Brain Fog, Calcification, and Myofascial Release

Knots, constrictions, adhesions, and overly sore muscles filled with lactic acid often form as defense mechanisms from some initial trauma. Our body is letting us know--yet again--that its allostatic load of stress has reached an uncomfortable level and it is begging us to slow down, rest, and repair.

We know that life is ripe with stress and obstacles: it's a critical building block of the human experience.

Everyone gets bruised, scraped, and tossed around. Research is even showing that these traumas pass from one generation to the next, altering our genetic expression as a response to the stressors our ancestors faced (1).

If we are resourced enough to act wisely, we can mold ourselves to be even more resilient, kind, and understanding because of it. Through the hardships, wisdom and character reveal themselves, especially if we can transform and release the tension.

“No mud, no lotus” -Thich Nhat Hanh

STUCK TISSUES:

Tissues have memory just as muscle has memory.

Our bodies tend to absorb these macro and micro traumas, skilfully packaging them away to enable our survival and minimize the short term damage.

Just as muscle memory allows celebrated athletes and musicians to flow almost without thought--as if it's their second nature--less favorable holding patterns or constrictions can also store within the body. The common examples include shallow breathing caused by everyday low-level stress, or the limp in a step after a car accident.

With enough time, chest breathing becomes the norm. The diaphragm no longer glides along its full spectrum of movement with each inhale and exhale. The muscles and surrounding tissue tighten as if responding to less of a need for space.

According to Nicole Cuter, L.Ac.,

“Whenever we store trauma in our tissue, our brain disconnects from that part of the body to block the experience, preventing the recall of the traumatic memory. Any area of our body that our brain is disconnected from won’t be able stay healthy or heal itself. The predictable effect of stored trauma is degeneration and disease.” (2)

Over time, as stress of any kind accumulates, a unique webbing known as the fascia begins to tighten in overly-burdened areas.

Like a sun-dried tomato, our bodies constrict and lose their full range of motion and even express sensations of numbness or pain. These constricted areas lose easy access to vital nutrients, oxygen, hydration, and eventually fall victim to disease as the cell bathes in seemingly continual struggle (3).

Constricted areas, especially around the gut, neck, and shoulders seem to directly coincide with brain fog. Increased inflammation and blockages in the lymph system likely build up unless we actively and peacefully loosen up our tightening tissues.

FASCIA?

“A fascia (/ˈfæʃ(i)ə/; plural fasciae /ˈfæʃii/; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs” (4).

It wraps around every ounce of us like a perfectly snug, hand-tailored sweater.

Analogous to a very thin spider web encasing our entire form, the fascia gracefully connects layers of muscle and surrounds all internal body tissues. In fact, it is one continuous structure.

It is strong and stretchy.

It acts like an elastic sponge, adapting, stretching, twisting, and reacting with our movement, thoughts, and habitual patterns.

RIPPLE EFFECTS:

Similar to a bounce in a trampoline, the tightening of fascia in one area leads to a rippling effect throughout the entire system. Thus, overuse, strain, shallow breathing, and even potent emotional stress can lead to progressive tightening and injuries that accumulate with each new experience of overwhelm. What feels like a tender knot is a nodule in a muscle asking for some attention, a trigger point requesting some TLC.

[Illustration of a trigger point. Adjacent shortened muscle fiber sections ("contraction knots" or nodules) form what feels like a tight band where trigger points can be found (5)]

Consider the following scenarios:

A car accident in your 20’s led to fascial constriction behind the knee, altering the gait cycle, throwing off your hips to the left. Factor in a lifetime of repetition through walking, running, and squatting, lead to an unintentional severe shift of the spine towards an angle ripe for bulging a disc and chronic low back aches.

A mild Giardia infection from the sprouts in the salad bar could lead to low-level inflammation within the colon, restricting intestinal movement, impairing nutritional absorption, and dehydrating the surrounding fascia. As inflammation worsens, the rhythmic waves down-regulate in both their intensity and quantity of pulses.

Fascial constriction around the diaphragm from a traumatic incident contributed to sympathetic dominance (constant “fight, flight, or freeze”), shallow breathing, and constipation, which over the years, cut off even more circulation to other parts of the colon. This series of events made it quite difficult for much of anything to move through. This situation disrupts breathing and effective releases, compounding the matter further to lean towards increasing tightening of the body and build-up in the colon.

[An inflamed and constricted colon, leading to worsened constipation and increased toxicity due to lack of bowel movements (12)]

Dietary deficiencies often impact the calcification and hardening of our tissues even further. Aside from dehydration and the chemical terrain associated with malnourishment, over-use, and stress, Dr. Ray Peat reminds us:

“It is extremely important to realize that calcium deposits in soft tissues become worse when the diet is low in calcium.”
“The mitochondria can bind a certain amount of calcium during stress, but accumulating calcium can reach a point at which it inactivates the mitochondria, forcing cells to increase their inefficient glycolytic energy production, producing an excess of lactic acid.”(6)

Abnormal calcification begins in the mitochondria of each cell.

