Pain Free Performance — Egoscue Certified

Posture Alignment Therapists, Certified by Egoscue University

Lisa

Exercise and Egoscue

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We tend to think about our daily exercise as strengthening our muscles or stretching our muscles. We do it every day, we are committed and diligent to maintain our strength and flexibility. If we stopped any part of our routine, we’d lose ground and our body would suffer, right? While there is truth to this, it may not be the appropriate thing to do when you are in pain. As Egoscue therapists we are trained to look at the body using a different approach.

In my physical therapy training, I learned the origin and insertion of all of the muscles and where they connect to the bones. I was taught the particular function and range of motion of each of the individual muscles. In physical therapy, I was trained in specific techniques to treat neck pain, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, shoulder pain – you name it. I also designed personal fitness programs to get people strong. I taught stretch classes to relax tight muscles. I owned a fitness studio in the 1980’s when aerobic classes were the thing to do. I taught classes 7 days a week and had so much fun! I was in great shape but my body was a mess. Why? I never thought about the position of my joints. Even with pain, I would have been hard-pressed to give up my exercise. It was a big part of my life. My new Egoscue clients feel the same way when initially stepping back from their exercise might be necessary. They feel as though they will lose ground with their fitness.

Here is what I now understand from my training and certification utilizing the Egoscue Method for the last 13 years. Our habits and old injuries can change the position of our joints. When joints no longer line up correctly, an uneven force goes through them when they bear the weight of your body. This new uneven pattern wears down the cartilage and changes the balance of the muscles. Some muscles are doing more work than they are designed to do, causing them to get stronger and other muscles are doing less work than designed, causing them to weaken. The overall loading of the joints is now very compromised. Let me give you an example:

John Doe works at his desk all day with his back rounded and shoulders slumped over his computer. Years of this posture becomes habit and his muscles now rest in this position. Some of his muscles have shortened over time making it difficult for him to stand straight and pull his shoulders back. It feels normal to have rounded shoulders. John Doe really does not think about it. He has no pain. John Doe goes to the gym and does weight training. His shoulders and his upper back are rounded as he performs bicep curls. Yes, he is strengthening his bicep muscles but, he is also reinforcing the uneven loading of his spine and shoulders.

Fast forward a couple of years and John Doe now has lower back pain. The rounding in his upper back and shoulders changed his center of gravity. This causes the muscles of his lower back to work harder to compensate for the changed center of gravity. The body’s response is that the lower back muscles are tight, creating pressure on the nerves. Strengthening and stretching the muscles of the low back will NOT change the position of the rounded upper back and shoulders. John Doe’s back pain is caused by the position of this upper back and shoulders.

John Doe looks everywhere for relief – physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture. Everyone is trying very hard to help but focusing on his back. He still hurts. He finally ends up at Pain Free. In order to help him using the Egoscue Method, we focus on his body as a unit, his alignment. We might recommend temporarily changing how he works his biceps until his upper back and shoulders are in a better position. Does this mean he can never do bicep curls again with weights? Absolutely not! It just means that he may need to back off his old exercise routine a bit until his body responds to the new exercise designed to correct the upper back and shoulder position.

You can understand now that everything in the body is connected. Working on the body part that hurts will not change the way the body moves. The Egoscue Method has taught me how to look at the body as a whole, no longer thinking about strengthening or stretching muscles but alignment. When John Doe stands in front of me in pain, my focus is determining misalignment, what is necessary to correct it and getting him back to his life pain free. Maybe his focus is to be out of pain so that he can get back to his bicep curls. We both win.

Moving Toward Being Pain Free

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We often work with clients experiencing significant changes in their quality of life due to pain. Many are having pain for the first time and don’t understand why. They progressively and reluctantly remove the activities they love that seem to increase pain. Ironically this leads to no longer being able to sit, stand or move without discomfort. The catch is, even in pain, our bodies are meant to move. Ultimately, the body moves the way you move it or, doesn’t move because you don’t move it.

