#685: Dr. Shirley Sahrmann — A Legendary PT Does a Deep Dive on Tim's Low-Back Issues, Teaches How to Unlearn Painful Patterns, Talks About Movement as Medicine (or Poison), and More

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Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2023/08/04/dr-shirley-sahrmann/

Shirley A. Sahrmann, PT, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Physical Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy and her masters and doctorate degrees in neurobiology from Washington University, where she joined the physical therapy faculty and became the first director of their PhD program in movement science.

Shirley became a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association in 1986 and in 1998 was selected to receive the Mary McMillan Award, the Association’s highest honor. She is a recipient of the Association’s Marion Williams Research Award, the Lucy Blair Service Award, the Kendall Practice Award, and the Inaugural John H.P. Maley Lecturer Award.

She has also received Washington University's Distinguished Faculty Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award, the School of Medicine’s Inaugural Distinguished Clinician Award, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Indianapolis. She has also received the Bowling-Erhard Orthopedic Clinical Practice Award from the Orthopaedic Academy of the APTA. She has served on the APTA Board of Directors and as president of the Missouri Chapter.

Her first book, Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, has been translated into seven languages. Her second book, Movement System Impairment Syndromes of the Extremities, Cervical and Thoracic Spines, has been equally influential in promoting movement diagnoses.

Please enjoy!

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[07:12] A brief terminology primer.

[13:00] Why Shirley's first book is so influential among physical therapists.

[15:54] The correlation between lifestyle and health hasn't always been obvious.

[18:16] Low back pain: not a diagnosis, but a symptom.

[20:41] The trouble with overdeveloped abdominals.

[22:32] What's my problem?

[30:14] The Movement Systems Syndromes (MSS) approach.

[31:29] The wrong walk home.

[33:01] Correcting bad habits.

[35:00] Psoas it goes.

[37:03] Other commonly repeating culprits.

[40:36] Pump handle and bucket handle.

[43:41] The body follows the path of least resistance.

[48:00] Anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS)

[49:20] How Shirley examines a new patient.

[55:11] Assessing athletes vs. non-athletes.

[56:18] Dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS)

[57:49] Collapso-smasho and squeezo-smasho.

[59:10] Correcting low shoulders.

[1:05:26] Stretching: yes or no?

[1:09:56] Addressing my abdominal stiffness.

[1:16:28] When the spine doesn't want to go along for the ride.

[1:18:38] How has Shirley made it to 86 with her physical and mental health intact?

[1:34:32] What men should know about femoral retroversion.

[1:38:44] If it walks like a duck...

[1:41:11] Managing symptoms of Scheuermann's disease.

[1:42:49] Parting thoughts.

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