The famous psoas muscle
The Mighty Psoas: Is It Really That Important?
Short answer: Absolutely, YES! ✅
🤔 What Even Is the Psoas?
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Location, Location, Location: It’s a deep-seated muscle that attaches to all your lumbar vertebrae 🦴 and runs down to connect to your hip 🦴. -
The Dynamic Duo: On its journey, it teams up with the iliacus muscle to form the superstar duo known as the Iliopsoas ✅.
⚡️ Why Is It Such a Big Deal?
Given its prime real estate in your core, the psoas has a huge impact on your entire body!
| Area of Influence | Consequences & Issues ⬆⬇ |
|---|---|
| Lumbar Spine & Pelvis | Low back pain, sacroiliac pain, pelvic imbalances |
| Hips & Lower Extremity | Groin pain, altered gait, can contribute to conditions like pubalgia |
| Even Your Breathing! | Can directly affect your breathing pattern. |
💡 Trigger points in the psoas can refer pain to your low back, SI joint, and the front of your hip. Ouch! 😫
🧠 Key Clinical Insight: It’s Not Always Simple!
A common misconception is that the psoas is always tight.
| State | Possible Cause | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 🤏 Shortened / Spasmed | Most common. Often from prolonged sitting. | Low back pain, pelvic issues. |
| 💪 Weak | Less common, but happens! | Instability, different kind of pain pattern. |
‼️ The Verdict: Evaluation and clinical reasoning are fundamental! 💡🤓 (A psoas spasm can lead to a cascade of problems!)
🔗 Surprising Relationships
You Didn’t Know About
The psoas doesn’t live in a vacuum! It’s connected to other systems in fascinating (and sometimes painful) ways.
1. Kidney Neighbors 😖😩
Anatomically, the psoas and kidneys are very close buddies. This means:
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Urinary infections -
Kidney stones …can all irritate the psoas muscle in the short or long term ‼️
2. Nerve Highway ⚡️😖
Almost all the major nerve roots from your lumbar spine pass right through the psoas. If the psoas is unhappy, it can compress these nerves, leading to:
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Cruralgia (pain down the front of the thigh) -
Meralgia (tingling/numbness in the outer thigh) -
Other radiating pains into the lower extremity ✅…
Keeping Your Psoas Healthy
Staying active, doing regular physical activity, and stretching are key to maintaining the health of your psoas muscle. However, since this muscle is deeply connected with your posture and visceral system, it is important to have a global and detailed osteopathic assessment to:
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Address the root causes of imbalance -
Restore proper balance in your body
❓ So… Let’s Get Personal! ❓
How are your lumbars doing? ⁉️
Do you work your psoas? ⁉️
Looking forward to hearing from you! 💬✨