Treating the body as a symphony of interconnected elements.
Ongoing tussle with stubborn unilateral tendinopathies? Persistent or recurrent neck pain, low back pain and pelvic girdle pain?
Perhaps the thorax is the missing puzzle piece.
In the dynamic world of physiotherapy, one approach has been gaining momentum for its unique
perspective on treating the thorax and its whole body approach - ConnectTherapy™️ (Lee, LJ
2015). After all, the body is a symphony of interconnected elements. This approach goes beyond
the conventional to unravel the mysteries of the thorax to understanding it as an important driver
of dysfunction.
It’s not just about pain, but movement options.
The ConnectTherapy treatment approach recognises that restriction in one area can resonate
throughout the entire body system, and that the thorax, previously thought as “an inherently stiff
and stable structure”, is actually an area of significant mobility with the thoracic vertebrae and
the attached ribs forming a three-dimensional ring responsible for complex functional movement.
Altogether, there are a total of 136 joints in the thorax and 13 articulations per thoracic ring.
Thus, within the intricate dance of the human body, the thorax emerges as both the culprit and
victim in the symphony of dysfunction and load transfer when there is a loss of synergy or force
modulation in the muscle around the thoracic rings interfering with the inter-regional and
segmental movement of the thoracic rings. Dr. Linda Joy Lee describes the stack of thoracic
rings as a “slinky” or “shock absorbing spring” that requires optimal neuromuscular control,
providing movement options for the individual. When the individual adopts a non-optimal
strategy to move due to altered biomechanics and control of the thoracic rings, it can affect their
task performance. Furthermore, because the body’s sympathetic chain and innervation of the
viscera is closely knitted, the thorax can drive other non-optimal experiences including
sensitisation of the sympathetic nervous system.
In short, the ConnectTherapy assessment framework uses the Meaningful Task Analysis to
determine whether an area of interest is the primary driver of the patient’s problem.
The clinician assesses non-optimal biomechanics and control while the patient is performing his or her
meaningful movement. The clinician then uses manual facilitation to temporarily “correct” these
areas and retest the same task. If this changes meaningful symptoms, eases task performance,
and optimizes load transfer to other areas of the body, then this area is a potential driver in the
body. Treatment would then involve releases, neuromuscular retraining or downtraining of
relevant muscle and vectors with progressive exercises targeted at restoring effective load
transfer while performing the meaningful task.
Takeaways?
I think the ConnectTherapy Approach provides a good systematic framework for a whole body
assessment while taking into consideration a patient's meaningful task and integrates the
biopsychosocial approach well. It serves as an additional tool for assessing and treating
especially when it comes to chronic/complex patients who tend to present with multiple layers of
compensatory mechanisms - the onion analogy works quite well here. However, the approach
does have its limitations as it relies heavily on motion palpation and thus the individual
clinician’s palpation skill level and experience. Inter-assessor variability then needs to be taken
into account. Also considering the amount of time in a treatment session, the clinician needs to
be precise with where they think the relevant areas are to assess, which mainly derives from the
patient’s subjective history and presenting complaint. If the patient comes in with an acute
sprained ankle from soccer, conventional treatment protocols will probably suffice. However, if
the patient presents with multiple seemingly linked areas of concern or lingering pain that does
not go away with traditional methods of treatment, then ConnectTherapy might provide us with
more insight.
Yuhui
MAPA, MPhty, BBiomedSc (Hons)
Ribs…
Oups, not those ribs!
Reference:
Lee LJ. The Essential Role of the Thorax in Restoring Optimal Function. Keynote presentation at
the 2008 Orthopaedic Symposium of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, Montreal,
Canada, October 2008.
The Thoracic Ring Approach™: A Whole Person Framework to Assess and Treat the Thoracic
Spine and Rib cage. Lee LJ 2015 In Magee et al. Pathology and Intervention in Musculoskeletal
Rehabilitation, 2e, Elsevier, pgs. 436- 470