Muscle Tension: Are you tense?

Everyone has muscle tension and tension related problems. Feel that stiffness in your neck and upper back? In your jaw? In your hands? In your back?

The most common health problem today is muscle tension. Most people just think they have to live with it and it is a result of getting older. Others try to cover it up with alcohol or drugs or try to forget about it by working longer hours. Many are even too busy to notice if they are tense or if they carry muscle tension.

If you are reading this - you have muscle tension.

You may even think that if your muscles are tight that it means they are good and strong. The facts are that tight muscles are weak muscles. This type of tension is actually unhealthy and can contribute to many other problems like headaches, plantar faciaitis, tmj problems, herniated discs and other things like carpal tunnel syndrome.

Muscle tension is needed to support the joints and to hold our bodies in upright positions. Tension is created when a muscle contracts. A certain amount of tension is needed - that is called muscle tone. When a muscle is not being used it should be in a relaxed state in which it feels soft and supple even. When muscle fibers remain contracted and don't relax it creates muscle spasms, knots, reduces the circulation and even restricts the energy flow through the body.

The main causes of tension are mechanical -like sitting at your desk all day in one position or participating in sports and the other type is emotional tension. The two types influence each other and are related to each other. Mechanical tension can usually easily be relaxed with a few sessions of massage. Emotional tension usually requires a series of regular massage sessions coming 2x a week for a few years or even more to break through.

Some causes of mechanical tension include:
> Trauma, injuries, operations
> Bad posture and physical habits like sitting for too long
> Wearing high heels, sitting cross-legged.
> Environmental factors such as standing on concrete, constant noise, poor lighting, pollution

Some causes of emotional tension include:
> Repression of emotions at an early age in childhood
> Ignoring or being unaware of your feelings at any given moment
> Working in unfulfilling jobs or staying in unfulfilling relationships

Mechanical tension usually causes emotional tension. Emotional tension usually causes physical tension. Tension affects most every disease or condition of ill health. It cause pain and fatigue. A muscle held in chronic tension uses up energy and leads to muscle and over all fatigue. It restricts the freedom of movement. It reduces the ability to strengthen a muscle. It reduces your ability to breath deeply and efficiently.

Often there is so much tension it results in a lack of feeling in an area. Without an awareness of feeling you are more prone to injuries and disease.

Getting regular massage can help alleviate mechanical and physical tension and help maintain a proper balance in the body thereby creating a healthier place to live.