Home Disorders Tilted pelvis / Asymmetry of the pelvis
Print E-mail
Beckenschiefstand Atlaskorrektur
Photos:: 1) before treatment
2) one week after treatment

Tilting of the pelvis – asymmetry / obliquity of the pelvis

Pelvic obliquity (the tilting of the pelvis/pelvic misalignment) or pelvic rotation can also have negative effects on the misalignment of the Atlas.

The pelvis is also affected and leans to one side as a result when the spine is subjected to asymmetrical forces because the muscles on one side of the body end up being more tense. Further details on this condition can be found HERE.

Pelvic obliquity creates the impression that one leg is longer than the other even though they are of the same length.

Pelvic obliquity has negative effects on hip joints, knees and feet, and even on the disks.

A simple method to establish the presence of an oblique pelvis is to look at yourself carefully in a mirror: is one hip bone higher than the other?

This is another way to notice pelvic obliquity: in order to distribute the weight to the other side, do you tend to slightly bend one knee while you are standing?

If the answer is yes, then it is likely that you're suffering from pelvic obliquity.

An oblique (asymmetrical) pelvis can be permanently improved or completely corrected by an ATLANTOtec® Atlas adjustment.

The correction often takes place immediately after the treatment or as the skeletal structure gradually finds its balance.

If the pelvis does not compensate fully, then the cause may lie in malocclusion of the jaw.


Manual treatments for pelvic obliquity

Manual therapists such as physiotherapists and osteopaths attempt to realign the pelvis through manipulative techniques, stretching, or massage.

As most patients affected by an oblique pelvis can confirm, the effects of this manipulation are usually temporary. After treatment, the pelvis will rapidly adjust back to its former position, thus forcing patients into regular treatment so that they can at least enjoy some improvement. Over the long term, the pains become chronic and a fertile breeding ground is created for pain in the groin region, for herniated disks, or for lumbago.

This occurs because the cause of an oblique pelvis, which lies in a misalignment of the Atlas (worsened by malocclusion of the jaw), is not taken into consideration nor adequately corrected during manual adjustments of the pelvis.

A conventional dentist who treats teeth usually pays no heed to the misalignment of the pelvis, while the manual therapist or orthopedist remains focused on the pelvis and does not pay attention to dental or mandibular misalignments. As long as the musculoskeletal system is not viewed and treated in its totality, long-lasting solutions for patients will not be found.

Experience has shown that when the Atlas – and if necessary the jaw – is realigned, the pelvis realigns as a result, this time permanently.

Once the primary cause is removed, manual techniques can be applied to the pelvis to provide support and to allow the body to return more quickly to a balanced position.


Pelvic obliquity from a medical and orthopedic perspective

Röntgen Beckenschiefstand

Patients suffering from pelvic obliquity who turn to a doctor or orthopedist usually receive the diagnosis that one leg is shorter than the other.

Nothing could be further from the truth. As shown in a study by Burkhard Hock, legs that are unequal in length from birth occur in only 4% of the population:

96% of cases of pelvic asymmetry arise through a forward or backward rotation of a hip bone. Scoliosis in the lumbar vertebrae region causes the pelvis to twist.

An orthopedist or doctor dealing with pelvic obliquity usually requests X-rays of the pelvis in order to determine the asymmetry "accurately." This approach introduces a serious error of perspective: while there are three dimensions (height x width x depth), the X-ray image of the pelvis reduces it to two dimensions (height x width). Anyone familiar with photography or physics will immediately understand the error!

What the doctor interprets from the X-ray as one leg being shorter is in fact an error of perspective caused by one hip bone being spatially further forward or back compared to the other hip bone (depth view). In a two-dimensional (2D) image, as in a simple X-ray image, "one hip bone will appear HIGHER than the other" rather than "further FORWARD than the other" as would be the case in a three-dimensional perspective.

How do orthopedists compensate for this error in perspective and comprehension? By prescribing an orthopedic insole! What is the result of an orthopedic insole when in reality there is nothing wrong with the length of the legs?

Simple! Back pains will increase because an additional imbalance is introduced into the musculoskeletal system!

Doctors are trained to view the mechanism of movement from the ground up (bottom-up). Thus, as a matter of first impression, it would be logical to diagnose the cause of pelvic obliquity as"differences in leg length." That's when they say: "One of your legs is shorter than the other!"

Orthopedic insoles only make sense in those 4% of cases where there really is a difference in leg length; in the remaining 96% of cases they may even be the source of injuries, as many patients can confirm.