I have shoulder pain.....Why are you working on my hips???

When a client comes into Pain Free for an Egoscue session, the therapist will look at the position of the bones. We evaluate:

1. head position
2. neck position
3. shoulder position
4. hip position
5. leg position
6. foot position

Why does this matter?

You can have back pain that comes from a misalignment somewhere else in the body.  You can have shoulder pain that comes from hips that are misaligned.  You can have neck pain that comes from your back being flexed forward.  You can have any number of combinations of imbalances causing pain somewhere else in your body. The point is,  focusing on the area of pain will help treat the symptom but it will not treat the real problem.

I have a client who has right shoulder pain.  He exercises all the time.  He bikes, runs, swims and lifts weights.  He is really fit, however on examination, his head is forward, his shoulders are rounded, his hips are tight, his legs and feet turn outward.

If he had come to see me several years ago when I was working in physical therapy, I would have treated the heck out of his shoulder --therapeutic massage, electrical stim, ultra sound,etc.-----and when he left my clinic, he'd have felt better -- until the next day or the next week or month when the pain returned.  I treated the symptom without addressing the cause of the symptom.

Today, evaluating my client using the Egoscue method, I know that the posterior tilt in his pelvis is driving his back into flexed position which is causing his shoulders to round forward.  Every time he lifts his arm he has muscles that are already being pulled , then they pull even more and his shoulder joint does not line up causing uneven wear in the joint - which causes the pain. To correct his shoulder problem ... I have to get his hips to line up and then get the flexion out of his back.

So when a client asks why are you working on my hips when my shoulder hurts????  The answer.... It's all connected!