An overly stressed cell pulls in calcium and sodium as an attempt to mitigate the stress, throwing off the delicate balance of anti-excitatory magnesium and potassium. If there isn’t enough dietary calcium, the body will pull it from the next best option: our teeth and bones. Relatedly, a deficiency in magnesium can trigger a related stress response, interrupting the cells ability to even use the calcium.

Relatedly, there appears to be a striking overlap with anxiety and gut disorders beyond just the bacterial and inflammatory sources. People with anxiety disorders tend to have co-morbid gut dysfunction, often due to traumatic experiences, infection, shallow breathing, a build-up of toxins, bacterial byproducts, estrogen, cortisol, etc, all of which interact bi-directionally to increase the load of constriction (7).

Some speculate that the sympathetic nervous system and related nerve fibers are housed largely in the upper abdomen, following the transverse colon. When trauma occurs, there is a tendency to hold our breath (8)

Imagine the baby deer frozen in the headlights.

If this happens continually throughout each day, it could lead to fascial distortion within the gut, neck, and wherever else is prone to failure. Some parts even lose nerve function all together, which can be problematic for sensitive areas like the gut that rely on nerve impulses to guide motility (9).

BREATHING, OXYGEN, AND CO2:

The absence of full, deep, restorative breaths leaves each cell gasping for air, striving for function but operating below their optimal threshold. The proper ratios of carbon dioxide and oxygen are thrown off, disrupting the ideal setting for the cell and increasing sympathetic, stress-based activation (9)

With a bit of myofascial release and gently, lovingly working on our trigger-points, we can rehydrate the muscle, fascia, and therefore allow more oxygen and nutrients to nourish each cell. With our breath and releasing stored traumas of all sizes, we can give each cell a chance to be successful.

(Thank goodness for the power of touch and fresh air!)

RELEASE:

Trigger-pointing, or myofascial release, helps to release the stored tension, rehydrating the tissue, and letting the body express itself so that the trauma does not need to be stored indefinitely. By softening one area, full range of motion is often restored in another, thus lowering the odds of degeneration or seemingly mysterious injuries and diseases.

While unwinding these “stuck” parts, some people are flooded with memories and feelings of past events as their body “replays” information associated with the memory of the trauma. (10)

Bursting into tears during a massage is often an example of this phenomenon. The story is released from the tissues and our brain has to experience it yet again. Hopefully, for the last time.

This release opens up space for healing. As the constriction is set free, the brain can reconnect to the tissue that once housed the trauma.

Potential for transformation follows.

BREATHING, TRIGGER-POINTING, & RELEASING:

As I deepen my understanding of trigger-pointing and release my own fascial constrictions within my abdomen, hips, shoulders, and legs, I experience firsthand how breathing guides and enhances the process.

“The more you stay focused on your breathing, the more you will benefit, particularly if you pay attention until the very end of the out breath and then wait a moment before you inhale again. As you continue to breathe and notice the air moving in and out of your lungs you may think about the role that oxygen plays in nourishing your body and bathing your tissues with the energy you need to feel alive and engaged.” -Bessel van der Kolk

Sustaining the exhale, breathing in and out of the mouth, and slowing down the breath guides the physiology towards relaxation. In the process, it communicates with the nervous system to let down its guard and release the now out-dated shells of defense.

Releasing the trigger points requires finding the location of the densest source of pain or sensation--the nodule of calcification and lactic acid build-up, and relaxing into it as you breathe out and soften the calcified tissue (11). Hold until the pain dissolves. It almost hurts to the point of being pleasurable. Therapy balls and sports balls of all sizes, rolling pins, foam rollers, a Theracane, loving hands, and even the end of a broom can all be used as tools when it comes to softening the knots. Creativity will lead to even more options.

I encourage you to explore and patiently work out the kinks in your own body.

I’m curious what you find and what opens up when you clear out the kinks that are no longer needed. If it helps your brain fog: that’s great! If it dislodges some ancient trauma, even better.

References:

[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5977074/

[2]https://www.iptmiami.com/news/Learning_How_to_Unlock_Tissue_Memory#:~:text=Whenever%20we%20store%20trauma%20in,stay%20healthy%20or%20heal%20itself.

[3]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508225/

[4]https://books.google.com/books?id=x1uEB68iitwC&pg=PA133

[5]David G. Simons, MD, Janet G. Travell, MD & Lois Statham Simons “Myofascial Pain & Dysfunction - The Trigger Point Manual", Volume 1, 1999.

[6]https://www.functionalps.com/blog/2011/09/19/calcium-paradox/

[7]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5523445/#:~:text=Self%2Dreported%20PTSD%20was%20associated,disorders%20in%20male%20combat%20veterans.&text=In%20a%20recent%20study%20using,served%20in%20Iraq%20and%20Afghanistan.

[8]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1860105/#:~:text=Microanatomy%20of%20the%20sympathetic%20nervous,innervated%20by%20sympathetic%20nerve%20fibres.&text=In%201965%20it%20was%20reported,infrequent%20in%20the%20intestinal%20mucosa.

[9]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5709795/

[10]https://www.integrativehealthcare.org/mt/muscle-memory-trauma-and-massage-therapy/

[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508225/