Muscle tension is a very common symptom for many people. It can interfere with your work, your sleep, and your life. You stretch, you use heat, you get regular massages, but only for very temporary relief.

The muscle is often blamed for the tension as if it is separate from the rest of the body, however, most of the time your muscles are responding to a deeper problem involving your spine and nervous system. 

At Cypress Chiropractic & Wellness, we look beyond the symptoms to understand why your muscles are tight in the first place. Your muscles, spine, posture, and nervous system are intricately connected. When your nervous system has met its threshold of stress that it can adapt to, it affects the spine’s mobility, so your  muscles often compensate by tightening, guarding, or working harder than they should.

Chiropractic care focuses on improving spinal and neurological function, reducing unnecessary stress on the body, and helping your muscles receive the signal from your brain to relax, move, and function more comfortably.

Muscle Tightness Is Often Your Body's Way of Protecting Your Nervous System

Your spine and nervous system have important responsibilities 24/7.  The spine provides structure, support, stability, and movement while acting as a highway to home your spinal cord, which is part of your central nervous system. All bodily functions require constant, clear communication between the brain and body, and vice versa. 

If a spinal disc becomes inflamed, irritated, restricted, and/or unstable due to injury or chronic dysfunction, this impacts the nervous systems ability to communicate clearly and freely. The surrounding muscles may respond to this issue by tightening to provide additional support. This can be very painful especially if it’s compounded on top of actual nerve pain. The muscles are blamed for the problem, but in reality, they are innately trying to protect your precious nerve channel.