06/11/2024
Uncooked spaghetti. The "Laymans Terms" of massage. It's how I describe what it is I'm feeling and what I'm actually seeking out to fix. My favorite is to tell people that muscles in a state of contracture, spasm or "knot" feel different from the normal length muscles surrounding it due to its increased density. I use the analogy of normal tissues feel like cooked spaghetti; soft, yielding and quite easy to push around. What I'm looking for the uncooked, raw and resistant strands that stand out in contrast to all the softer tissues. These are the problematic strands that need to be addressed to help with regaining pain free mobility. I engage these muscle strands that can be the size of a pin head up to almost 12 inches (30 cm), maybe more in the leg muscles!! Also width of the tense tissues can vary depending on how many strands are involved.
What I do is engage the muscles and force a response from the central nervous system, ie. brain, to the sensory organs in the muscles that control their tension and length. This measured induced stress in the muscles allows the tension to gradually decrease and finally release the muscle, allowing for an increase in pain free range of motion.
