CHARLOTTE – What makes us feel pain? Pain seems to be an inevitable part of life’s journey. Or discomfort, that’s just life. And without pain we can’t really know the beauty of pain-free living, right? Essentially, we have a ton of nerve cells and pathways in the body. Our nervous system is extremely complex, but for our benefit, let’s talk about the sensory nerves and motor nerves. Sensory nerves give information to our spine and motor nerves send signals to our muscles.

Our brain and spine are the central points of all of our nervous systems. That’s why you can have a brain injury and lose the ability to walk (even if you haven’t injured your leg). Nerves help your muscles fire individually and fire together in order to make a series of movements. For example, move just your finger in a circular motion. Your brain has told your nerves to fire and expend energy in order to move that finger in a circle. Now move your wrist in a circular motion and move your fingers at the same time. Your brain is now telling the nerves to move the muscles (or attachments) in your wrist and also telling the muscles in your fingers to move at the same time.

I think we take for granted that at every single minute of the day our brain is telling our nerves what needs to be done. Even when sleeping, our brain is using the nerves to stimulate the diaphragm so we can breathe. Massage can help stimulate those nerves that are having trouble operating correctly with the muscles. This may cause pain or atrophy. Whatever the reason, the nerves aren’t using the pathway that is the most efficient. They were either damaged or atrophied and need to be stimulated.

Your massage therapist can work with you to come up with a plan to get the nerves stimulated again, or even redirected. Talk with your therapist to see if you’re a candidate.

-Lisa Lane is a licensed massage and bodywork therapist (#13098) in Mint Hill. Contact her at (704) 773-6863 or email her at lisa@ncmassagesanctuary.com.