Willem Kramer

Why is it necessary for a chiropractor, osteopath, physical therapist and manual therapist to know which muscles connect with the iliotibial tract, which blood vessels and nerves pass between and touch the hamstring muscles, which fascial septa connect with the fibula bone and which nerves and blood vessels connect with and “serve” the capsule of the talocrural joint?

Because connecting organs are essential for solving dysfunction, pain and injury!

Since muscles, deep fasciae, nerves and all other organs physically connect (either directly or indirectly) they have influence over each other. If the influence they have or pass on is “negative”, dysfunction, pain or injury can occur, spread and sustain.

By addressing the dysfunction, pain or injury relating organs with therapy and exercise we can turn their direct and indirect influence “neutral” and even “positive”. Doing so quickly resolves physical discomfort, promotes healing, prevents re-injury and helps increase performance.

For obvious reasons, knowing which organs connect with dysfunctional, painful or injured organs is important for deciding which organs to examine and, if necessary, treat and exercise. Without the use of a relational anatomy resource like Anatomy Links this becomes a daunting task.

Illustration: The biceps femoris (1) directly affects the fibula bone (2) and has an indirect effect on the anterior talofibular ligament.

Although the premise of the previous is well-known, simple and straight forward, the practical consequences are vast and therefore intimidating. Be that as it may, I sincerely hope it will not scare you off. For I am sure your soft tissue treatment results will improve drastically when you learn to take all connecting organs into account.

Rest assured, this anatomical point of view applies to all therapy and screening methods. It is not advanced nor does it require years of experience or an Einstein-like intellect. All that’s necessary is your expert precision and perseverance. Character traits I am sure all of you posses.