Something I've got to get off my chest this Movement Monday... With the exception of severe trauma(think falling off a building or being ejected from a car) neither your hips nor your back (or neck) go out of place. Your body is way too strong for that to happen(see the video for how
much it takes to get your SI joint to get "out of place" or all the things you can do in this gallery). Researchers have shown that it takes 2000 pounds of force to deform(stretch) fascia(the stuff holding you together) just 1%. What we've understood for about the last 20 years about pain is that it has very little to do with positioning of the joints. Don't believe me, check out this video from Dr. Religioso at Modern Manual Therapy and Physioanswers.
So what is really happening when you hear all those pain relieving pops when you get an adjustment??? Or how about when those knots disappear after a massage? Or how about if you've been "shown" an X-ray with the "answers" as to why you hurt. Maybe you've "lost your curve in your neck". The simple truth is that when we get an adjustment or a massage, we give our joints, muscles, and especially nerves the three things they need to thrive. We give them movement, blood, and space. I don't mean that the adjustment somehow "opened" up anything or that you've now made your muscles longer or even "broken up scar tissue" unless you or your massage therapist or chiropractor is superhuman and can move a ton with their bare hands. What they've really done is moved your muscles, joints,
or nerves in a certain way that "resets" your body's living alarm system i.e. your nerves. Unfortunately, without you doing the the right kind of movement to reinforce this, your alarm system will often "trip" requiring another trip to the massage therapist or chiropractor and the cycle begins again.
This "reset" to your alarm system is why you feel more aligned, with better posture, and feel looser and with less pain after an adjustment or massage. This is a good thing in that it means that you are a rapid responder to the right kind of movement and that you have the ability to heal yourself and get back to running, lifting, and enjoying life. You just have to make sure for a short period of time to minimize the movements that provoke and feed your system the right movements.
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