Expert: Scott F. Gillman, DC, DACBSP - 3/20/2009

Question
Hi,
I have had chronic back pain for the past three years following a car accident.  I was just discharged from yet another round of physical therapy where the therapist was unable to figure out what to do to fix my problem.  This therapist located my problem which is that my pelvis is dropping when I walk and that there is something that is restricting my pelvis from moving.  When I lie flat on my stomach and pull my leg up toward the side of my body (keeping my leg on the ground), my pelvis does not lay flat on the ground.  When I do this on my opposing leg, my pelvis touches the ground.  When I pull my leg up on the side of my body where my pelvis movement is restricted, it produces pain in my back.  The pain in my back is on the opposing side of my body where there is restriction in the movement of my pelvis.  The PT thought that I have a tight psoas muscle which she worked on once but yet she still discharged me, giving me some back exercises and stretches.  My strength and ROM in my hips is good.  My next step is to see a chriopractor and I'm curious to know if a chiropractor would do any work on my psoas muscle to loosen it up.  Can you please tell me if it is in the scope of a chiropractors practice to work on the psoas muscle and movement of the pelvis.  Thank you.

Answer
Danielle,

A doctor of chiropractic is licensed to differentially diagnose and treat musculoskeletal conditions.  We are spine care specialists, and any clinically competent DC should be able to address your problem and provide the appropriate treatment, including soft tissue work on your psoas.   Consider this: what if it is not your psoas?  Maybe you have a hip joint problem and the psoas issue is mearly a symptom of something going on deeper in the hip.  You may find that with a well trained doctor of chiropractic, and especially one with advanced training in soft tissue therapies, you will have your problem addressed.  This would involve a thorough physical exam, and if there is a possibility of a problem that requires advanced imaging, they should be able to order the right test.  Go to the home page for the American Chiropractic Association, or even my state association: www.masschiro.org, and check it out.  

'Best of luck!

Dr. G