Corbin's Case Study: (With permission from the patient).

At first you may think this young and otherwise healthy male has scoliosis (a curve of the spine) when in fact it was a particularly nasty lower back spasm. The quadratus lumborum (QL) was the key player here. It is surprising to think one muscle can create such a curve in the spine yet I see it every week. This patient has had these spasms a few times a year for the last 10 years. We have got it down to it being from an injury playing football many years ago.

Muscle testing showed that other muscles were compensating and creating guarding in the QL muscle. Treatment involved getting the patient to start doing the movements that scared him, to show that he actually can do it without pain. Acupuncture to reduce the spasm, home exercises including strengthening to create more balance in his 6 ft 5" frame. His hamstrings were also very tight so these were addressed too. This patient only had three sessions and now knows what to do and even better how to stop it coming back again 💪.

A QL spasm can literally take your breath away (connected to the diaphragm) make you feel like something very bad is happening and even cause time off work. In most cases it is not serious and using pain science, positive language and even just having a voice to listen to is a big part of the treatment. I hope to do more of these case studies to bring awareness to the people that need it.

Till next time!

#quadratuslumborum #spasm