Do you remember the nursery rhyme you learned in elementary school," The foot bone's connected to the leg bone........? " Well, in the PRI world, we mean it, literally . A foot problem can lead to a problem somewhere higher up in the chain and vice-versa. So, when we look at someone with say neck pain, we are interested in not only looking at how they move their neck, but just as interested in how they walk, what is happening at the foot, are they able to breathe properly , can they move air in and out of the chest wall effectively, is their bite even, and much more. Believe it or not, we also look at the eyes! Often, we can tell by just looking at the person walking, standing or sitting as to what could be causing the problem. We will not give you a generic set of stretching exercises just for the neck to stretch and/or strengthen it, more than likely I can probably guarantee that we will never have you do those. Instead, we would make sure that you can expand your mid back, relax your lower back, and get air in and out of the chest wall without using the neck. We will make sure your pelvis is in the right position so you can do all of the above. You will more than likely blow up a balloon to help chest wall mobility and get the diaphragm in the correct position, so you can get air in and out of the chest wall without having to use your neck. You will be surprised at how at how being able to expand the mid back can help you turn your neck with increased ease and reduced pain.
- apexptprc