Chronic left SI joint pain that doesn't budge is humbling. This patient had done everything right, good body awareness, great yoga practice, excellent care before arriving at my door, and still the pain persisted. So we started where we always start: listening. Over our first few sessions, the right thoracolumbar junction kept speaking up, and we kept following it. Things were moving, the relationship was deepening, even if the symptoms weren't shifting much yet.

Then came the flare. She could barely walk. I was finishing up my own urgent care visit when she reached out, and I saw her that same day. I had no idea what I was going to find or what I'd do with it. What happened in that session, starting with the diaphragm, moving into the liver, following fascial tension down the right leg, dropping her into an altered state and cutting her pain in half, is what this post is really about. And what came after, a three-way collaboration with her PT that neither of us planned, has been some of the most satisfying work I've done.

It’s been 5 years since we launched our new CST program and we figured it was time to take all that we’ve learned delivering it and make some changes. 

We believe education isn’t just about transferring knowledge or skills, but a living laboratory for possibility. Because of that we are constantly learning from our time in the classroom. Just like we do in the clinic; we reflect on what we are doing and ask ourselves what have I learned from my time with this person and how can I use that to create better treatment with them? MMI does that with our curricula too. Nothing about learning is static.

There is no one size fits all approach to assessing and treating lower back pain. Each person deserves to be treated with curiosity and as open of a mind as possible. Of course, there are key characters like the psoas and quadratus lumborum, there is tension distributed into the low back via shortened hamstrings, and treating the glutes (especially glute medius) is often gold.

Let’s talk about working with folks after a spinal surgery. This is a follow up to the post about “dose” when it comes to bodywork. We will see that dose, not just in one session but over the arc of treatment is important in these cases. We want to have our eye on the long game for our people.

One of the most important regions of the body when it comes to treating myofascial pain and some visceral issues is the thoracolumbar junction (TLJ). It is where the thoracic spine meets the lumbar spine - and a whole lot more.