1. Mrs Sheila
Mrs Sheila, 70 years old, presented complaining of mid thoracic pain whose onset was from a coach accident when she was 17 years old when she suffered a crush fracture of her T7 vertebra. She has seen many therapists, chiropractors and osteopaths over the last decades in the hope to help her back pain. One osteopath in particular helped her over the last twenty or so years, easing the back pain temporarily after each treatment, using mostly a functional approach.
Upton examine her body for causality, a causal liver lesion was diagnosed and required treatment in the biomechanical field, which is typically caused by the unnatural forces involved in a road traffic accident. Her liver lesion was completely resolved using a combination of Balance Visceral Technique and mobilisation.
Her mid thoracic spine instantly released tension that had be held there for many decades due to facilitation from the liver to her T6-8 SNS levels. She walked out of the clinic feeling instant release and reported later that her back “has felt much better than ever before”.
So what happened?
The traumatic forces involved in her coach RTA at the age of 17 caused her neurology to react in a protective way and in doing so creating a lesion in her liver, specifically based on the vectors involved. The nature of the impact was mechanical, and so the neurological reaction was also mechanical in nature, hence why a mechanical osteopathic technique was required to achieve a resolution. Her liver was creating facilitated segments in her T6-8 levels, disrupting proper spinal function and healing. Her T7 crush fracture could therefore not heal quickly nor fully. The liver lesion was diagnosed, treated and resolved, her T6-8 released and could begin functioning properly again, her back pain began to clear for the long term. Her liver lesion is not expected to return and will therefore not require any further treatment.
2. Mr Derek
Mr Derek, 61 years old, presented with a recurrent acute low back pattern whose onset was from 39 years prior! He simply turned while bending down and that was the start of it. He had seen the same chiropractor every few months for the last 39 years, which made him better anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.
Upon examining his body for causality, a causal liver lesion was diagnosed and needed to be treated on a physiological level (or motility, fluid drive). The lesion resolved completely and his low back felt much freer instantly as he left the practice.
So what happened?
Mr Derek had a physiological demand on his liver at some point in his life, most likely at least 39 years ago. His system created a liver lesion as a protective measure, which generated a compensatory pattern throughout his body and it is particularly notorious for affecting the L5 mechanics. A theory is that the liver creates tension in the iliopsoas (usually the right), which produces a group lesion of L1-4 in FRS R and a consequent significant L5 lesion in ERS L. Once the liver lesion was resolved his right iliopsoas muscle released, the lumbar spine returned to normal mobility. He felt much improved.
The bending over and twisting that Mr Derek did 39 years prior did not cause anything, it is not the cause of anything. It was the trigger for his low back to become irritated, it was the last straw, but a straw weighs next to nothing, it is not the cause of the camel’s back breaking. Bending and twisting is a natural movement and is not the cause. His liver lesion pattern was the predisposition for his lumbar spine to function abnormally. Had this pattern not been present 39 years prior, his low back would have probably not become irritated from bending and twisting this one time. The bending-twisting motion is a demand – one straw, the liver lesion pattern is the cause – the whole lot of straw already on the camel’s back. As osteopaths, lets remove all the straw weighing on our patient’s backs!
More patient case examples on their way…