A case study of a female client presents with deep pain in her R hip. It ached all the time, she couldn’t sit with it, but standing made her feel a little better but not much. She did small amounts of exercise but not a lot , had a very demanding job with a lot of challenges in her personal life.
On week one I assessed her static posture, found fairly obvious deviations .forward head carriage, protraction in shoulders, weakness in lumbar pelvic stability. Psoas was weak on right side, with IT band a little tight. However investigating with muscle testing, it showed that TFL seems to be locked or inhibited.
We moved from static to dynamic observation, plus more muscle testing. You need a starting point i.e; static postural Assessment to see where someone’s pain or restrictions are coming from. To get the full picture you must observe dynamic movement also. Always assess both ways. In my postural Assessment and muscle testing workshop you will get a roadmap of how to assess posture. It’s through my years of expertise in observing the body, learning from John Sharkey and Judith Aston of Aston Kinetics whom I had the pleasure to meet in 1999 that my passion for anatomy in motion began. Thus many years later the production of my Postural Assessment and muscle testing workshops.
After my clients Assessment I discussed the findings. We made a plan to release the TFL and get some more balance between the anterior and posterior upper thigh muscles. By week 5 her pain had reduced however her diaphragm muscle seemed to be dysfunctional. Which meant there communication between her breathing muscles and psoas where disrupted. Tight or overstretched poses can cause aches and pains including low back and pelvic pain. It’s one of the deepest muscles of your core. The only muscle that connects your spine to your legs. When you sit or stand you are getting stability from your psoas. It’s connected to everything. Join me for more case study learning and body mapping at my next workshop.
Test TFL ( get into a side line position as if about to do side line series in pilates, lift top leg up about 20/30 degrees, stand at the bottom of the client, see if the leg deviates forward, this indicates TFL or psoas shortness), then do a test for psoas to eliminate its involvement.
Test TFL ( get into a side line position as if about to do side line series in pilates , lift top leg up about 20/30 degrees, stand at the bottom of the client, see if the leg deviates forward, this indicates TFL or psaos shortness), then do a test for poas to eliminate its involvement.