Insufficient Lumbo-Pelvic Stabilization

 

     Our pelvis is the bio-mechanical foundation for our whole body. Everything depends on and relates to the pelvis.

     If the pelvis becomes distorted and consequently unlevel, it becomes an unstable foundation for the body above, and negatively affects the extremities below.

     A technical term for this kind of abnormal disturbance is “Insufficient Lumbo-Pelvic Stabilization.” This is a diagnosis I see frequently in patients in my office.

     Left uncorrected, this will continue to cause problems---discomfort, secondary disturbances elsewhere above and / or below, abnormal gait, and fatigue. Chiropractic adjustments elsewhere will not hold unless the pelvis is balanced and corrected.

     In my practice, I always pay particular attention to the pelvis, no matter what the patient’s symptoms or complaints. I consider this critically important to my patients’ healing. 

Pronation---A Troublemaker in the Foot

     When the inside of your foot drops inward toward the floor when you’re standing, it’s called “pronation.”  It is often seen in combination with fallen arches, or “flat feet.”

     If you stand behind someone who “pronates,” or has pronation in their feet, it is easy to see how the inside of the foot falls in and down. You may also notice an inward curving of the Achilles tendon in the back of the ankle on the involved foot (feet).

     Pronation can cause foot pain and fatigue, but it also negatively affects the knees, and can reverberate upward to cause abnormal stresses in the hips and pelvis.

     Watch the legs of someone who pronates as they stand facing you, and have them lift and hold the inside of their feet out of pronation. Now focus on their knees and have them relax their feet back into their usual pronation.  

     See what happened? The dropping back into pronation caused a rotation of the knees. This shows how much stress pronation causes on the knees. These abnormal stresses cause wear and tear that can lead to osteoarthritis.

     Pronation should be corrected by proper orthotics, and they don’t necessarily have to be custom. My treatment plan includes precise adjustments of lower extremity, hip, and pelvic joints with Activator Chiropractic, orthotics, and exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the ankle and foot.