A Patient Flew From Africa to See Me, Here’s Why…

🌍 This Week’s Case: Patient Flew from Africa to See Me

This past week, a patient flew in all the way from Senegal, Africa to see me. Interestingly, her son — who lives about 1 hour and 20 minutes from my clinic — had never heard of my work or the Whelton Methods or my teachings and publications until he soley came across my clinic ads. He said “I trust this guy” when I first met him as he watches my clinical ads all the time he said.

He brought his mother to me after taking her to Morocco, where they told her that her feet were the cause of her back pain. But when she arrived, I immediately noticed something different.

She had no pain over her SI joints, but pain localized to L1–L3. That pattern made me think her SI joints might be referring pain upward into the spine. The other issue could have been OA of the spine but I always clear the SI joints and sacrum first.

🧠 My Clinical Process

I palpated both PSIS bilaterally while she extended backward. My left thumb translated superiorly — indicating an upslip.

I then performed long-axis mobilization with her supine and found bilateral out flares (which I see in most chronic SI cases).

While side-lying, I mobilized the out flares medially. Interestingly, there was no sacral rotation this time.

When she stood up and extended again, both PSIS translated inferiorly, confirming correction of the upslip — and just like that, her back pain was gone.

💡 Clinical Takeaway

Always clear the SI joints and sacrum in any case involving pain or symptoms from T12 down into the foot. What’s missed most often isn’t the obvious — it’s the subtle misalignment that creates the pain.

I’ve placed her on my SI protocol and fully expect her to recover.

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