Lumbar and Thoracic Spine Pain

When I tell people I specialize in the pelvic floor a lot of people ask me about urinary incontinence and pregnancy related issues. BUT did you know that as a physical therapist (and pelvic health physical therapist) I screen and assess every single person’s lumbar (lower back) and thoracic (mid back/ribcage) for function, mobility, and impairment.

Over two-thirds of Americans suffer from lower back pain. Over use, repetition, and age-related changes (hello arthritis!) are common reasons we see pain, aches, and disability in the spine. It’s the center of our body! Our backs are definitely something we tend to take for granted until we injure them. It’s also not uncommon to have a foot, knee, or shoulder injury and with subsequent compensations we’ve added along the way to start to notice changes in our back aka new pains. Something as simple as how we changed our sitting posture to alleviate some hip pain, started walking on the inside or outside of our foot to ward off a blister, or began holding our arms in different patterns to deal with some neck or shoulder pain.

Getting back to how this affects the pelvic floor – how could it not?! Remember that adage, that our core is the front door, our spine is the framing, our diaphragm is the roof, and our pelvic floor is, well, the floor of our house. Altering the way our back muscles work (or not work in instances of pain and atrophy) will change pressures and tensions throughout our hips, rib cage, and pelvic floor.

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