Locatelli Rao DPT

For the last 5 years New Year’s Day has triggered a 2-week mental and emotional countdown to the anniversary of my kidney transplant. The nearly 6 years that I waited for a kidney were, simply put, not fun. 3 times per week I was on dialysis for 4 hours, from 4 AM to 8 AM, only to then function at about 10% of normal capacity for the rest of the day.... 3 times per week all I did after dialysis was lie down. Getting up was a contemplative and contemplated effort. 6 years ago I was given the gift of life. More specifically, my life back. 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. This image best summarizes my feelings towards my donor. Thank you for reading. See more

Sagittal Thorax Getting a thorax to translate in the sagittal plane is hard. People will compensate and move the scapula or will flex/extend at the spine. This student is very good at not moving through the spine. As I coach him at moving the thorax itself, you can see the struggle. He starts with some swaying and neck action, but eventually cleans it up.... Homework? You bet. See more

Tools Are meant to help us. Sometimes, they can hinder us. Know the tool.

Sensorum/Afference is Biological Data The brain wants to survive and will only use perceivable data from good sensors. Could you imagine flying an airplane with the top data set? Or moving through life with only your right heel as a landmark, or an L hip that barely qualifies as a hip with hypo-stimulated receptors and therefore hypo-representation in your cortex?... PRI x FRS @strongcamps See more

Closer This represents how I feel today after reflecting on taking Impingement and Instability (I&I) for the 2nd time in my PRI journey. Dan Houglum and Ron (Hruska) were fantastic at putting some pieces together for me.... For those of you on your own PRI journey, I can’t recommend this new iteration of the I&I course enough! @posturalrestoration See more

Out in the Wild Getting updates like this one from former students never old. My son was a newborn when he came in, so the thought of any young human being subjected to that much chronic pain was disheartening.... Now he’s in medical school, living his best life, and is going to be a fantastic member of the medical community. PS - do your CARs See more

If you want to schedule an Online Consultation with me, please go to https://drlocrao.as.me. Thanks!

Myxoma I had a new client come in yesterday, a 53-y/o female who has been a fitness instructor x 30 years. She started having LBP 5 years ago without a specific MOI. She has spent the last 5 years seeing a multitude of people without resolution.... History: LBP x 2 years 7 years ago had a myxoma removed = scars galore about her rib cage. During the procedure one of her breast implants deflated. 3 years ago was emotionally ready to and had her implants removed. More scars about the thorax. Pectus excavatum rib cage. So...not surprisingly she is a bilateral brachial chain (B BC) patterned individual and her extended T-spine/flared sternum is what is, IMHO, driving her symptoms. We got to work with breathing (surprised!) and she left the session with a much better sense as to how these fit together. First, have the understanding and appreciation of our inherent patterns (L AIC/R BC) so that you can connect the pieces as to how and why life incidences can further affect your client. @posturalrestoration See more

Open Up This client of mine is cleaning up nice in his pelvis, and his rib cage needed just a little more love. Here is a nice manual technique from @posturalrestoration to facilitate airflow into the R rib cage so as to lateralize a thorax left and back to midline.... This passive modality is then followed up with the active variation of Right Intercostal Inhibition for homework. #prination #posturalrestorationinstitute #airflow #ribcagedynamics See more

Finger vs Wrist flexors

The Basis Of our consciousness, our ability to survive/thrive/exist and move. #Repost @lureanimations... J is for junction! This animation visualizes a neural junction or synapse - the site where impulses are transmitted between two nerve cells, or neurons. A neuromuscular junction is the synaptic connection between a neuron and muscle tissue, and the basic process that allows your body to react to stimuli. See more

Early Asymmetry Here is a pair of fetal lungs next to a penny for reference. Quiz: Which is the Right lung and how do you know?

That’s One Way of Looking at ACLs

Hmmm... This client of mine asked me to see if his acid reflux/GERD might have a diaphragmatic component to it (smart client ). How long have you had it for?... 5 years. When did you have your appendectomy (scar)? 5 years ago. Did you have your GERD before or after the appendectomy? Not sure. This of course led to: an IAP assessment IAP findings IAP homework Stay tuned! See more

Why Shoes? (Continued) Muscles (then) respond by altering the force and timing of their contraction. Lidtke, R. Biomechanics Oct 2007... A shoe *is* an orthotic. Replace proprioceptive feedback mechanism with sense or afference. So, that is why shoes. @posturalrestoration See more

You Can’t (X) If You’re Already (X’d) Today was Visit 2 for my NFL kicker, and we deep dove a little more into heels and hips. He has ~5 of calcaneal eversion movement potential (i.e., PROM) in his L foot.... In standing his already in 5 of calcaneal eversion. When he plants his L foot to kick a ball, where is he going to go for ankle eversion/foot pronation? Well, he had been going into subtalar joint. To prove my point, I simply placed a heel wedge on the medial side of his L shoe. The result? A better starting point and more freedom. We went upstairs to the pelvis and the relevant findings were discovered, including: 10 of L hip IR 15 of L hip ER Ultimately, his led to 2 new activities for homework and the removal of 1 activity from his current training regimen: Bulgarian split squats. Onward! Stay tuned! See more

Nice to Meet You Let me greet you with my pelvis.

If Only... I could talk about all the gains this client of mine has made since we started working together. But more important is the fact that, IMO, she didn’t need any of the 10 (yes, TEN) surgeries that led to surgery #11, which was a multi-level fusion. Consumer tip: Do you know who REALLY knows who the best orthopedic surgeons are in your community?... not the PTs who work at the ortho-owned PT mill In Pasadena we have (4) orthopedic groups, with a satellite office for a 5th, L.A.-based group. If only this lady: had tried REAL PT first or after any of her first 10 surgeries where she kept getting sent to the ortho-owned PT clinic (sorry, nothing clinical going on in there) after her knee replacement (after surgery #5 failed they blamed her knee) came to me asking me for a surgeon referral I definitely would have given her 4 other names If only... See more

Squat-Shift vs. Shift-Squat @martina.sata has been crushing her program with me and making all the gains. Assessment revealed an inability an actively adduct her femur on the L, which is synonymous with the inability to abduct the same pelvic outlet.... Specific findings warrant specific interventions, which in her case was a few offset squats with specific breathing sequences. This is the result after just 8 squats. Martina is in great shape but just 8 of these squats warmed her up really quick. Of course these now become part of her homework and we will move on to the next part of her program the next time she comes in. Based on the next assessment. See more