I’d like to share a short story of what I consider to be one of my most unique experiences I had in my Myotherapy career to date. It has nothing to do with treating an elite athlete, or being able to be a therapist for a famous person. Not to say these aren’t awesome experiences to be had because they would probably, without a doubt, blow my mind away!
In particular, I wanted to share a unique experience I had with a patient that really reinforced how powerful education and advice can be for people suffering with ANY chronic or persistent pain issues. The main idea I’d like readers to take away from this case study is that you will always be in a better position to help yourself when you and your Myotherapist have a clear understanding of what is happening to your body. With a greater understanding of their condition, clients are more motivated to help themselves heal, by performing their exercises and as a result are more likely to recover from injury.
About 6 months ago a 33 year old female attended the clinic complaining of experiencing low back pain for at least 3 years. It was of gradual onset and it had become extremely debilitating. She was struggling to walk for long periods at work and also doing basic daily tasks like vacuuming and putting her pants or shoes on.
Upon examination I found numerous different contributing factors that would have changed the way her lumber spine moved and supported her and consequently I proceeded to use pictures and diagrams and give the following explanations to empower her.
Tight hip flexors: Our hip flexors are deep muscles that attach onto the front of our lumbar spine. Tightness of these muscles can cause a compressive load on the lumbar joints.
Stiff lumbar spine: Naturally, the joints of our spine should be moving evenly when we bend, twist, run or walk. Lack of movements at certain joints can cause the healthy ones to be stressed more, potentially causing pain.
Wears flats at work during her 8-9 hour shift period: It appears that humans, are naturally more susceptible to have back issues due to their bipedal and upright nature. When we walk for countless hours a day, a lot of forces are travelling up from our feet to our spine. Wearing flats as opposed to sneakers with softer cushioning can increase the forces travelling up the spine by at least 3000 fold if you are walking endlessly every day at work.
I also went on to further to address her core strength. Our spine is encased by multiple layers of muscular tissue like a corset. If that corset is loose or lacks endurance, it will impact on the stability of the spine and cause unwanted sheering in our joints. The explanation eventually helped the client adhere to a series of tummy and planking exercises.
So where to from here?
The main concept I hope everyone can take away from this case study is that it is a lot easier to adhere to an exercises rehab program when you understand what is happening to your body. With the combined help of home exercises, I am very happy to announce that the client no longer has back pain, after working with her to achieve our goals and is now a regular patient that comes fortnightly for some basic soft tissue work.
If you have any further questions as to how we can help you please don’t hesitate to contact us at Elite Myotherapy.
Henry Au-Yeung – Elite Myotherapist
