by Stacey TAGS: Aaron BrooksArticlesCorrective ExerciseFeaturedPain Relief
Are You Making Things Worse?
Have you ever wondered why you experience pain either during your run, following your run or maybe during the first 10 minutes of your run? You may say or have been told that you are over training or that your shoes are worn out or maybe that you need orthodics. Those are good points, however, more times than not I have had clients come to my office and say those exact things to me. Most of those clients have already taken time off from running to let the body heal. They have also spent countless dollars on different types of inserts and orthotics for their shoes and on new running shoes. Why do they still have pain? Read more
by Stacey TAGS: Aaron BrooksArticlesCorrective ExercisePain Relief
How many of you have looked at yourself in the mirror and thought my goodness is this what I have become. Many of our clients will say something along the lines that they do not want to end up looking like their 80-year-old mother. Or have to worry about all the health concerns that their parents are going through. My coworker read this article and thought I was being too harsh. Maybe but it is the truth and it is what we hear on a weekly basis so I thought why not tell it the way it is. Read more
by Stacey TAGS: Aaron BrooksArticlesCorrective ExercisePain Relief
Hip Instability Gives New Meaning to Hip-Hop
Six Must Have Exercises for Hip Stability
When our clients tell us about the pain they feel in their lower body when they workout or run it is often very easy for us to concentrate on those parts of the anatomy from the hip joint down. We typically address hip mobility, knee stability, or ankle mobility because when we visualize the motions associated with these types of movements we think about these parts as fulcrums that allow for these activities. But fundamentally we all know that ideal motion is about stability just as much as it is about mobility. This is precisely why hip stability is an issue that deserves a greater focus. Of course these other points of consideration are very important because if they are not addressed, lower extremity as well as lower back issues can result. However, this article is intended to identify the impact instability has on the hip in order to bring attention to this less talked about factor in identifying and assisting chronic pain clients and athletes.
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by Stacey TAGS: Aaron BrooksArticlesCorrective ExercisePain Relief
When trying to address your athlete’s or client’s limitations due to pain or joint restriction, a pelvic rotation finding can be an extremely valuable. If you look at most clients/athletes that have some type of chronic pain or inhibited joint function you will more than likely find a varying degree of pelvic rotation in the transverse plane. A rotation of the pelvis will affect many joints above and below the level of rotation. You might be saying yeah right, how can pelvic rotation affect the shoulder? This is only one example: let’s say the pelvis is rotated left to right. You note the left shoulder depressed because the torso is over compensating by rotating right to left. This counter rotation causes the left lattisimus to shorten as well as the spinal erectors on the left side. The left shoulder depression will alter the scapula, thoracic spine and glenohumeral joint mechanics and cause rotator cuff impingement. If a client or athlete had rotator cuff impingement some professionals would target the cuff with strengthening and stretching exercises. I would address the pelvic rotation first and then focus on shoulder, thoracic spine and scapular work. If you look at your client’s body as a whole, keep in mind that the body works in kinetic chains rather than individual parts, you will see the correlation between a rotated pelvis and compensations in other joints throughout the body.
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by Stacey TAGS: Aaron BrooksPain Relief
Aaron Brooks
We live in a cause and effect world. If I touch fire, I get burned. It’s that simple. Yet, it seems that when it comes to identifying the cause of a person’s pain most doctors and other health care professionals still focus only on the effect without ever investigating the preventable cause. In this case it would be, “don’t touch fire to prevent burns.” This is the logic behind the work I do with clients that come to Perfect Postures and Myoforce.
Most of my clients come to me at the stage where they have tried almost every other pain relief option out there. A typical story may go something like this: “I went to my doctor for shoulder pain and he diagnosed me with rotator cuff impingement. I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory and sent to physical therapy. My doctor said if this course of action did not work he would give me a cortisone shot. And if that did not work he would explore the surgery option.”
When I finally see the client they have explored the options given to them with no success. The drugs and shot may have worked temporarily but the pain came back and the physical therapist gave them rotator cuff strengthening exercises along with some type of modality. But after some time, the minimal relief leaves the client frustrated and feeling like there is no hope. This isn’t to say that some people are not helped by these measures or that their pain does not become more manageable. We all have our success stories. But, for people like me who have always been highly active, we do not want to simply manage our pain if there is the possibility that we can be relieved of it by identifying the true cause.
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