If you have been a cardio-queen, spending an hour doing the elliptical every morning and then go off to work sitting for eight hours, that’s a problem. Perhaps you’re a jogger and pound the pavement on the weekends but lay low during the week. Both of these scenarios can cause pain over time. Parts of your body and muscles are deprived of oxygen for all that time you are sitting or sedentary. Most people are out of alignment and can unwittingly create more dysfunction with activity. It creeps up on you and then one day, as our clients describe above, you are in pain for the first time. You have back pain, hip pain, foot pain, neck pain or shoulder pain and you don’t know what to do! You hurt, so you stop the morning exercise, the running, the elliptical. Inactivity is not the answer, but the right activity to correct your alignment is key to healing your pain.

At Pain Free, our job is to evaluate each client’s body, to diagnose what is truly causing the pain and reintroduce appropriate movement. This prescribed movement restores alignment, naturally removing pain which reunites people with the activities they enjoy! Let us join you on this journey back to moving well and doing the things you love to do.

Arthritis and Aging

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Many of us assume that as we age, there will be a certain amount of pain to endure. We think arthritis is a sure thing.  Or, is it?  And if so, is age really the only culprit?

First of all, what is arthritis?     It means “Inflammation, etiology unknown”.  Where does the inflammation come from?  There is the implied theory that we’ve just worn out our joints because we’ve lived so long!  If that were true, then everyone over a certain age would have arthritis or worn joints.  We know that knee pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, back pain comes from wear and tear.

Well, most often patients present with one side or the other hurting –I hear it all the time “thank goodness my other knee feels great!” This phenomenon alone debunks the theory that time on earth is dictating joint wear and pain.  While joint compression from age can be a factor would we really only have knee pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, and back pain on one side if pain was caused just by longevity?  No, both sides would have arthritis pain.

As Posture Alignment Specialists certified by Egoscue University, we evaluate bodies in pain all day every day– young and old, all sizes, shapes, injuries, surgeries, abilities and disabilities and condition levels. Most people come to us because they want pain relief – with knee pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, back pain, and ankle pain.  The simple and amazing thing is that they all have the same problem – their bodies are not properly aligned.  What your body needs is not youth but alignment… the way it was intended.  The earlier one understands the importance of alignment, the less arthritis has a chance!

joint alignment

Notice the alignment showing the ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders vertically and horizontally aligned, the pelvis is neutral, the spine has an s-curve, and the knees and feet point straight ahead. When this isn’t what is happening in our bodies – for whatever reason (accident, surgery, work posture) – some muscles begin doing too much and some not enough.  That is when bones are pulled out of alignment because of the compensation and then joints begin to wear unevenly.  This is true no matter what your age, however, the more years it goes uncorrected the more work one must do to unravel the compensations.

We need alignment so that our joints are properly “loaded” while we participate in as much weight bearing movement as we can handle, keep our range of motion in all joints full and active!  It’s not age, its alignment.  No matter what your age, we can help you retrain your body to be straighter and more functional without all the pain!

 

What is Different About Egoscue?

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People ask us all the time “how is Egoscue different?” At Pain Free Performance, we want to get down to the root of your pain. Egoscue therapy looks at the entire body and determines what joints are out of alignment and therefore, are not mobilizing correctly. When this happens, other muscles will try to create the movement for the weaker muscles. This is what pulls the joint out of the right position.

Egoscue looks at each area of the body and determines which muscles are too tight or overworking. Through gait analysis and functional testing, Egoscue therapy can determine how your body is moving. Then the fun part begins. Our Egoscue University trained therapists will work with you to determine how to release the overworked muscles and how to wake up the muscles that are weaker and not supporting the joints. In other therapies, like traditional physical therapy, therapists work to strengthen the weakened joint, but overlook the compensations from different parts of the body. Egoscue therapists understand that your spine rotates because your right foot is turned out. Egoscue therapists at Pain Free Performance take it a step further and notice the over developed muscles on the right side of your spine. Their Egoscue training promotes further testing to release those muscles before they re-balance the rest of the body.

Want to get back to the life you had before pain? Live the life where you could move naturally and not in order to avoid the pain? Try Egoscue therapy at Pain Free Performance and let’s uncover the root of your pain.

You get injured, what do you do about your Egoscue program?

