Segmental Cat Backs – Self-Mobilization for Thoracic Extension
- The patient is in the hands and knees position with the hands directly beneath the shoulders and knees directly under the hips.
- The patient is instructed to drop the head down and segmentally lift their spine towards the ceiling progressing segmentally from the neck then thorax and finally the lumbar spine, finishing by tucking the pelvis under with a posterior tilt.
- From this fully flexed position the patient has the option to reverse their spine from the bottom up or from the top down.
- If reversing from the bottom up the patient is instructed to anteriorly tilt the pelvis and drop the lumbar spine into lordosis, segmentally progressing up into the thoracic spine with the shoulder blades approximating as the chest drops forward and the neck and head are extended. The therapist observes the motion to make sure that the patient does not skip over a portion of the spine, but moves segmentally as much as possible.
- If reversing from above down from the fully flexed position the patient is instructed to lift up their head, extend the neck and drop their chest towards the table with the scapula approximating as the mid-thoracic spine extends. As the motion approaches the lumbar spine the patient drops their belly and anteriorly rotates the pelvis, lifting the tailbone up.
- The therapist evaluates in which direction that the patient appears to have better control, from the bottom up or from the top down, and instructs the patient to always initially start the exercise moving in the direction that they have the best control.
- The patient repeats the movements 5 to 6 times alternating the initiation of movement from the head and from the tailbone.
