The most asked question I have received during my time as a practitioner is “How did this injury happen?” Everyone wants to know how the lesion occurred. The patient asks the question expecting to get an immediate answer. We have all been there, stuck on how to answer. Even though we have a general picture on how lesions occur, trying to describe it to anyone, even another practitioner is not easy. Most of us have had an injury in the past where catastrophe struck the body due to the most basic movement which we have done on thousands of occasions in the past. From personal experience I injured my back to the point where I could not move for a day while putting a 25 pound weight on a bench press bar, not during the bench press of around 300 pounds.
In the event of an action that is not strenuous causing an injury, it is not that action which ‘causes’ the injury. Just like if you have thousands of servings of food which can lead to poor health, it is not the last meal that ‘caused’ a heart attack. Going back to the battle which the title is talking about, there are two main objectives the body has. #1 keep your eyes level. We are extremely visual creatures, and the body will do anything to keep the eyes level, and make sure the head is not bent. This is vitally important for our survival. #2 is to limit energy output. If a muscle is used constantly, this muscle will begin to become short and not relax fully. This way, the muscle does not have to move from a totally relaxed position to a short position, every time it is used.
Knowing these two rules, it is easy to see how the body can be in a fight. For example, if the right upper trapezius is used often and begins to enter a shortened state, the neck will inevitably go to the right. The easiest way to combat this will be to shorten the left trapezius, but that will completely negate the idea of a shortened trapezius to save energy. The very powerful pectoral muscle can do the exact same job to keep the eyes level by pulling the torso slightly to the left. The trap pulling and side bending the neck to the right, leads to a compensation of the torso of the thorax side bending to the left. This is an extreme simplification of all the muscles at work here, but is sufficient for providing an example of how there is a battle to keep the eyes level, and to save energy.
Overall this happens in every body, and often a body which compensates properly is close to optimal health. Issues arise when the compensations are more extreme than the body can handle. The muscles constantly pulling the spine in different directions will eventually lead to disruptions in the flow of blood, pressure building up on organs, and an increase in overall energy use to maintain balance. Sadly the simple answer to how did this happen?, is because you are alive and moving.