Just wanted to first start off saying that I am a huge fan of this site… There’s great comraderie in the T-Mag community and very knowledgeable people.
Now that Ive said that, hopefully you guys could help me out. I am a very acid soccer player. My muscles are much tighter than I would like, but overall I would say I have average flexibility. Lately, Ive been waking up in the morning with tightness in my lower back. I went to my orthopedist and he didnt see anything wrong w/ my spine but he did prescribe physical therapy. Ive done about 15 sessions so far and they seem to think that my back muscles are tight (duh!!) as well as my hamstrings. One thing that they are concerned about is that my pelvis seems to be “locked” in that theoretically a normal pelvis should be able to move in a circle, similar to a clock (the PT guy showed me what it should look like). My pelvis seems to only shift back (as in raising your butt) but I cant shift my pelvis forward. They think it is from tight hip flexors, etc but I dont think Im making much progress.
I figure that you guys would know what causes this tight pelvis and how I can fix it. I want to rid myself of all these tightness problems and get my body back to good form. Anyone ever hear of Rolfing and does it work…would it work for my problems. Anyone know a good place in the NY/Long Island area.
Giving advice over the internet can be tough. I get the impression you have an anterior rotated pelvis? Both sides? Did the PT say anything about the SI joint? Where exactly in the lower back do you feel the pain? How do you sleep? Do we do any other physical activity besides soccer?
Rolfing is a “massage” technique that addresses the whole body. It usually takes 10 sessions. The first session starting with the core and additional sessions working out from the core. If someone says they do a little rolfing, run, they don’t know what they are talking about. It is a system and you really can’t do a little of it. But if you find a true Rolfer and can afford it, go for it. Plus it’s almost always better to address the whole body.
If it is an issue with tight hip flexors, some PNF stretching may take care of the situation. I could try and give you some basic advice, but without seeing you or at least talking to you, it wouldn’t really be worth much. If you would like, PM me and we can get in touch. I can walk you through some tests to get a better understanding of what may be wrong.
I’ll throw this out there; I have an office in New Britain, CT. I know it’s kind of far from Long Island, but if you need/want to, come on up. The trip might be worth it. At least in person, we would have a better understanding of the problem and could come up with some not-so-generic advice and really spend some time showing you what you and do to help correct the problem. After 15 sessions, they should just give up. I can’t imagine going for 15 sessions and not getting substantial improvement! The offer is intended as a T-man to T-man kind of thing. Not in a business sense. In other words, it would be free. Anything I can do for a fellow brethren.
Seems to me that if the issue is a soft tissue related problem you’ve got hope. Obviously you aren’t going to have as many options if we’re talking fused vertebrae. Soft tissue work ie massage would be a good place to start followed by a visit to a chiropractor. I’m curious about the extent to which you have sought to increase your flexibility in your hips. Have you stretched intensively for several days? I might begin there if you haven’t already. My two pennies worth. I wish you well.
