Pain, Pleasure & Posture
by Dennis Gibbons, LMT
When I first started performing Massage Therapy, all of the techniques I learned: Neuro-Muscular Therapy, Sports Massage, Positional Release methods, Myofascial Release and Trigger Point Therapy, required a hard pressure or stretching. This was to stimulate a reaction to the area being treated. What I started to understand was that every time I initiated a hard pressure it would create a compensation for it somewhere else in the body, it’s a brain thing. For every form of compensation the posture has to adapt to maintain its ability to move.
When the brain perceives pain or discomfort to the body in any format, it creates a need to alter the environment and change the posture to accommodate this discomfort. When “deep” tissue massage is performed there is an immediate pain/pleasure factor that is encountered. You have often heard the phrase, “it hurts so bad that it feels good.” What happens is the nerve endings in the distressed region are stimulated and send a message back to the brain with a mixed message. This mixed message is telling the brain that the injured area will be comforted by touch, while also relaying the information that there is an uncomfortable situation. The body will alter its posture so that a particular muscle is not engaged to function.
When I started twenty-three years ago it was fashionable to “dig” in there and rid the muscle of its trigger point or point of trauma and thereby getting rid of the pain. As many who came to me in the beginning can attest this is the direction I took. As I began to develop Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® I started to follow compensation patterns in the body and realized that although I was “fixing” a problem area, I was creating another area that would eventually become a new problem. Trying to work through this I also had to have the confidence in my “gentle” work so that I didn’t have to rely so much on the “deep” pressure. What I was really performing was not deep tissue massage but a hard pressure massage. Once you reach the skeletal system you cannot go any deeper!
As Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® evolved I realized that I was developing a relationship with the brain. Embedded in the brain is the DNA posture that was present in our cells at conception. This is what needed to be accessed when performing therapy, not the compensatory posture but the true posture. Posture is not how we sit or stand but how our body is able to properly function, with minimal restriction, within the confines of gravity. So when therapy was painful, the true posture altered itself enough to give the feeling of well being, yet the senses of the body continued to experience an uncomfortable stress that in fact weakened another region.
In developing our Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ I also realized that anytime you stress an area to have the body perform movement, and that area is not capable of performing, we draw on ancillary muscles to generate the movement. In many Pilates type movements the individual accesses their neck muscles to actually perform a movement that would strengthen the abdominal region. This is one reason individual’s performing Pilates, and yes even Yoga, end up injuring themselves and consequently turn themselves off to these movement philosophies.
A recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer talked about how hands-on therapies were becoming more popular for back pain. It mentioned Massage Therapy, Chiropractic, and Acupuncture. The practitioners that were interviewed all talked about a process of treatments that would ease the pain. The fact that it does take a few treatments is correct; that is why we developed the Wellness Journey© at Chagrin Valley Wellness Center. Sometimes that treatment is specific to the symptom of “back pain” being experienced by the individual. Remember in Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® we look at the symptom as a sign that there is a problem in the overall posture of the body. It is that problem that needs to be corrected or another layer of compensation will develop that will cause other issues.
Posture is the body’s ability to function within the confines of gravity. If you were to fill a balloon with helium, over a period of time the balloon will deflate. Fill that same balloon with water and unless a leak is sprung that balloon will stay full. The body’s posture is very similar, our adult bodies are approximately 70% water, and this water carries a vibration that helps us maintain that posture. Water is a non-compressible entity that is able to withstand the restrictions that gravity presents. Comparing the body to the balloon, if you squeeze the balloon in the middle you displace the water and one end will become heavier than the other end and droop toward the floor. The same holds true for the body but we don’t notice the distortion as much until pain or discomfort is felt. Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® facilitates the rearrangement of posture so the distortion is removed and there is no “drooping” toward the floor.
In summary, therapy should not be painful or uncomfortable. By balancing the posture, water rearranges itself into the little nooks and crannies of the body thereby enhancing the way that body performs. Therapy should be pleasurable to the brain, allowing it to direct the movement of the posture with the guidance of the therapist’s hands. This will ensure that the body’s fluid is balanced and best able to withstand the forces of gravity. Exercise, no matter what format, should not be uncomfortable because that too alters the body’s posture for accommodation purposes. So whether we are receiving therapy or performing workout sessions, the body’s posture should stay in balance and allow the brain to rest. Remember to sustain your body’s fluids and maintain a neutral posture for a comfortable, pain-free lifestyle.
