Calling all Riders!!

...Back Pain and the Pelvis

From my years of experience I am convinced that most back pain comes from a misalignment of the pelvis. In fact, everybody that I have treated with back pain has benefited from a realignment of their pelvis even if the pain has not gone away immediately. And if you, as a rider, have a misaligned pelvis then it is almost certain that so will your horse! Acute problems are often helped within one session, more chronic problems require, of course, a longer treatment session, normally 2-3 weekly sessions followed by a couple of follow-up treatments.  

In essence it is a mechanical problem. Think of the bones, the skeleton. When the pelvis is misaligned, the vertebrae, the back, will not be able to be stacked in a straight line but will be twisted. This means that the shoulders will also be misaligned, which means that the neck vertebrae will not be straight, as they will try to reorganise themselves to keep the eyes horizontal. Neck, shoulder and back pain can be the result, in the person as well as in the horse.

When the pelvis is misaligned, is higher on one side than the other, then one leg will apparently be longer than the other, creating unnatural loading of the hip, knee, ankle and foot joints, and possible pain in these joints.

This is the reason why I almost always start a session by treating the pelvis, the whole pelvis ring: the ilium, the sacrum and the pubis. When the pelvis ring is stable, the rest of the body has a chance to realign itself. And if not, then we can help by looking at the rest of the body: the shoulders, the jaw, the back and neck vertebrae, the hip, the knee or stifle and the foot or hoof alignment, all of which have an indirect effect on the alignment of the pelvis, as well as the inner organs and the fascia.

The pelvis also holds and protects our central energy source. That means that when the pelvic region is under tension, our energy can not flow freely. People often report after or during the treatment of the pelvis that "something" flows in one leg or the other, or both. This is often accompanied by a feeling of relaxation within the whole body.

I offer a course where therapists can learn how to treat a misalignment of the human pelvis and where riders can help with a misalignment of their horses' pelvis. An online course will be available in the near future.