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Muscles

Muscles – W.+10°/E.-10° V.0°

Images from 1918 Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body from Bartleby.com

to V.+85° (ST^{(KD to SI)})

Any V.+60° Any^(ST)

Description

Muscles are tissues that allow for physical movement through a process of contraction and extension. There are three types of muscles: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. Skeletal muscles allow multicellular creatures to move as well as manipulate their environment. Smooth muscles assist in digestion, blood circulation, secretions, and other unconscious actions. Cardiac muscles exist only in the heart muscle. They control the pumping of the heart.

Everyone experiences problems with their muscles at one time or another either through injury, overuse, or under use. Since we rely on our muscles for almost every act of daily living, these tissues are ripe for injury.

At the muscle compass angles, W.+10° and E.-10°, muscles at V.0° reflect the deepest muscles or deepest part of a single muscle. Muscles at V.85° reflect the most superficial muscles or the most superficial aspects within a muscle. When it comes to smooth muscles or cardiac muscles, however, the vertical angle is always V.+60°.

Be advised, the aches and pains that we associate with muscle pains are not always actually muscle pains. It is common for people to attribute pain to a muscle that is actually the result of injury to a tendon. It is even possible, for instance with fibromyalgia, to attribute pain to muscles, when inflammation of the blood vessels are actually the major site of imbalance. Lymphatic blockages also feel like muscle pains. Neck pains after exposure to a virus is often lymphatic in origin. Both lymphatic vessels and blood vessels feel like muscle pains because they only hurt when a muscle squeezes them.

Muscle tone is controlled centrally through the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (collectively the autonomic nervous system). Muscles are happy when the autonomic nervous system is balanced and when they have healthy blood flow. Imbalance in this system causes muscles to tighten and knot.

Cold can get inside a muscle and cause it to contract. Cold in a muscle is often experienced far away from the location of the actual problem. Usually, you feel the pain at the tendon's connection to the bone when the pain itself is being caused by contraction in the muscle some distance from the bone. The tendon is like a string holding the muscle to the bone, so when the muscle contracts, it pulls on the string. You can feel the pain in the tendon because it has many sensory nerve connections and not realize the problem is muscular in origin, where there are fewer sensory nerves. So, before you treat, you should feel along the muscle connected to a painful tendon and look for tightness, knotting, or even a “cottage-cheese” like texture in the muscle under the fingertips. This is the actual source of the problem.

Smooth muscles, including sphincters, can be found at: V.+60° at N.-35°, S.+35°, W.+35° and E.-35°, (KD^(ST))

Images from 1918 Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body from Bartleby.com

and (BL^(ST)) .

Smooth muscles in the digestive tract control peristalsis, the movement of food through the digestive tract, including moving the stools through the intestines. Constipation, for instance, can be caused by imbalance in the smooth muscles of the intestines. For that matter, so can diarrhea. The hormone oxytocin has a strong relationship with smooth muscle.

Smooth muscles also line the arteries and the larger veins. Smooth muscles and general muscles in the arteries can constrict and cause hypertension.

Sphincters are found all over the body, including at both ends of the stomach, at the anus, in the prostate gland, the cervical head (I don't think Western medicine categorizes it as such, but I do), and at various other glands. Sphincters open and close to control the passage of various substances.

Acid reflux is often the result of weakening at the stomach sphincters (especially the cardiac sphincter) as well as weakening of the smooth muscle along the epigastric tract. Seminal emission including premature ejaculation as well as decreases in sexual feelings of pleasure may result from weakening of the prostate and cervical sphincters.

Cardiac muscle N.+35° V.60° (HT^{( ST)}) is the most important muscle of the body, as it controls the heartbeat. Cold can constrict the cardiac muscle. If the heart muscle weakens, blood flow cannot reach the fingers and toes, causing feelings of cold. In the case of cold hands and feet, make sure the cardiac muscle is healthy. Contrary to modern Western thought, a slowing down of the pulse as a result of exercise is not necessarily healthy. In my perspective, it is an indicator of weakening of the cardiac muscle. From my experience, warming the heart muscle appropriately causes people with this condition to suddenly experience a huge boost in energy. Good preventative maintenance involves regular review of the cardiac muscle. A healthy heart means a long life.

