New to the forum - Help Please!

7 years ago I fell down the stairs on my back, I rested up for 5 weeks, felt okay and then went to the gym and whilst lifting a weight in the deadlift position felt something 'tear' just off centre in my lower back. I had pain in my buttocks and my lower back for a couple of years, I had an MRI scan and was advised it was SI joint dysfunction.

I have since been trying to get it sorted, I have seen Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and had Acupuncture/Bowen Technique - each of these practitioners have advised that my pelvis is rotated to the left and 'stuck' in a forward position, each time they re-align it, this only lasts a few hours, at the most a few days if I am lucky, this includes me doing strengthening exercises to keep it in aligned....I must admit I do feel better after strengthening overall but it never fully fixes it or keeps my pelvis in true alignment.

This also impacts my left rib cage as it protrudes out and my breathing becomes shallower, I do little exercise as I get dizzy quickly as my posture is just not right, I have tried to go to the gym but I just end up with my ribcage feeling like it is being pulled and then I feel worse, this happens even when walking briskly and my breathing deepens.

As a last resort I have been to see a Posture expert who advises that my pelvis is not staying in alignment as my teeth and jaw are driving this pattern of rotation/locking up (had 4 teeth out and a brace when I was younger) and my arches like many peoples have narrowed.

I don't have hardly any pain these days fortunately, not like the first 2 years, but I just don't understand why it doesn't realign? Could this be TMS or is it really muscle imbalance/structural/posture problem?

I do suffer with anxiety, stress etc.



Kind regards,

Catherine

 

Hi Catherine!

Welcome to the forums. I think I answered something about this earlier today: the concept of a "rotated" or "stuck" pelvis is in line with the idea that "normal abnormalities" and harmless structural issues cause pain. In the TMS community we know that chronic pain is not related to these issues. A regular PT or chiropractor would of course tell you that the pelvic rotation causes the pain, but this really isn't true in the absence of fracture or other serious pathology.

You've had the MRIs and medical workup, rest assured nothing is wrong with you. Muscle "imbalance" could cause a little weakness, sure, but not pain. Don't worry about not being "realigned"...trust me as a PT, all those techniques are extremely temporary and don't work too well. Your bones are where they are, manual therapy will not permanently influence them. Also, i've never heard of your teeth or jaw influencing your pelvis...excuse me but this doesn't sound like evidenced based information!

The best advice I have for you is to relax and not worry about your pelvis, most of us are "out of alignment" in various ways! Read about TMS, strengthen your belief in it, do the SEP, read success stories and the forums. Let me know if you have a question.

 

Thanks MindBodyPT,

But how come I can physically see and feel these things, when I place my hands on my iliac bones one protrudes further than the other (when I am feeling pain and my pelvis is rotated again), shoulder drops and turns in as does rib cage? When I am back in alignment after an adjustment, none of these are protruding....... this problem has only happened since weightlifting at the gym.....

I think what I am getting at is how come I am 'seeing' how I feel better when I am in alignment, do you experience that if it is TMS... it is just staying in alignment that is the problem?



Thanks,

Catherine

 

Like I said, we are all out of alignment in different ways. Bodies come in many varieties. I work with clients who have different stroke and spinal cord injury, many of whom have very nonstandard posture, none of whom are in "alignment." The point is, not having perfect body posture or alignment will not cause pain. You need to let this idea go and relax, worry less about your alignment. You won't fix it and you don't need to

All the worry and anxiety over the alignment may be driving you to have pain and contributing to the fear/pain cycle. I highly recommend reading up on TMS ideas to strengthen your belief that structural abmorlaities like this aren't bad for your body and aren't the underlying cause of pain.

 

In 2013 I fell off of a 28' ladder into a 16' ladder and we all came down together. My main 'shock' was that my thumb was only connected by the bone (the tissue was hanging off). I am a guitar player and Manual laborer and this was BAD!!

