FOUNDATION OF AMIT

 

 

When a muscle is overloaded beyond its ability to sustain a load, the spindle cells of that particular muscle will engage in an attempt to stablilize the muscle.  If the load exceeds the spindle cell response, the golgi tendon organs, located in the muscle tendons, will activate to inhibit the muscle in a protective inhibition.  If the load applied was not too rapid or too severe, the muscle will return to normal function. 

 

However, if the load applied was too rapid or too severe, "Neuroproprioceptive Muscle Inhibition" (NPMI) will occur.  This inhibition does not re-set after the initial stress is removed.  Inhibition can also occur when a joint is swollen, inflamed or injured setting up what is identified as “Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition” (AMI).  Any muscle that attaches to the joint or crosses over the joint will become inhibited.  This is common in post-surgical cases and explains why rehabilitation is slow or reaches an unacceptable plateau. 

 

If the inhibited muscle is loaded again during physical activity it will not be able to contract appropriately to support the force applied and will be weak.  If the muscle continues to be stressed, the body will create pain so as to avoid more damage.

 

Once a muscle is inhibited, the central nervous system develops an adaptive strategy to use other muscles or tissues to take on more of the load.  This leads to adaptive movement patterns and is called “recruitment” or “adaptation”.  The adapted tissue becomes the next site of pain or next site of injury and the injury/adaptation cycle continues.

 

Eventually, there will be no muscles in an area to adapt to.  This will place more stress on the ligaments and connective tissues causing them to break down more rapidly. This leads to degenerative changes in the joint.

 

Isolated muscle weakness leads to joint instablility and restricted range of motion.  The body will not allow motion it cannot stabilize.  Muscle tightness restricts motion and is a symptom of neurological inhibition of the antagonist muscles. 

 

The AMIT system defines these instabilities through objective precision neurological muscle testing of isolated muscles and offers treatment to restore stability and proper function.

 

 

Muscle overload  can occur as a result of:

-Lack of Conditioning to the Level of Demand

-Traumatic Force exceeds the Integrity of the Muscle or Tissues

-Neurological Inhibition

-Proprioceptive Inhibition

-Nutritional Deficiencies and/or Excesses

-Acupuncture System Imbalances

-Overuse

-Dehydration

-Organ/Gland Stress

-Emotional Stress

-Sleep Deprivation

-Disease

-Medications

-Toxic Overload

-Training and Conditioning Imbalances