When “sciatic” type of symptoms won’t go away, what else can be considered as causes? Travell and Simons emphatically state that “Sciatica is a symptom, not a diagnosis; it’s cause should be identified.” (Vol II, p. 173) Here’s a list of things you can check. Structural asymmetries: Anything that makes one hip higher will cause […]
Marnie came to my Neuromuscular Therapy office near Boston with 35 years of “sciatica” type pain. Recently after kayaking, the pain had become really bad, bad enough that it was keeping her awake at night. Her symptoms were pain deep in her right side buttock with referral down her backside, into the side of her […]
Neuromuscular Therapy is a specialty treatment somewhere between Physical Therapy and Massage Therapy with a focus on Trigger Points in soft tissue locations that refer pain away from their hyperactive nodules to other points in the body. Trigger Points are one of the most common causes of chronic pain. They can occur anywhere in soft […]
The piriformis stretch is for piriformis syndrome, sciatica, low back pain, deep buttock pain, sacroiliac joint pain and restless leg syndrome. 1) This Active Isolated Stretch (AIS) is absolutely the most effective: Stretch the gluteus maximus first by lying on your back and bringing your right knee to your left shoulder. To do this you […]
Practicing Pilates exercises has been shown to significantly reduce back pain. There are several studies to back this up. There’s a bonus benefit too. As you are reducing pain you are also improving your health! That’s a good combination. Joseph Pilates worked in a hospital in a camp for detainees at the beginning of WWI […]
This is Part 2 of a case study. If you missed the beginning, go back to the previous entry. Sidney K. responded well to two Neuromuscular Therapy sessions on the muscles of her low back and buttock in my treatment center near Boston. In the third treatment with her body calmer, emerged what I am […]
There are many ligaments in the low back holding the bones together. Injury or inflammation of any of them can cause pain. The ones I’m most interested in as a Neuromuscular Therapist are the ones I can access with a positive effect: the iliolumbar and sacroiliac ligaments, and with them the lumbosacral fascia. This superficial […]
Not too surprising about the lower abdominal cause of low back pain, but who would suspect the calf? This is a series on low back pain. If you missed the summary of causes, go back to Part 1. Here’s the rectus abdominus Trigger Point. So that’s obvious. Let’s look further. The lower abdominal muscles have […]
This is a series on low back pain. If you missed the summary of causes, go back to Part 1. For those of you who practice Pilates, the iliopsoas muscle should be familiar to you. It’s the deep hip flexor you use (or should be using) with teaser, rolling like a ball and any rollup […]
This is a series on low back pain. If you missed the summary of causes, go back to Part 1. For those of you who consider your low back the part below your waist across your sacrum and into the top of your buttocks and the back of your hips, the piriformis muscle could be […]