I was in an airport (what else is new) after teaching a fantastic SMRT hip girdle in NY. Typically in any hip girdle class, we have a few people in class who end up with immobilizing lower back pain from having their posterior hips, sacrum, abdomen, and lower back worked.
This can come from an issue with the shoulder, which was the case for one man in this class. However, most often this is caused by what is happening at the ankles. We had 3 women in class who could not move on the third day after having their hips and abs worked on. In each case, each woman had a plantar flexion/dorsiflexion imbalance. Meaning one ankle had greater ROM moving into plantar flexion while the other ankle had greater ROM moving into dorsiflexion.
In each of these 3 cases, the pain presented in the SI joint on the side in which the ankle moved more freely into dorsiflexion. And in each of these 3 cases, the person sat up with help and extreme pain at the SI joint. It only took a few minutes in each case to complete alleviate the SI joint pain and restore mobility. But, this relief will be temporary for each of these women, as each (in my opinion) needs a thorough treatment of their feet, ankles, and lower legs. This would be followed by specific exercises to restore muscular balance through the leg and posterior hip muscles.
So, while each of these therapists will have to seek further treatment, this was a great learning experience. Both for them and their fellow students. One of the other students/therapists in class was terrified. She thought that she had “broken” her partner and completely amazed that, with anatomical understanding, SMRT, and 3 minutes, her partner could be restored to full function.
Join us for SMRT: Lower Extremities class in Kalamazoo, MI to be held November 9-11, 2018. Register now!
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