Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi Jackie;

 

Thanks for sending the picture of Tank. I'm entering this thread somewhere in the middle. It sounds like he had an excellent session with the PT's. You've also got good advice about Jack's book, it is based on the work of Janet Travell MD. There are two excellent books by her but they are expensive and technical.

The picture you sent of Tank has what looks like an arrow on his right side around the elbow. It is very interesting, to me, that the arrow points to the Serratus Ventralis which is often involved in should restrictions, cinchiness... and is a continuation of the Rhomboids which are on the outside top of the neck. You may want to work on this area since the tissue looks very hypertonic, from the picture, with serratus looking like it has been working too hard. Has he been cinchy at all?

About the pressure you need to use to release the tender points Jack describes in his book. The pressure is not as important as the time you take. You need to engage the tissue and wait long enough to sink into it. Too often people assume that working hard is working effectively which is not the case with myofascia. Just sink in slowly and wait for the release and then come out slowly. The guideline I give is to take twice as long coming out as you did going in.

Good Luck

jim

--
Jim Pascucci
Advanced Rolfer
www.JimtheRolfer.com
www.equinesi.com
Author of Equine Structural Integration: Myofascial Release Manual

 

>Our human physical therapists worked on Tank Sat. and while the
>husband and wife team set me back $200, we are off to a good start.
>I'll have to pick from one of the numerous contacts sent my way to
>continue work on him, hopefully at lower prices, lol ...
>
>But it was, indeed, interesting. The very first thing they saw was
>that his muscles were really sucked in behind his left shoulder and
>below his withers. Richard started by putting some pressure on
>Tank's back, about kidney area and stretching towards his hip. He
>had me feel the difference in his skin on both sides. You couldn't
>move the skin on his left side because it was so tight. As we
>watched, the muscle that was sucked in behind his shoulder began to
>raise and his side got very hot. Richard's wife Carrie was working
>on Tank's neck at the same time, working on some knots he had a
>little a bove the jugular up and down his neck. Pretty soon Tank had
>his head resting on Carrie's shoulder so hard she was having trouble
>holding him up and he started to relax and drop his left hip.
>
>They worked on him for over an hour and one of the last things they
>did was an elbow pretty close to the spine by the kidney area,
>holding that position for awhile. The muscles on Tank's entire back
>on that side started to twitch and ripple and get very warm. I know
>it must not have been comfortable because I've had that done to
>myself, but I think he realized they were trying to help him.
>
>Richard made the analogy that muscle problems are kind of like saran
>wrap ... where the problem shows up is not necessarily where the
>problem is originating from and when you pull the edges tight on
>saran wrap you get a drum in the middle. They suspect Tank's real
>problem lies in his shoulder and neck. He didn't feel that it was a
>saddle issue (while he is a human therapist, he does know a thing or
>two about horses). When they first started Carrie couldn't get her
>fingers into the area in front of his shoulder blade. By the time
>she was done, she could get half the length of her fingers in there.
>Tank was pretty cute when they were finished, licking my hair and
>nibbling my pocket. Something he only does when he's really happy.
>And then, quite to my surprise, he reached over and nosed both
>Richard and Carrie, in turn. It was like he was thanking them. He's
>not what I would call a very sociable animal and is not really into
>displays of affection, so that was kind of special.
>
>AND ... he ate his breakfast in his stall this morning. He used to
>spend the entire winter in his stall, with only his head sticking
>out because he really doesn't like to get wet. As his prob lems have
>gotten increasingly worse, he has not wanted to be in his stall at
>all. He would rather not eat than go in there. I presumed because he
>was in pain and is a flight animal and didn't want to get caught
>with "his pants down." Apparently, that must be true, because he was
>very content in there this morning, with no coaxing on my part.
>
>So, we'll just have to see how this goes. It was obvious that he had
>some spasm/nerve issues to work through. I'm keeping my fingers
>crossed that this is indeed, his problem and maybe in a few months,
>we'll be on the trail again.
>
>I thought you might get a kick out of Tank's UC Davis haircut and
>why he's been sporting a blanket ...
><http://www.typef.com/Tank/tankblanket.jpg>http://www.typef.com/Tan k/tankblanke
t.jpg
>
>:) Jackie Floyd