MIHP Think Tank Brainstorms… Movement Training Specialists

This could be you…

I have been working with this patient who has been experiencing left low back pain for several months.  It’s worse when getting out of bed in the morning and after sitting or driving for more than thirty minutes.  Every time I checked him, he would have the same lumbar dysfunction that didn’t always correct with manual therapy.

I decided to check his iliopsoas (the main hip flexor muscle composed of the iliacus and the psoas) for a tenderpoint. FYI : the iliopsoas attaches to the lumbar spine.  Sure enough, it was there.  Since this has been occurring for so long, I wanted to find a way that he could fix this himself.  So, I had him lay on his back with his left leg straight and his right knee bent.  He was to bring his leg out slightly to the side, turn his toe in and pull his toe up (towards his head).  Then I instructed him to tighten his thigh and do ten straight leg raises.  This exercise requires the quadriceps (thigh muscles) to engage which will automatically inhibit the iliopsoas.  When he was done, the tenderpoint was gone, the abnormal rotation of the lumbar spine was gone, and more importantly, the pain was gone.

So if you have a nagging low back pain that gets worse when you stand up, try this exercise.  It just may work.  If not, come in and we’ll figure it out.

Any questions?