This couldn't be simpler. Just because a joint is replaced doesn't mean the joint or the body will be pain free and/or functional. Think about your car. If you were riding on the highway and notice your steering wheel vibrating quite a lot, perhaps even shimmying, you would be concerned there is a problem. Does that mean your steering wheel is broken or needs replacement? If you had the steering wheel replaced would you have corrected the underlying or root cause of the shimmying problem? The point is: a shimmying steering wheel is a symptom and is not the underlying problem in and of itself. The root cause of the shimmying steering wheel is misaligned unbalanced wheels. Correct the underlying cause, the misalignment, and you correct the shimmying problem. This analogy can be applied to joint pain, degeneration, joint replacements and the entire human body. Knee Replacements If you have knee pain or have degenerated knees, bone on bone knees, it has nothing to do with old age. A client said his knee problem "is just old age. It's hell getting old!" I asked, "does your other knee hurt?" He replied, "no." "Then how could your knee pain be caused by old age?" What then is the cause of knee pain and degeneration? Genetics? How could that be? Some relatives have knee pain and some don't. The knee joint is a HINGE joint. It operates just like a door hinge. Do you have hinges that twist? No, definitely not. Hinges only operate properly as long as there is no rotation or torquing. Imagine leaning hard on a cabinet door, chances are good you may bend or damage the hinge. Does the hinge work smoothly and well after bending or twisting it? If there is rotation or twisting or torquing IN YOUR KNEE JOINT (which is due to your leg/femur bone rotating inward or outward in gait), there will be impaired function, friction and wear and tear. Then there will be inflammation, the body's way of attempting to protect the vital inner joint surfaces and structure. The cartilage will in time be worn away and there may be tears to the meniscus and or bone spurs, another last ditch effort by the body to protect the joint. Going back to the steering wheel analogy: Then where does the knee pain come from? Look in a full length mirror. Do your feet turn out or in, duck footed or pigeon toed? Do you knee caps point straight ahead or angle to the sides or towards the other knee? Has someone told you have a leg length difference? Is your pelvis elevated on one side? Is your rear end flat? These are all strong indications that your hip joints are not functioning properly. The hip joint is analogous to the "handle of the whip." Let's think about the thigh bone, knee, ankle and foot as the whip or lash. How and where the handle of the whip moves (the hip joint), the rest of the whip (leg, knee, ankle, foot) will follow. If you have arthritis, degenerative changes in the knee joint or meniscus, ACL, PCL tears etc. you have a posture (or position) problem caused by muscle imbalances. The root cause is not a faulty "steering wheel" (see beginning of this article) or faulty knee joint. You have a faulty hip joint and pelvis function due to muscles not keeping the leg and knee joint straight during use. If you replace the knee joint - that is not the end of the pain and dysfunction. Why? Because you don't have a knee problem, you have a hip problem caused by hip muscles being imbalanced. You have knee pain but not a knee problem. And it's very likely back pain is or will soon be part of your life. Hip Replacements The pelvis and hip joints work together. The pelvis is designed in the shape of a bowl except that it has two identical halves. Imagine a bowl cut in half. Now imagine the two halves are designed to move like opposite "See Saws" (the children's playground apparatus). As one half moves downward the other half moves upward. This is called flexion and extension. The "hip" is referred to as where the leg bone inserts in the pelvis or hip socket. The hip joint is shown here. This joint is a ball and socket joint and should be able to move freely in a rotational multidirectional fashion. In general, proper functional pelvic and hip movement is where the pelvis is doing it's "See-Sawing" and the head of the leg bone or the hip joint is freely moving too. All these components are free to move and there is freedom of blood and nerve circulation without friction inside the hip joint. Over time due to inactivity, sitting too long, injury etc. the muscles that coordinate the flexion/extension pelvic motion and the leg/hip motion become imbalanced, impaired, problematic and then do not function properly. Degenerative changes in the hip socket occur when the pelvis stops moving, stops flexing and extending properly but the leg bone continues to move in the socket. This can be seen where pelvic function and movement becomes impaired and immobile and begins to rotate versus flex and extend or stops moving entirely. This causes a serious lack of blood supply and a great deal of friction and wear and tear inside the hip joint. It affects muscles, joints, ligaments, cartilage, bone.....all components! Many other muscles, joints and in many cases, organ systems will be adversely effected including the spine. (We'll save that large topic for a future post.) When bones and joints have reduced, compromised blood circulation, the bone actually dies. Dying bone is called Necrosis. Avascular means without blood flow. Avascular Necrosis, a common diagnosis, is a SYMPTOM -- a CONSEQUENCE of the ROOT CAUSE of muscle and joint dysfunction. Take your fist pretending it's the head of your femur or leg bone, put it in the palm of your other cupped hand. Your cupped hand acts as the deep hip socket, the acetabulum, which is part of the pelvis. Now move, rotate and grind your fist in your palm (keeping the palm stationary) for 30 days and see if you don't develop major blisters, friction and damage. This is what happens with hip dysfunction but the friction goes on for years. The head of the femur or leg bone keeps moving in the socket BUT the pelvis and hip socket stops moving. The key to preventing Hip Joint Degeneration and avoid Hip Replacement is to get the pelvis and hip joint SYSTEMATICALLY functioning properly again. This does not mean go to the gym and start using weight machines or the pool or doing Pilates or exercise classes. It does not mean start using the Elliptical Trainer. It means finding a posture therapist who works with the entire body and does not focus on symptoms. Once you have developed degenerative joints anywhere in the body, it is time to look at the ENTIRE body because 100% of the time, there are other joints and muscles that have also been seriously compromised in the process of you creating your joint degeneration. If you only focus on the one painful area (the steering wheel analogy see the second paragraph above) you are missing many other important areas that need as much if not more rehabilitation. If you are not bearing weight equally front to back, side to side, you have a snowballs chance of getting pain free and life without limitation. Go to a trained skilled Posture Therapist who will help rehabilitate the dysfunctional posture, muscles and joints for the entire body. If the hip joint is replaced and the pelvic dysfunction and immobility is not addressed there will be more wear and tear elsewhere in body. It's coming. Don't Settle for Band-Aids on SYMPTOMS - Find & fix the ROOT CAUSE When you are dealing with pain and the possibility of invasive procedures that will not solve the underlying problem, make sure you know exactly what the root cause is. Keep asking your doctor "why". Answers like "arthritis" or "Avascular Necrosis" or "torn Meniscus" or "ACL/PCL tear" or "Labral tear" are not Root Causes. If you are confused by the answer to "why" or aren't sure, it's time to get more information. Modern medicine is only focused on the body part in pain--the symptom. Unfortunately seldom is the part in pain the root cause of the pain. Because the body functions AS A UNIT, just working with the painful part will not address the total underlying problem. Now is the time to fix the muscle and joint dysfunction and start living without limitation. Call The POSTURE Clinic to discuss your situation and becoming pain free without surgery, drugs or manipulation. 772-559-1532. Catee Ingwersen is a Posture Alignment Specialist trained, certified by the Egoscue University in The Egoscue® Method. She empowers people every day to overcome pain and physical limitations unlike any other healing or medical intervention. Call 772-559-1532 or stop by our Clinic in Vero Beach, Florida to discuss this common sense approach and your individual needs.
