I am suggesting that the seeds of back pain can be sown at birth.
A four-week-old boy was gassy and had reflux. He also cried a lot and was generally inconsolable.
Since I had seen their first two children later in life, the parents wanted me to see this child closer to birth. He had an incredibly great brain cycle of 240 seconds with fascial strain in his midsection.
Just because you have a terrific brain cycle, you may not be good to go, in our world. Please check the entire body for fascial tightness that needs to be released.
Since I see midsection strain frequently, my hypothesis is that the fetus is curled up for months in utero. It makes sense that pressure can easily develop in the middle of the body.
When I am working here, I have a particular hand placement. As my thumbs feel the anterior abdominal soft tissue for strain, my fingers wrap around the trunk with the tips palpating the paraspinal muscles of the back.
On the first visit, the thumb areas released well, so the gas and reflux were better. But he still seemed to be in pain.
On the second visit, the anterior areas checked out looser. For most babies, that will move the needle for the pain symptom. When I checked again, my fingertips felt severe strain in his paraspinal area.
He really let out a cry during that session. When these tissues released, the strain in his back let go, and he immediately went into a deep sleep.
His mystified mother said, “What just happened?" I hypothesize that he had back pain, and when that fascial strain released, he could finally begin to relax.
Back pain is a common problem with adults. Since I am always looking for the root cause of a condition, I am suggesting that, for some of these patients, their problem started with birth trauma.
I am always happy to see a newborn at the beginning of life, when correction can be relatively easy. Let’s help the body correct the problem right at birth.
Gillespie Approach Training can be a great tool for newborn providers.
