2 Patients. Same Exact Symptoms. Same Care Plan…right?
Picture these two athletes.
40s female, avid tennis player with chief complaint of left side lower back and sciatica.
40s female, CrossFit athlete, also training for a half marathon with chief complaint of left sided lower back pain and sciatica.
So their treatment plan would be identical, right?
Wrong!
During the assessments, I found two totally different root causes of these symptoms.
It sounds obvious. Do a proper exam! But in today’s symptom based, time crunched medical system, that step is often rushed, incomplete or flat out poor.
One of the reasons my initial visits are booked for an hour is to include an extensive functional movement assessment, orthopedic & neurological exams, as well as soft tissue and local joint mobility tests.
Back to our two athletes. Here are the highlights from their exam findings.
Tennis player:
Extremely limited thoracic rotation, adhesion at the gastric-hamstring interface.
Crossfitting runner:
Tight hip flexors and weak lateral hip muscles, under-active lumbar spine muscle firing, adhesion in Piriformis at sciatic nerve.
The tennis athlete’s lack of movement above and below the lower back means all the rotation in her sport is being absorbed directly into the lower back. Symptoms!
The CrossFitter who added many miles to her week has developed a dangerous combo of tight hips and weak core (this is actually the more common pattern seen in the office). Symptoms!
Same symptoms. Two different root causes. Two totally different care plans.
The tennis player is prioritizing improvement of thoracic rotation and lower extremity mobility (knee extension).
The Crossfitter is being prescribed lower back stability drills and working on hip extension.
Both are receiving in-office manual therapy with chiropractic adjustments and Active Release soft tissue mobilization to the restricted areas, rehab, strengthening and activation drills, as well as sciatic nerve flossing. However, the target tissues and corrective patterns are completely different.
I hope this illustrates the difference in what we call Sports Chiropractic Care versus traditional cookie cutter approaches. If you’ve been struggling with pain, immobility or have been to other providers with little relief, please reach out to get the customized care you deserve.
Don’t wait for it to go away. If it’s been more than 2 weeks, you need more help.
-Dr. Mills
