Why I Check Your Neck When Your Foot Hurts: The Whole-Body Approach to Healing

“Wait… why are you looking at my neck? I came in because my foot hurts.”

If you've ever asked me this—or just quietly wondered what on earth I was doing—you’re not alone. It’s a very reasonable question.

And the answer lies in how I understand the body.

Most people are used to thinking of their body like a machine: a collection of parts, each doing its job. If something breaks or wears out, you fix or replace that one part.

But that’s not how the human body really works.

It’s not a machine. It’s a living, dynamic system—an interconnected web of muscles, joints, nerves, fascia, blood vessels, chemistry, memories, habits, and signals. Every part of your body is in constant conversation with the rest of you.

That’s why, when something hurts, I don’t just look at the place that’s shouting the loudest.
I listen to the whole conversation.

🧠 You Are a System, Not a Stack of Parts

Think of it this way: if you twist your ankle, your foot might hurt. But you’ll also start walking differently—maybe without even realising it. That small shift affects how your knee moves, how your hip carries weight, how your spine adjusts to keep you upright, and how your shoulders and neck react to the overall imbalance.

And that’s just the mechanical side.

What we often overlook is how this also affects:

• The nervous system, which might become hyper-alert and start guarding other areas.

• The fascia, the connective tissue that links and supports your entire body, and can tighten or distort over time.

• The autonomic nervous system, which might interpret pain as a threat and shift your body into a low-level stress response (even affecting your digestion, sleep, or mood).

• The sensory system, which constantly relays information to your brain about position, balance, pressure, and pain—and can get scrambled when a single area is out of sync.

In other words, your body is not made up of isolated bits. It’s a network.
Tension in one area can create ripple effects far away—through physical, chemical, and neurological pathways.

So when your foot hurts, and I check your neck, I’m not ignoring your pain.
I’m listening for where the imbalance began.

🔄 What Systems Theory Tells Us About the Body

The reason I work this way is because of something called systems theory—a scientific way of understanding how complex systems behave.

Here’s the basic idea:

• In a system (like your body), the parts interact with each other in dynamic, often surprising ways.

• You can’t fully understand what’s going wrong by looking at one part in isolation.

• Problems in one area often emerge from how the system is adapting, compensating, or struggling to cope with something somewhere else.

Let’s take a real-life example:
Someone comes in with elbow pain. A typical approach might focus only on the joint itself—ice it, stretch it, or inject it.

But what if the real cause is in the shoulder blade not moving properly? Or in poor core stability that’s forcing the arm to overcompensate? Or even in the way the neck is sending distorted nerve messages to the muscles of the forearm?

If we only treat the elbow, we might reduce the symptoms—but we won’t solve the problem.
But when we understand the body as a system, we look wider.
And we get better, longer-lasting results.

👣 It’s Not Just About Structure—It’s About Communication

Here’s something most people don’t realise:
The nervous system isn’t just a control centre—it’s a communication network. And your spine is its main highway.

When joints in the spine (especially in the neck and lower back) are stiff, irritated, or under strain, the signals travelling to and from your brain can become distorted. That can lead to:

• Muscles tightening when they shouldn’t

• Poor coordination and balance

• Pain being felt in one area when the problem is in another

• A nervous system stuck in “fight or flight” mode—making everything feel worse

So even if your pain is in your foot, I may assess and gently adjust your spine, pelvis, or neck—not because I think that’s where you hurt, but because I want to help the whole system communicate more clearly again.

Once that happens, your body has a far better chance of healing itself—because that’s what it’s built to do.

🔍 Pain Is a Signal—Not Always the Source

Pain is your body’s way of waving a flag and saying, “Something’s not right.”

But it’s often not where the real issue started.

That’s why I ask broader questions than just, “Where does it hurt?”
I want to know:

• How do you sleep?

• Have you had previous injuries, even years ago?

• What does your balance feel like?

• Do you have tension in your jaw or neck?

• How does your body move as a whole?

These questions help me map how your body is adapting—and where it may be struggling. My goal is not just to chase symptoms, but to listen to the story your whole body is telling.

🧩 What to Expect from This Approach

If you’ve seen me before, you’ve probably noticed that I test areas you didn’t mention, or adjust parts of your spine you weren’t expecting.

Here’s why:

• I’m treating your system, not just your sore spot.

• I’m helping restore normal movement and clear signalling across your nervous system.

• I’m working to reduce the tension and confusion in your body’s internal messages, so it can heal itself more efficiently.

And when that happens, people often report improvements they didn’t expect—like better sleep, clearer thinking, or fewer digestive issues. That’s not coincidence. That’s what happens when the whole system starts working better.

🧠 Final Thought: Trust the Process

So if you ever catch yourself thinking, “Why is he checking there?”—you’re not alone. And you’re not wrong to wonder.

But remember: your body is more than a collection of joints and muscles.
It’s a whole, intelligent, interconnected system.

And my job is to help that system get back into balance, so you can feel and function at your best—not just where it hurts, but everywhere.