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It’s a beautiful day and you’re enjoying the outdoors. Then, bam! You slip over an acorn on the sidewalk and you’re down. And, you’re hurt. You have a knee injury, bruised elbows, a jammed wrist, you have swelling and ankle pain, not to mention you hit your head and the neck pain is killing you. Even if nothing is broken, there is so much pain!

When something like this happens and you’re injured, the advice used to be to put your feet up and rest. And, the last thing you want to do is “exercise”. But, we know better now. Your body will start compromising the minute you get up off the sidewalk. You’ll be guarding, limping and twisting to try to avoid the pain and that will throw everything off in your body. We don’t want you to get “stuck” there, so don’t stop moving but knowing the type of movement to do based on your injuries is key.

Your alignment will affect the outcome and recovery of the new injury. Even if there is a fracture, we’ll provide a revised program based upon your injury and how it affects your ability to do your Egoscue menu. For example, if you can’t handle full weight because of your foot pain or knee pain, we alter the position to take pressure off your injury. If you have a shoulder injury and you have arm pain, we can work around that. We align the rest of the body focusing on straightening your spine and your shoulder becomes less forward making you more functional. This will keep you on your path toward becoming properly aligned, assist in healing your injury properly and get you back to being pain free.

So if you’re injured, after getting the necessary diagnostics, call us and we’ll provide you with an updated program to get you through this unexpected setback. If you have an upcoming appointment with us, don’t cancel it, call us and come in. Your new menu will address the changes that occurred from the fall, while correcting the previous imbalances without compromising your recovery. This will speed up your body’s innate ability to heal by giving it the proper stimulus! We’ll keep you moving forward toward your pain free alignment goal while you’re healing.

Cartilage Regeneration

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The body has an innate ability to heal. What does that really mean? It means that our body produces over 500 billion new cells a day – without conscious direction from us. Cuts heal, broken bones mend, muscle tissue builds, and brain cells, cardiac muscle and, yes, cartilage regenerate!

The key to a healthy healing body is the environment we provide it. Consider your nutrition, how much you move, if you’re getting enough sleep, how you’re managing stress and how aligned your posture is.

If you consistently work on all of these aspects of good health, your body responds. In order for cell production to be optimum, each of these needs to be happening simultaneously. I want to focus on how all of this enables cartilage regeneration, from an alignment standpoint. Maybe you’ve been told your knee (or hip, ankle, wrist) is “bone on bone” and you think the only answer is a replacement. Not true!

Research shows that under the right conditions cartilage can regenerate like any other tissue in the body. The first question to ask if you are told that you are “bone on bone” is why is that joint wearing away? Where did the cartilage go that is supposed to be there? It’s all about the position of the joint and the uneven force going through it as you move. Once the joint position is corrected, the body will produce more tissue to repair itself. Take a look at these before and after x-rays:
Look at the narrow joint space (bone on bone) on your left
knee pain
One year later after a postural alignment regime. Notice the uniform joint spaces!
repaired knee without surgery
Here at Pain Free Performance we watch the way bodies move and stand. We determine if body weight is equal front to back, side to side. We evaluate the position of all major joints looking for proper loading (head over neck, over shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle.) If there is disparity, the body is not functioning properly. There are muscle imbalances causing an uneven force in the joints which creates friction. The friction wears down the cartilage. The joint becomes a victim of the imbalance and bone surfaces begin to wear away. Bone on bone.

What is the remedy? Posture alignment. And I’m not talking about your mom telling you to “pull those shoulders back”. I’m talking about retraining muscles to do the job they are intended to do. Why?…because muscles pull bones. The bones are out of alignment but they are innocent bystanders because the muscles are either doing too much or too little. At Pain Free we unravel what the muscles are currently doing and give you the tools to get them working together again. When the muscles that propel the joints are working correctly again this provides increased blood flow to the area, and allows more movement. And, yes, this gives the cartilage an opportunity to regenerate. It’s not magic but it’s amazing and possible for you too.

Alignment Matters Because Movement Matters

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We’re in pain, so we move less. We move less, so we’re in pain.
Which comes first…the chicken or the egg?

