San Diego runner puts distance between himself and pain

June 11, 2012 - PRLog -- When long-time runner Mike Danner showed up at Upright Health, he had been fighting with aches and pains that were threatening to cut his running career short. Visits to doctors, chiropractors, and massage therapists all resulted in the same prognosis: he was too old to run.

In his mid 50s, he wasn't satisfied with that answer. "I just had this feeling that there was something a little bit off, and it didn't have to do with age," says Danner.

With discomfort and tightness in his hips and pain and swelling in his knees, the treatment regimens Danner was trying weren't getting him results. He showed up at Upright Health for a posture and muscle balance assessment, and the results weren't surprising.

"He was basically shaped like an S," says Matt Hsu (pronounced like "shoe"), the founder of Upright Health.  "His hips were tucked, his knees were pointing in different directions, and he had strong sway back. It was no wonder he felt like something was wrong."

After about two months of postural exercises and soft tissue manipulation focused on restoring proper muscle balance, Danner ran two half marathons in back-to-back weekends without pain.  

What was the difference between what Danner had been trying and what he did at Upright Health?

Hsu explains,  "We focused on restoring balance to his body instead of trying to treat the  points where he felt pain. The pain he was experiencing was just a symptom of the imbalances. By retraining his muscles to hold his body correctly and move his body efficiently, we took away the reason for the pain and improved his ability to run at the same time."

It's an approach that has apparently worked. Says Danner, "It's helped me add years to my life."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSiUdW4RWKo