Tight muscles are something that plagues almost everyone. No matter what our normal activities include, there are usually some groups of muscles that become strong and tight and a corresponding set that gets overstretched and weak. An example is the typical recreational runner: tight hamstrings. But what if it’s not just tight hamstrings?

Just like we have blood vessels that travel throughout our entire body, we also have nerves that do so. Studies have shown, in cadavers, that if you tug on the nerves in the toes, the brainstem moves. THAT is how connected our nerves are. Just like any other tissue in our bodies, nerves can only tolerate so much stretch, so they can very easily limit our “flexibility.” Why do nerves get tight in the first place? It can be a lot of reasons: spinal issues, scar tissue, swelling, recent trauma, and more.

So how do we know if it’s nerve or muscle that limiting our motion? A common presentation in nerve tightness is: no matter how much you stretch the “muscle” it just doesn’t seem to get any looser. We see this regularly with people that have been stretching their hamstrings their whole lift and still can barely see their toes. Another possible presentation is that when you go to stretch, you may develop numbness or tingling in that area.

Addressing muscle tightness is pretty easy with simply stretching the affected muscle and strengthening the opposite direction. Fixing nerve tightness is a little more complicated, because it requires being able to figure out what the cause of the nerve tightness is in the first place. For example, if there is any scarring from an old surgery that is limiting nerve movement, the scar tissue would have to be addressed. If there is some hypermobility in the spine causing neural tension, core stabilization will have to be utilized. Proper diagnosis is essential to get the nerves moving better.

For any help with addressing tightness of any cause, schedule an appointment with one of our physical therapists!