A recent post by Patrick Ward of Optimum Sports Performance titled “Searching for Answers…“ described the importance of “dancing” in soft tissue therapy and the role of fascia. Having encountered a number of challenging cases over the years, his post reminded me of one particular athlete during my time with the University of Toronto Track Club.

Suffering from a lower body injury, this female athlete had been undergoing therapy for quite some time. Having exhausted the list of differential diagnoses, it was not until the head therapist, Ed Ratz, discovered the potential cause of her dysfunctions.

A navel ring? Really? How so?

Kathie Harvie, an athletic therapist and osteopath from the University of Windsor investigated this topic several years ago and states:

The piercing constitutes a scar, and a scar is a robber of mobility. The scar adheses the superficalis fascia (Scarpa’s) of the abdomen – which links up with the inguinal canal, and once you hit the inguinal you can go anywhere all levels of fascia congregate there…so my image is the bike wheel or the flag pole with lots of streamers..the virgin belly button is a floating anchor, the adulterated belly button is not so floating..as a floater it serves as a reference point, accomdating its connections..mainly the pelvis (right and left medial umbilical ligaments and the mean umbilical ligament)..when it is not so floating, it does not accomodate. Back to the wheel…pelvic and thoracic diaphragm are the tires, the falx and the 3 umbilical ligaments to the pelvis are spokes and the belly button is the axis…and…since it is common to have infections with belly button piercings…so that adds to the adhesiveness concept.

Interesting, huh? So in the event that you’re having some difficulty searching for answers on a particular patient, be sure to check the missing “link“.

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