There are even muscles in the meninges and along the spinal cord. These muscles control the cranio-sacral rhythm. I have found people after colds and flues, people with chronic brain diseases such as MS, and even people suffering from joint pain, have excess cold cerebrospinal fluid. In the latter case, this problem is likely a weakening of the muscles that control the rhythm. Since the cerebrospinal fluid is essential the same as lymphatic fluid and is in my mind the engine of the lymphatic system, stagnant cerebrospinal fluid and lymph means two things: 1. the body cannot fend off infection as well and 2. the lymphocytes are not moving in their natural currents and are more likely to attack healthy-tissue and cause auto-immune diseases.

Element

Earth

Tissue Treatment

Deep Muscle ST^(KD)

Basic Perfusion: Advanced Perfusion:

Heaven: Fire + Water Heaven: Earth + Water

Man: Earth + Water Man: Earth + Water + W.Metal or E.Wood

Earth: Water + Earth Fire: Earth + Water

Middle Muscle ST^(ST)

Basic Perfusion: Advanced Perfusion:

Heaven: Fire and Earth Heaven: Earth + Fire

Man: Earth Man: Earth + W.Metal or E.Wood

Earth: Water + Earth Fire: Earth + Water

Images from 1918 Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body from Bartleby.com

Superficial Muscle ST^(SI)

Basic Perfusion: Advanced Perfusion:

Heaven: Fire and Earth Heaven: Fire

Man: Earth + Fire Man: Earth + Fire + W.Metal or E.Wood

Earth: Water + Earth Fire: Earth + Water

Cardiac Muscle HT^(ST)

Basic Perfusion: Advanced Perfusion:

Heaven: Fire and Earth Heaven: Earth + Fire

Man: Earth + Fire Man: Earth + Fire

Earth: Water + Fire Fire: Fire + N.Water

Smooth Muscle #1 KD^(ST)

Basic Perfusion: Advanced Perfusion:

Heaven: Fire and Earth Heaven: Fire + Earth

Man: Earth + Water Man: Earth + Water

Earth: Water Fire: Water + S.Fire

Smooth Muscle #2 BL^(ST)

Basic Perfusion: Advanced Perfusion:

Heaven: Fire and Earth Heaven: Fire + Earth

Man: Earth + Water Man: Earth + Water + W.Metal or E.Wood

Earth: Water Fire: Water

Emotion

Vertical emotion about Power

Closely Interrelated Tissues

Muscles need blood to function properly, so blood vessels inside and outside the muscle are important. These include major and minor arteries, veins, and capillaries. All muscles have tendons which connect them to bones. These are likely areas of injury.

Traditional Chinese medicine associates the spleen and stomach organs (and the pancreas) with the muscles. All muscles are connected to Sympathetic (NE), parasympathetic (NW), and internal sensing nerves (SE).

Notes From Ethan's Clinic

While treating the muscles directly may have a positive clinical effect, I have found that it is often much more effective to treat the muscles through their dependencies, such as within the bone (bone is the primary tissue). Review the chapter on tissues within tissues to understand this better. I often treat both (KD^(KD)ST^{(KD to SI)}) and (BL^(KD)ST^{(KD to SI)}). The first one is the association of the muscle with the bone closest to the feet and the latter is the association with the bone closest to the head. Chronic musculoskeletal complaints and muscles pains close to the attachment of the bone respond better to the dependency than to the muscle as the primary tissue.

Bone spur pain is often caused from bone migrating into the muscles and tendons. Treat the muscular dependencies via the bone and the pain will diminish or resolve.

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