Tag: Muscle Pain
Getting to Know Your Body’s Trigger Points
Those of you who have thrown out their backs can attest, a pulled muscle can be more painful that a bone fracture or even than giving birth.
When you throw your back out, you are spraining or straining the muscles in the hips. A sprain or strain is a microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers. It is akin to fraying a rope. The muscle is made up of thousands of muscle fibers. When you pull or sprain or strain a muscle, you are tearing some of the fibers of that muscle.
And when that happens, the rest of the muscle reflexively contracts, to prevent further tearing. This is the start of a trigger point.
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Your Iliopsoas: The Hidden Cause of Your Hip Pain
The iliopsoas is a pretty cool muscle.
It’s one of the most complex muscles in the body, and it is the only lower back and hip muscle to attach to the front of the spine.
In fact, the iliopsoas is actually two muscles in one: the psoas muscle and the iliacus muscle.
The psoas muscle attaches along the lumbar spine and the intervertebral discs then descends obliquely to attach at the upper inner thigh bone. The iliacus muscle attaches to the upper two-thirds of the iliac fossa then descends to join the psoas major tendon, with some of its fibers attaching directly to the femure near the lesser trochanter.
The primary function of both of these muscles is hip flexion. In other words, these muscles work to lift the knee and take your next step while walking.
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Banish IT Band Pain for Good
Ilio-tibial band syndrome (or IT Band Syndrome, for short) is quickly becoming one of the most common overuse injuries, especially among runners.
It’s also one of the most frustrating injuries. While most physical therapists, chiropractors and clinicians can easily identify and treat IT band syndrome, the average runner doesn’t have a clue.
How to Keep Moving & Keep Your Muscles Pain-Free
Muscles.
They are the machines of the body. Every finger movement, every eye blink, every cough and even every toe wiggle is controlled by your muscles. And usually it’s not just one muscle involved. It’s tens to hundreds of muscles for even the smallest movement.
Each flick of the finger fires off millions of neurons throughout the brain, spine and central nervous system to contract and relax these muscle groupings. And all of this is just to scratch your nose.
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