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You may ask what do Root Canals have to do with musculoskeletal pain? Maybe a lot. Research available for over 100 years, having been buried by the American Dental Association concerning the dangers of Root Canals, is finally getting attention. As millions of people scurry around looking for a cure for heart and circulatory disease, neurological diseases etc. no one except for Dr. Weston Price and his predecessors ever thought to look in the mouth. "As far back 1908, microbiology researchers from Mayo Clinic and from the dental association at the time found that bacteria and their toxins from root canals could enter the blood stream and travel to any point in the body, and generate disease to that tissue or organ." Hal Huggins DDS, MS Every year 25 million root canals are performed in the U.S. 95% of all dentists and physicians do not understand this issue and have avoided it for many years. Check out this important video to learn more. At The POSTURE Clinic we're advocates of people being fully informed about issues concerning their health. We believe that the human body can heal itself if given half the chance. "Half the chance" means removing obstacles to health. Like getting help with your Posture to correct muscle imbalances so that joints, the pelvis and spine can return to their God-given original blueprint positions and design. Other health obstacles may be as simple as making sure that we are not using products that put toxins in or on our bodies or mouths by avoiding all chemicals (see EWG.org), not overloading our bodies with cell phone radiation and unhealthy ElectroMagnetic Fields (see SafeSpaceProtection.com) and knowing what our current blood levels of vitamins and minerals are to be able to match our nutrition to the chemical status of our blood and body. Call us today for help with your posture to ensure a pain free future. 772-559-1532 A colleague of mine mentioned he recently worked with two clients, husband and wife and at some point also met their son. The three of them had the same posture disparities. All three family members had torso offsets (the upper body sits slightly off center), scapula and pelvic disparities (shoulder blades and pelvis not working properly). All three had thigh bones, knees and feet that were turned out to the sides (externally rotated). Everyone was almost identical. My colleague was curious about such a phenomenon and wondered if these posture similarities were genetic. Assuming the husband and wife are NOT blood related, their similar posture disparities can not be genetic in nature. What about the non-adopted son’s disparities? I commonly hear clients say one of their parents or grandparents “had the exact same thing as me” or “my grandmother and my mother and I all have bunions.” There is no such thing as a bunion gene. Have you ever been where there are a lot of people, like an airport and see a family with a strong resemblance in facial features? Each has the same nose, same chin, same forehead, cheekbones? Now that would be genetic. I like to watch this group in motion, walking. What do you know! They are all walking the same way! A father and a younger person walking side by side and their gaits and mannerisms are identical. I wanted to model myself after my father and I looked up to him a lot and when I was young. I’d emulate him and probably unconsciously I modeled my movements and actions after his. There is nothing wrong with that unless you realize you may be modeling a posture that is dysfunctional. If you emulate a high fashion runway model and develop a walk just like that, chances are very good you'll develop sway back and dysfunctional posture too. So if your father had knee problems due to his pelvis and hip muscles being overused, tight and immovable which in turn changes the position of the leg, knee and feet rotating them out to the side (knees were never designed to rotate like that!) then guess what! That's not genetic. That's modeling your movements and posture after someone else's. If they are in pain and have posture problems, so will you. We can manifest what we believe or imagine, what we think about consciously or subconsciously. Bruce Lipton, stem-cell biologist (author of bestseller The Biology of Belief) taught at Univ of WIsconsin’s School of Medicine. He is famous for his stem cell research and ground-breaking book. He was a member of the medical community and was educated and ingrained in the system of thinking he now calls the “central dogma” in that science and medicine all believe (so does the media and then the masses) our DNA controls our destiny (genetic determinism -we’re dealt our fate at birth.). Lipton’s lab research proved this is not true. He took genetically identical stem cells and put them in separate Petri dishes then changed the environment in each dish. The cells in the bad environment dish crashed. The cells in the good supportive environment dish were healthy and thriving. He moved the sick cells out of their environment dish to the supportive environment dish and they got better and were thriving then also. Taking it a step further he proved if we believe we are a victim of our genes, then we are; if we believe we have control over of genes we do. Bruce Lipton says, "The function of the mind is to create coherence between our beliefs and reality." If you change your beliefs you change your reality. If you are thin as a feather but you believe you are obese then obese is your reality and that is all you see yourself as. So powerful is that belief, it (anorexia) can kill. When father mother son have the same posture deviations I tend to see it as they share the same beliefs about whether they are going to have dad’s knee meniscus problem. They walk around the same way the person they are modeling after, with their father's gait. Maybe they even favor their knee and perhaps they even expect to have what they believe is their father's and grandfather's “genetic” predisposed knee problem and guess what!!! They do!! Then because the old paradigm has not shifted yet to the new paradigm, they believe "there's nothing I can do for my knee problem - I inherited it." believing they are victims of their genes when in fact their knee problem is not caused by genes it is caused by positional changes in their bones due to muscle imbalances they created themselves. I have seen some members of various ethnic groups who have culturally specific gaits. It’s not because they were born with a gene to swagger like that…..it’s the belief and desire to be and act and walk a certain way and that identifies them as a member of that culture or group. I believe, the family is a cultural unit too. We can help people change their beliefs about their perceived inheritance of bunions by proving that the hips (not their grandmother’s bunion genes) are causing them to skate on the inner edges of their feet causing pressures that were never meant to be there. The only way the body can protect against the onslaught of the daily pressures on the edges of the toe and foot is to add more bone there. This creates bunions. Correct the posture and hip problem there is no longer a need for the bone padding called bunion. Call The POSTURE Clinic today (772) 559-1532 to discuss your individual posture or pain situation and needs. Catee Ingwersen is a Posture Alignment Specialist trained, certified by the Egoscue University in The Egoscue® Method. She empowers people every day to overcome pain and physical limitations unlike any other healing or medical intervention. Call 772-559-1532 or stop by our Clinic in Vero Beach, Florida to discuss this common sense approach and your individual needs. "Pain is not a disease, not an injury, not even an effect of aging. Pain is a treatable symptom." Pete Egoscue We choose our joys and sorrows long before
we experience them. Kahlil Gibran Your subconscious beliefs establish the limits of what you can achieve. You can rewrite the software of your subconscious mind and change your life. If you are interested in getting what you want in life versus what you don't want, perhaps consider a technique called Psych-K endorsed by Bruce Lipton and offered at The POSTURE Clinic. Call (772) 559-1532 for more information. The following article was written by John Elder, Egoscue Nashville. Egoscue and Scoliosis by John Elder on July 14, 2010 We see clients with scoliosis every week, and the majority of the time those clients think they have to live with it and that their condition is unchangeable. We at Egoscue disagree. I believe your body has an amazing ability to heal itself and the spine is movable, rather than ‘fixed’ in that scoliotic curve. The spine has the ability to move not just when you’re bending and flexing, but also when thinking about it from the perspective of scoliosis. Egoscue’s thinking is that muscles move your bones. Whether you’re taking a walk, swinging a golf club, or getting up out of a chair, your muscles are moving your bones. For those with scoliosis, it’s no different. I believe your muscles moved your bones into that position due to the body adapting to its surroundings, hobbies, occupations and other negative stimulus. I also believe when you place a positive stimulus on the muscles and (re)teach them how to function properly, they will move the spine back into a more neutral position. Will we ever get your spine back to neutral (zero degrees)? Maybe not. But what if we’re able to bring your curve from 40 degrees to 30 degrees (or better)? It may not sound like much of a change, but when it comes to overall function of your body, including how scoliosis can impact your circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems, it’s huge. Still don’t think the spine can move out of its S- or C-Curve? Here are a couple of before/after x-rays for you: Talk about improving someone’s quality of life. These were from a 14-year-old client. She now has the rest of her life to work on improving her function. I wanted to post these for those of you who have been told that scoliosis is your ‘health destiny’ and that you’re never going to be the same. Some of you have probably been told that your only option is surgery, and that your spine needs to be fused or needs a rod. Hopefully these pictures give you a more optimistic outlook on your current condition than what you’ve been told before. Do you or someone you know have scoliosis? Why wait to improve your posture and reduce or eliminate limitations? Let us help you prevent or eliminate musculoskeletal pain and improve neuromuscular function quickly and easily. We can help you improve athletic performance and quality of life beyond what you have ever experienced before!
