Chances are you have made a face like this before, well maybe not exactly like it but pretty close. You might feel your pain in your lower back or your neck, but where is the pain actually coming from? Pain can come from any area in the body. Problems with your feet can lead to pain felt near your head. Three big things to look for are alignments, asymmetries and activation. All three of these can occur throughout the body. They usually effect each other or can happen individually.
Your body is made to work through a specific range of motion at different areas and also has a specific resting place for each area. If your alignment is off it will affect your ability to function in a given motion. If you can’t move, you’ll feel pain.
If there is asymmetry, your body will not be able to find it’s natural resting position. Imagine if your right hamstring is tight but your left is loose. The right hamstring will then pull on your pelvis. This will create a unnatural pelvic tilt. Which will cause pain.
When you walk you extend your hip back as you plant and move yourself forward. Your body should be using your hamstring and glute to produce most of the movement, (along with some assistance from a few other hip muscles). Your lower back should be functioning only as a stabilizer. If your glute can not “turn on” your lower back will try to compensate and produce hip extension. If your lower back is producing movement every step, which it should not, you are going to over work it and receive some serious pain in return.
During an adjustment alignment is generally the focus, along with asymmetries. During active care we address all three problem areas. Our goal is to not just relieve your pain but get your body back to the state which it should be in. This type of preventative care will help prevent further pain in the future.