Are you starting in the right place?

Dear Therapist,

Why should you start with the pelvis when you do your work?

If you’ve ever went house shopping, the number one thing you look for first is the foundation. Is it sturdy? Are their cracks? Is it level?

If there is a problem in the foundation, it will travel up the whole building. 

The pelvis is the foundation of the spine. 

If your pelvis or SI Joints are locked up, it will throw of your entire torso. It limits the power you have as you walk, run, or do any movement. If the foundation of your body is off, it can cause neck pain, migraines, and back spasms. If your hips are twisted, it is the first step towards the discs in your back to wear out quicker. It also begins limiting breathing capacity. Your digestion will suffer and the power in your body will diminish significantly.

In short, if the pelvis isn’t your primary focus, then 95% of your work will be focused on symptoms and not fixing the problem itself.

Our bones and muscles have an optimal position in the body, if used with good form, they produce maximum power and efficiency. If bones and muscles get stuck, our bodies compensate to accomplish our minds objectives: we walk with a limp, run funny, and move in a clunky manner. Beyond lacking visual appeal, we lose power, wear out joints and cartilage faster, and increasing pain. 

When we begin any new endeavor, sports, business, or even playing a game, we focus on the basics. We have some sort of goal: place a ball somewhere, have your game piece finish first, or earn the most cash. Every decision is made to accomplish this objective. 

As a therapist, your job is to remove pain. The root-cause for most chronic pain happens at the foundational level: the pelvis. Just like a home’s cracked foundation can throw off a wall, which throws off a roof, twisted hips can throw off a back, which throws off your head. Instead of leaks and structural deterioration of the walls, pain leaks into the body and cartilage wears out faster.

If you aren’t focusing on pelvis, the foundation of the spine, then you are wasting time, money and energy. 

Imagine your breaks are squealing. 

• Get earplugs so you don’t hear it 
• Oil your breaks, so they don’t make that awful sound
• Don’t ever drive, then the brakes won’t bother you.

These suggestions are silly.

However, earplugs are the equivalent of ignoring pain. Oiling the breaks is like people taking opioids to block all pain that tells us there is a problem. Not driving are the people that live on their couch. 

Sometimes it is good to push pain out of your mind. If you break your arm, then take prescribed drugs from you doctor. If you’ve overexerted yourself, then relax on your couch. However, these are rare things we should do, only if they are best for our bodies long term.

Pain is our friend. Pain lets us know where the problem is at. 

Low-Back pain is exactly like squealing breaks. This pain tells you that the pelvis is off. Replace the breaks by mobilizing the Sacra lilac (SI) Joints. Doing anything else first is silly.

(Hint: focus on the ankles next.)