Call The POSTURE Clinic at 772-559-1532 to start living life to your fullest. What you think is HELPING you in the gym might be speeding up the rate of DETERIORATION in your joints. Learn how to steer clear. The following is a guide to make your experience in the gym, pilates or yoga studio or personal training session as beneficial as possible. Your body has a position or design that must be maintained in order for all aspects and functions of the body to work as originally intended. There is a big difference between Posture Alignment Therapy and strength-weight-yoga-core training. Posture Alignment Therapy has a unique goal. Ask Yourself.... Why do you go to the gym? or the Yoga or Pilates Studio? What is it that you get out of it? Is it the burn? Is it that you feel stronger? Do you get relief from stress? Or the calming after effect? Perhaps it's to get out of pain. Or it's just fun. Or maybe it is a place to socialize. Whatever the reason, likely you have one or several for doing your workout. What if you could get much more out of your workout without sweating more or adding more weights? What if you could gain more range of motion, balance, flexibility, agility, more strength? What if you could really get out of pain? Hang on to those answers for a moment. 3 Planes of Motion The design of the human body is not only genius but it is necessary for very important reasons. The skeleton is supposed to stay vertically straight and horizontally level. Looking at the load bearing joints (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders joints) they should be stacked vertically and level horizontally with its pair. Imagine a ladder, the side supports are straight, vertical, the rungs are level horizontally. The junction of the rung and side supports are at 90 degrees angles. The musculoskeletal system - the human body - is designed to maintain this position. Change any of the joint positions, change any of the ladders supports or rungs, this will result in lack of stability, structural integrity, loss function, reduction in range of motion. Incidentally, all the organ systems of the body hang from this ladder-like configuration. Change the angles and position of the ladder, compress it and the organs (plus joints, bones, nerves, veins, muscles) are compressed too. Rotate it, the same components are rotated too--and were never intended to be. The body is made to have the ability to move and function in “3 Planes of Motion.” You are designed to bend forward and backwards - that is the Sagittal Plane. You can bend sideways which is moving in the Frontal Plane. You can twist and turn - that is the Transverse plane. Your joints are designed to move in these planes of motion too. If these Planes of Motions are inhibited, you will lack the ability to perform a task properly then other parts of the body will do jobs they were never designed to do. This is called "compensations". After periods of time these compensating body parts become dysfunctional and can not function at all or their function is greatly limited. (By the way.......Look around the Gym. Evaluate your workout. Are you exercising in ALL THREE PLANES OF MOTION? Why not?) Once your movement is altered, limited or impaired, your center of gravity will no longer be--well, centered! This again, creates wear and tear related symptoms in any of the joints or any of the components of the muscle and skeletal system (arthritis, stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc bulges, herniations, meniscus tears/shredding, ACL/PCL tears, ligament and tendon damage, bunions, hammer toes, sprains, strains, sciatica, and the list goes on and on) as well as making the body ripe for the straw that tips the scales and injury happens. Test Yourself What if your center of gravity is off? Do this test before you do your workout. Stand comfortably. Close your eyes. Notice if you have more weight in one foot versus the other. No fudging. Pick a percentage like 60% for example in the right foot. Now, eyes closed, do you feel more weight in your toes or heels (if may be different for each foot). Maybe you have more weight in your heel on the left and more in your toes on the right. Last test, eyes still closed, do you have more weight in the inner edges of your feet or outside edges. Again the answer can be different for each foot. Imagine where your center of gravity has moved if you are not bearing weight equally front to back and side to side. Now inventory your aches and pains and compare them to how your body is bearing weight. If you are off balance or not centered, you have muscle imbalances. Some muscles are working harder and some not too much. Joints are pulled or moved out of position due to the imbalances. Now go do your workout and see if afterwards your center of gravity has been fixed. No, it hasn't because your workout is reinforcing the position of your joints, the tension of your muscles. In other words, chances are great your misalignments, your muscle imbalances are getting stronger. What did you just learn? You (like many people) have a "position problem" from muscle imbalances. You don't have a strength problem as much as a "position problem". It makes more sense to correct your "position problem" and then do your strengthening that way you are strengthening your good versus bad alignment. Strengthening already dysfunctional body parts will only result in stronger dysfunction body parts. If your hip or shoulder is in pain, chances are excellent there is a muscle imbalance keeping those joints misaligned which will stay misaligned unless someone like Posture experts help you learn how to reposition the joints. STRENGTH over dysfunction is stronger dysfunction. You have to get functional and properly aligned first then add strength on top of the proper FUNCTION. Your "position problem", your muscle imbalances can be resolved. It's not permanent unless you want it to be. OK, let's move on..... Exercise Instructors Whether it is Personal Trainers, Pilates or Yoga Instructors, they are trained in their specialty and are not Posture experts. Posture Alignment Therapists are trained in correcting your joint position from head to toe. They know how to ensure that you are strengthening your joints without straining them. Posture Alignment Therapists are trained in Biomechanics and help people use all of the muscles of the whole body the way the body was designed and the way the muscles were intended to function with synergy and full function. No one muscle or group of muscles is more or less important than another. Certain rehabilitative professionals have been quoted as saying "we don't get too much involved with the pelvis. The pelvis is a mystery." In the Posture Alignment world, the function or dysfunction of the pelvis has EVERYTHING to do with the proper function of EVERYTHING else in the body. Posture Alignment Therapists are specifically trained in and understand the workings of the pelvis. Your experience in your personal training sessions or in the Yoga or Pilates Studio can be enhanced if your body is properly aligned head to toe, all muscles are being used for their original jobs and all the joints, spinal components and pelvis are lined up and are engaging properly. The alignment of all joints and parts is held in place INVOLUNTARILY by your muscles. Unless you are doing the posture alignment exercises you've been assigned by a certified Posture Alignment Therapist, you should NOT voluntarily, on purpose, move your pelvis, hips, shoulders, spine, legs, feet or knees in their proper position forcing your knees to points straight ahead or sticking your butt out to create a lumbar arch. This is faking posture alignment and it is a highly ineffective method which is not only temporary but can lead to many additional physical problems if done for long periods. (I've had discussions with clients -- they see how crooked they are when I point it out but they just can't believe those are problems linked to their pain or disabilities. They have THE best therapist or THE best trainer and they are working their muscles. How is it possible that after all that effort and expertise and energy that their bodies are positionally misaligned and still have pain. Many if not all workouts are working peripheral musculature and not the deep stabilizers of the pelvis, hips and spine. Nor is the goal complete structural alignment and fully functioning joint centration and movement. The emphasis is on "Pop" exercises-whatever is in vogue and especially whatever is cosmetically most appealing.) If your muscles are being stimulated properly then the muscles surrounding each joint or structure will be