I am currently reading a book by Thomas Myers, a massage therapist, called Anatomy Trains: Myofacial Meridian for Manual and Movement Therapists. The book is a great introduction to the commonly forgotten and less taught "fascial net" of tissue that plays a huge role in our development as children and more importantly as the "common pathways for tensile communication."
Myers uses a great example to describe how he treated a woman complaining of neck pain. Including structural anatomy is boring and useless to you so he certainly doesn't dwell on that as he explains:
"A middle aged woman came to my practice years ago, complaining of pains in the right side of her neck. An office worker, she was sure the pain was related to her computer workstation and repetitive strain from her keyboard entry and mouse use. She had run the gamut of healing, having seen a chiropractor, physiotherapist, and a massage therapist. Each of these methods offered temporary relief, but 'as soon as I started working again, it comes back'.
He continues...
"When presented with a situation like this, there are two possible causes: the one offered, that work really is producing the problem, or conversely, that some other area of the client's pattern is not supporting the new position demanded by her workstation. By examining this woman, we found that the rib cage had shifted to the left, dropping support out from under her right shoulder. The rib cage moved to the left to take weight off the right foot. The right foot had not taken its share of the weight since a mild skiing injury to the inner part of the knee three years earlier. The whole pattern was now set into the neuromyofascial webbing."
"By working manually with the tissues of the knee and lower leg, then with the quadratus lumborum, iliocostalis, and other determinants of rib cage position, we were able to support the right shoulder from below, so that it no longer hung from the neck. The woman was able to point and click to her heart's content without any recurence of her 'work related' problem."
This example by Myers demonstartes the mindset we should have in dealing with clients with pain or dysfunction. Instead of treating the neck and it's surrounding structures, he found the cause of effect of the pain. Yes we do have individual muscles, bones, and joints, but they are all woven togther. Compensation occurs over a long period of time. It is shortsighted to only treat the pain.
Most people these days see a manual therapist (massage therapist, chiropractor, or physical therapist) simply because they want to relieve pain. It is that persons job, based on their technique and knowledge, to not only treat the pain, but to find the dysfunction. Unfortunately it takes more time and effort for both parties to do this. This whole pain relief concept fits perfectly with our Western culture of quick fixes. We need to take a more holistic approach. Yeah a massage can feel great after a long day, but if you are in PAIN, there is dysfunction with your body.
Trust me, 98% of people have some sort of dysfunction. Some are in pain and some are not, but it is there somehow. Training over a dysfunction will make it worse. Sitting at your desk over a dysfunction will make it worse. Movement is the precursor to everything we do. Until we take this view piont of fitness and rehabilitation, we will continue to have pain, dysfunction, drugs for every little problem, fat, and the need for quick fixes.
It is our job as trainers and manual therapists to work with these problems. If a trainer (like me) does not have the license to do manual work on somebody, then I need to refer out to someone who can. This manual therapist should have the same mindset as I do regarding movement. They should know that humans are connected by many different tissues that respond to both short and long term changes.
We are already starting to get more educated about these topics, but we need to keep pushing the knowledge to everybody. We must take responsibility in our profession. I predict that in the next 20 years, every profession having to do with the human body will become closer. We need to. As I have realized through education, that we can make changes to ourselves. It will take time, effort, money, and a MAJOR mindset change. It is not just about going to the gym and running and lifting weight. The gym should be a place where we bring our bodies together, not become more painful and dysfunctional like most of us have.
Can I be called a movement therapist or does that sounds too pretentious?
Wow!! That's a great blog ! Like I said before - you should go to medical school.
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