Trauma

How Stress Makes Us Ill

Published: 19 July 2023
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
1 Comment
Categories: Brain Function, Hacking Your Nervous System, Handling Stress, Sympathetic vs Parasympathetic

Sympathetic vs Parasympathetic Functions of the Nervous System:

Our nervous system has 2 interweaving sides: excitatory and vegetative. The excitatory side takes care of emergencies and the vegetative rest and regeneration. When we are stuck in a chronic tension pattern from a past accident or incident or a prolonged period of unremitting stress our ability to heal ourselves is seriously impaired. A new client came in for a free neuromuscular assessment/consultation. She’d been such a hard driving producer that her whole nervous system collapsed into chronic fatigue and inability to heal. The result was systemic infections that wouldn’t heal. The antibiotics further destroyed her gut biome and compromised her ability to take nutrition out of her food. She put on weight and had no energy for exercise. The end point was extreme: bed ridden for 2 years, too weak to walk, with PTSD from all the attempted interventions. This sketch of her situation (many details have been left out) is a perfect description of the failure to thrive that is marked by a fixation in the sympathetic side of the nervous system.

What the Parasympathetic side of the Autonomic Nervous System does:

  • Meditation; enables you to reach states of at oneness.
  • Relaxation; the ability to calm the mind.
  • Digestion; secretion of enzymes and moving of the bowel
  • Restoration; the efficiency and priorities of our body’s cellular metabolism are directly affected by whether we are at ease or anxious
  • Sleep; the ability to access the deep sleep states of youth.
  • Cell regeneration; all the metabolic chemistry that is used in healing and making new tissue.

What the Sympathetic Nervous System does:

  • Constricts blood vessels; raises blood pressure
  • Shortens breath and limits it to the chest muscles
  • Contracts pupils and produces focused “tunnel vision”
  • Reverts to reactive responses based on past experience
  • Inhibits higher brain functions (conceptual, integrative, problem solving and creativity)
  • Suppresses immune response
  • Disintegrates learned, refined movements and smooth muscle tone (colon)
  • Produces physical awkwardness resulting in loss of self esteem
  • Difficulty focusing and concentrating
  • Difficulty falling or staying asleep or waking up still tired

image

Chronic Stress creates Sympathetic Hyper-arousal or Hyper-vigilance.  Muscles are tight constantly in an overall hypertension ready for the need to fight, flight or freeze; always “at the ready.”
Areas expressive of the “the startle reflex” such as the back of the neck and elevation of the shoulders, sub-occipitals, eyes, low back, calf muscles, psoas and iliacus maintain the most tension.
The end result:
  • Chronic tension and pain in muscles, especially those expressive of the startle reflex
  • High levels of stress hormones and tension over time create high fluid levels in the tissue.
  • Stiff, sore muscles, poor circulation, taut, pale and thick skin
  • High fluid levels produce poor cellular nutrition, sluggish energy metabolism, poor recovery time from activity, and cell wall fragility.

We teach you how to shift your clients from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic in NeuroMuscular Reprogramming. NMR is a practical tool to include in your practice including and not limited to: physical therapists, massage therapists, physical trainers or movement educators. A new 4-part series to becoming a certified NMR therapist starts September 29th. Get 16.5% off when you sign up for all 4 classes! Sign up here.

Looking for more new NMR content? Come connect with us on Facebook or Instagram!

What Can Be Done About Frozen Shoulder?

Published: 4 December 2022
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
No comments
Categories: Handling Stress, NMR Efficacy, Stress, Techniques

The Emotional Component

I have heard that frozen shoulder can follow an emotional trauma.  A former student came in to see me as a client. She had recently gone through two losses of people dear to her.  She developed frozen shoulder.  I’ve also heard that frozen shoulder will go away on its own after a couple of years. Can that process be speeded up? Yes, it can.

Any condition with an emotional component as history requires checking for Contralateral Coordination Dysfunction. Muscle testing reveals ALL shoulder muscles are weak. Brain Buttons turned on some of the muscles, but the shoulder is still dramatically dysfunctional. Many external rotation functions are inhibiting the internal rotator of the Subscapularis.**

Once internal rotators were working, we worked adhered and rigid shoulder tissues.

4 NeuroMuscular Reprogramming NMR® treatments

4 neuromuscular reprogramming treatments one month apart has almost completely removed the restriction and pain.

Now that the emotional factors have been addressed, in session 2 we were able to deal with some of the peripheral dysfunctions created by the main restrictions in the shoulder. We also began to work with the support and function of the neck muscles and how they contributed to the shoulder dysfunction.

