You may have heard the phrase: “treating the body as a whole.” But what does that actually mean?! If we think of the body as a machine, with many parts that are connected by bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, then when our shoulder hurts, we should look at the shoulder and try to fix the shoulder, right?! Well, yes … and no. Read on for more thoughts on how to address physical pain more comprehensively and effectively.

A few weeks ago, we talked about pain in this forum – you can read that blog here if you missed it. Today, we’re expanding a bit on those ideas to talk about how thinking about pain more broadly can help us to address it more specifically. So, in reference to our lead-in question, we do want to look at the shoulder, but we also want to determine from a much broader perspective, why that shoulder is creating pain. 

If your car had two tires that kept going bald on one side, would you keep replacing the tires every couple of months? You would actually probably change those tires, but you would also get the alignment fixed. Addressing the root of the problem (the alignment) would help prevent the tires from going bald in the first place. The same thing applies to our body and physical pain: when we have pain in a certain area of the body, let’s determine why it’s happening rather than getting a quick fix. If we instead put a metaphoric band-aid on an issue, we’ll see that pain coming back days, weeks, or months later! 

Where you have pain may not be where the real issue is coming from. Let’s repeat that statement for emphasis: where you experience pain may not be where we need to target. A visual example of this idea would be what happens when you tuck your t-shirt really tightly and then reach your right arm up toward the ceiling and slightly out to the side. Question: where would you see the shirt pulling? Answer: at your left waist and over by your left hip. 

So, if you have pain in your right shoulder when you lift your right arm up toward the ceiling and slightly out to the side, we might want to look at what’s going on at the left hip, your hip flexors, your hip adductors, the abdominal musculature, and the abdominal viscera. The same will be true on the back side of your body with regard to the right shoulder, we might want to look at the right latissimus dorsi, mid and lower trapezius muscles, the thoracic spine, and across to the left gluteals.

It’s a bit counter-intuitive to think about all of these body parts as being related, and occasionally not co-located in their actions. But bottom line, the human body is a living, breathing entity that is connected through a fascial web. And because of this deep interconnection, we may have pain in one spot, but the reason for that pain is often coming from a very different place in the body.

For example, a lack of big toe extension (i.e., being able to pull your big toe back toward your shin) can be the cause of back pain. That lack of big toe extension can also be the cause of a pitcher’s painful shoulder or elbow in his/her pitching arm. Some of you might experience pain as a result of plantar fasciitis, but guess what? The cause of that pain might have nothing to do with your feet, and everything to do with Immobility in the hip. Immobility in the upper (thoracic) spine can also cause pain in your low back pain, neck, shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Tightness in the front of your hip might be what’s causing your back pain. 

Given these bodily connections that can sometimes seem mysterious, consulting with your physical therapist can be really helpful. Here at Beacon PT, one of our main objectives is to help you to target the correct anatomy so we can keep you from having pain return. We treat the body as a whole.

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we support our patients in leading a healthy life and establishing a healthy lifestyle. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love.