Muscle contractions - Pelvic area

[BPDguy]

At night probably because things are quieter and I notice it more I have muscle contractions in my right adductors. They don't hurt or anything but I feel constant that those muscles are not relaxed. So I tried to think of what could be causing this problem and came to the conclusion that while I drive those muscles are constantly in a contract/release state from using the accelerator/breaking motions.

What can I do to relax those muscles? What sort of stretches or massage would be helpful? I know that, being an M.T. I should know the answer to this but I'd really like input from people who have been doing massage therapy for awhile.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

 

[afosa_ragazza]

i sleep on the right side of our bed. i have those contractions as well. what works for me is to lie very closely to the edge and let that leg hang off. this is a great stretch for that inner thigh.

good luck!

ETA: i have a high bed - this would work well hanging the leg off of the massage table as well.

 

[Kirjava]

What a coincidence - I've been having a lot of muscle contractions lately as well! *laughing*

Can you do "butterfly" stretches? Feet together sitting on the floor and lean forward to stretch the inside of the thighs? My gymnastics girls used to do that and it might help.

Angela

 

[Riley07]

You can try targeted stretches for specific muscle groups, but you'll need to work a variety of surrounding tissues as well. I recommend the leg and hip protocols from Active Isolated Stretching.

Alternatively, you may get some positive results with PNF, or contract-relax stretching. Kit Laughlin has written some excellent references on this.

Why are you getting spasms? Lots of possible reasons, but a few facts stand out: (1) your nervous system is telling your muscles to spasm, (2) you spend a significant amount of time using the affected tissues, and (3) the spasms become prominent when you are trying to settle down for the night.

Off-hand, it sounds like your CNS is becoming habitually aroused in the affected area. Though you are trying to settle down, your CNS is dumbly trying to activate the area. Therefore any intervention you take should incorporate the CNS and retrain it to permit the area to relax. AIS and PNF stretching are excellent for this.

Long-term, you may wish to engage in a whole-body practice of mobility exercises that will prevent this sort of thing from happening. For that, I recommend the Intu-Flow program from RMAX. You can find info on it here: http://cstminnesota.com/4.html#IntuFlow

Hope that helps!