able to hold that structure in its optimal position for full function and no friction. If you have joints that are not in proper position and you are working out with muscle imbalances and joints out of position then you are reinforcing even strengthening those misalignments, those muscle imbalances and there will be friction in joints and wear and tear throughout your body. Get your whole body in proper position ESPECIALLY before your workout or class. This insures (among many other benefits) the most effective pilates, yoga or training workout and experience. Working the Core. The word "core" in this context refers to the group of abdominal muscles. The popular belief is strengthening the core is imperative to having a strong back and trunk for good balance and stability. This belief is very limited in scope. You can have a super strong core (abs and back) and topple over from lack of plantar and/or dorsi flexion in the ankle or from knee joints being rotated or bow legs (like the man to the left) or knock knees, hip or butt pain, disc herniations and have stenosis and spondylolisthesis or any number of physical problems. Your gait can be very unsteady and dysfunctional but your stomach cosmetically looks good and is unnaturally tight. The upper spine can become Kyphotic (exaggerated spinal curve flexing the spine forward like the client on the left) and the pelvis can tip backwards due to overstrengthened abs this leads to a host of back (and other) problems--the very thing “working the core” was meant to avoid. Working your core to the exclusion of the other equally important body parts, joints and muscles is inadvisable. When doing Pilates, make sure you are seated vertically, ankle, knee and hip joints in hip width alignment, shoulder joints over hip joints. The lumbar spine should have a small arch by a slight pelvic tilt forward. If the knees flop open like this person above, use a strap to give the legs something to rest against. Remember, Pilates is a strengthening program. If your joints are misaligned like 95% of the population, you have a POSITION problem not a strength problem. Therefore you need a program that will help you correct the joint POSITIONS. Using a strengthening program to fix POSITION problems will result in stronger out of POSITION joints and further muscle imbalance. Because MUSCLES MOVE BONES, when one muscle is too tight the bones it attaches to are pulled out of healthy position. Ab muscles attach to the pelvis at the pubic bone area and under the lower ribs. If too tight, the abs pull the pelvis up in the front tipping it backward and pulls the upper back/spine forward. This rounds the upper body, spinal vertebrae and shoulders and the head comes forward. It is very common for people with their pelvis tipping back and down to have flat buttocks (which unplugs their glute muscles -important hip extensors), a flat lumbar spine now prone to symptoms like stenosis, disc herniations/bulges, arthritis and tight hamstrings all because the abs are so tight and other muscles weak there is no way for the pelvis to remain level. This seriously compromises the vertical efficient weight bearing posture, what follows is pain, structural compensation and dysfunction. Go ahead, tighten your bicep. Hold it nice and tight for the next 8 hours. Why contract your bicep continuously....then why contract your abs continuously? Why not tighten your thighs or buttocks? You are tightening your abs unconsciously every time you reach across the table for your pen or the salt. To illustrate just one example, if your pelvis juts or shifts out to the sides or you feel unstable on your feet/legs, your pelvic musculature needs to be systematically retrained for proper function not your core. The pelvis (not the abs!) must form a solid level foundation for the upper body and the lower body. Make sure all the muscles and joints have the ability to stabilize and move joints and bones efficiently with full function as they are designed. Use Pilates to get strong but make sure your Posture is in alignment first so you are not strengthening your dysfunctions. That is the healthy way to go. Many people don't know, doing abdominal sit ups utilize the trunk flexors (the abs) AND depending on how high the upper body comes up off the ground, the hip flexors (powerful groin muscles). Crunching your abs where your upper body comes up higher than 6 degrees off the ground, you are now strengthening your hip flexors too. Hip flexors flex the hip and if overly strong will pull the pelvis forward and down. The pelvis should be level not tipped forward, forward and down or backward. If your pelvis is already tilted forward (anterior pelvic tilt or you have been told you have lordosis) you are now increasing the tilt, your lumbar curve (lordosis) and the dysfunction. Weight Machines are likely strengthening and reinforcing your postural misalignments. When you use weight machines, your posturally misaligned body (meaning you have rotations or elevations in your pelvis, or your feet, ankles or knees or shoulder joints have deviated from the original design position) is situated in or on the gym equipment. The gym equipment is targeting a muscle group in isolation of other muscles. This is unnatural since the body never recruits one muscle group at a time in isolation. Weight machines don't mind if one side of your pelvis is elevated higher than the other side and your spine and shoulder girdle and head are sitting on a very unlevel pelvic platform. You’re putting a crooked compensating body in a static apparatus then engaging isolated muscles which does nothing to address or correct posture compensations and dysfunctions in the area you are working or in any other area of your body. You are adding strength on top of the compensations and dysfunctions. The machine won’t straighten up crooked parts-it is only strengthening one targeted piece of your total musculoskeletal system. The machine will strengthen the crooked parts so now your misaligned joint positions and muscle imbalances are stronger, not straighter but stronger. Not a strength training protocol There is a BIG difference between strength training and Posture Alignment Therapy. For instance, the machine for adductor presses is designed to be used to actually strengthen the adductor muscles, using a strength training protocol, which is not what your Posture Alignment Therapy exercises are doing. Doing machine adductor presses all day isn’t going to fix posture problems, it can potentially reinforce the disconnected structures and functions in your body and lead to Postural, structural and potentially organ related problems. The Posture Alignment exercises are used to produce a structural change. For instance, knee pillow squeezes are used to create a structural change in the hips, pelvis and spine. We see the outcome immediately. This immediate change causes other muscles to engage, which usually results in the client feeling “stronger” or more “stable”. Pelvic instability is a great example: if your pelvis tilts backward (posterior pelvis), this position lacks stability in the pelvis and hip joints. With some quick knee pillow squeezes, gluteal contractions, and maybe one or two spinal extension exercises after walking you notice you are stable and feel “stronger” than before the exercises. But we did not strengthen, we engaged muscles in a certain way to change the position of the pelvis and spine structurally which makes it more functional and structurally stable and causes other muscles to engage properly. We’re not moving the leg in and out in the Adductor Press machine in a full concentric and eccentric range of motion. The ankle, knee and hip joints are lined up and there is an isometric contraction going on in the hip joint-very little movement. You Can Have Proper Form and Still Get Injured If you're using an adductor press machine where you are in a sitting position, and you will most likely end up sitting with a posterior pelvis and flexed spine. This is a big problem not only from a structural stand point, but also when we look at how ineffective this makes the exercise if the client’s goal is to strengthen their adductors. The bad pelvic position alone is going to engage more muscles in the pelvis than just the adductors targeted. This will also eventually cause other problems, usually showing up as pain. We want our clients to have good position no matter what exercise they are doing in the gym. If you take a body with bad structure to a workout, then most likely the compensating muscles will get the stimulus, and this can feed into your posture problems and pain and be set up for injury too.
