Patients with lower back pain often have tightness of the hip flexor muscles. This is aggravated by the presence of a forward bent posture from lower back pain and presence of weak and shortened paraspinal muscles. This places the abdominal wall and the hip flexor muscles in an advantageous position to bring the trunk and hips into flexion.
The hip flexor muscle tightness is favored by the presence of weakness of the hip extensor muscles such as the gluteus maximus, adductor magnus and the hamstring muscles.

Muscles that perform hip flexion are:
- Iliopsoas
- rectus femoris

- sartorius
- pectineus

These muscles are supplied by the femoral nerve (L2, L3 and L4 spinal nerve roots).
Muscles that also perform hip flexion are:
- gluteus medius and minimus-

tensor fascia latae
- adductor longus and brevis

The gluteus medius and minimus (L5, S1 spinal nerve roots) and tensor fascia latae (L4, L5 spinal nerve roots) are supplied by the superior gluteal nerve.
Adductor longus and brevis are applied by the obturator nerve (L2, L3 and L4 spinal nerve roots).

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Jennifer Chu, M.D., founder of eToims Soft Tissue Comfort Center® is also President and CEO of eToims Medical Technology LLC, a medical device company with training programs in eToims® Twitch Relief Method. She is an Emeritus Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania, where has been on faculty for more than 30 years. www.stopmusclepain.com

Jennifer Chu, M.D. emeritus professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, pioneered eToims Twitch Relief Method that utilizes surface electrical stimulation to locate motor points (trigger points). The motor points are then stimulated to induce strong local muscle contractions, termed twitches. This results in reduced muscle pain and discomfort in the areas that were stimulated. The involved pain/discomfort-relieving mechanism is thought to include local muscle exercise and stretch effects.

eToims Soft Tissue Comfort Center® specializes in diagnosis and treatment which ends muscle discomfort and pain.

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