In frozen shoulder, the muscles of shoulder depression dominate those of elevation. The client cannot lift their arm. Neither can they internally or externally rotate to a full potential ROM.  External rotators are usually inhibiting internal rotators to begin with… 

Resolving Scapular Adhesions in this case of Frozen Shoulder:

First, I addressed Scapular Adhesions, specifically…
Lt Rhomboid AND Lt Coracobrachialis inhibited Lt Teres Maj, Subscapularis

PMC inhibits Post Delt; Traps; Supraspinatus

The next layer of dysfunction:

Lt Subscap inhibits Lt Infraspinatus AND Supraspinatus (int rot’n inhibits ext rot’n) This was revealed after decompressing the shoulder with traction and tissue manipulation to reduce tissue rigidity.

More neck work resolved Lt Scalenes inhibit Rt Scalenes.
Lt OCI inhibits Rt OCI
Rt OCS inhibits Lt OCS
Lt Rec Cap inhibits Rt Rec Cap
(Yet another seeming reversal in dysfunction is now apparent as the neck compression issues of rotation and counter rotation are resolved.)

(Next session we need to connect the low back to Lt neck and shoulder.)

The Final Session: Pain on movement is gone, but details remain

Lt Sterno-Clavicular Joint is stuck (immobilized).
Infraspinatus inhibits Subclavius; Serratus Posterior Superior (SPS); Subscapularis
Ant Serratus inhibits Ant Deltoid. (Remember that Infraspinatus and long head of Tricep inhibited Lt Lat and Infraspinatus was the most fixated muscle in the superficial shoulder
area.)

The synergist of Subclavius, PMC is likewise inhibiting Subclavius; also P. Delt and Bicep.

Now we begin to see the layer of dysfunction under the layer we’ve been able to work with.
Subscapularis inhibiting Teres Major; Teres Major inhibiting Subscapularis (how can this be? An increase in the ROM in the joint reveals YET ANOTHER layer of dysfunctional synergistic muscle relationships.)

Teres Minor inhibits PMC AND Subclavius (once again we are looking at reciprocal inhibitions).

Rt Obliquus Capitis Superior (OCS) inhibits OC inferior (OCI); Lt eye tracking. Rt Eye tracking inhibits Lt OCI. Needs more work.

Did extensive tissue mobilization throughout the structure of upper chest and all through the arm muscles.   

Client is quite satisfied with her progress but still can’t ‘lift’ her hand behind her back to the range it was before.  These details will continue to progress with more work, but 4 sessions is extraordinarily fast to accomplish freedom from pain on movement.

NOTES:   *In the case of True Frozen Shoulder, the medical approach of forced manipulation under anesthesia is called for.

**(PT approaches given for frozen shoulder begin with exercising the external rotator functions of the shoulder. Since external rotation is usually dominant in frozen shoulder this would seem counter indicated.)

 

 

3 is The Key to Learning

Published: 28 November 2022
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
No comments
Categories: Brain Function, Handling Stress, NMR Efficacy, Self Help Techniques

3 is the Key to New Learning.

The Body Learns Through Repetition.

The first level of learning is getting the message through to the muscles. This involves neurological learning. Neurological learning boosts the brain’s learning facility which is usually knocked out by stressful experience, accident or trauma. When you try something new for the first time, your coordination system doesn’t know how to do it. When you try it again immediately there may be a glimmer of ‘almost’ understanding. It is only on the 3rd try that your coordination system begins to really ‘get it’; and OWN the new movement possibility. Sometimes it takes even longer than 3 repetitions to get it, but 3 is the maximum number of ‘trys’ that should be engaged on the first time around.

Repetition Exhausts the Nervous System.

Unlike the muscles, the nervous system becomes quickly exhausted when pushed too hard to do new activities. It is important to understand and expect that anything you just tried, your body intelligence will continue to integrate even as you sleep. (This has been validated in movement physiology research). When you perform the same activity the next day you may find it much easier.

First you have to prepare the body for new learning.

This is where NMR starts.  

The 1st Important Consideration in Corrective Bodywork: https://vimeo.com/395854829:

New NMR Trainings begin January 13 – 15th 2023 in-person or Live Streaming via Zoom. 

Find them at NeuroMuscular-Reprogramming.com/events.

For more information on our upcoming trainings, you can visit our Facebook Event Page, and remember: 

3 is the Key to Learning. 

Ultrasensitives, Neuromuscular Reprogramming and Chronic Pain

Published: 28 July 2017
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
No comments
Categories: NMR Efficacy, Stress

Are YOU a HyperSensitive Person HSP? 

