What is an Posterior Pelvic Tilt?

A Pelvic tilt refers to how much your hips lean toward the front or back of your body.

If your hips are more oriented toward the back of your body, you have posterior (back) pelvic tilt sometimes known as a flat back posture.

Here’s what this looks like:

As you can see, there are two points on your pelvis that are important here:

• The posterior superior iliac spine, or PSIS.
• The anterior superior iliac spine, or ASIS.

When you draw a line between the ASIS and PSIS, you get the angle of pelvic tilt.

If the ASIS is higher than the PSIS, you’re said to be in posterior pelvic tilt, if it’s the other way around, you’re in an anterior pelvic tilt, and if they’re more or less level, you have a neutrally positioned pelvis.

What contributes to an Posterior Pelvic Tilt?

Typically, posterior pelvic tilt arises from a combination of these factors:

1. Tight Hamstrings/Glutes & Abdominals
2. Weak or Elongated Hip Flexors & Erector Group (Lumbar)

Treatments

Correcting for an anterior pelvic tilt means you will have to first properly assess the condition. Remember, as a massage therapist you should never diagnose, however visually assessing for short & tight muscles is in my opinion YOUR JOB. In future lessons we will have a video demonstrating a full assessment. You should also correct the four contributing factors:

1. Massage & Stretch the the tight Hamstrings,Glutes and Abdominals either through Deep Tissue Massage, Myofascial Release Techniques or PNF Stretching. Additionally, the lower lumbar spine will require some myofascial releasing to gently encourage more movement in the spine.

Note:This posture is closely related to the pattern seen in Swayback but is not the same. Note the differences in postural distortions. Client's with this posture will be more prone to disc bulges, nerve issues and muscular strains (… just to name a few) in the lumbar spine. They might be coming in with previous disc surgeries and diagnosis.

Strengthening the hip flexor muscles and erectors to better support the back. (this you can not do, but you should make this suggestion to your client and refer them to a PT or Certified Corrective Trainer.)