In a landmark study published in the British Medical Journal in 2008 (Ruiz et al) reported on a study in which they measured the strength of 20,000 men and followed them up over 20 years. The differences in longevity were startling. Men in the weakest third were 33% more likely to die from all causes of illness than men in the middle and strongest third. Half a dozen other studies have confirmed this association between weakness and morbidity.

As an Afferent Input practitioner we assess your strength and the function of your sensory motor system. We then use knowledge about this system and how it should be working to look for muscles that are inhibited or not working properly. This helps us to identify the root cause of your issue and decide on the best treatment for you.

Most of your movement is autonomic which means that you don’t have to think about it and are not conscious of doing it – for instance do you think about swinging your arms when your walking? I am guessing that you don’t, but there is some fairly complex neurological work going on involving your reflexes and nervous system communicating through your spinal chord to make this happen.  When this system is not working correctly the result is often pain and discomfort. You may get temporary relief over time but without intervention it never gets fully resolved. 

The other interesting fact about how this system works is that it is cumulative, that means that if you activate a weak muscle it will make all the muscles in your body weak. For example if you have weak muscles in the bottom of your foot every time you use that muscles all the other muscles in your body will weaken. When this happens you are vulnerable to injury at that moment. By restoring the strength to that weak muscle you will be able to function at your best and less likely to get injured.

Improving your strength is important for everyone not only those involved in sports. Many people walk into my clinic saying that they were just bending over to tie their shoe and their back went, or they were just reaching up to put something the shelf and my neck and shoulder haven’t been the same since. Something else that I hear commonly is “that is my weak side” – for all of these the fundamental problem is a weakness that leaves you vulnerable to injury.

In musculoskeletal medicine we find the same injury often given different labels depending on where it is in the body. To use just a few common examples: RSI, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, rotator cuff tendonitis, frozen shoulder, neck pain, whiplash, bursitis, osteoarthritis, sprain, strain, muscle tears, pulled muscles, disc bulge, sciatica – ALL mechanical, all caused by or involve some element of weakness and inhibition.

If your interested in treating the root cause of your injury and transforming muscular weakness into strength then Afferent Input assessment is suitable for everyone from children (5yrs upwards) and adults of any age. We can also help those who would fit in the category of the weakest 33% mentioned in the study above.

Reference:

Ruiz et al(2008) Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study. BMJ, 2008 Jul 1;337:a439. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a43