Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › L5-S1 mobility?

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    • 06/14/2014 at 3:08 pm #70978
      AvatarAndrew Woodruff
      Participant

      I just found out I have zero, meaning zero movement between these two vertebra. What can I do to improve this? I’m thinking double lacrosse ball but more specifically?

    • 06/16/2014 at 11:39 am #74801
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      can you elaborate more? have you had an MRI done at that disc? there could be lack of mobility due to a disc that has flattened/hardened. 

      also generally speaking, we want to stabilize at the lumbar spine, not increase mobility. there are sports were full spinal motion is required, like gymnastics or dance, and we can talk about working on global flexion and extension. what is the reason you want more mobility there?
      thanks!
    • 06/16/2014 at 3:27 pm #74807
      AvatarAndrew Woodruff
      Participant

      I’m having lots of issues in my body. I recently went to a professional who I’ve gotten numerous personal recommendations from. He did extensive tests on my mobility and function and told me I had some very specific issues which he suggested were the origin of my pain and problems. I have not done an MRI though, only manual examination. Here’s what he said:

      – No mobility between L5-S1. Extremely irritaded nerves here.
      – Hypermobile lumbar spine
      – No mobility in the thoracic spine
      – Normal movement in neck BUT
      – No mobility in the highest vertebra. This vertebra too had extremely irritated nerves.
      – Completely dead psoas, he could overpower it with his little finger

      Of course he will set up a treament plan over time, but I want to educate myself, get “a second opinion” and find out what I can do myself to speed up the recoveryprocess.

    • 06/17/2014 at 10:46 am #74811
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      ok this is good information.  

      First remove the pain. for this, i would suggest going to that clinician until the pain is gone.  i don’t think it’s a good idea to recommend stuff here if you feel pain.  that requires direct attention to what really is going on.  work with him/her until the pain is gone.
      Next, I think the treatment would be a plan of improving posture, improving stability in the lumbar spine, more mobility in the t-spine. i’m not sure what a “dead” psoas really means, but most likely it sounds like it is very taut and the muscle is in a short very weak position and needs to be lengthened.  There are numerous methods for doing all that, including videos on MWOD.  why don’t you make sure pain is gone first before we get into the above?
    • 06/18/2014 at 3:23 pm #74822
      AvatarAndrew Woodruff
      Participant

      Absolutely, I’ll start there and see how it goes.

      Dead psoas meant I have absolutely no strength in my psoas, + it’s very tight.

    • 06/18/2014 at 7:55 pm #74825
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      for your psoas at least, try these:


      watch out for back pain when you lay on the ball. you may want to start with a softer ball like the Yogatuneup Alpha ball.

      On the couch stretch, it is critical that you contract the glute of the leg that is behind you. You should not be just stretching psoas tissue; the flex of the glute introduces a neurological component to help release and lengthen the psoas. Without it, you’re just pulling on tissue and you may even strain it.


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