The Cross Pattern of Pain Development
April
Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork
Hands On Healing
6944 VAUGHN ROAD
MONTGOMERY AL 36116
334-279-4263
2015
Chronic pain is certainly one
of the most difficult
circumstances that you can be
faced with, as it can interfere
with both your physical
capacity to function, as well as
your mental well being from
the constant nag of discomfort.
But pain is merely a message,
a signal sent to the brain as a
warning that something is not
functioning as it should or is
threatening the homeostasis of
the body. Instead of being a
nuisance, pain is in fact a
safety mechanism, trying to
help you with something that
could be a serious issue.
This makes therapy for
chronic pain difficult to pin
down to a simple solution. The
pain signal that you feel could
be directly related to a torn
tendon or ligament if you
rolled your ankle. These issues
require a trained doctor to
properly diagnosis your
condition and give
recommendations on treatment
methods.
But what if your pain is your
body’s way of preventing you
from damaging something?
Perhaps your daily movements
are beginning to cause a
repetitive stress injury, like a
rotator cuff tear, and your
brain is quickly stopping you
from pushing so far that you
actually cause much more
serious damage. These issues
are much more encompassing,
as several different structures
and patterns can be involved in
their development and
progression, and the
application of therapy must
take all of this into account.
When assessing a pattern in
which the body is using pain to
prevent movement that may
cause damage, we as therapists
often spend a lot of time
explaining the connection that
is shared between upper and
lower structures in the body. In
our shoulder pain example, the
pain signal may be suddenly
preventing you from more
seriously damaging the rotator
cuff, but why would the
shoulder be so strained in the
first place? The answer might
just be your pelvis and legs.
The photo above is a
depiction of the body’s
Functional Lines, from Tom
Myers Anatomy Trains®
model. These lines are the
body’s way of transmitting
force and movement through
cross patterns, leading from
the shoulders to the opposite
side hip, in both the front and
back of the body. Every time
you take a step when walking,
you rely on these lines to
coordinate your movements so
that you don’t simply fall over.
The purpose of bringing these
particular lines into discussion
is that they represent one of
the most difficult concepts for
us as therapists to explain and
teach to our clients. The body
is a fully organized system and
relies on each part of the body
to properly do its job,
To remove your name from the mailing list or if you have questions contact us through :
otherwise compensations
must occur to keep us
functioning.
If the structure of your hips
and pelvis is widely
unbalanced and struggling to
maintain basic functions in
movement, the body will
adjust and distribute that
imbalance to its connected
structures, which in this case
would be the upper torso and
shoulders. The same can
occur in the opposite
direction, with the shoulders
making demands on the
lower body and altering your
balance and walking, leading
to pain and dysfunction.
In either case it’s important
that all structures be
considered when assessing
the body’s organization and
movement. All too often, a
client will request that a large
amount of time be spent
treating an area of localized
discomfort and pain, hoping
that the symptoms will
subside. This approach,
however, may leave
underlying tissue restrictions
and movement imbalances
left unchecked, and, in no
time at all the symptoms will
come back full force. Often
the best long-term solution to
chronic pain is to focus on
creating a balanced body,
both structurally and
functionally, instead of
treating a pain symptom.
Therapists
Anthony Allegro
Jacob Laputka
Sandi Walker
Kermit Eason
www.handsonhealingal.com