Why does TOUCHING THE SKIN affect the muscle tone?
Muscle tone is an expression of subconscious instructions coming from the nervous system (the cerebellum). If the patient’s back muscles will not relax while lying face down on the table, he is in defense physiology. This inappropriate musculature is probably caused by a subconsciously stored memory of a past traumatic experience, injury, stress, or feeling. Touching the skin above the tight muscles is the fastest way to send corrective signals, via the Muscle Spindle and Golgi Tendon directly to the cerebellum. Upon evaluation, the cerebellum sends immediate motor commands that release the tight muscles from its inappropriate behavior. The messages the motor (efferent) system carries are determined by the sensory (afferent) system. Once these corrective signals are sent to muscles in defense physiology, they immediately relax.
