Overly contracted muscles and Qi Stagnation

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Any time muscles stay too contracted for too long, Qi Stagnation

will result. It doesn't matter what the cause of the overly

contracted muscles is - tension due to psychological issues and/or

other Liver problems, Cold, or magnesium deficiency. The result

eventually is going to be Qi Stagnation in the area.

 

However, identifying the cause is important when it comes to

treatment. What works for one cause will not work for the others.

 

Although Mg deficiency is not recognized in Chinese medicine, it's

included in this discussion because when muscles stay overly

contracted because of Mg deficiency, Qi eventually is going to

Stagnate just like it does when there is tension/ Liver imbalance or

Cold. Muscles need Mg in order to relax properly.

 

We're all familiar with how tension in muscles in the neck,

shoulders, and upper back can trigger a headache. Many people only

consider psychological issues as a possible cause of these muscles

being tense and thus triggering a headache. But Cold and Mg

deficiency can produce the exact same results. The role of Mg in

preventing SOME headaches isn't just restricted to dilating

constricted blood vessels, it also includes treating the headache by

relaxing the muscles.

 

In the case of Cold invading the body, not only are the muscles

affected, the Cold starts to invade the meridians. The Bladder and

Small Intestine meridians are the first affected. As the Cold (and

Wind) invades deeper into other meridians, more symptoms develop

(like the nausea) and existing symptoms get worse.

 

When blood vessels are overly constricted and then dilate too much,

what one is experiencing from a TCM standpoint is localized Blood

Deficiency, and this in turn can trigger Blood Stasis if left

untreated. Remember the analogy of a stream that doesn't have

enough water (deficiency) in it flowing slowly and not reaching all

the areas that needs its moistening and nourishing (stasis).

 

Some migraines will start out with a very diffuse pain in the neck

and then back of the head and then other areas of the head. The

person usually can carry on through this stage. This is the pain of

Qi Stagnation. Very diffuse, tends to move around, and not as bad as

it gets.

 

But left untreated, Qi Stagnation can give rise to Blood Stasis.

This is the very localized and sharp pain of a fully-developed

migraine (or other headache that has a Root of Wind-Cold invasion).

This is Blood Stasis pain. This also the very crippling, very

debilitating, lie-in-a-dark room, try-not-to-move-because-that-makes-

the-pain-worse pain of a full-blown headache.

 

When the overly contracted muscles are resulting from Cold, that's a

snowballing situation. Qi is warm. If it pools up in an area, too

much Heat is produced. Thus the sensation of heat that can be felt

with migraine even in the cases due to Wind Cold. But because Qi

isn't flowing freely, in those overly contracted muscles, the heat

of the Qi isn't reaching those muscles to warm them, and they're

getting colder and colder and contracting more and more, which in

turn is making the Qi Stagnation worse, which in turn makes the

muscles even colder, and so on. The Qi Stagnation pain gets worse

and worse. Localized Blood Stasis develops, and the pain gets

crippling bad.

 

More than one of these things can be going on in a person who has a

problem with muscles overly contracted. In that case each Root will

have to be identified and treated. BTW, when I started on TCM

treatment for Cold (and other things), I already had been on Mg

supplementation for some time. When treatment for Wind Cold and/or

Liver imbalance and/or emotional issues isn't working as fast as

usual or isn't working well enough, there may be an additional

problem of Mg deficiency that also needs to be addressed. Likewise,

if the Mg supplement isn't working entirely (there will be some

improvement, just not enough or total), there may be Cold,

emotional, and/or Liver imbalance problems which need to be

addressed too.

 

Wind also can play a role in muscles not being able to relax

properly, though the effects of Cold are more dramatic and extreme.

The TCM concept of Wind includes not only the wind but the effects

of changes in barometric pressure and ion concentraion. The only

times I can't relax at will is when a storm is moving in or I'm Mg-

deficient. In the case of Mg deficiency, there are other symptoms as

well. My pillow will feel hard and uncomfortable.

 

Mg is lost through sweat. It's not enough to adversely affect a

person with adequate Mg and a strong Spleen. But in the case of

someone who has a weak Spleen (and/or Lungs and sweats too much

because of Protective Qi Deficiency) who already is too low in Mg,

the loss of even a little Mg can trigger a range of symptoms. The

night sweats of Yin Deficiency also can cause Mg to go too low in

people with already low Mg.