Tight muscles are something every person will experience from time to time. However, there are many reasons that muscles get tight, and understanding the differences can save you a lot of time and money searching for a permanent solution to your pain.
Pain as a result of tight muscles is a common complaint of many people, in both the active and sedentary populations. These complaints typically become long term issues as the usual prescription from many health care practitioners is to rest, and stretch tight muscles.
Most people who don’t get properly evaluated tend to take the route of constantly stretching tight muscles in order to correct the problem. They usually find that this is only a short term solution to their problem.
The first question you need to ask yourself when a muscle feels tight is “why?”. There are times when muscles get tight because they were just working, for example running; or lifting weights. After events such as these, stretching tight muscles may be helpful to help relieve tightness in those specific areas.
If however, you find yourself feeling like there are not enough hours in the day to stretch more; it’s very likely that you’re chasing symptoms, and the tightness is result of problems elsewhere.
Until you find the reason for those muscles becoming tight and painful, the constant stretching will at the very best, be a temporary fix; and at the worst, creating more painful problems for you as you’re essentially attempting to remove the body’s ability to create the safest environment it can within your current condition.
Upon our evaluation, we view your muscle tightness and pain as a signal that those areas are being overworked(and compensating) for another muscle, or group of muscles that are not functioning as they are supposed to. These issues can get started in several ways including poor postures, repetitive stresses, previous injuries, scar tissue, etc.
The brain will tell the body to avoid injured areas(pain), and as a result other areas will start to compensate and need to work beyond their means in order to help. Over time, those compensating areas cannot bear the additional strain, thus becoming tight and painful. These tight, painful areas are the most efficient working areas(being over worked) in order to allow the body to do what’s necessary to move.
If you’re suffering from pain, and have not seen long term improvements from stretching, stop ignoring what you’re body is trying to tell you. Seek help and identify the cause of your pain, so you can get some much needed relief.
Dr. Brian Strump is a chiropractor and owner of Live Active Charlotte, a CrossFit/functional fitness gym located in the Steele Creek area of Charlotte.
If you’re interested in making a change in your health or simply have questions, you can learn more about Brian and his staff by visiting: liveactiveclt.com
