Abducted By Aliens?!

bodywork May 12, 2023

“They come at night, mostly” my client Kim quipped, quoting the famous line from Aliens (one of my top ten movies).

She’s referring to the pains down the side of her left leg that regularly wakes her up at night.

This vicious pain pattern is ubiquitous. Gyms are full of people foam rolling their lateral thigh/ IT bands.
 
Trigger point referral patterns to the lateral thigh come from quite a few muscles – the main culprits are gluteus medius, minimus and tensor fascae latae.  Mmm – all abductors of the hip. There’s a clue here!

These muscles fall into the phasic category and tend to be weak/inhibited. Bursitis and tendonitis of the muscles that attach to the greater trochanter is rampant. (Quadratus lumborum refers right into the greater trochanter often mimicking GT bursitis.)

Here’s a paradigm I’ve used in eliminating and/or reducing that pernicious “aBducted by...

Read More...

Working With The Superior Psoas

bodywork May 12, 2023

I recently has a session with a highly skilled and deeply intuitive osteopath. I loved all her work…..except her technique to work with the superior portion of my right psoas major.

Her strategy was to approach it from above and press very hard. I tensed, my breath constricted and I felt scared.

How much easier and gentler it for both client and practitioner to approach the upper psoas laterally; slowly working your way through layers of fascia and going under the rectus abdominus.

Using rocking, deep breathing and active movement by the client allows the tissue to melt, unwind and relax organically without force.

Read More...

Soften The Psoas With Thoracic Mobilizations / Bodywork, Clinical Massage Therapist Training, Education for Massage Therapists, Iliopsoas, Massage Therapy Training / By Peggy Lamb

bodywork May 12, 2023

Recently a new client came to me with a complicated pain pattern: right hip, low back, and SI joint.

Several months ago she had an ovarian cyst burst; she was in the Emergency Room for over 12 hours with 10+ pain. She was convinced she was dying – even gave all her passwords to her boyfriend. She did get her surgery and is fine now – except for the pain.

When I hear a story like that many thoughts go through my mind but the three biggies are:

  • Iliopsoas: (When our nervous system is in sympathetic arousal it  activates the psoas muscles – as it is the psoas’ job to jump into action to curl your bodies up into a ball and freeze, flee away in fear or fight to the death.)
  • Tread lightly
  • Possible neuroplastic pain (her brain/nervous system still thinks she is in danger and hasn’t regulated yet so pain is what the brain produces to keep us safe.) The body reflects our subconscious.

I knew that creating safety for her was the most important thing I...

Read More...
Close

50% Complete

Two Step

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.