Massage Tutorial | The PSOAS and the ILIACUS (The Iliopsoas...)
Transcript
00:00Hey guys, today I have a video for you on the psoas or the iliopsoas to be specific.
00:16And what I've found to be true about the psoas and massage therapists is that we either love
00:23it and obsess over it a little too much or we're completely afraid of it.
00:27So today I want to talk about how to work on it properly and how to maybe not feel so
00:33intimidated by this deep hip flexor.
00:36First thing you'll notice that warming up the psoas muscle is not your usual warming
00:40up with Swedish strokes.
00:43I can't really kind of dive in right away so I'm using a lot of shaking and jostling
00:49and passive internal and external rotation of the hip so the psoas crosses over the hip.
00:54I want to make sure the hip is nice and loose before I begin.
00:58Once I feel like my client is ready I'm going to have them flex their hip and their knee
01:02so their foot is resting on the table.
01:04And I find the space between their belly button and their ASIS.
01:09For this demo I'm coming from the opposite side of the table, I would usually be working
01:13on the same side but I wanted to be able to project this very clearly on my video.
01:19Once I've positioned myself correctly I have my client take a deep breath in and as she
01:24exhales I sink down deeply.
01:26It's really important to ensure that you're on the psoas and the best way to do that is
01:31to have your client lift their leg just a little bit and when she does you will feel
01:36that muscle contract and fire underneath your fingertips.
01:40Right here is where she's lifting, I know I'm on the psoas and I'm going to sink down
01:44a little bit deeper.
01:45Please note that it is extremely important to stay away from any deep pulse that you
01:50feel so if you feel a pulse underneath your fingertips you're on the aorta and you want
01:55to move away laterally.
01:57Once you've gotten down into the psoas the work that we're doing here is really a deep
02:04compression and a deep friction and those are really subtle in this very vulnerable
02:10area.
02:11I don't want to stay deep into this area for too long so once I've created a little friction
02:16and eased that tension a little bit I'm going to have my client contract the psoas again
02:21but this time I'm sinking down against that contraction and then as she releases down
02:27she'll let go of her leg back down onto the table I sink down a little bit deeper.
02:32These minor movements can cause a huge change.
02:36You'll notice that my hand movements here and the work that I'm doing looks miniscule
02:41but I guarantee you your client will feel it on a very deep level.
02:44Exiting out of this area is equally as tricky as entering so as your client takes a nice
02:50deep inhale you want to pull your fingers out moving with her abdominal cavity and then
02:57creating a nice gentle movement making sure that she feels like your fingers are not still
03:04sticking into her psoas.
03:06One of the best tricks I know for attacking the psoas is to also make sure you're really
03:10addressing the iliacus and this is a muscle that I feel gets ignored a little too much.
03:17With this technique I'm pulling my client's leg across the table across their own body
03:22and using my torso to anchor their knee so that I have a lot of control with what the
03:27femur does in the hip joint in the acetabulum.
03:31So as I lean into her knee the femur is actually pulling away from the acetabulum just a little
03:38bit creating a lot of space in the posterior hip and really softening the front of the
03:43hip and the iliacus.
03:44I'm using my right hand here which you can see more on the right side of the screen to
03:49support the posterior hip and on the left side of the screen with my left hand you can
03:54see my thumb sinking into that softened iliacus and then using movement pulling towards me
04:01with both hands and then pushing into the iliacus to create a softening of that tight
04:06muscle.
04:09Releasing her leg back down to the table I want to again make nice so I'm just going
04:13to jostle the hips pushing into the table and shaking down the legs.
04:19An alternative for clients who might not be as bendy or who might not respond well to
04:24that deeper work having your client in side lying position is the perfect position to
04:30address the iliacus.
04:32It's really important to be in communication with your client throughout all of this work.
04:37As you're sinking into the iliacus here you're going to wrap over the iliac crest and ensure
04:43that you're finding the belly of the muscle yet again.
04:46There's lots of nerves and lymph nodes and vessels that run through this area so be certain
04:50that you are on the muscle and communicate to your client about what that feels like.
04:55As you start to sink in you're going to pull the hip back a little bit and as you sink
04:59in deeper use your other hand on the posterior hip to support the work that you're doing.
05:05As you start to sink in you can then manipulate the hip into either a posterior or an anterior
05:10tilt depending on if you want to soften or lengthen that muscle.
05:14Both techniques have their advantages it just depends on whether you feel like the muscle
05:19is going to respond when it's pulled into a tight position if it's really really tight
05:24or if it's going to respond to a softer position such as a chronic injury or chronic pain.
05:30You guys have seen me engage a muscle and then sink in once it's released so many times
05:35over the course of my videos and this is no different.
05:38I love this technique.
05:39I think it really works with the nervous system and brings the client's awareness to what's
05:45going on on such a deep level.
05:47So with this muscle with the iliacus I'm putting my hand down so that the resistance as she
05:52pulls her knee up to her chest is against my arm.
05:56I'm using my left thumb to then sink into that engaged muscle and then when she relaxes
06:01I sink in even deeper and I really soften up the iliacus and the entire anterior hip
06:07here.
06:09As I'm doing this I can also use my right hand to manipulate the femur around a little
06:13bit and give the hip some big general global movement.
06:25The last thing I want to demonstrate here is how to work the insertion.
06:29A lot of the work that we do is into the origin and into the belly of the muscle, either the
06:33psoas or the iliacus, but they both come down and insert into the lesser trochanter.
06:39This is one of those areas that massage therapists are a little bit tenuous about working and
06:45I want to ensure that we know how to work this region professionally and with effective
06:51results.
06:52So I've got my client's hip slightly flexed and slightly laterally rotated and with the
06:57support of my knee as I soften that attachment site I'm sinking down through the adductors
07:03making sure that I'm on the lesser trochanter and creating some friction.
07:08Sometimes this space can be very sensitive not just physiologically but also emotionally.
07:13If I create a little bit of a shake or a jostle in combination with the friction that I'm
07:18applying on the lesser trochanter it allows my client's nervous system to let go a little
07:24bit.
07:25It literally stops the pain response going up to the brain in the nervous system and
07:30helps the muscles to let go so that the client feels safe, the muscle feels like it can release
07:36and the tension in the entirety of the hip can start to really let go on a very deep
07:42level.
07:56I want to say a couple of really quick things.
07:58Number one, thank you to my model who I used for the psoas work.
08:05People who have kids often suffer from a lot of deep hip pain and that psoas and that
08:10iliacus can get thrown off.
08:13Those beautiful stretch marks you saw on my client's belly are from producing human beings
08:18which is some of the hardest work a woman can do.
08:21So thank you for being so brave and getting on the table and demonstrating how amazing
08:25that work can be.
08:27And number two, I'm almost at a thousand subscribers so thank you guys so much.
08:31I love my little channel, I love my supporters, and I love massage therapists.
08:35Keep being awesome and keep spreading the word.
08:38Thanks guys.