CASE STUDY: Addressing Scoliosis and Back Pain with Ashley Kramer
About 3 months ago, I was contacted by Ashley Kramer via E mail. He was dealing with some major problems in his movement and that he was also in a great deal of pain. Coupled with that, he had a scoliosis he was trying to address. His bouts of pain were so bad at certain points that he would have to either use a walker or a wheelchair to get around. From what I was also told, Ashley had been going to varius forms of therapy for a period of about 30 years. This has seemed a fairly regular part of my career, so I was fairly confident I could help him. Then he came to FP…
Since I was busy organizing other things with Functional Patterns, I had decided to have one of my guys in Seattle to help. Then I saw his condition and new what kind of case Ashley was going to be. He was one of those people that come to you, and if you make one tiny mistake, a pain flare up would come back immediately. His spine, hips and ribcage would not move… In my career of working with people who had a scoliosis somewhat often, I never encountered a case this rigid. I then realized that what I knew at that point was not going to be enough to address his condition. I had to come up with things fast because he was traveling from new zealand for just 3 months. I decided to step in and see if I could help him out.
I never promised him anything anything other than my best effort. He promised me the same. From minute one, I took an approach with Ashley that I would have never taken before. Typically, I would attack fascia distortions with my elbow, set up his standing neutral position, then begin to take him through 6 phases of rotation until his structure would center itself. In most cases, this approach would work like a charm, in this I knew there was no way of doig this. His ribs were shifted so far laterally from his pelvis to a point I knew I had to change my approach. Fortunately, in the month prior my colleagues and I had slowly put together this concept called “chambering”. This form of training filled so many gaps in my application and Ashley was going to be the first person I would use it on. It was a test to see if this new stuff really worked or not. I won’t lie, I was very anxious working here because this was a very delicate condition.
We started by attacking contralateral frontal plane distortions with this new concept of chambering. Immediately I noticed a huge problem with Ashley. It appeared his right leg was much longer than the left. Whenever I would tell Ashley to bring his feet together, you would see a good 2 inch elevation of his right PSIS. This worried me quite a bit. If this was a bone malformation, there would not be much I could do. No matter how much I tried aligning his body. His right leg would always get in the way. I kept plugging away with chamber sequences, modifying them until I found some things that worked. I began to notice his body centralize at the pelvis. I have suspected that most leg length discrepancies are usually just an asymmetrical weight shift. Most of the time they are diagnosed externally without considering the factors of muscle activation creating this problem. In this case, his leg length discrepancy was starting to disappear. If you look at the before photo you can notice how Ashley posts on his left leg, while his right leg just hangs off to the side.
After about 2 or 3 weeks, his hip hike was close to being addressed. Now we needed to get him to rotate. Just like his spine would yell at me anytime I made a tiny wrong adjustment on the lateral systems, I had the same problems when we went transverse. I had to once again develope new techniques to make this work, because the old were too progressed. The anxiety trying to figure these things out was ruining my sleep. I so badly wanted these chambers to be the final frontier of corrective exercise and movement optimization overall. In a matter of a couple weeks, we unrotated his hips and his ribs. This is when Ashley’s demeanor about everything took a turn for the better. I started noticing an enthusiasm in him that was great to see. This man was getting his life back.
The following weeks then had us approaching some of my older material along with new innovations. We addressed Ashley’s inability to flex and extend his arms and legs when he walked. For this, I got him on the pulley machine doing our running man movements. We still had to fine tune corrections in the midst of this all because minor imbalances I could not account for were still popping up in his movement. Although there are still imbalances in his body, he is now able to move pretty much pain free. When we first put him on the treadmill, his back would not let him run. I had to cue him to run on the balls of his feet just so he could even perform the task. His max speed was 6.1 mph the first time. Every time his foot landed his lumbar would spasm. When we did the follow up about 11 weeks later, he hit a max speed of 10.8 mph. The only pain he said he felt when running were his glutes getting a massive amount of fatigue. I could not be happier with that kind of pain. Not only that, but picking things up for him required a tremendous effort. After all this training we did not focusing on lifting, most of those problems disappeared in his lifting abilities. Keep in mind Ashley spent much of his time doing deadlifts prior.
I am very fortunate that Ashley was so patient with me in resolving some of his problems. There would literally be 5 to 10 minute bouts where I would be standing there setting up angles on my pulleys and contemplating how I was going to load his body. We would spend sometimes more than have the session calculating than actually moving. Ashley was the ideal candidate to accomplish this task. He practiced everything he needed to and had no problems relinquishing who he was in the way he moved. As rigid as his body was when he came, his mind reflected not a single bit of that. What an awesome person Ashley was to have met. When I think of all the sleepless nights I had trying to solve this and the efforts he was putting in, it’s hard not to get teary eyed. What an experience. Thank you for everything Ashley. These experiences don’t come often and it’s great to know I’ll have a lifelong friend from this experience. This is only the beginning. I want 15 mph on that treadmill. By summer next year, you will be there!
Hey Naudi,
First of all amazing stuff, no one can show me this type of change in 24 sessions. FP is doing something great and people will be aware of it, don’t worry.
Beside that, did you teach that ‘chambering’ thing to your other practioners(I’ve got mild scoliosis happened through spasm when I landed my feet, probably it is about deep longitudal, not sure…) and what about the thing that everyone and you posted on instagram few days ago?
Thank you. Have a nice life!
Hey there,
Let me point you in the direction of your nearest FP practitioner. Where are you based?
