders and head forward, sleeping on the side or on the abdomen with the head turned to one side, or holding the phone with the shoulder to the ear.

Once the central nervous system is informed of one of these stressors, it will trigger a defense mechanism called the protective muscle spasm reflex. In this mechanism, the muscle, or a group of muscles, will receive nerve impulses telling it to contract and to remain contracted. This state of prolonged contraction is called spasm. When the muscle is in spasm and its fibers have shortened, it loses its ability to lengthen to its relaxed state. The contracted muscle fibers will start to compress small local blood vessels, compromising circulation to the muscle, resulting in lack of oxygen and nutrients to the involved muscle tissue. Prolonged muscle spasm can produce other detrimental effects, including nerve entrapment and joint compression. In the latter, movement of the joint is performed under increased pressure; over a prolonged period of time, this can lead to deterioration of the joint, as the cartilage, which protects and lubricates the joint surfaces is worn away. In most cases of muscle spasm, the pain that is experienced is localized to the spastic muscle, but the pain may also include referred pain, because the muscle spasm can refer symptoms of pain and/or tingling to other areas of the body far from its source of origin.

This protective muscle spasm reflex is indefatigueable. Once the muscle is in spasm, it will bombard the nervous system with nerve impulses, informing the nervous system of the muscle spasm. The nervous system will become overexcited and, as a result, motor neurons will carry a message back to the spastic muscle, causing it remain in the contracted state. Now the muscle and the nervous system are locked in a positive feedback loop. This hyperactivity of the muscle spasm reflex can persist for long periods of time, sometimes as long as years. This is an important mechanism by which acute pain becomes chronic, persistent pain.
Effective treatment of muscle spasm requires involvement of the nervous system, in order to interrupt the nerve stimulation to the muscle. Muscle spasm will not respond positively to massage, stretching, exercise, heat, cold or joint adjustment, because these modalities do not affect the hyperactivity of the muscle spasm reflex. Muscles are not independent structures. The spasm occurs in response to signals from the central nervous system; if the muscle is in spasm, it has a purpose. One of the most effective techniques for releasing muscle spasm is called Strain-Counter Strain Technique, also known as Positional Release, which was developed by an osteopathic doctor named Lawrence Jones, O.D.

Strain-counter strain technique is a manual therapy whereby the clinician uses only his hands for the treatment of muscle and joint pain. He uses passive body positioning of hypertonic (spastic) muscles and dysfunctional joints, relocating the muscles or joints toward positions of comfort, or manually compressing (that is, shortening) the offending muscle. The purpose of this passive shortening of the spastic muscle is to reduce the aberrant neural stimulation to the muscle (the neural portion of the reflex arc) that produces the muscle spasm, accomplishing an immediate reduction of muscle tone to normal levels. This allows the joints influenced by the now relaxed muscle to function optimally, increasing their range of motion and easing muscle and joint pain. Strain- Counter Strain is an effective but extremely gentle technique, because the therapist gently and passively moves the affected area of the body into a position of relative comfort, interrupting the neural reflex that was perpetuating the spasm, producing immediate muscle relaxation and improved mobility.

Neck Pain

Neck pain can be triggered by a trauma (fall, car accident, whiplash), "bad habits" (sitting in front of the computer with slouched shoulders and head forward), sleeping habits (on the side or on the stomach with the head turned to one side), or holding the phone with the shoulder to the ear.

All these activities will alarm the central nervous system, and will trigger it to send "protective muscle spasm reflex" to the muscle as a defense mechanism.
Once the muscle is in a spasm and its fibers have shortened, it has lost its ability to stretch. The muscle fibers will start to compress blood vessels, compromise blood circulation, entrap nerves, and compress joints, the cervical (neck) vertebrae in this case.
The involved muscle groups are located in the back, front and side of the neck.

1.The Scalene muscles which located in front, side and back of the neck have a powerful impact on neck structure and function. They can straighten the normal neck curvature, or even reverse it. The anterior and lateral scalene could compress nerves, and will produce pain and radiation (tingling sensation and numbness) to the neck, shoulder, arm down to the fingers.

2.The Upper Trapezius and Levator Scapulae muscles connect the cervical vertebrae to the shoulder blades (scapulae) and upper thoracic spine. While in a spasm they will produce pain to the back of the neck, to the shoulder and headaches.

3.The S.C.M. (Sternocleidomastoid) muscle is connected from the clavicle (collar bone) to the side of the neck under the ear. When in spasm, it produce headaches stiff neck, and pain to the jaws, and side of the neck.

These neck muscles respond to the position of the shoulders. When the shoulders move forward, they take the neck and head forward with them, causing the eyes to be directed downwards, towards the floor. However, because of the "righting reflex", the head must be pulled back to level the eyes. For every inch the head is in front of the shoulders, the neck muscles are forced to work three times harder to support the head.

The position of the shoulders is determined by the position of the hips because they carry the body's center of gravity. When the hips are pushed too far forward or backwards while sitting or standing, it will change the position of the shoulders which in turn affects the workload of the neck muscles and make them more susceptible to fatigue, leading to spasm.