The centre of gravity comes up the minute you walk in the Clinic door with your goals. When you walk in, I’m checking how you’re walking and where you’re walking from. Men and Women seem to have a bit of a difference but generally you can think of it as above the crack of the butt at S2, the second segment of the Sacrum. The Sacrum is five bones that after birth come together as one. Although some scientists say it ossifies, there are others that say NOT solid.
As we change our position or our body proportions the hypothetical center moves as we do. The analogy I use is a bicycle wheel. The center is the hub where the spokes move away from, just like our arms, legs and head are our spokes.
ASSESSMENT:
When I’m watching a person walk, I’m interested in how fluid and effortless they do it and if I notice them moving around or pulling from somewhere. Did I mention I also listen to you walk? That’s right, the moment you walk in the front door!
I get many professionals coming to see me because they know that body language is an important part of people’s perception of you. Posture speaks and distracts people from paying attention to you.
Massage Therapists perform Orthopedic tests to assess the biomechanics, comparing left from right and naming it in assessment to create your TREATment plan. I go over my assessments and your goals so that we can discuss and agree on an approach.
Cranial Sacral (which there are many approaches and therapy names) are also interested in the movement of the sacrum although from a different perspective.
Issues with the Tissues affecting the SACRUM
When you walk you lift one leg completely off the ground the OPPOSITE side is suppose contract enough to prevent the leg lifted side from dropping. When you see someone doing what I call a Penguin waddle it looks like they are rocking Left/Right I’ll perform a test called the Trendelenburg Test shown below. The rocking back and forth can be quite irritating creating issues for the body’s muscles, bones, ligaments and nerves causing pain and compensations.
Muscles can also play a part in dysfunctional pulls on the sacrum holding it in an unbalanced position. One muscle in particular that is involved in most if not all low back issues – the Psoas muscle. It sits deep in the abdomen along the front of the spine and attaches on the inner side of the leg near the groin. We are going to treat it through an abdominal massage.
While we’re focusing on what can affect the sacrum we must also include the viscera (organs) and lymph in the area as well as biomechanics including the pelvis, legs and ankles to put together your unique puzzle.
EXERCISE is REHAB:
What we do in our TREATment time is only an hour but what you do in the next 23 hours is also important. The Homework I recommend is for you to keep the process going. We’ve worked during the TREATment to Reclaim, Retrain and Rebalance, now its your turn to help it hold there.
An analogy I use is gelatin, it needs to ‘set’.
If I say Stretch, I mean hold it 30 seconds to 3 minutes looking for a sign of relaxation.
If I say Dynamic it means full range of motion repeating the action 7-10 times fully.
Sometimes I’ll say hourly, this means while awake and if you’ve forgotten for awhile – do one now.
ICE: should you or shouldn’t you?
Ice is in the news lately, written up in articles and research.
I do recommend using ice, but only along the spine. Let’s talk about ice in another post.
Wrap up:
When you’re in your center and moving from it, others can see it too! You can deepen your understanding by standing 50/50/50, lining up your pillars and bridges that I’ll teach you in your appointment and strengthening your core to improve your gait. Your foot wear has a lot to do with how you walk so its good to look at both shoes comparing how they are wearing. A good fit with proper support may require orthotics (custom insole) consultation.
Look for more on these topics in upcoming posts on the Blog