Note – this is based on a real patient that has been seen at the
clinic and all facts are true apart from the patient name which has been
changed.
A 50 year old gentleman (let’s call him
Paul) came to see me complaining of pain across both shoulders that spread into
random areas of his arms, forearms and hands. The pain would usually start in
the right side and then be mirrored in the left a short time afterwards. He
also suffered from regular headaches and occasional tingling in his hands. The
pain would occur randomly and would, at times, be debilitating and interfere
with his job.
Paul had been in pain for 11 years; tried
painkillers, had treatment from physiotherapists and even minor operations on
both of his shoulders. All treatments had made a bit of a difference but the
pain just seemed to come back.
On examination Paul’s nervous system was
working normally and his shoulder movements were good however he had a
small curve in his thoracic spine (mid back) and the joints and muscles in this
area were tight, not functioning properly and tender to the touch, especially the
T4 vertebrae.
I
diagnosed Paul with T4 syndrome, which is where the T4 vertebrae stops
functioning properly and causes all of the tissues associated with it to be compromised; in Pauls case this involved nerves travelling down into his
arms and muscles attaching to his shoulders.This was causing his
neck to overwork and get very tight at the top, possibly creating his headaches. A previous lumbar spine disc injury was creating altered pulls through his
spine and maintaining his problem.
Treatment involved freeing up the area between the shoulder blades using soft tissue, articulatory techniques and manipulation (particularly
to T4). I also worked on his lumbar spine, around his disc injury, and used
cranial osteopathy techniques to release his upper neck. But how did he
respond…
After 3 treatments Paul was virtually pain
free and was suffering from far less headaches! As you can imagine he is
extremely happy about this, as am I!
To find out more about T4 syndrome please
read this paper http://www.physio-pedia.com/T4_Syndrome
If you have similar symptoms to Paul find
out what the real cause is and start your road to recovery with us!
