My back began to hurt after throwing the Javelin two weeks ago she said

I got a text from the track coach. One of his athletes at Union Catholic was in pain since this weekend.

Upon meeting her for the first time, she said that her lower back hurt right after she threw the Javelin. It also happened about a year ago initially and then went away. Her mom said that she just had her best Javelin distance ever.

Upon questioning, she revealed that her knees crack but she never had any pain in them. She stated everything else was ok.

I noticed her posture, with her shoulders rolled in. I suspected she had flat feet and explained to her and her mom that it is quite likely that she is asymmetrically built. When she stood up without her shoes, she was flat-footed and her right foot flared out. Her hips were torqued. I mentioned that based on what I was seeing, it was likely that her neck was also quite stiff most of the time. She denied this but when I had her move her neck, she was limited to the right and to the left. I also asked if her neck ever cracked on its own. Her mom mentioned she cracks it all the time, which is indicative of the pelvis being locked up, straining the neck joints and making them feel kinked up.

She was quite unstable in a deep knee bend and needed to grab onto the table before I worked on her back. Her lower back muscles were very stiff and she said they were quite sore, but it felt good as I released the tension in the muscles. She felt several joints release during her first adjustment and when she got off the table, the relief in her face was noticeable. Her mother purchased the recommended shoe inserts and they scheduled the follow-up visit.

This patient was a prime example of someone who has body style issues, however, is unaware of them since she has always been built like this. She thought nothing of constantly cracking her neck, even though it freaked her mom out. After explaining to them the problems, it made sense that she always needed to do this. It was interesting to me that she felt her neck was not tight, even though she constantly needed to crack it for relief. She should perform much better during her Thursday practice this week.