Lower Cross Syndrome: Causes and Chiropractic Treatments
Comprehending the various symptoms present with lower back pain is vital in the diagnosis of an ailment. Importantly, it’s through thorough history, symptoms, and examination that an illness or medical condition can be appropriately diagnosed with a suitable treatment plan.
Notably, one of the more common low back conditions is known as Lower Cross Syndrome. This medical condition is also referred to as Pelvic Crossed Syndrome or Hyperlordosis, and it’s defined as a postural dysfunction that results in an increased arch in an individual’s lumbosacral area of the body.
Keenly, one arm of the cross indicates the muscle that is usually overly facilitated and the other arm of the cross indicates the muscles that are traditionally inhibited or weak.
Various Causes of Lower Cross Syndrome
There are various causes of this condition. One enormous contributor of Lower Cross Syndrome (LCS), is sustained poor posture.
Majority of people who suffer from this condition is caused by their current work environment where employees are constantly working at a desk.
Another cause is prolonged standing. In the case of prolonged standing, many muscles are used to keep one upright.
However, many individuals do not have strong core muscles which over time become fatigued. Once the core muscles are fatigued, the low back and hip flexor muscle become overly engaged while standing.
Additionally, another cause of LCS is muscle imbalance, whereby there is the imbalance of strong and weak muscles.
The typical pattern is usually tight hip flexors weak core, low back muscles, glutes, and hamstrings. This is caused by poor posture, extended standing and improper training in the gymnasium. Ultimately, the last cause of the condition is pregnancy and obesity.
The two elements can cause LCS, but mostly it is temporarily. Markedly, obesity and pregnancy cause Lower Crossed Syndrome due to the additional weight to the front part of the body. Frequently, after a woman gives birth and an individual loses weight, it is common to witness LCS being resolved with little or no assistance.
Treating Lower Cross Syndrome
However, regardless of the different causes of the condition, various ways can be exploited to fix the condition. One of the standard treatments includes the use of heat and cold with chiropractic care and therapeutic exercises.
Analyzing the nature of the muscles, heat will be placed on the tight muscles to loosen them whereas cold will be used on weak muscles to excite them. Another treatment is stretching and strengthening.
This technique is quite efficient as it relaxes tight muscles by relieving the tension in the muscles.
Stretching & Exercises for Back Pain
Stretching is done for the quad, low back, and hip flexors.
However, stretching is not done for the abdomen or hamstrings. Correcting posture is another treatment technique.
To correct posture, one should focus on activating the glute and the abdominal muscles.
One should strive to correct poor posture once he or she notices. Massage is another treatment technique. Massage is quite useful in loosening tight muscles as a result of a bad posture of the lower back. Also, it can be utilized to stimulate weak muscles.
7 Exercise for Lower Back Pain & Core Stability
Chiropractic and Physical Therapies to Treat LCS
Furthermore, the use of chiropractic and physical therapies is common with the treatment of LCS. Two of the most commonly effective treatments used are chiropractic and physical therapy.
In chiropractic therapy, it assists in the recovery of normal functioning in the joints in the lower back and pelvis. Use of physical therapy will work in two stages.
One, the individual will loosen the tight iliopsoas and erector spine muscles and then there will be the strengthening of the abdominals and gluteals which will be achieved through recommended customized strengthening and stretching programs as well as chiropractic manipulation.
This video shows the best way to loosen the Ilio – psoas muscle: