The AAO Journal, 2007/03, 17(1):16-22, type of study: ,art,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Free full text   (https://www.academyofosteopathy.org/aaoj)

Keywords:

article [2635]
counterstrain [66]
injury [113]
metabolism [10]
tender points [16]

Abstract:

Previous explanations for the mechanism of action in counterstrain theory have centered prominently on the role of the muscle spindle apparatus triggered from a sudden “panic lengthening” of the muscle fibers during injury. This theory asserts that the muscle spindle maintains the abnormal tone. This article will review the various effects on muscle metabolism that result from injury and the resultant forces placed on all structures associated with the muscle. Key to this process is the critical balance of oxygen delivery, blood flow, sympathetic tone, and intramuscular pressure on metabolic recovery after muscle effort. The resultant alteration in muscle effort may exert a traction/compression effect on the nerve fibers, blood vessels, and lymphatic channels as they course through the myofascial tissues. Anatomical consistency of many of the tender point and motor point locations throughout the body will also be explored. Viewed in relation to the metabolic alterations found within injured muscles, the following discussion will provide additional insight into the tremendous overlap in physiological and anatomical processes leading toward a possible explanation for the shared phenomenon of tenderness and treatment approaches. Therefore, sustained altered metabolism is at the center of the establishment of tender point manifestations. Proper positioning of the tissues during counterstrain treatment reduces the tender point manifestation while enhancing circulatory movement and, therefore, normalization within these tissues.