Marc positioning for posterior torsion correction This is the last of our three-part series on the flexion-intolerant lower back. In this article, we explore in depth, hands-on therapy with mobilization and soft tissue that can help the disc patient. We emphasize the area above and below the disc that can be fixated, including [...]
Waiter's bow exercise Marc’s article is the second of a series on flexion-intolerant lower back pain. We emphasize the basic things the patient has to learn or re-learn in their own movement patterns, in order to heal a disc or flexion-intolerant lower back. I had a patient, who had moved away, and then [...]
Marc Heller, DC Yesterday, one of my patients, who has similar challenges to the ones I face with my back, asked me to write a blog about my own back pain issues. I thought, really. I obsessed about my friend who recently died 5 years after a failed back surgery. One of [...]
Another hidden source of lower back pain is irritation of the superior cluneal nerve, coming from dysfunction at the thoraco-lumbar junction. I have been working with the Maigne syndrome concept for at least 3 months, as of December 2011. It has made me see the integration of the thoraco-lumbar and the lower back and pelvis more clearly. If this concept is new to you, read my article first. Since writing the article, I have been observing my patients. Here are some thoughts. First, it is so wonderful to have a clear indicator. In this case, the clear indicator- Maigne’s gluteal point- is the hot spot, the knot, about 7-8 cm lateral to the midline, just below the iliac crest. If you don’t get rid of this knot, you have not succeeded.
A sixty-something-year-old male comes in with thoracic stiffness and lower back pain. The lower back pain would occur on various motions. He had previously been quite active, living on 3 acres and taking care of his property. He had been involved in a vehicle accident, rear ended, several months previous. His previous chiropractic care and massage had seemed to make him worse rather than better, he would spasm the day after the treatments. The key findings on exam included stiff hips, he couldn’t internally rotate beyond 10 degrees on both sides. He was very rigid throughout the thoracic spine. It was hard to elicit tenderness in the thoracic spine, as his muscles were so tight. His lumbar motion was fairly normal, with some pain at the extremes of motion.