Is your back problem due to pubic symphysis alignment? This mechanical condition, which is more common in women can greatly affect your stability, balance, and gait when you walk. It can also affect how you get out of a chair, cause groin pain or pulls, and even cause lower back and leg pain, often confused with sciatica. It may be responsible for your knee, foot, and upper back problems because it affects how you move. A recent patient story involving pubic bone alignment is important. A patient who visited us over the past few weeks noticed she was walking strangely and unevenly, even though she felt less pain in her hips and lower back after her initial few chiropractic visits. After analyzing her core strength and effectiveness, I decided to have her walk down the office hallway after a brief video on our treadmill. She was noticeably swaying from side to side with each step. I took a video of it so she could see it for herself. I asked her to step back into the treatment room and checked for spasms, and tightness of the fascia in the abdomen and the pelvic bowl, which is the lower part of the pelvis. There was more tightness on one side than the other.. I then asked her to walk the hallway again after some muscular work and while her gait had improved, she was still swaying but less in a second video I took with my phone. I asked her again to step into her room and worked through all the possibilities and found the right side of the public had shifted superiorly and was tender to the side of it. After mobilizing the pubic bone, and hearing a click, I took a third video and she had a marked improvement in her gait. See it for yourself below taken from the first and last videos. Pelvic and pubic bone mechanics. The pelvis consists of bones called the innominate(s), the sacrum which is the center bone that attaches in the front with a cartilage called the pubic symphysis. The pelvis and the femoral heads that insert into the hip joints are affected by how you are built, how your muscles and fascia have adapted, your overall body style, and your upper body adaptations as well. Falls, other injuries, how we learn to walk, the type of feet we have, childbirth, abdominal surgeries, and growth spurts can all affect your gait. The core, which are the muscles of the pelvic bowl, the diaphragm, and the anterior and posterior muscles surrounding the pelvis is a conduit that the forces we endure while walking from the ground up must be stable for us to walk efficiently. The fascial system, the shape of the pelvic bones, and even our skeletal adaptations require movement of the pelvis to be symmetrical and efficient. Even though the movements are minimal by themselves, if this system fails to move or function properly on one side, the other side will adapt, and the fascia system that guides movement will also adapt setting up possible mechanical problems when we adapt poorly. Chiropractors have helped people for years move and function better by using spinal and extremity manipulation to the joints to improve movement, with the combination of muscle work and exercises. The system of movement is holistic and mechanical. Improving how it works must also be holistic and mechanical. While walking the pubic symphysis in the front of the pelvis must also move. When this does not happen due to poor alignment, it affects how we walk, similar to the idea of rowing in the water but using more force on one side than on the other. The effect is uneven movement as we saw in the before and after video. Why chiropractic first? People have many choices and there seems to be a specialist for everything. There are pelvic floor specialists, exercise specialists, physical therapists, and physiatrists to name a few. To properly diagnose pubic symphysis problems, you require a generalist who understands body mechanics, takes a holistic approach to how you move, feel, and function, and is a one-stop shop to keep things simple. You need a chiropractor. Chiropractors understand the body mechanics. Finding a sports-certified chiropractor can be even more helpful due to their increased knowledge of body mechanics. In our office, I have an engineering background that helps me think outside the box to understand how things work. We are body mechanics. Typical symptoms of pubic symphysis dysfunction include Uneven gait back pain sciatic pain leg pain knee pain neck problems shoulder pain pelvic floor problems c section scars Childbirth is a common cause of the condition especially with a difficult pregnancy. Need help today? Book online.