Isometric muscle balance is a rehabilitation treatment used to recondition and retrain muscles that have become out of balance. Muscle imbalance is the primary cause of a high percentage of reported back pain. Muscle release therapists prescribe isometric muscle balancing techniques to restore proper balance to a person’s musculoskeletal system. Muscle Energy Therapy (MET) is an isometric muscle balance technique that employs muscle reflexes to help improve overall joint mobility.
Isometric muscle balance is a rehabilitation treatment used to help recondition and retrain certain muscles in the body that have become chronically “shrinked” and out of balance. Isometric or muscle release therapy is prescribed by medical professionals to be practiced at home, initially administered in clinical settings. Studies now show that muscle imbalance, also known as somatic dysfunction, is the primary cause of a high percentage of reported back pain. This would explain why 95% of all back pain has no diagnosable cause, since muscle imbalances are usually not visible on x-rays.
Muscle imbalance is best understood when one imagines how the musculoskeletal system actually works. In the body, skeletal muscles work together by moving in opposite pairs. Due to muscle fatigue, poor posture, trauma, heavy work, exercise, sports, and even emotional stress, a muscle or group of muscles can gradually shorten and tighten, losing the ability to “release” after contracting. . The body eventually recognizes this constant “semi-contracted” state as a series of muscle spasms.
At the same time, the opposing or matching paired muscles become “overstretched” and weak, losing the ability to contract when necessary. These paired muscles cannot work together in a perfectly symmetrical movement which eventually causes imbalance. As a result of muscle imbalances, the joints in the body will begin to move in an abnormal way and eventually break down. Muscle spasms caused by “semi-contracted” muscles will restrict blood flow and pinch nerve endings, causing even the simplest movements to become painful.
To restore proper balance to a person’s musculoskeletal system, muscle release therapists will prescribe a series of isometric muscle balancing techniques. With practice, isometric muscle balance techniques can retrain the “memory” in the contracted muscle to release and stretch. A person who is taught to practice isometric muscle balance exercises learns to gently squeeze the muscle in question without moving the joint. As the contraction is released, the muscle cells reset, allowing the muscle to lengthen. Over time, the muscle will return to its normal state and the corresponding paired muscle will follow suit.
All exercise techniques used to correct muscle imbalance use some form of gentle isometric contraction. The Post Isometric Relaxation (PIR) technique, in addition to being the foundation of many other forms of muscle therapy, is considered one of the simplest yet most effective isometric balance techniques. Through consistent use, the PIR technique quickly releases spasms and reduces chronic pain. PIR also helps coax muscles back into proper “resting” positions, increase a muscle’s range of motion, and restore a muscle’s biomechanical function.
Muscle Energy Therapy (MET) is an isometric muscle balance technique that employs muscle reflexes to help improve overall joint mobility. Usually practiced in a clinical setting, TEM uses muscle contractions or controlled isometric “twitch release” techniques, followed by relaxation and passive stretching. “Passive stretching” is a form of stretching administered by a trained therapist that increases range of motion in related joints.
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