How your tight muscles are the cause of your pain

Tight muscles are very common. Many just deal with the day to day pain by taking anti inflammatories, occasional massage, chiropractor, or some simple stretching on their own.

The role of a muscle is to move a joint. If a joint is irritated or inflamed the muscles will cause compression in the disc, which can cause further problems.

We have approximately 600 muscles in our body! Muscles pull on joints helping them move, they also cross joints. Some muscles cross multiple joints ( such as the hip and knee).

We have 360 joints in our body, joints connect bone to bone.

Typically muscles should feel flaccid, they are also a major clue of what’s happening with the musculoskeletal system.

When muscles are tight it usually indicates that the body is in protective mode. The muscles only know how to contract or relax, and when there is inflammation they contract which compresses the discs. Their goal is to help alleviate joint compression and protect against injury. For example, if there are joint problems on the right side of the spine, the body will contract the appropriate muscle groups to create more space in that irritated joint.

For example, If you have tight hamstrings, your lumbar spine ( lower back) has to work harder and handle more stress when you bend forward. This can lead to ligament strain, bulging or herniated discs or speed up the degenerative process.

They have found that “Inflexible” muscles actually are unable to stretch because of inactivated muscles, scar tissue, or tightness elsewhere. It is important to work through these muscle imbalances to release the muscles surrounding the problem area to allow for flexibility in full range surrounding the joints.