When we are in pain it can hurt to move, so most of us stop doing the movement that hurts. Although we avoid the painful movement, we still have to go about our daily tasks. The body will create a new movement pattern to get the task at hand done. The new movement patters ask some muscles to perform in ways they were not designed to, while others stop doing their job altogether. Eventually, the body will break down from the new uneven alignment. We’re in pain so we move less.

We live in a world where we move less and less. We have been marketed a host of gadgets to make our life easier. But, these gadgets make us move less. Think about it. We use remotes to turn on/off our TV’s and open our cars and garage doors; we use back-up cameras to pull out of our driveways. We drive instead of walk. We sit at computers instead of shopping at stores…the list goes on. All of the sedentary things that we do shorten and weaken our muscles. This lack of movement changes our muscle/skeletal alignment which leads to pain. We move less so we’re in pain.

If you’re having back pain, neck pain, knee pain, hip pain, elbow pain it’s probably the result of what we were just talking about. You’re out of alignment. Let us show you how to retrain your body by correcting the muscle imbalances to correct your alignment so that we can get you moving again – without pain. Movement is vital to health. Alignment matters because movement matters.

Movement Challenge

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Our bodies are meant to move! Walk, run, jump, kneel, stretch, reach, twist, squat, hang – the more we do these activities, the more aligned and healthier our bodies. You’ve probably heard the “sitting is the new smoking” catch phrase? I want to challenge you to go a step further than just standing up to understand what exactly our bodies need. When we fill our days with the activities listed above, amazing things happen. The movements keep the muscles in our hips elongated; encourage a mobile straight spine, our shoulders fall more easily back into place supporting a strong neck and balanced head.

We’ve got it easy these days compared to our “hunter-gatherer” ancestors. The luxuries that resulted from the Industrial Revolution have presented us with an unforeseen dilemma. With all the conveniences and less to do to get what we need, how do we continue to stay active? The answer I often hear from clients is “I exercise one or two hours every day!” Great! Maybe you’re like me; I love to work up a sweat. I want to be fit. As a former fitness center owner, I cannot imagine not having exercise in my life. I love to hike and kayak with my family. My husband is an avid biker. We exercise, but we need more movement.

After years working in physical therapy, and going on twelve years as a Posture Alignment Specialist, Certified by Egoscue University, I love helping people restore the alignment of their joints, become more functional and relieve their pain. So, you might wonder why I’m talking so much about movement.

Exercise and movement are very different things. Exercise is one important piece of the puzzle – how you move the rest of the day is just as important. Alignment is key. Exercise often works one area of the body through focused repetitive motion. There are great benefits yet at times we are inadvertently compromising other areas of the body. With repetitive exercise we are asking our bodies to function in ways they were not originally designed to function. The body wants and is able to perform with complete range of motion.

When thinking of movement, think of activities more people did generations ago: squatting while harvesting farmland, walking barefoot on uneven terrain, carrying items up and down hills, sitting on the floor. Movement works all parts of the body in the way it was intended to move. Movement is important because it nourishes the whole body by promoting blood flow, improving overall circulation – keeping us strong.

Alignment is important because when you move, the forces that go through your joints determine if your body is functioning properly. Think of your body like a car. If your car tires have worn unevenly, your car will pull to one side. You go and buy new tires and get the car aligned in order for it to drive smoothly. If the muscles in your body are imbalanced, it will create pulls that change the way you move. Correct the muscle imbalances and you improve the function of your body. Improving function means you’re moving better and probably moving more.

ALIGNMENT MATTERS AND MOVEMENT MATTERS.

The challenge is how to incorporate more movement into our daily lives. Awareness is the key! Just being aware of the amount of movement in your day will help you come up with ways to move more. Stand at your desk and roll your shoulders or do some toe raises. Squat down several times per day to pick things up. Walk on trails or hills rather than sidewalks and wear less rigid shoes for increased foot movement. Sit on the floor more while watching TV and notice how much more you move your body. Next time you take the kids to the park – YOU hang from the monkey bars too! Have fun with it. Challenge yourself. The more you move, the more you can move. Ask us next time you’re in Pain Free and we’ll give you some more amazing ideas!