Bottom line…The body responds to the stimulus you give it, make sure you are making good choices in making your body better, not worse. As Frank Parmelee, certified Posture Alignment Therapist says: “Health Club/Gym training is driven more by cosmetics than by muscle, joint, body function. There is too much focus on abdominals, pecs, quads. sit-ups, bicep curls, bench press, leg presses. Unfortunately, this perpetuates muscle imbalances which desk jobs, sedentarism, and poor posture already have created. Namely, this creates an over emphasis on the strength of flexors, adductors, internal rotators, pronators, jaw closers, and shoulder girdle elevators while inhibiting extensors, abductors, external rotators, supinators, jaw openers, & shoulder girdle depressors. Popular physical training seldom is focused on postural muscles and proper joint mechanics.” **************************************************************************************** Posture Alignment Therapy is offered by The POSTURE Clinic. Catee Ingwersen is the Director and Posture Alignment Specialist certified by the Egoscue University. She is a recommended Affiliate therapist. The Egoscue Method was created by Pete Egoscue. This method is a world leader in non medical pain relief and postural alignment which leads to developing the musculoskeletal system of the human body by training the proper muscles of the entire body. It does not focus on symptoms but rather treats the body as a unit with an emphasis on eliminating noxious stimuli to correct dysfunctions and compensations that make natural movements, function and gait impossible. Call 772-559-1532 for information or an appointment. This post was written by Matt Whitehead, Director of the Egoscue Portland. Clinic and is an excerpt from a blog post from Egoscue Nashville. The client xrays were provided to Egoscue Portland by Egoscue Austin clinic. Xrays of Degenerative Knee & Cartilage Damage - Before & After Posture Alignment using The Egoscue Method. When people hear “bone-on-bone” (knee, hip, wrist, ankle etc.) most people (including well-meaning doctors) think “it’s too late to do anything, time for a replacement.” This line of thinking comes from the idea that our bodies are like machines. “When your cars’ brakes are worn-out you need to replace the brake pads with new ones and then your car is back to normal.” There are two problems with this line of thinking: 1. We have yet to (and probably never will) “build” a replacement part that is close to and as good as the original part (but medical science will never stop trying) 2. Machines are dead and our bodies are living – meaning we are able to rebuild our own parts at the rate of 500+ billion new cells a day! When not replaced, the worn-out brake pad on your car will continue to wear away every day because the car does not have a means to repair/rebuild it on it’s own. But our bodies do! Our bodies are constantly repairing and rebuilding everything from our skin (we have all seen this happen after a cut or scrap) to our bones (observed in people who have healed a broken bone or raised their bone density) to muscle tissue, brain cells, nerve cells, cardic muscle, and even cartilage. The key to getting that “bone-on-bone” joint to repair itself is to make sure the reason why the joint was wearing away in the first place is corrected. That has to do with the postural position of the joint and the dysfunctional movement that has been happening. Correct that and the body will repair itself. John Elder of Egoscue Nashville talked about Pete Egoscue and cartilage in a recent blog post: When Pete released (his book) Pain Free back in the early 90s, he made the claim that you can regrow cartilage and took a LOT of heat for saying so. Everyone thought he was crazy and dismissed his theory. If you don’t have a copy of Pain Free, here is what he has to say on page 107: “As for the ‘irreversible’ cartilage loss, why of all the tissue in the body would the cartilage be the only one that does not regenerate? The answer is that it does regenerate. Laboratory experiments in Sweden have shown that under the right conditions cartilage, like any tissue, can be grown. Moreover, sports medicine practitioners have long recognized that athletes increase their cartilage density and shock-absorbing capacity during proper training.” Once again, he was crucified for this statement. In his own words from Pain Free for Women he says, “That statement drew a barrage of criticism from doctors, researchers, and physical therapists. When cartilage is gone, they scolded me, it’s gone, and nothing short of a miracle will bring it back.” Well, if it’s a miracle they want, then it’s a miracle they’ll get. Thanks to Rick Mathes in the Austin Clinic for providing these x-rays (read his full blog post about this client HERE). A client working with one of the therapists was told he had to have his knee replaced. Take a look at the first xray picture from April, 2004 and you’ll understand why the doc suggested it. To help explain what you’re looking at, it’s as if you are facing this client. His right knee is on your left. Notice that on the far left hand side of the image there is decreased space between the femur (upper leg bone) and the tibia (lower leg bone). Loss of cartilage, right? I agree. This guy is surely headed for a knee replacement...or is he? Take a look at the second set of x-rays from July, 2005, just a little over a year after the first were taken. Notice the uniform spacing between the femur and tibia. It’s a miracle! The cartilage is regrown! While I agree the cartilage is regrown, I don’t believe it necessarily qualifies as miraculous. Instead, I believe the client took charge of his health and put faith in his body that it can heal itself. What a remarkable difference, and all without going under the knife. When you switch from being symptom-focused (i.e. loss of cartilage and needing a knee replacement) to being cause-focused (i.e. why did the cartilage degenerate?), a lot can happen. Change the position of the knee joint, give the cartilage room to grow, and it will. I love that there is finally ‘proof’ that Pete was right all those years ago. The body is an engineering miracle. It’ll heal itself if you just give it an opportunity. Keep moving! For a long time, running definitely wasn't my favorite activity. However, due to my busy schedule I need an exercise activity that doesn't require a lot of equipment and can be done anywhere anytime. I bought a nice pair of running shoes then would psych myself up to get out there and attempt to log a few miles. It wasn't until I saw photos of my dysfunctional posture that I understood why it was such a struggle and hard work just to go short distances. I connected not only my aches, pains and physical problems to my posture but realized various joints were out of position, making it very hard to run. My ankles, feet, knees and hips/pelvis and shoulders were all out of position. None of those body parts worked the way they were designed to and therefore required an incredible amount of extra energy to overcome the inertia of moving my skeleton that was misaligned. Look at the runner in this photo. Does this runner appear to be in "good shape"? Look closely. Once you know what to look for, it is EASY to see why someone would not enjoy running and/or get injured. First, he has very bowed legs. His knee is turned toward the curb and does not point forward! (Do you drive down the road with your wheels pointing straight ahead or pointing at the curb??) This is called external femur (thigh bone) position. Looking closer, his right foot is about to hit the ground on the outside edge of his foot, supination. Here is what the HealthSouth doctors say about runners with pain and injuries: "Runners with leg pain often suffer from one of three entities: anterior knee pain, shin pain, or Achilles tendon and heel pain. These can be the cumulative result of increases in midseason training that overtax young athletes. Multiple minor injuries or repeated injuries to the same area are signs of inadequate rest and rehabilitation. The highest risk factor for subsequent injury is incomplete rehabilitation of a primary injury. Athletes with first-time injuries should therefore diligently rehabilitate before returning to play. Special attention must be paid to a history of stress fractures anywhere in the body. In a female athlete, such a history may be the only obvious sign of the female athlete triad of osteoporosis, menstrual irregularities, and an eating disorder Although no athlete is immune from the consequences of inadequate nutrition, a young woman who participates in an endurance activity or "appearance" sport such as figure skating and gymnastics is at particular risk." I'm going to bet that the runner in the photo will be injured in due time but not due to "overtaxing the athlete in midseason and from inadequate rest and rehab." It's his dysfunctional joint position and uneven weight bearing. Running doesn't produce injuries. A body with joints that are misaligned due to muscle imbalances produces injuries. A body with joints that are truly aligned do not produce injuries. Misaligned joint positions due to muscle imbalances are totally fixable. It's like