Could your work place be hurting you without you even knowing it?
If you are using the computer, driving or holding a posture with your head in a forward-fixated position, your muscle tissue can get into trouble. When the oxygen requirements for an area of muscular tissue exceed available resources through demand, the cells go into oxygen debt. This can be triggered by ether by excessive concentric or eccentric muscular contraction.
(Concentric muscular contraction moves a bone or a limb. Picking up an object. Eccentric muscular contraction is where the muscles act as stabilizing cords holding a limb stationary in space and against gravity. Craning one’s head forward to view a computer screen.)
In either case there is a lack of oxygen supplied to the affected muscle. The muscle tissue can accommodate this for a little while based upon an individual’s metabolism. Lactic acid builds within the muscle tissue creating more and more irritation as it does so. This shows up in the body as a “burning” sensation. Later when the body is at rest and lactic acid is still present in muscle tissue, it can trigger involuntary contractions due to inadequate magnesium or an over abundance of cortisol left within the body resulting in irritation.
Later the tissues may become ischemic (poor blood flow) and neurologic signals to the brain may become interrupted. The area becomes very neurologically sensitive that when touched with any sort of pressure results in pain commonly known as a trigger point.
A common condition I treat in my neuromuscular therapy office in Los Angeles is not the area of pain the patient initially reported but the “quiet” opposite side. The first few treatments of the ischemic side can be challenging. By ‘resetting’ the neurologic signals to the brain it is possible to calm the nervous system enough to create healthy, calming and positive change for our chronic pain clients.