Parents ask me a version of this most weeks, and it's a completely fair question. I brought her in about her head. Why are you checking her hips?
The answer is pure anatomy, and once you've seen it you can't unsee it.
Inside your skull, wrapped around the brain, there's a tough fibrous membrane called the dura mater. Think of it as the liner of the helmet rather than the helmet itself. Leathery, strong, and it holds a shape.
The part almost nobody gets taught: That liner doesn't stop at the neck. It continues down through the opening at the base of the skull, runs the whole length of the spinal canal as a sleeve around the spinal cord, and anchors at the bottom end, at the sacrum, the wedge of bone that sits between the hip bones.
One sheet. Base of the skull to tailbone. Anchored at both ends.
The picture that fits is a tent. Not the poles, the fabric. One guy-line running corner to corner, pulled taut. Tighten one end and the far corner knows about it immediately, because it's the same piece of material. Nobody has to walk over there and tell it.
Bodies are like that more often than people expect. We're used to thinking in departments. The head is the head, the hips are the hips, and they get separate appointments. Anatomy is less tidy than that, and this is one of the cleanest examples in the whole body.
So what I do with it is simple. I check both ends. Every time, on everybody, regardless of which end the question came in about.
It's easy to run further with this than the anatomy allows, so let me hold it still. This is a description of how a body is built. It isn't a claim about what happens when we work on one end of it. Anatomy tells me where to look. It doesn't tell me what to promise.
What it does explain is the shape of the exam. Why an infant check covers more ground than the presenting question suggested, and why the useful finding is sometimes a long way from where you were pointing.
One sheet runs from the base of the skull to the tailbone. That's why I check both ends, every time.
Keep reading: Babies and Development
Individual results vary. Chiropractic care does not diagnose, treat, or cure any disease or condition. This information is educational and not a substitute for medical care. Sláinte provides wellness chiropractic care and works alongside your medical team.
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Your first visit includes our INSiGHT nervous system scans. X-rays, if clinically necessary, are always discussed with you first.