Dennis
When the brain perceives pain or discomfort to the body in any format, it creates a need to alter the environment and change the posture to accommodate this discomfort. When “deep” tissue massage is performed there is an immediate pain/pleasure factor that is encountered. You have often heard the phrase, “it hurts so bad that it feels good.” What happens is the nerve endings in the distressed region are stimulated and send a message back to the brain with a mixed message. This mixed message is telling the brain that the injured area will be comforted by touch, while also relaying the information that there is an uncomfortable situation. The body will alter its posture so that a particular muscle is not engaged to function.
When I started twenty-three years ago it was fashionable to “dig” in there and rid the muscle of its trigger point or point of trauma and thereby getting rid of the pain. As many who came to me in the beginning can attest this is the direction I took. As I began to develop Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® I started to follow compensation patterns in the body and realized that although I was “fixing” a problem area, I was creating another area that would eventually become a new problem. Trying to work through this I also had to have the confidence in my “gentle” work so that I didn’t have to rely so much on the “deep” pressure. What I was really performing was not deep tissue massage but a hard pressure massage. Once you reach the skeletal system you cannot go any deeper!
As Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® evolved I realized that I was developing a relationship with the brain. Embedded in the brain is the DNA posture that was present in our cells at conception. This is what needed to be accessed when performing therapy, not the compensatory posture but the true posture. Posture is not how we sit or stand but how our body is able to properly function, with minimal restriction, within the confines of gravity. So when therapy was painful, the true posture altered itself enough to give the feeling of well being, yet the senses of the body continued to experience an uncomfortable stress that in fact weakened another region.
In developing our Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ I also realized that anytime you stress an area to have the body perform movement, and that area is not capable of performing, we draw on ancillary muscles to generate the movement. In many Pilates type movements the individual accesses their neck muscles to actually perform a movement that would strengthen the abdominal region. This is one reason individual’s performing Pilates, and yes even Yoga, end up injuring themselves and consequently turn themselves off to these movement philosophies.
A recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer talked about how hands-on therapies were becoming more popular for back pain. It mentioned Massage Therapy, Chiropractic, and Acupuncture. The practitioners that were interviewed all talked about a process of treatments that would ease the pain. The fact that it does take a few treatments is correct; that is why we developed the Wellness Journey© at Chagrin Valley Wellness Center. Sometimes that treatment is specific to the symptom of “back pain” being experienced by the individual. Remember in Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® we look at the symptom as a sign that there is a problem in the overall posture of the body. It is that problem that needs to be corrected or another layer of compensation will develop that will cause other issues.
Posture is the body’s ability to function within the confines of gravity. If you were to fill a balloon with helium, over a period of time the balloon will deflate. Fill that same balloon with water and unless a leak is sprung that balloon will stay full. The body’s posture is very similar, our adult bodies are approximately 70% water, and this water carries a vibration that helps us maintain that posture. Water is a non-compressible entity that is able to withstand the restrictions that gravity presents. Comparing the body to the balloon, if you squeeze the balloon in the middle you displace the water and one end will become heavier than the other end and droop toward the floor. The same holds true for the body but we don’t notice the distortion as much until pain or discomfort is felt. Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® facilitates the rearrangement of posture so the distortion is removed and there is no “drooping” toward the floor.
In summary, therapy should not be painful or uncomfortable. By balancing the posture, water rearranges itself into the little nooks and crannies of the body thereby enhancing the way that body performs. Therapy should be pleasurable to the brain, allowing it to direct the movement of the posture with the guidance of the therapist’s hands. This will ensure that the body’s fluid is balanced and best able to withstand the forces of gravity. Exercise, no matter what format, should not be uncomfortable because that too alters the body’s posture for accommodation purposes. So whether we are receiving therapy or performing workout sessions, the body’s posture should stay in balance and allow the brain to rest. Remember to sustain your body’s fluids and maintain a neutral posture for a comfortable, pain-free lifestyle.
Dennis