Stability or mobility dysfunction?! things just don't get tight for no reason. Stop guessing and start assessing. Quick video with my girl @cjsal the highlights how what can look like a mobility dysfunction is actually a stability/motor control dysfunction. If you treat a stability/motor control dysfunction how you would treat a true mobility dysfunction, that person is never going to get better. All the stretching, cupping, scraping, dry needling, adjustments, mobilizations, whatever, are not going to get Camille's cervical extension back to normal, because her underlying dysfunction is that of stability.
Now don't get me wrong, the cervical extension she demonstrates after shrugging her shoulders is not perfect, I realize this. (She should be able to get her face almost parallel to the sky) Yes she's globally extending a bit more and leaning back, but the fact that shrugging her shoulders allowed for more movement overall also speaks to a stability/motor control dysfunction. I just wanted to shoot a quick video that would show how imparting stability to the system (by shrugging her shoulders) would grant her more mobility. No adjustments or manual treatment needed.
Sidenote, shrugging her shoulders decreases the degrees of freedom that need to be controlled reflexively at the neck, thus imparting stability and making the nervous system feel safer. That's the reason that children walk in that high guard position.
What did I give her for homework? Well you're just gonna have to stay tuned to find out, but I'd love to hear your guesses, so leave me a comment below ??. Take-home message? Stop guessing, start assessing. Also, I ? my jeep ?
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