How do you get lasting changes in your low back pain?

How do you get positive changes in the body to "stay?"

Have you tried everything? Pills, surgery, massage, Physical Therapy, exercises?

What is Integrative Manual Therapy? What is the "systems approach" of IMT and how does it assist the body in healing itself?

In 1999, when I was at the end of my rope with severe abdominal pain, low back pain, chronic ankle sprains, and scar tissue, I discovered Integrative Manual Therapy at my first course "Muscle Energy for the Pelvis and Beyond." It was taught in San Francisco by the daughter of the developer of IMT Sharon Weiselfish Giamatteo.

When I sat in that course, I was forcing my way in the world with a disabled body. I was desperate to get better so my daughter could have a stable mom. The material presented in that course was the first time I was exposed to the concept of hierarchy of systems in the body as a Physical Therapist. 

What does that mean? 

Let's say you wish your low back, sciatica or plantar fascia pain would disappear. Considering the root cause of biomechanics, you need to start by ensuring your hip and ankle move well. For your body to even consider your hip flexor being flexible, your body needs to feel "safe." Your hip flexor dives behind your sigmoid colon in your pelvic floor. Remember when you were a kid and we had three-legged races? If your colon fascia is stuck to the pelvic bones, nerve roots, or musculature, your body will not let you have the hip flexor mobility you wish. Those tissues over time become stiff and inflexible from things like:

emotional trauma flinching

constipation

irritable bowel

uterine issues with your periods

prostate hypertrophy 

bladder issues

hemorrhoids

lymphatic congestion

past surgeries

If they are not addressed in the correct sequence, any of these issues will keep your muscles in the state they are in, lock stepped from past traumas. So your exercises will only go so far. In the basic consideration framework below, the top of the following list is the most protected so is the priority to clear before the muscles.

Psychosocial, spiritual, emotional 

endocrine/ immune

nerve

muscles

As Physical Therapists we are trained in straight biomechanics. With integrative manual therapy, consideration is always given to the multisystems approach. The "old school osteopaths like Jeane Pierre Baral, Paul Chauffer, Roberto Assigioli, and others set the foundation for Upledger, Jones, Sharon Weiselfish Giammateo, and others. I had the cosmic guidance of tanking my body at an early age and met this methodology of thought in 1999.

Once the truth of considering that "the body cares if you are safe, it can't always consider if you are comfortable" hit my heart field, I have not approached anyone or their goals the same since.

When I work with people on their low back and pelvic floor issues, I know that I want their hip joint (the femoral acetabular joint) to become dislodged from the pelvic floor to allow neutral alignment stacking into the Sacroiliac joint so the lumbar spine. 

Have you ever been sleeping next to someone who has most of the covers? The side of the body that is "hogging the blanket" is straining all other areas of the body. It is the same thing as working at your place of employment with an ineffective person on the team that shows up for work, but scrolls the internet, wasting time while putting more work load on others.

Treating the reactive side will not help much; in fact, mobilizing this side often makes the person "worse." I start with a skilled, neutral assessment of the areas where fascial and organ restriction exist. I begin by finding the hip that objectively moves the least. Most of the time, this is the opposite side of the body from the side on which my client is experiencing the most pain. 

I start by addressing the nervous system with my clients, using one of my favorite meditations while I do my non-invasive techniques in the primary area. With the pyramid above always considered, if there are areas of shock or emotional holding in the body, you can quickly feel this with your hands and address this while you are unloading the hip. I send them home with the meditation and some simple hand holds for doing on themselves for energetic integration. Suppose they have current constipation or IBS issues, or are spending time with people (or excessive news) that are not going to allow the spiritual energetic holding reflexes to let go. In that case, they are given tools and recommendations for this.

If this resonates with you, I developed a no-cost ten-week email self-progression program that you can sign up for and utilize for your well-being "from the ground up." As I have a wait list, it is my recommendation for those waiting to get in to get started with it. When they do, their time on my table gets done more quickly.