saying the computer causes carpal tunnel syndrome so move the keyboard around the desk. Of course it doesn't! It is the computer operator that has rounded shoulders that have lost the position they were designed to function with, not to mention forward head position all of which produce pain and dysfunction. Joints should maintain right angles but can still function for limited periods if they aren't. There is a price to pay for joints out of position, wear and tear, inflammation, breakdown of joint capsules, bone spurs, cartilage degradation, torn ligaments, tendons, shredded menisci, etc. The illustration of the knee on the left shows the bones sitting horizontal and at 90 degrees. The knee on the right, shows the bones are NOT horizontal but SLANTED. Overtime, this causes degradation and changes in the protective materials in the joint. Ankle joints, knee joints, hips, pelvis, shoulder joints should operate at right angles BECAUSE that is the way the bones of these joints were designed. Bend the frame of your car or bend the drawer glides of your kitchen drawer or prop one corner of your washing machine up on a 1 inch block. Do those things work on a SLANT??? No those things won't work. Why? Because they are designed to operate correctly and most efficiently at right angles, squared up because that is the most stable, sturdy, efficient design. Your washing machine might work for awhile on a slant but it will buck and march around the laundry room and then in time breakdown. Your car with a bent frame WILL go down the road....for awhile.....before problems set in from wear and tear in the major joints especially the wheel/axle joints. Does this barn look stable, functional, straight? Are there any 90 degree angles? The human body is a miraculous design, with all the engineering requirements strength, full range of motion, flexibility, stability and longevity. Change the position of the structure God gave you and in time, there will be physical problems and/or pain. THE BODY IS NO DIFFERENT. Look for postural dysfunctions next time you're out in your car and look at the runners on the road. Do you see any of these body parts out of FUNCTIONAL healthy posture alignment? You will. They are EVERYWHERE. And I bet you'd find some in your own reflection too. There is a real connection between physical injuries (not just running) and misaligned posture. If your knee caps and or feet are not pointed exactly straight ahead when standing and walking and running, then you are wearing down structures like the joint capsule of the hip joints, the ankle joints and the meniscus and joint structures of the knee. This has a cascading direct effect on the spine and shoulder girdle. And the media is espousing, old age is the culprit. Many clients who have discovered this posture alignment method based on the Egoscue Method, have lamented "WHY didn't I discover this method 10 years (or 20 years in some cases) ago!!" Old age has nothing to do with it, except that for decades you have been walking around with joints out of the positions they originally were designed to have and maintain. If you can't get enough plantar flexion in your ankle, then fully functional knee and hip extension - important for efficient running - won't be possible. If your hips and pelvis are not working bilaterally and one leg swings out to the side then comes around to the front, you've got the equivalent of a flat tire. If your arms don't both swing from the shoulder joint or your knuckles of your hands are facing forward, you won't be able to fully counter rotate your upper body in opposition to your lower body. If your pelvis is positioned "posteriorly," leg and hip extension won't happen and the upper body and thoracic spine and head will be positioned flexed forward versus upright. I've just named a few of the posture misalignments you might have, and there are many more posture problems not mentioned here. IF YOUR JOINTS ARE FULLY BALANCED AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL, YOU WILL BE RUNNING EFFICIENTLY. IF YOUR POSTURE IS MISALIGNED, YOU WILL BE HAULING YOUR COMPROMISED SKELETON AND WEAK MUSCULATURE ALL OVER THE ROAD AND WASTING A LOT OF ENERGY. Blue-Print Design or Proper Posture :
Call 772-559-1532 or come in to The Posture Clinic in Vero Beach to discuss your individual needs. My mouth dropped open when I saw Sam's Club advertising Wolfgang Puck's Electric gadgets. Specially, Puck has an electric Wine Opener with foil cutter and an electric Salt and Pepper Mill Set. What is SO hard about opening a wine bottle? What is SO hard about shaking salt or grinding peppercorns?? Why do we need battery operated machines to do simple tasks humans can do? It is bad enough humans are more physically IMMOBILE than ever before but now we can save our strength when grinding pepper or dispensing salt?? If you don't use it, you loose it. Have you every heard that expression? It couldn't be more true when that statement is applied to the human body. Loosing "it: refers to loosing full function of muscles, joints. Therefore, not using your muscles enough is the REAL CAUSE of "old age". When you stop moving there is stiffness, then pain, oftentimes followed by injury followed by more stiffness, more immobility, more pain. Other parts of your body are now assisting the problem parts...next thing you know you're compensating big time for joints and muscles that no longer can move properly, fully. Compensating muscles and joints soon become dysfunctional muscles and joints. Arthritis inflammation and joint degeneration are well underway. Reach above your head lately? Ask yourself if you reach up above your head and if so how often. Do you get down on the floor and then back up? How often? Can you bend over to get the golf ball out of the cup? When's the last time you swept anything with a broom? Do you scrub your shower wall? Do you transport or carry your own groceries to your car? How many hours of the day do you sit or stand? How much do you move your body, your limbs? Do you have poor balance? Do you sit a lot, in front of the TV or at the computer or reading? If you're sedentary then most likely the muscles that are needed for balance are no longer strong enough for the job. Stimulation of key posture and gait muscles is needed in order to avoid having to cling to the wall or furniture for balance. If you spend a lot of time on the computer or reading or watching TV, chances are pretty good, you have rounded shoulders, forward head position, flattening of the lumbar curve....just to name a few musculoskeletal changes. Musculoskeletal functions are retained only through regular use. Pete Egoscue says: ............. "Every system of the body is energized by motion. From the instant the human fetus first kicks or shifts its position in the womb, it is moving in reaction to its environment, and it will continue to do so for the rest of its life as long as the environment provides one key ingredient - stimulus..... But today the fetus eventually emerges into a modern environment that demands of it less and less motion. This lack of stimulus is affecting all of us young and old. Today unlike our ancestors, we may choose not to move. In modern life, moving appears to be optional. Thus, what we do to work and play no longer fully engages our major musculoskeletal functions. The biomechanical paradigm is reversed: The less we move, the less we are capable of moving." Pain Free, pg 5 Severe right hip elevation and rotation. Right trunk (thoracic) offset. Right shoulder rounding and either right shoulder or thoracic rotation Movement is a BIOLOGICAL imperative. "Pain has one and only one function: to alert us to danger. Chronic pain is not telling us that we are frail, or that our bodies have lost the ability to cope with the physical demands of life on earth. It is warning us of danger, and the danger is acute motion starvation. No longer do we sufficiently walk, run, or otherwise react to what was once a motion-intensive environment. Our systems are in a dysfunctional state - they are not being refueled by motion. I know this because, based on my work with clients at the clinic, I know that the body is using other forms of communication besides pain to tell us that dysfunction is happening. ...We get sluggish and stiff and we start to hurt. Our knees and feet turn outward, our shoulders become rounded, or our hips become misaligned." Pete Egoscue, Pain Free, pg 6 Severe valgus (knock knee) stress. Left knee is also pointing to the left side versus pointing straight ahead. Her left leg, knee and foot are trying to deal with the unfortunate (but reversible!) angle. Her arches are flattened. Valgus knee stress often is a result of muscle imbalances in the hip joints. The thigh bones have turned outward to the sides ("external femur rotation") ....this degenerates the knee joint!!! Thigh bones, knees and feet must point forward. The hip joint has become restricted and has locked the legs and knees in this position. Although not shown, the feet are likely everted or "ducked". Both knees are flexed but should be in an extended position. This is an illustration of a very typical client coming to The POSTURE Clinic. Humans are motion starved. The body is extremely smart and