Muscles

Muscles provide us with a wonderful window into the body. The 206 bones of the body are moved and supported by our muscles. Experts differ about the number of skeletal muscles that pull on these bones, but 640 muscles is a common figure.

Why do I like muscles? Because I can easily test them without special equipment. They ARE the special equipment! So, what does this have to do with you?

Most of my patients first come to see me because of pain. It may be pain in the low back and leg, or headaches, or jaw pain or shoulder pain. Some of this pain comes directly from muscle strain, because the connection between the brain and the muscle is disrupted.

How can I find out whether this is the case? I test the muscle by asking the patient to resist while I make the muscle work. I can quickly find out whether your rotator cuff muscles work, or not. With manual muscle testing there is no controversy: Either a muscle works the way it should, or it doesn't!

Some muscles are easier to test than others. The 9 muscles I test with TMJ (jaw joint) patients are a little trickier to test than core muscles of the abdomen and back. But they can all be tested.

Earlier, I said that some pain comes directly from muscle strain. Example: neck muscles get sore from holding your 12 pound head up all day. If we find these muscles weak on testing and successfully treat the weakness, the muscles stop straining and your pain goes away.

Muscle weakness can also cause pain indirectly. If a hamstring muscle on the back of your thigh is "turned off", it can cause the pelvis to tilt and throw the spine into misalignment. Spinal pressure on nerves can then create pain. By testing all of the muscles in the region, we can dramatically improve its stability.

If you have a stubborn or recurring pain in any part of the body, let's get together and restore those connections between your brain and your muscles, so you can get back to feeling balanced and pain free.

Easter/Passover week schedule changes

Sorry for the short notice, but I just found out last Friday that our office will be closed this coming Friday in honor of Good Friday. I'll be working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, as a result. For those of you who like to plan a little bit ahead, I'll also have a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday schedule in May. That week, I'll work on the 19th, 20th and 21st and be gone on Friday so I can teach at a TFT22 workshop in Dallas.

Enjoy your holidays!

Yours in and for good health,

Stuart C. Marmorstein, D.C., D.B.C.S.