Arch restored and scoliosis more aligned: S.S.

S came to see me after attending my foot restoration workshop at her Pilates studio. She has been active her whole life and is nearing retirement. Her foot pain and hip tension were concerning her as she didn’t want them to start deterring her from her love of moving her body. When she went to her massage therapist she kept having to ‘dig into’ her ribs on the side where her scoliosis caused her shoulder to sit lower. She hadn’t yet been able to sort any of these things out with massage, Pilates and physio.

I took a look at what was going on with S’s body and movements. While standing, her foot had a dropped arch and wouldn’t lift back up when I got her to move. One of her shoulders sat lower than the other and it was preventing her from being able to side bend away from that shape. Her hip was stuck tilted and she was using a bunch of muscles to hold her up that weren’t meant to do that.

I got to work helping her move her foot better with a greater sense of the ground underneath her. I helped her move out of her scoliotic shape to make the opposite shape while showing her brain when I want her to make that new shape. Then I helped her turn off the hip muscles that were holding her up and turning on the right muscles.

She took to the exercises really quickly and was diligent about doing them at home. Alongside her Pilates practice and her power walking she was able to restore these missing movements and reverse the problems she came in to me for.

At our last visit S told mer her foot pain is much reduced and she no longer needs her massage therapist to dig into her ribs for relief. Her hip tension is completely gone and she notices her shoulders have nearly leveled out.

She told me she is optimistic that she can maintain her hopes for a very active retirement without her body getting in the way. She was grateful for my keen eye for detail and understanding of how the body is supposed to move. Her wish was that everyone had access to this kind of approach so that nobody has to endure the decline of function into their golden years.