I always like treating athletes, because it was sports that got me involved in this amazing profession I’m in. A career ending hamstring injury led me to discover muscle testing and advanced therapies to correct muscle dysfunction.
This case was fun. This young girl came in with almost 2 years of elbow and arm pain. She had a stint where the pain was okay, but then it came back again.
Chiropractors and physical therapists never quite solved the problem. The diagnosis given was scapular dyskinesis, which means the shoulder blade is not moving correctly and it’s position is not correct.
Corrective exercises were done weekly to strengthen muscles. After awhile the pain went away, but it returned.
They heard about me from a friend and called that same day I believe. I did my exam and found not one single muscle in her right arm was working correctly. Now I want to pause here for a second and let you know this muscle weakness CANNOT be corrected by exercise.
The muscle weakness and dysfunction I test for is a neurological phenomenon, NOT a muscle issue.
Now the question became….WHY??
Why were her muscles not working correctly? What was bothering her nervous system?
In continuing my exam I found scar tissue on the periosteum of her collarbone. The periosteum is the covering of bone, and is very sensitive tissue rich with nerve sensors. These nerve sensors transmit essential information to the brain.
Here is where it gets interesting….
I found the problem and then I asked her if she had any trauma to the area. She told me she was hit by a ball in the collarbone several years prior. No major injury. No fracture. Nothing. Just a hit.
It was this impact that set up her elbow and arm pain. I had to free up the adhesion (scar tissue) that had developed in the periosteum. It was this adhesion that was causing her nervous system to be irritated.
And that irritation was the root cause of her muscles not working correctly.
After I corrected the adhesion I went back and tested all her shoulder and arm muscles. They were all now working perfectly.
I saw her a week later and the pain was gone.