It’s the Position Not the Condition

Today’s blog title is a line you will hear frequently from anyone who teaches the Egoscue Method® of Health Through Motion.  Many of the physical “Conditions” individuals are diagnosed with today are really a result of faulty postural alignment.  Two of the Conditions that have become commonplace in our current cultural environment are Rotator Cuff Tears and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.  Both are related to the same dysfunctional Position of shoulders locked forward.  Both are also considered “Repetitive Motion” injuries.

Before I address each of these Conditions, I want to challenge the widely adopted view that doing some kind of motion over and over again will somehow wear out the body parts that are involved in that motion.  The problem is not in the repetitive motion itself but in its restrictive nature.  Pete Egoscue says in Pain Free at Your PC, “If you replace the word repetitive with restricted, it’s a more accurate label for these common injuries.  By limiting movement to just a few of the same moves that occur over and over again, we are creating musculoskeletal imbalances.”  The answer is not to further limit the already restricted motion, but to augment it with a variety of motion that supports the otherwise inactive muscles.  We are not born with a certain number of times we can rotate our shoulders, bend our knees, or flex our wrists before they wear out.  It is the resulting imbalance that is the problem, not the motion itself.

Rotator cuff tears are regarded today as an inevitable occurrence for those who play tennis, golf, baseball or any other sport that requires “repetitive” rotational motion of the shoulder.   The most common solutions to this injury are to surgically repair the damage or to shave down the head of the humerus (the upper arm bone).  The problem is that the actual cause of the injury has not been addressed.  The reason the rotator cuff function was impaired is that the shoulder is locked in a forward hinge position.  With the shoulder forward, the rotator cuff muscles cannot rotate the head of the humerus the way they are supposed to.  Without the designed range of motion, the muscles tear as they are forced to try to complete the desired task.  Sadly, the surgery may relieve the pain for a while, but the underlying dysfunction has not been addressed.  The pain will return here or at some other “link” in the kinetic chain, like the elbow or wrist.

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome has become a wide spread “work related injury” for those sitting at a computer for a large part of their day.  The resulting restriction in the wrist and accompanying pain or numbness send thousands of people to surgeons who remove a tendon that was designed to move muscles in the forearms, as well as the wrists and fingers, to make more “space”.  Well it turns out the lack of “space” in the carpel tunnel was caused by faulty positioning of the wrist as a result of guess what—forward rounded shoulders.  Removing the tendon may allow relief for a while, but the pain will return unless the posture is addressed.  And, re-engineering the body is very likely to create a new problem down the road.  Some people try using braces to restrict the motion in the affected wrist.  It may provide relief while worn, but without addressing the underlying dysfunction of the shoulders (and likely the spine), the pain will return when the brace is removed.

Take a look at yourself in a full-length mirror in your normal standing position.  Where are your hands?  Can you see most of your fingers and the backs of your hands, or do you only see your thumbs and a side view of your fingers stacked one in front of the other?  If you see the backs of your hands, your shoulders are locked in a forward position.   The good news is this is correctable with an Egoscue Method® routine that specifically targets the muscles that will realign those shoulders and address any additional dysfunctions. 

Contact me for your evaluation today!  Your Health is in Your Hands!

Suzanne

*Based on Pete Egoscue’s books, The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion and Pain Free at Your PC