Recognizing asymmetry, a key concept in the postural restoration world: Part 2

So, now you know that the human body is inherently asymmetrical.  We never use our body the same way on the right as we do on the left, and this functional asymmetry creates torque in the body, which in turn creates unnecessary muscle tension, alters breathing and can negatively affect the entire nervous system as well. We can get " locked " into certain, often predictable patterns, developing compensatory movement strategies. For example, we tend to stand on our right leg more than on our left, with our left shoulder higher than the right; we generally have more tightness in the right side of our rib cage and neck, along with a forward pelvis on the left.
Postural Restoration practitioners recognize this asymmetry and look at the right side of the body differently than they look on the left. Right shoulder pain is evaluated and treated differently than the left.  Regardless of where symptoms are located, the goal is to reposition the pelvis, rib cage and cranium to reduce this torque and restore more symmetrical movement between the right and left sides of the body. Patients are often surprised at how restoring proper position in one part of the body can affect a seemingly unrelated part. Often, chronic problems that have not responded to traditional treatments respond very quickly to this approach of treatment.

Recognizing asymmetry, a key concept in the Postural Restoration world : Part 1

Look around you, you can see it. The human body is not symmetrical, and never will be. I did not learn that in school, but I see it everywhere now. (Even my kids see it now or so they say, probably because they are tired of me pointing it out where ever we go.) More people with left shoulders higher than the right,  right side of the torso looking "crunched" and left side elongated. Left ribcage flaring out more than the right, people standing more on their right leg, with their upper body trying to turn left. Right arm swinging a lot less than the left, the right leg toeing out more than the left.  I could probably go on, but you get the picture.
 Why does this happen ? You may say because we are right handed or right side dominant. Yes, that does play a role, but how/where does this begin ?  Ever considered internal organ asymmetry ? Well, we have a huge liver on the right, three lobes of the lung on the right vs two on the left. A right diaphragm that is anatomically larger ( both the leaflet as well as the attachment to the spine). The result ? Our weight is distributed more to the right, so our spine and pelvis are oriented to the right. Out torso tries to counter rotate back to the left (so we walk facing straight) , in the process creating a left rib flare and a higher left shoulder. Starting to see it now ? Just look around you, or look in the mirror. We'll continue in part 2 in a few days.

Postural Restoration, an interesting journey................

Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year and welcome to the first blog post of 2012 ! In these pages, I would like to invite you to explore the world of postural restoration, an innovative treatment approach that addresses the primary cause of postural movement dysfunction.
For me, this has certainly been an exciting journey, one that began in 2002 and remains just as exciting and interesting as it did it back then. I had been practicing traditional physical therapy for about 18 years and although was getting fairly good outcomes with my patients with what I did at the time, there was this nagging feeling that I was missing something. Why did some patients whose primary complaint had been resolved, return with a recurrence of the same or a new seemingly (?) unrelated problem a few years down the road ? Why was it that certain problems/injuries seemed more common on one side of the body than the other ? And then, I met Ron Hruska, PT founder of the Postural Restoration Institute in Lincoln, Nebraska and it totally changed the way I practiced. In the next few days, you will see just how and why.

Welcome to our blog !

Welcome to Apex PT's Postural Restoration Blog starting Jan 2012. Here, you can look forward to learning about effective ways to avoid or minimize and also recover from injuries. You will learn about the amazingly unique world of Postural Restoration developed by Ron Hruska, PT and founder of the Postural Restoration Institute.