Harry Potter Spell of the Day???

"Quadratus Lumborum!!"

OK, it's not really a Harry Potter spell. It's actually one of our "deep flank" muscles that run along our spine, from our iliac crest to our 12th rib.

And after much experimenting and stretching last night in physical therapy, we had a "Viola!" moment as we worked with this muscle as it runs along my right side.

While lying, one can stretch this muscle by turning the legs and hips to one side while twisting the trunk and arms in the opposite direction. We attempted this stretch and very quickly I went into "Ouch" mode. With only a small movement, I immediately felt pain. Easing back a bit, to a point that did not hurt, my therapist had me hold the position while she manually applied pressure to the top of my right hip, pushing it down and away from my rib cage. With nice steady pressure, I could feel my range of motion opening up. Staying relaxed, I allowed myself to slip further into the stretch - - - no pain. I worked hard to stay relaxed, but at the first instant I wanted to laugh. Wow, could this be working!?!?!?! We continued. I imagined my therapist prying open an oyster, hoping to find a pearl inside. Pry open that hip. I continued to ease deeper and deeper into the stretch, far beyond my earlier, first attempt. It was amazing.

Following the stretch, we performed another leg-length measurement and wouldn't you know it, my leg grew! So it's looking like this quadratus lumborum muscle is in a deep spasm which might be pulling my right hip up, higher than my left, which in turn has caused me to strain the ligaments in my back. I think. Regardless, last night was the first time I received a glimmer of hope that maybe this thing would get figured out and relief would be attainable.

I definitely feel worked over this morning so I will be taking it easy this morning. Probably sneak off on my lunch hour to practice a little Intu Flow.

For some more information on the quadratus lumborum muscle check out this webpage, http://www.downeastschoolofmassage.net/forum/king03.htm. I also found a cool video that visually shows what the muscle looks like, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cjfepXJaXk.