Lateral Shift Correction - No Side Glides Required!

If you have a lateral shift, low back pain, and a disc bulge, you'll learn what is going on and a better treatment than all those lateral shifts you are doing.

Question: Can you make a video about lateral shift?

Answer: Why yes, yes I can 🙂

First, we have to understand what exactly is going on with a lateral shift. Essentially, a lateral shift is a short-term scoliosis strategy that manifests as a way to offload any affected structures. It is commonly associated with disc injury, but not always, and can occur on either side of injury.

Before proceeding with any treatment on this, you have to make sure you get checked out by a medical professional to rule out any serious pathology. If you are getting any pain, weakness, sensation loss, etc down the leg, well fam check that out first! Sometimes doing something quick to reduce inflammation medically can make a world of difference.

But let’s say you got checked, aggressive treatments are not indicated, what the heck do you do for this lateral shift.

We have to look at when I shift laterally, what range of motion is often lost in this case.

It’s not uncommon for a straight leg raise to be limited in this population. Moreover, sidebending maneuvers, at least based on what these occur in gait, are associated with more of an internal rotation-based strategy in my opinion.

Therefore, if I sidebend in one direction, I will pick up internal rotation towards the sidebend, and reduce it away from the sidebend. If I have less internal rotation, there will be less compression over the given area.

What I’ve found useful in these cases is to choose activities where you are doing your darndest to create some type of internal rotation restoration.

The two big keys would be to perform some type of shift towards the affected side, like a sidelying hip shift:

Then doing something to create lateral expansion of the ribcage. Something like this swiss ball stretch can be useful:

[butterfly-kbcn]

I was diagnosed years ago with DDD every now and then my back will have a what I call a slight burn. I can’t stand straight and I have a a shift. I’m not sure what triggers it but it usually lasts a 3-5 days. I usually also get a electrical shock on my left through my buttocks but it never goes down my leg. I do not have insurance and lil income but found so many videos that has helped me. Thank you

[andretheyawesomebikersmith]

Really helpful, very interesting had lateral shift for over 20 years on and off. never thought about internal rotation being part of the problem

[Harank]

I'm really in need of help concerning this shift. This just happen roe yesterday. It was said after the doctor's visit that i have a pinched nerve and lumbar radicylopathy (subluxation of L4-L5 lumbar vertebra, initial encounter) I walk with a slant downward to the left. I really need help asap! Thank you!

[ashamehta]

Dear

Did some exercise but after that facing lots of pain ...what we can do ??

[WilliamWilliams-lj]

Wow I have been working years to correct myself and have never been able to put my injuries into propper verbiage for a doctor or physical therapist to understand.
Now I can hopefully get a propper diagnosis

[밍맹-mo]

Hi zac. thanks for a video. Im from seoul not a native english speaker so i just wanted to make sure what ive understood is right.

i have a lateral hip shift to right, and what you are suggesting is to strengthen my right hip adductors(adductor muscles create IR movements, right?) and extend the left side of my torso. would a exercise that relaxes my left lateral hamstring help to strengthen IR of my left leg

Also I have a pelvic rotation to right when i stand still. i found that I have a lateral pelvic shift and rotation when I found my self squatting to the right at the gym. left ASIS more forward than the left one. Does the pelvic rotation have something to do with hip lateral shift? wonder if one disorder is a result of a action to compensate the other disorder. if so, which disorder do you think must be addressed before the other?

[sachetbhasin]

Hey Zac, are side glides bad ive been using them right after back spasms which followed right shift. Anything to be skeptical about?

[jreverie]

Very interesting stuff, thanks so much for sharing. Have been dealing with this for years, it seems to make everything get out of whack! Learnt a lot

[nico_dipierro]

Hey Zac in your previous video about lateral shift, from last year you gave the example of a lateral shift with the trunk shifting to the lx. You then said that the lower ribcage on this side tends to elevate. As a strategy you suggested to close it with side lying activities. However in this video you suggest the opposite saying that the patient was closing the side he was shifting towards. Can you explain to me the difference in the approach please?

[GURPREETSINGH-mznw]

hi zac, what if someone is having thorax moving left side and lower body right side of pelvis feel upward and right side of hip feels dropping have no can we resolve that ? .what we can do on right side of hip i have wide ISA on left side

[l.a.b.chimmy]

Me with lateral shift waiting for exercises 🤡

[kwlweapons]

i had some bad pain going down my leg and a ruptured l4-l5. Doing the hip shift while lying as well as all fours breathing decompression has now eliminated the nerve pain and I'm walking and living again. I'm not 100% healed but it's night and day compared to a couple of months ago when I started doinig PRI techniques. Glad I didn't go under the knife as I was very close to getting a disectomy or evetual fusion. Thanks for the info Zac, I will stick to the exercises and keep progressing.

[pistolpe]

When I’m leaning on my right side on the couch arm, and stand up, I’m shifted to the right, I then have to move my back to the left and feel burning pain and then I’m straight?

[SurajYadav-vtvd]

Is shift can be the reason of my loss of loddosis of my spine

[EhCloserLook]

I have a recurring lateral shift issue…
It happens to me about once every 1.5 - 2 years. 😢

[chaohao]

thank you for the open-minded idea, so we should literally restore the internal rotation of right side if we shift to the right, but should we fix the external rotation of right hip first before treat the internal rotation?

[xthinker]

Am wide Isa. But I have this lateral tilt. . I thought in others words we can call it oblique orientation turn Because is wide isa. Right hip flexion is 90 and left 60, then start to deviate Out. Limited both ir . SLR 35 on both. Little back pain on the left. . . I did have this ankle sprain on my left. So this start to happen after that sprain. In ur content I heard u said . Wide oblique turn . That push forward should start on.right first. . But in my case I do feel all the tight and impingememt only the left side. I know u will say u have. To evaluate me first. Pls just. Look at my chest board and guess about it. Where I should. Start. . And more to it.. anytime I do this side lying roll to the left . I fell little. relief.

[pokerdiver]

my pelvis just shifted to my left and theres crazy intense nerve pain and very hard to move. im stuck in bed, what can i do? thanks

[sophieom]

What to do if this shift occurs due to disc bulge? Should I still try to manipulate it? Or should I wait till the pain goes away and then the shift will resolve itself?

[wholearmor]

Would you take a look at my wife's X-rays if I sent them to you? We've been to orthopaedic surgeons, physical therapists, and chiropractors and, so far, have wasted a lot of time and money. We saw the procedure for surgery and we definitely aren't doing that. Thanks!