Pierce Family Wellness

Tissue blending.

 

When studying human anatomy we often compartmentalize the various bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles into individual sections (ie a biceps muscle, a pateller tendon).  This system allows us to develop an in depth understanding of the individual properties of the given tissue we are studying and has led to miraculous advances in surgery and rehabilitative modalities.  While I can't emphasize enough the importance of understanding the individual roles of various tissues we must not forget that there is no true separation and that the human body is one interconnected organism.

 

 
Lets do a quick review of human cellular development (I'm sure its been a while since biology class, so I will keep it simple).  We start with a fertilized ovum, the ovum splits into stem cells, stem cells develop into specialized cells (nerve cells, muscle cells, etc..), specialized cells become tissues, tissues become functional units (nephron loops), functional units make up organs (kidney), organ make up organ systems (urinary system), and finally organ systems make up an organism (human).

So how does this apply to bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles?  If we look at outermost layer of the femur (upper leg bone) we will find the periosteum.  The periosteum is just bone tissue with a lesser concentration of mineral salts (Calcium, Carbon, etc..).  As we continue on to the facial layer we find more of the same base material with a slightly different mixture from the periostuem to allow for more elasticity.  This trend continues to become ligament and muscle tissue.

Whether we are providing manual therapy or  movement therapy we must treat the body  as a holistic model.  When we can accept the fact that you can not seperate tissues we can start to understand that everything you do effects everything else in your being.  Eating the wrong food for you metabolic type can inflame your colon, your colon can inhibit your abdominal wall via viscero-motor inhibition, an inhibited abdominal wall can put more strain on your back.  A traditional approach would be to stretch the tight back muscles, a modern approach would be to strengthen the abdominal muscles, a holistic approach would be to clean up your diet, then strengthen the abdominals, then maybe stretch the back muscles to correct any adaptive shortening not eliminated by an increased tonus of the abdominal wall. 

The more in-depth ones understanding of the holistic nature of the human organism the more likely you are to live a healthy, vibrant life.  As always comments and questions are encouraged and appreciated.

 

Train Intelligently!

 

TJ Pierce

BS Ex Science

CHEK 2

Going in feet first.

 
 

The foot consist of  26 bones (28 if you count the sesamoid bones) and 20 different muscle that attach to the bones of the foot.  When properly functioning the foot and ankle joint is capable of triplanar movement easily allowing the body to transfer forces from the earth into coordinated movement patterns and astonishing feats of athletic accomplishment.  When the foot/ankle incur an injury it can cause havoc on the entire kinetic chain.  So why is it that plantar faciaitis can make your neck hurt?

The human body is designed as a system of relatively mobile to relatively immobile joints stacked on top of each other .  For instance, if we look at the hip joint (ball and socket joint) it can disperse forces in all three planes of motion making it a relatively mobile joint.  If you take a short trip down the leg to the knee joint (hinge joint) and apply the same transverse (rotational) forces that the hip easily dispersed you get a very different result, usually ligament and meniscus damage.  This is because the knee is relatively immobile compared to the hip.  The knee is also relatively immobile compared to the ankle joint.  This means that any forces not dispersed by the ankle are past onto the knee, a job it is not capable of performing. 

 Far to often we focus on the site of the pain, and not the cause of the pain.  If you are currently experiencing joint pain start taking a look above and below the painful joint and you are likely to find restricted ranges of motion in the neighboring joints.  Spend some time addressing the limited ranges of motion and you are likely to see an improvement in the painful joint. 

A functional foot/ankle joint allows all the joints above it to work in their optimal axis' of rotation.  This can not only improve athletic performance, but also greatly reduces the risk of injury.  So spend some time working of your feet/ankles and watch your performance improve.  As always feedback is appreciated and encouraged.

 

Train Intellegently!

 

TJ Pierce

BS Exercise Science

CHEK 2