Well, the diaphragm is one of those things we hear about a lot but might not fully understand its importance and if we should get it treated by a
therapist.
.
What is the Diaphragm?
To give a brief overview, our diaphragm is simply a muscle. Just like the muscles in our arm, it contracts and relaxes to create movement on the muscle’s attachment site. However, unlike a simple muscle on our arm, this muscle is large, dome-shaped muscle, attaches inside our ribcage and is very difficult to palpate. When the it contracts, it descends, pushing onto our abdominal organs and creates space in the chest where the lungs are. This space creates a pressure change to force air into our lungs for inhalation. When our diaphragm relaxes, the muscle ascends as we exhale air out of our body. So, instead of bringing that coffee from the table to our mouth, it helps us breathe.