Cadaver Dissection Insights with The Fall Prevention Lady

Last month I was blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime; to watch and participate in a human cadaver dissection!  This wasn't your typical anatomy and physiology lab dissection; this dissection was movement-oriented in that we focused on the muscles, nerves, tendons, and fascial tissue of the human body and how lifestyle choices affect the way you move.

Anatomy Live, Phoenix AZ 2017

Michol Dalcourt of The Institute in Motion collaborated with Tom Meyers of "Anatomy Trains" to offer this amazing weekend of enlightenment to personal trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, and movement, balance and mobility specialists who strive to learn as much about the human body in order to offer our clients the most effective program for individual movement disorders.  

For eight hours, four teams of seven students stood alongside and worked with a Master Dissector.  While students dissected the torso and extremities to view the muscles and fascia at each table, one group focused on the internal organs, Tom's team studied the brain, expert dissector Todd's table went up one side in the morning and down the other in the afternoon while my team dissected the frontside in the morning and the backside in the afternoon.  

Four lives lived. Four lifestyle behaviors reflected four cadavers.  With much respect, we named our cadaver and learned how she lived her life by the condition of her muscles, soft tissues and joints.  Here's what my team discovered about Frieda:

• She was overweight with most of the fat around her belly, butt and thighs (pear-shaped)
• She had typical "old age" posture, probably due to using a walker:
• Rounded shoulders
• Dowagers hump 
• Bent forward with chin jutting forward
• She walked with a limp, favoring her right side
• She had NO ANKLE FLEXIBILITY on her dominant left side
• She couldn't raise her arms over her head

Later that evening, as I 'dissected' the day's event in my mind (pun intended), I realized the four cadavers reflected a lifetime of personal choices and the resultant muscle imbalances, limited mobility and diminished strength associated with personal behavior and advanced age.  

It was fascinating to be able to deduce movement and compensation patterns of the person by the muscle integrity, joint mobility and connective tissue properties of the cadaver.  

This was the best learning experience of my life.  

I have a tremendous respect for the human body and the interconnectedness of the kinetic chain.  

As a balance and mobility specialist and movement re-educator, I was able to witness firsthand the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle.  

As a result of this hands-on learning opportunity, my passion to help people break poor habits and "re-learn" how to move more efficiently has grown tremendously.  I am The Fall Prevention Lady and I want to help you move better, with less pain.  I am here to help you live the life you planned for.

Kelly

The Fall Prevention Lady

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