efficient. It will shut down joints and muscles and functions that are not being used regularly. Those areas atrophy and loose their neurological stimulation, blood and oxygen circulation slows down, coordination, balance, movement and function suffer. I see it in The Posture Clinic every single day. What people don't realize is, it is not just a matter of the muscles loosing their strength or coordination but once the body OR ANY PART OF IT is repositioned (any of the major joints, the pelvis, the segments of the spine), then other organ and body systems are negatively affected as well. Your POSTURE has impact on and helps modulate all body systems from breathing to hormonal production. How do you get your body functioning and moving properly? The body functions as an integrated unit. If you have a weak shoulder, knee, hip, back, it is not enough to go to the gym and strengthen the weak part. Other muscles ("compensating muscles") are now doing the job for the weak joint or part. Just strengthening the weak part is not enough since the compensating muscles will likely absorb the strengthening stimulus, leaving the weak part unchanged. Trying to isolate muscles or injured parts doesn't work since muscles work closely in collaboration with other muscles. The POSTURE Clinic works to realign the entire body versus isolating therapy to one body part. (Seldom is the cause of the pain or problem the real cause.) You'll notice the drawing of the human body to the left has all load bearing joints (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders) vertically stacked and horizontally level. This is the blue print design everyone is born with. This is the position that must be retained or reinstituted for a fully functional musculoskeletal system and organ systems. Therapy or any medical intervention will succeed only when treating the body as an integrated unit getting all load bearing joints moving and functioning again. Reinstitute movement into your Life again.............. -- simply, gently, easily!!!! The process of Posture Alignment begins with these steps: . 1. Identify your unique postural imbalances. 2. Understand how function, dysfunction and compensation are tied together and how they cause pain. 3. Learn exactly what needs to change in your daily thought, habit and action for you to become pain free. 4. Have a personalized "menu" of corrective exercises created for you to decrease compensation movements and restore correct movement and joint function. 5. Learn these specific corrective exercises with your therapist and implement them on your own at home on a daily basis. 6. Follow-up appointments to evaluate progress and change stimulus, receive a new menu as your neuromuscular coordination improves and your body adapts and heals. 7. As the pain continues to diminish and go away begin to address the root dysfunction underlying your compensation movements 8. Implement full body range of motion exercises to restore full function to all your joints 9. Learn to recognize new dysfunctions and compensations when they first appear and how to intervene before pain sets in. You are now acting proactively and fully participating in preventative health care management! You will have the additional benefit of Photo and Gait analysis for use in evaluating your progress. This gives you a visual 'marker' of how your menu of exercises is helping you change your body into an optimal and efficient postural position. Call The POSTURE Clinic in Vero Beach to schedule your posture evaluation or to discuss your individual needs, 772-559-1532 It's an epidemic. Forward Head Position. Look around. See anyone like this? These people have Forward Head Position ("FHP"). This youngster not only has FHP, but also has rounded shoulders, evidenced by the position of the hands, knuckles facing forward means the shoulder joints have rolled forward and away from their straight aligned position. This person's head and shoulders and forward-leaning upper body have to counterbalance the weight of the backpack. The other two people shown above have rounded shoulders. In the first photo, that person also has a rounded upper back and spine. Stand up, move your head forward and try NOT to move your shoulders. It's not possible, the shoulders round forward as the head moves forward. The significance of this is.....this person is on his way to changing the shape of his spinal curves, experiencing diminished oxygen usage and breathing capacity, TMJ problems, maybe hearing or vision problems, headaches, neck pain, pinched nerves, herniated discs, blood pressure problems to name a few. Good Posture (or correct posture alignment) is not just about what your mother nagged about when you were young. It is not a "nice to have" skill enabling balancing books on one's head while walking. It is a biological, structural, total health imperative that can have serious health consequences over time. "Damage from prolonged head forward position contributes to myospasm, disc herniation, osteoporosis and nerve impingement. POSTURE has impact on and helps modulate all body systems from breathing to hormonal production. Spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse, lung capacity are some of the functions most easily impacted by poor posture." MAYO Clinic Health Letter, Volume 18, #3 March 2000 All primary load bearing joints (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders) are designed to be positioned vertically stacked with the front (technically the TMJoint) of the ear being centered on that same vertical stack or line. For every one inch the head is forward of the line, the head becomes heavier, 10 pounds heavier. Just look what effect that has on the shape of the spinal curves. The head is forward of the intended original blueprint design position and various muscle groups are not working extremely hard at holding the head out in space. Until the head returns to the proper position over the spine and in alignment with the other load bearing joints, the wear and tear will continue. The body has great tolerance, it does not have INFINITE tolerance. Go ahead, look at your body and your posture!!! It's not rocket science. Pull out those candid photos of yourself or check out your alignment in the full length mirror. Then give us a call (772-559-1532) and we'll help guide you through the process of Posture Alignment to return your body to it's optimal position and weight bearing. Arthritis is a popular diagnosis. Arthritis means joint inflammation. "Arth" refers to joint(s) and "itis" refers to inflammation. It simply means the joint has inflammation, in some cases infection. I'm referring only to the inflammation without infection arthritis or osteoarthritis. Can you see why this person might have arthritis in their knee joints? Read on and we'll come back to this photo and question later. Standard Human Equipment Every human is born with standard equipment - an anatomical blueprint design. Each ankle, knee, hip, shoulder is positioned in a vertical stack and horizontally level with it's pair on the opposite side of the body. The primary load bearing parts/joints have a specific design and function. They operate really well for long long periods if kept in that original position. They do not operate so well if repositioned by injury and/or poor posture over time. The body's design is similar to your car. The car as you know has four wheels and two axles. The wheels are positioned at a right angle to the axle. Hit a major pothole or get in a bad accident and your wheel may no longer be at a right angle to the axle. It has moved out of it's original optimal functional position to allow for efficient movement down the road. Your axle or wheel may be bent. What is it like driving a car that has a wheel out of alignment? Or a bent frame? There is LOTS of FRICTION and ultimately wear and tear and possible breakdown!! Operate the vehicle for very long in that condition with those important parts out of alignment and you're going to start spending money at the Car Doctor. Cars and Ladders This is common sense. If you can understand how that works with your car, then you can understand the same principle when it applies to your body. There are many other examples. My brother in law is a retired fire fighter and he is very familiar with ladders. I asked him if he thought a ladder with horizontal rungs and vertical sides and right angles is a strong reliable structurally sound ladder. Of course. Then I asked, would he want to climb up a ladder that didn't have right angles, the rungs slanted, the sides bowed out or in. Of course NOT! WHY? Because it is not inherently strong to bear weight evenly and safely, it is wobbly, and structurally unsound. That's how the body design is meant to work. All the primary joints must be lined up vertically and level horizontally in order the the body to have full range of motion, shock absorption capability and be fully functional. Back to our discussion about Arthritis. If the doctor says the pain in your shoulder or knee is caused by arthritis (not the infection kind) and you decide it's because you are "old" or arthritis runs in your family or your luck just ran out, go back to the logic of the car analogy above. Look in the mirror or