Cheers,
Will
Hello,
i have a “problem” that isn’t really as bad as the guy on the video. I have what you would call round shoulders, and i definitely would like to be able to walk, live and be straight. I actually train well, I’m a Tacfit Field Instructor, and before did Corssfit (injured my shoulder) and before that Triathlon.
if there is anything you think I could do…?? I would be very happy.
the problem is that I’m in Tossa de Mar (Barcelona) a small coast village.
So what ever it is , it has to be online work
thank you for your time,
kindest regards,
CHRIS
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the message and your support of Functional Patterns. Check out the 10 week online course, this will be an amazing place to start, click this link to better help you make an informed decision http://www.functionalpatterns.com/10-week-functional-patterns-online-course/
Have a great day,
Will
Do you have anyone trained in Dallas TX? My 14 year daughter has about 40 degree curve that we are looking to correct without surgery. Pls help
Hey Isa,
Thanks for the message!!
Contact [email protected] she is based in Texas.
Cheers,
Will
Thanks for giving me hope. I am just like this man. I went from being an ultra runner to struggling to put socks on. My struggles with back pain continue. PT has helped some, but I was told not to load and avoid bending forward. That just does not feel natural or right to me. I fear that I am a sneeze away from being in a wheelchair. It is nice to see a success story. Thank you for all your research and videos, I truly do appreciate it.
Hey
I am from Tanzania Africa
Am 21 years old boy and I have been suffering too much from scoriosis and back pain that I cant even study well
I went to the hospital but the problem is still there then I decided to go and check for anything usefull on youtube then I found this “testimony”
I am begging you to please help me on having a normal posture like other teenagers please!
thank you for this .
Can you possible recommend exercise to help with scoliosis
Seeing Ashley’s before picture reminds me so much of my own situation, though I don’t think I’ve reached the severity of his case and my work with a Chiropractor, PT and CMT have given some relief I would really like to work with one of your practitioners. Do you have someone working in the Toronto Canada area that I could contact?
Hey Dave,
Thanks for your enquiry. We have an awesome practitioner based near your area is called Kate.. Drop her an email [email protected] and she will reply with the details.
Thanks you for your interest in Functional Patterns,
The FP Team.
Good day to all. I looked at Ashley’s pictures and thought I was looking in a mirror. My right glute does not seem to work at all and the pain comes mostly from the sciatic nerves. Stiffness and inflexibility has bound me on the right side as though I’ve been petrified Like Ashley, I’ve suffered this way for 30 years and need your intensive treatment. is there a trained therapists in the Memphis Tn. area?
Hey Edward,
Thank you so much for your message and your interest in Functional Patterns. At this moment we don’t have any certified trainers in Memphis. We are going through certification process this year and you may find a Practitioner pop up near you.
In the meantime feel free to take a look at our 10 week online course, if followed correctly this will certainly give you a great foundation to build upon.
http://www.functionalpatterns.com/10-week-functional-patterns-online-course/
Live intentionally, not habitually,
The FP Team.
I am 72 and still mobile no operations but 70 degree backward s curve and painful sciatica. Walkers needed for long distance. Do you know of anyone in north Atlanta /cumming ga area
Hey Jodie,
Thanks for the comment and interest in Functional Patterns. The nearest practitioner to you is in Charlotte, drop Jeff an email on the below email address:
[email protected]
Regards,
The FP Team
Hi. Please need your advise. Is there anyone based in the RSA ( Pretoria) I have been suffering with scoliosis for 40 years and have bad back surgery. Would love to try you functional program. .
Thanking you
Isabel
Very inspirational! I have uneven hips scoliosis week hamstrings no pain though. I have fixed some problems. I believe through your applications I can become pretty close to where my skeletal system should be.
Hi! Do you have anyone near New Orleans? Thanks so much.
Can you please refer me to any certified functional pattern trainer in Austin ? I have mild scoliosis too and it’s very hard to remain seated on the chair .
Thank you
Hey,
Please send an email to [email protected]
Regards,
The FP Team
I am very rigid like Ashley. I need to figure out what is going to help me since my back is getting worse and breathing is becoming a problem. I really want some good news that there is some help out there!
Hey Jodi,
Start with our 10 week online course, link below:
http://www.functionalpatterns.com/10-week-functional-patterns-online-course/
Regards,
The FP Team
Hi, I have scoliosis similar to the man in this article. Do you have any trainers near New Hampshire or Massachusetts? Thanks!
Dear William,
I have got more than 30degree of curvature in my scoliosis, I am already following the 10weeks online course and I have already read the power of posture. Do you have anyone in UK or Italy where I could go and be seen to speed up the process?
Many thanks
Alessandro
Hey,
Please send an email to [email protected] for training in London.
Regards,
The FP Team
Is there a practitioner in Reno, NV?
My 28 year old son has ostegenesis imperfecta. 17 femur and hip fractures since age 9. As a result he has severe scoliosis. Can you recommend someone in the Indianapolis area? Thank you!
Hey,
For training in your area please send an email to Nick on the below email address:
[email protected]
Regards,
The FP Team
Interesting.. but what could you do with a big curve but in a very flexible spine?
Hi, is there a practitioner in bloomington,indiana?
Hey,
Check out our list of practitioners at the below link:
http://practitioners.functionalpatterns.com/
Regards,
The FP Team
Hello! My sister and I let us have a scoliosis and we try to look after her. I underwent a surgery but I do not want my sister to undergo the same thing. I live in France have you practitioners in France please. The online courts have you he the same efficiency louse the scoliosis as with a course with a FP please
Hey,
Check out our list of practitioners at the below link:
http://practitioners.functionalpatterns.com/
Regards,
The FP Team