The Muscular System: Summary
The muscular system is best understood by massage therapists only after they have studied the skeleton and other areas of the anatomy of the human body. The muscular system is one of the most important areas of massage because the concentration of massage is on the muscles and the connective tissues. Muscle contractions are vital to life, as they are essential in many aspects of the human body, including breathing, which requires the rise and fall of the chest (a muscle contraction), the beat of the heart, and muscle twitches. Having knowledge about the muscular system is so essential to massage therapists that many therapists know more about the muscular system than other professionals in the healthcare field. This knowledge will include anatomy, physiology, and histology of muscle tissue, including the different varieties of muscle tissue, elements of connective tissue, skeletal muscle structure, kinds of skeletal muscle, muscular pathologies, the way muscular movement is coordinated in the body, neurology, chemistry of muscular contraction, muscle fiber organization, and muscle relaxation. With this information, the therapist will be better equipped to deal with muscular dysfunction no matter what caused it, including illness, injury, or stress.
The Latin word "musculus" is where we get the word muscle, and that word means "a little mouse". This word is used to describe muscles because muscles sometimes resemble mice when they move underneath the skin. Also, if a muscle is dissected then it can resemble a small mouse. This word is primitive because pre-Galenic anatomists who studied muscles did not understand muscles very well.