肩甲骨内側のコリ　

Stiffness in the medial side of the shoulder blade

肩甲骨内側の痛みや不快感は、もともとの体型によるものや、長時間のデスクワークなどで、前かがみの姿勢を続けることにより、筋肉が緊張して血行が悪くなったり、筋がこわばったりして、血行不良が進み、コリや痛みが悪化したことで症状がでてきます。このような筋肉の状態に、ストレスが加わると、交感神経優位となり血管が細くなり、痛みやコリといった不快感がさらに増し、症状を強く感じるようになります。また、女性に多い、なで肩は、肩甲骨もあわせて下がるため、首周辺の筋肉が引っ張られて緊張するため、肩こりの原因にもなります。肩甲骨は肋骨の背中側の上にあり、島のように浮いた構造をしていて、肋骨の上をすべるように動くようにできています。しかし、長時間、前傾姿勢を続けると、肩甲骨が外側に広がったままで動かないため、肩甲骨周辺の筋肉の血行が悪くなって硬くなり、動きもわるくなり、コリや痛みの原因となります。肩甲骨には、上に引き上げる役割をする「肩甲挙筋」と、肩甲骨を寄せる「菱形筋」があります。　菱形筋は、肩甲骨と背骨の間にある筋肉です。デスクワークなど、すわっりぱなしだと、筋を使わないため、硬くなりがちになります。今症例では、鍼灸治療として、肩甲骨の内側にあるツボ、肩甲骨の内側中央辺りにある膏肓（こうこう）を用いています。鍼灸では、膏肓（こうこう）に入るという言葉がありますが、肓に入るの「膏」は心臓の下部、「肓」は横隔膜の上部のことで、体の奥深いところにあります。そのようなところに病気が入り込むと治療が困難になることから、治療しようもないほど病気がひどくなる状態を「病膏肓に入る」と言うようになりました。手の施しようがないというときに使われる治療穴・ツボとして有名です。

Pain and discomfort on the inner side of the scapula are caused by the body shape of the patient, or by the muscles becoming tense and stiff from long hours at the desk, resulting in poor blood circulation and stiff muscles, which in turn worsen stiffness and pain. When stress is added to this muscle condition, the sympathetic nervous system becomes dominant, blood vessels become narrower, and discomfort such as pain and stiffness increase further, and symptoms are felt more intensely. In addition, the sloping shoulders that are common among women also cause stiff shoulders because the shoulder blades are also lowered, which pulls and tenses the muscles around the neck, which also causes stiff shoulders. The shoulder blades are located on the back side of the ribs and have a floating, island-like structure that allows them to slide over the ribs. However, if the shoulder blades are kept in a forward leaning posture for a long period of time, the shoulder blades remain spread outward and do not move, resulting in poor blood circulation and stiffness in the muscles around the shoulder blades, which can lead to poor movement and cause stiffness and pain. The scapula has two muscles: the levator scapulae, which pulls the scapula upward, and the rhomboids, which pulls the scapula together.　The rhomboids are the muscles between the shoulder blades and the spine. When a person is sitting at a desk, the rhomboids tend to become stiff because the muscles are not used. In this case, acupuncture and moxibustion treatment was applied to the acupuncture point on the inside of the shoulder blade, which is located in the middle of the shoulder blade. In acupuncture and moxibustion, there is a phrase "becoming a slave of a slave." The "gyou" in "becoming a slave" refers to the lower part of the heart and the "slave" refers to the upper part of the diaphragm, which is located deep inside the body. When a disease enters such a place, it becomes difficult to treat, and so the term "becoming a slave of a disease" is used to describe a condition in which a disease becomes so severe that it cannot be treated. It is a well-known acupuncture point used when there is nothing that can be done.