Clincal Report: Expanding Ellipsoidal Decompression (EED«) of the Spine
by Tiziano Marovino, DPT, DAAPM
 Since humans
evolved into bipedal creatures, there has been a growing recognition of the important role
that posture plays in the total health of a person. We have recognized that there are a
multitude of both internal (anatomical/ physiological) and external factors
(environmental) in our daily lives that can act to shape our adult frame and habitus in
general. The interrelationship or relative positioning of each spinal vertebra is the
primary determinant of the skeletal alignment of an individual. There are many known
factors that directly and indirectly affect the vertebral positioning and total posture in
a given person including:
• inherent spinal health (disease),
• biomechanical forces acting on the spine (work positions),
• musculo-tendinous forces (muscle balance/synergy),
• ligamentous integrity (laxity/strength),
• disease and injury,
• preferred or “grooved” movement patterns, and
• motor strategies (favorite postures).
Many of these factors converge into the clinical presentation practitioners observe
during a posture analysis. Sometimes we fail to clinically recognize these factors and
simply classify the problem as stemming from age-related changes since the results or
consequences of these factors often manifest as non-specific neck/back pain in later
stages of life.
Epidemiology of Spine Pain
An interesting spine-related factoid is that lower spine pain represents the fifth most
common reason for physician visits in the United States and is the most frequent cause of
activity limitations in persons younger than 45 years of age. The vast majority of spine
pain is self-limiting and non-organic (not related to infection, inflammatory arthritis,
fracture or cancer) and approximately 2% of our U.S. workforce is compensated (paid
claims) for spine pain each year. As a result, we spend many billions of dollars in direct
treatment costs and many billions more for associated indirect costs of treating spine
pain.1
Please refer to the March 2010 issue for the complete text. In the event you need to order a back issue, please click here.
— March 2010
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