Exercise for St Peters Back Pain Linked to the Iliopsoas Muscle

August 22, 2023

Ever think of your body in terms of the upper part and lower part? A remarkable part – the iliopsoas muscle group – connects the spine with the lower extremities. Anatomy is really remarkable! Everything is connected…and also affected when there’s pain. Your St Peters chiropractor knows well the anatomy of back pain and all the affected, connected parts. The chiropractic services at Old Mill Chiropractic combine to help you control the pain and get back to your daily activities.

THE ILIOPSOAS MUSCLE

Can you locate your iliopsoas muscle? Know what it does? If you have back pain, you may. The iliopsoas is really a deep muscle group made up of the psoas major, psoas minor, and iliacus muscles. The iliopsoas muscle group connects the spine to the lower extremities. Its pain may seem like it’s hip pain which makes it hard to determine whether it is the source of pain or not, but your St Peters chiropractor has a few special tests to figure that out! Being the main hip flexor, a well-functioning iliopsoas is important. If it’s tight or painful or hurt, there are treatments and exercises to help. (1) Your chiropractor at Old Mill Chiropractic can help clarify the involvement of the iliopsoas and establish a treatment plan to treat it and its affiliated pain, like St Peters back pain.

THE ILIOPSOAS AND BACK PAIN

When dealing with back pain, sufferers want to try most anything to help! Chiropractic care helps, especially the gentle Cox® Technic form of spinal manipulation which is part of a larger system of spinal pain management that features nutrition and exercise, too. A widely used exercise method is the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) system. Chronic low back pain has been shown to benefit from it. A meta-analysis of 12 studies and 410 participants found that PNF was more beneficial in relieving pain and improving waist function. It was also found to help pulmonary function! (2) Remember how everything is connected and the iliopsoas links the spine with the lower extremities? One mechanical factor that back pain sufferers share is often altered pelvic tilting. A tight iliopsoas muscle is often the culprit for which PNF is useful. Compared to another popular stretching technique, muscle energy technique, PNF proved superior though both were remarkably effective for loosening the tight iliopsoas. (3) If the iliopsoas is entangled, we can go over an exercise to help the situation at your next visit.

CONTACT Old Mill Chiropractic

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr.  Nike Taylor on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes the treatment of chronic back pain with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.

Schedule your St Peters chiropractic appointment today. If we discover that the iliopsoas is part of your back pain problem, we’ll connect and handle it!

St Peters Back Pain and Iliopsoas Muscle Link