call The POSTURE Clinic 772-559-1532 for a posture assessment. Joint inflammation didn't just fly out of the sky randomly and land in some unsuspecting human's spine or shoulder or knee. It is not a DISEASE. NOR did you inherit it. And it is not caused by your age. So you have arthritis in your right knee or perhaps your left shoulder. And you say, "oh, it's just old age, I turned 50 and it was all down hill." Think about this next question carefully: If your right knee has arthritis caused (you say) by age when you turned 50, then what's the age of your left knee that doesn't have arthritis? The "age" excuse has to be thrown out. Here's why. Joint inflammation is there for a reason. Arthritis is a symptom, a side effect not a diagnosis. Arthritis is not the root cause of the pain so the doctor didn't find the real cause of your pain. Arthritis is a side effect or symptom of some other problem in some other part of your body but your doctor zoomed his singular focus in on your shoulder or knee or spine, only looking at the part of your body in pain. Seldom, hardly ever, is the body part in pain the cause of the pain- unless you get hit by a truck. So, you have an inflammed joint and the cause of that inflammation is not that joint. The inflammation is a RESPONSE to the interior of the joint having uneven pressures inside that it was never designed to have. The uneven pressure wearing away cartilage is from uneven weight distribution from hips or pelvis that is elevated or rotated or tilted or knees that turn outward or inward or a high shoulder or tilting head, all creating havoc with your muscles, bones and joints. THE BODY IS A UNIT. MISALIGNMENT CHANGES IN ONE AREA OR BODY PART WILL BE REFLECTED IN OTHER IF NOT ULTIMATELY IN ALL OTHER BODY PARTS AND JOINTS AND MUSCLES. This will shift your center of gravity and you'll be distributing your weight unevenly versus equally front to back and right to left. Seldom is the cause of pain the part that is in pain. The lower bones have shifted out to the sides. You saw this image at the beginning of the article. Do you think this person has arthritis? You bet!! WHY? Can you see how the knees joints do not sit vertically on top of each other? Can you see this person has "bow" legs? If we asked if the ankles, knees and hips and shoulders were all in vertical line, the answer would be no. The knees are wider than the other load bearing joints, they are outside of the "stack." Would this person's shoes be worn down on the outer heels or inner arches? Do you think there is wear and tear due to uneven pressures in these joints? Of course, you can see the bones don't sit on top of each other. Do these legs look sturdy? What would it feel like to bend down or run with these knees? Do you think the cause of the knee pain is from the knees? You would be wrong if you said yes. The cause of this person's pain is coming from this person's hips and pelvis which repositioned the thigh bone and knees which caused arthritic wear and tear and pain. What if this person wore knee braces or got cortizone or Visco shots in her knees, would it solve the underlying problem?? Definitely not. Now let's think about the structural design of this door hinge. The hinge is a joint and it is designed to fit together, dovetail style to allow the door to open and close. It functions very well with the right and left sides fitting together in this position or configuration just like the joints, muscles and skeleton of the body. Imagine changing the angle or position of one side of this hinge. Actually bend or twist one side of the hinge. Does the hinge still function? It stops functioning smoothly and maybe stop all together depending on the misalignment. The body is slightly different in that you can change the position of the joints or bones or pelvis or segments of the spine or position of the head and those parts will still function. They just won't function CORRECTLY for very long before arthritis sets in or cartilage changes or tears start to occur. Range of motion, function and other elements become compromised then seriously dysfunctional. The body will be sending messages to you in the form of pain hoping you can find the misaligned part and realign it. What's in Your MIrror?? When you look in the mirror, you will see that some or all of the other joints are no longer in the original position they were designed to have. If you have knock knees or bow legs or you stand on one leg or wear down the inner or outer or heel portions of the soles of your shoes or one shoulder is higher or lower than the other, or your low back has an exaggerated lumbar arch or flattened lumbar curve or you've lost your butt and your pants bag in the seat......the list goes on and on.........then you have posture misalignments that are creating wear and tear and joint inflammation!! Arthritis is caused by the parts of your body that are out of position. That's all!! The GREAT NEWS is, muscles moved bones and joints out of position over time and muscles can move bones and joints back into position with your help and the RIGHT STIMULUS. Everyone's joints have a specific anatomical design. Everyone is bom with a skeleton shaped the same. The knees point forward, the shoulder joints are oriented to point to the side, each side of the body is identical to the other side. Ankle, knee, hip and shoulder joints are aligned vertically underneath each other and horizontally across. If you were to draw lines vertically and horizontally connecting these load bearing joints, you'd see a lot of right angles and squares. Change that design, just a little? Areas of the body that used to be positioned in straight lines now look more like trapizoids, horizontal lines that slope and rise, knees turn in or out, hips rotate forward, shoulders round forward. The spine has to respond to these changes. Right angles and squares vanish. Sit slumped over your computer or desk for hours a day or week on an ongoing basis. Sit in a car for extended periods. In time, and you won't even notice it because it happens so slowly, the muscles start to stay in that slumped or sitting position. (Muscles don't care if the position is right or wrong, good or bad.) Next thing, the skeleton is stuck in that posture. The weight of the body is no longer balanced between the right and left sides and the front and back of the body. Now it is falling forward and the muscles have to REALLY work triple time to deal with this challenging off balance position. Then someday you reach for the cereal box or you move the ottoman with that leg and wham, you tear a ligament or meniscus. Then you'll be told to limit your activities so you will get even more dysfunctional. Each joint in the body has an optimal position that the bones sit in an optimal stable neutral position inside the joint which allows the joint to move most efficiently. This is called joint centration. The joint has enough room to move without putting pressure on any one side or aspect of the interior socket or surface of the joint. Change the joint's centration and expect increased wear and tear inside the joint, inflammation appears as the body's only way to try and protect the inner joint surfaces. But it's a loosing battle. That's what causes arthritis. Joint Inflammation from misaligned posture! So you don't have to live with poor posture or pain!! You can find the CAUSE, which is your posture misalignments! You're saved, you can heal yourself and get out pain but only if you take responsibility to do the required custom designed exercise program! If you want to live pain free, you'd better stop and do what the doctor didn't do and take a hard look at your entire body and joint positions in the mirror. Go ahead, look at your body and your posture!!! It's not rocket science. Pull out those candid photos of yourself or check out your alignment in the full length mirror. Then give us a call (772-559-1532) and we'll help guide you through the process of Posture Alignment to return your body to it's optimal position and weight bearing. To Recap: Arthritis is a SYMPTOM - a side effect - not a diagnosis Arthritis literally means Joint Inflammation Arthritis has an ACTUAL CAUSE which has nothing to do with age. You have been brainwashed by the media & Western medicine’s focus on SYMPTOMS instead of finding the real CAUSE. Arthritis is caused by uneven wear & tear in any joint that became misaligned or repositioned due to injury and/or poor posture over time. The joint is now impaired, the body starts compensating, pain starts & spreads. Arthritis is not permanent’ It will go away when the CAUSE of the joint friction and wear & tear (posture misalignments) is identified and resolved. Muscles move bones Muscles move bones & joints out of position over time (causing arthritic inflammation). Muscles can move bones & joints back into position (eliminating arthritic inflammation) - with the right stimulus. Get your entire body back into its natural straight position! Many people do. The POSTURE Clinic 772-559-1532 MM27253
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AuthorCatee Ingwersen is an Egoscue certified Posture Alignment Specialist and Licensed Massage Therapist. Archives
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