The established models for why knee, hip, and shoulder replacements occur do not include many relevant anatomical relationships that feed into these degenerations.

As Allied Health professionals we can’t help all, yet we can assist many more than we ever imagined if we have the comprehensive understanding and skill sets.

The need is growing: By 2030, total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries will see a 673% increase. In 2008, 63% of all knee replacement operations were performed on women. Half of those seeking TKR’s are younger than 65. (1)

During This Workshop You Will Learn: 

• The “Sacs & Tubes Theory of Stress”
• The hip and shoulder have an innate evolutionary pre-disposition for subluxation
• To help the knee, one must begin with the hip
• The viscera must be mobilized to help the hips... the kinetic chain begins “inside”
• That there is a fascial linkage between the shoulders, hips, and knees
• That subcortical reflexes often exist beneath the surface of joint degenerations
• That attention to these relationships resolves many chronic low back conditions
• That infections & pathologies may lurk in the background of joint degeneration
• An assessment protocol for early detection of hip, knee, & shoulder degeneration
• How to counsel clients toward medical options

Techniques Will Be Demonstrated and Practiced That: 

• Assist the femoral and humeral heads to “recapture” their joint space and the femoral condyles to find their “tracking” in relationship to the tibial plateaus
• Assist the myofascial suspension and re-balancing of these and related joints
• Mobilize the related viscera which co-participate in these degenerations
• Mobilize the joints of the pelvis, lumbars, & cervical spine to assist in distribution of strain
• Reduce the systemic congestion which inevitably participates in such degenerations

Instructor: Dale G. Alexander Ph.D. MA, BSEd, L.M.T. has had a Clinical Massage Therapy practice in Key West, Fla. since 1980. He has specialized in addressing chronic somatic dysfunction throughout his career and was named the top CE Provider of 2016 by the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education.

This course has organically grown out of Dale’s personal experience. In 1983 Dale and his step-son were hit head-on by a drunk driver. Both experienced orthopedic injuries. Dale’s right hip was shattered, the tibial plateaus were fractured, and his ankle broken along with additional facial and neck trauma.

An intrinsic understanding began to grow within his clinical awareness as more and more clients started to show up with varying degrees of hip, knee, and shoulder degeneration.

He believes this course pioneers an understanding of how we as allied health practitioners may contribute to people who desire to lead more full and active lives as they age. Identifying these 3 joint degenerations in their earlier stages is a necessary skill as is a willingness to encourage one’s patients or clients to seek a full medical evaluation.

And, Dale cautions potential participants that if they select to add these skills sets and understandings, they must be willing to fail. Most clients who seek you out in the beginning will be looking for a miracle. Sometimes this does occur. It’s quite exhilarating when it does.

However, it is his considerable experience that assisting clients to make functional progress thus, delaying an eventual surgery or, sometimes even encouraging it happening sooner can be as satisfying as preventing it. Clients often feel like they have a new lease on a healthy life following a joint replacement and most often will work with you to assist their rehabilitation. As a result, long term therapeutic relationships are formed.

This is the pragmatic philosophy behind the title of the course.

What to Bring:

Massage Tables, Linens, Viscous lubricant, 3 pillows, Snacks to keep your blood sugar stable, and Extra clothes should the A/C be cooler than can be controlled.

Attire during the clinical practice exchanges during the workshop should be either your underwear or sports bra and shorts that allow access to one’s abdomen and the ischial ramus and tuberosity whichever you are most comfortable with...

Related articles by Dale Alexander

Inside-Out Paradigm - The Aspiration to Prevent Hip, Knee, & Shoulder Replacements.

Part 1

Part 2

The "Sacs and Tubes theory of Stress" Article