Do you feel everything intensely?  Do problems in your body become a total distraction until you can get them fixed?  Do you feel depressed that your body is falling apart? Are you in Chronic Pain and unable to escape?   …You may be an Ultrasensitive (my preferred term as it doesn’t imply you should be different).

Being an Ultra-sensitive is both good and bad.  When it’s good it means everything delicious and wonderful is experienced in the delightful extreme. But what about when your body isn’t working properly?  You are in chronic pain and everyday is a burden.  It’s a total obsession to try and get it fixed and people think you’re a hypochondriac when you’re not.  It’s just a hypersensitive nervous system…

Treatment at Healus Neuro Rehab Center Helps

Reduce Chronic Pain and Depression Resulting From Dysfunctional Systems…

Yesterday a new client came in who has been in chronic pain since he fell backward with a ladder 11 years ago.  2 years later he was hit by a car, caving his legs in from the right to the left against a wall.   His equilibrium is faulty, he feels like he can’t walk straight. His low back is in pretty constant pain. His leg hurts all the time. It’s hard to concentrate. Many therapists have taken his money and not helped. When they are unable to help they dismiss people as hypochondriacs.  Doctors say they can find nothing wrong. (That’s the good news!)

He’s not a hypochondriac. His body structure has been damaged and is not self correcting. His pelvis is distorted. There is a vertebral instability at the top of his neck. His right eye slants down from the cranial bones being out of place. Eye tracking problems make him slightly nauseous.  The problem is compounding and getting worse over time, involving many systems: sleep patterns, digestive disturbance and balance and orientation issues; depression and anxiety.  There are rotations and counterrotations in his spine with a left hip hike which makes the inside of his right leg weak and unstable, so it rolls in at the hip, which pronates his ankle.  A podiatrist would suggest orthotics to prop the arch.  But this is only a small part of a multi-system breakdown.  There is pain in the gut and he can’t thrust through his right leg to his foot which means he is collapsing on his right side and feels like he has no strength. To exacerbate it all, he’s an Ultrasensitive and there is no ‘cure’ that will change that. Changing the problem is what remains to be done.

At the Healus Neuro Rehab Center we solve multi system breakdowns every day, a piece at a time.  11 or 30 years of problems do not go away overnight, but they do go away. NeuroMuscular Reprogramming unravels the tangle of residual structural dis-coordination and sets the body straight.  This is a huge relief!  When I described the problem as a chain of causation and consequence my client recognized the logic of and felt the truth of what I was saying immediately. He’s been looking for so long that everyone around has told him that HE is the problem. Just being heard and seen is the first step in the path to freeing the body’s resources to sort things out.

NeuroMuscular Reprogramming (NMR)® Relieves Stress and Improves Function–Fast!

NMR reduces the stress on the system by organizing the musculature to function correctly, not just by assigning exercises but by correcting stored motor coordination information that keeps the problem as the patterned response to movement. A dis-coordinated body cannot benefit optimally from exercise so Physical Therapy has not helped.  NMR has made a significant difference in only 2 sessions.  The back pain is reduced, the eye tracking improved, the face smiling in relief!

NMR belongs in the world of Physical Therapy, changing the motor coordination PRIOR to assigning exercises to condition weak muscles.  It should also be included in any fitness and conditioning program who’s purpose is providing support or rehabilitating a damaged structure.

If you have been plagued by a long standing problem which is getting worse with age you might benefit from our FREE 1/2 hour Assessments.  You will learn what is contributing to your symptoms and what it will take to correct those things.  Call today or refer a friend for a FREE ASSESSMENT! 415 388 9945 or fill out our questionnaire at  http://healus.com/intake-form/

 

Brain Buttons for Improved Muscle Function and Mental Clarity

Published: 6 April 2014
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
No comments
Categories: Brain Function, Community Classes

Brain Buttons are a tool that we use every day here at the Healus Neuro Rehab Center. Using Brain Buttons regularly will improve your ability to pay attention, increase your coordination, reduce your risk of physical injury, and mediate the impact of stress in your life. It is the single most effective tool we can recommend to clients with occasional but recurring pain patterns.

First, Jocelyn shares how we test Contralateral Coordination. Contralateral Coordination is the brain’s ability to coordinate motion across the midline of the body. When this ability is impaired by stress or trauma, we are unable to rotate the segments of our body (our low back, upper back, neck, and eyes) in both directions. She then demonstrates how to use Brain Buttons to restore communication between the two halves of the brain. This turns on bilateral (both sided) brain function and restores contralateral coordination.

You can do Brain Buttons at home! They are a great way to optimize your brain function in the morning, before a workout, before a test, or before speaking in public. Try for yourself to see how effective this simple tool really is!