None the less, by a miracle, I ended up with the best hand surgeon in Nashville. I am typing with both hands...(and still playing guitar)

I was so obsessed with my hands I never got 'checked' on the rest of my body when at the hospital. A year later, during a routine visit, a different doctor found the BROKEN vertebrae in my back (that had since healed). Never had even a twinge of pain in that year.

I have hips so misaligned if I was a German Shepherd they would shoot me to put me out of my 'misery', and one of my legs is 1-2 inches longer than the other. Point... these are Normal variations. I have zero pain.

But.... when I was in the pain 'world' with my original issues that drove me to Sarno, They assured me this was all part of it...that's their job... to 'find' something wrong. Problem with their reasoning is that I should have been in pain my whole life but I had NOT! The pain in my back came when I left the wealthy runway Model to reconcile with my working class, crabby wife... doing the 'right thing'....moralism, goodism, whatever ism.

Chiro and alignment, though I am sure they mean well, is a placebo. Period. I always got relief from it because I expected to get relief. ... But when I finally faced the reeeeallllly scary stuff like my bad marriage, slave of a job and drinking problems, all the pain went.

peace

 

Thanks Baseball65, I am going to see how I get on

 

Hi, Cath. Since you aren't in much pain, or at times any at all, I wouldn't worry about your pelvis needing to be aligned. Forget about it. An MRI showed nothing structurally wrong with you, so any pain that you have must be caused by some emotions... TMS.

I suggest you practice The Law of Attraction. Visualize you are feeling great.

I like this article by
Dr. Frederick Eikerenkoetter
better known as Rev. Ike :

Visualize. Whatever you want, see yourself as the one who has it.

Learn to use your imagination to "see" yourself already being, doing, and having the good which you desire.

You can be, do, and have anything that you direct your attention to, anything that you can SEE yourself being, doing and having.

When I say that you must "see" the good you desire, I am not speaking of seeing with your physical eyes. I am speaking of seeing with your Mind's Eye, the inner eye of your imagination. That is visualization. That is where the real seeing is done.

Whatever you can see yourself with in your mind, you will bring into your experience.

What you see is what you get! What you can visualize yourself with.
Whatever you can see, you can be!

It sounds simple, but there is great power in this technique. You see, you cannot receive anything unless you first can conceive the idea of akready having it.

Maybe you would like to take a wonderful vacation. Maybe that's something that you've always wanted to do but thought you'd "never get the chance."

Here's how to visualize this
wonderful vacation into reality:

First Decide Where You Want To Go!

The first thing you must do is to decide, clearly and decisively, exactly what it is that you want. You see, many of you have never taken a winter vacation because you never made it clear in your own mind just where you wanted to go!

Your mind is ready to work for you, but you have to tell it what you want it to do.

So the first thing you must do is decide on the kind of vacation you want.

Where do you want to go? When? What do you want to do when you get there?

Once you have clearly decided, then you can begin seeing yourself being, doing, and having that which you have chosen.

Prepare Yourself For Good

Once you have decided exactly what you want, it's important that you continually impress your subconscious "imagination" with the idea of having it.

Begin impressing your subconscious mind "imagination" with a winter vacation by getting travel brochures. Look at the beautiful pictures of the places you want to go to. Impress your subconscious mind with the idea of already being there.

Find out about the famous sites you want to see while you're there, and the different, exotic foods that you want to taste.

See Yourself Already Being There!

Next, you must begin to visualize, out loud or silently, and get "full of the feeling" of already being on your vacation. When you visualize your vacation, imagine yourself already there -- in the 'now' -- using all of your senses.

Not only 'see' yourself on this vacation, but, in your imagination, 'taste' the delicious food and drinks, 'smell' the smells, 'hear' the sounds, and 'feel' the feelings!

Before you go to sleep each night visualize to reinforce your subconscious mind "imagination" with the idea of a vacation and to bring your good desires into your life.

Once you have accepted an idea in your mind, everything necessary for the fulfillment of that idea begins to happen.

Your visualization, your belief, will go before you and lead you to all the ways and means of manifesting a first-class vacation for yourself!



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