Last week's blog topic addressed what it means to have a healthy core. The deep core muscles have to be working optimally or other compensations will occur that lead to pain and dysfunction. Dr. Vladimir Janda, a 20th century Czech physician who studied muscular imbalances after he contracted polio at age 15, summed up this compensation process: in the presence of dysfunction or inflammation, there is a systematic, predictable and full body response in which certain muscles w

The core I am referring to is the DEEP CORE muscles. These four muscles act in synergy, or together, in order to provide a specific function. When these muscles do not work together or one of them is not working, compensations develop that can lead to pain and dysfunction. I like to compare the four deep core muscles to a horse carriage being pulled by four horses. If one horse becomes unable to carry the load, the other three have to work harder. And since the horse (or musc

Welcome to the Healthy Core blog, written for the many individuals who wish to be better informed about how to recover from pregnancy, surgery, car accidents, falls, chronic pain or conditions related to the pelvic girdle and spine. I am going to share the wisdom I have gained as a mom of three and as a manual physical therapist of 23 years. Like the countless women that did not receive the timely help they needed, it has taken me years to learn what I am going to share in th