Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › Shoulder › Where do you start when the entire system is the problem? › Re: Where do you start when the entire system is the problem?

07/20/2013 at 1:59 am #72478
AvatarMartin Repcek
Participant

Arron, my PT’s response wasn’t in the same context as what Kelly is talking about so it isn’t a matter of who’s right or who’s wrong. In any case, my PT was half-joking when he said it, but I did have a big toe dysfunction too. 🙂 My point was that where you start might not have anything to do with where you think the problem is.

The spine isn’t in contact with the ground. It can’t possibly be a foundation for anything… except your head… shoulders if you want to be generous.
I think it depends on which plane you’re working in. I’m a perfect example of why it doesn’t always make sense to start with the spine. A year ago if you took a picture of me standing from the front or back I would look more like the letter C than the letter I. The dysfunction in my ankle and hip caused my pelvis to shift to one side while I stand. To compensate, my spine bent the other way to maintain center of gravity between my feet so I don’t fall over. I have the X-ray that shows my spine bending immediately off the sacrum, with another bend in the thoracic area and another in the neck. I’m pretty sure I have a functional leg length discrepancy. Although, between 2 doctors and 2 physical therapists, one doc and PT said there is no difference and another doc and PT said there is about a 1/4 inch difference. 
Without a doubt my ankle caused my hip dysfunction. Lack of ankle rocker during the gait cycle preventing normal hip extension. I have mostly fixed my hip problems but ankle problems persist. I think I am finally on track to getting that resolved – extreme tightness with tibialis posterior seems to be the main culprit. I just tonight found an article that supports my hypothesis. 
Just another anecdote, last year when I had shin splints so bad (inflamed tibialis posterior) that I could not walk without a severe limp it was my lower back that paid the price. It wasn’t lower back pain that caused shin splints. I fixed my biomechanics to the point where I don’t get shin splints any more.