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In looking at your client face on, there are three red flags that should alert you to the possibility (though not the certainty) that you are looking at Spiral Line imbalance: 1. head tilt, rotation, or shift; 2. one shoulder rests in front of the other; 3. the rib cage is skewed. Let us take these in turn. I left in the bit about head rotation, but few people walk around with their head rotated (unless they have vision problems in one eye as in Image 5). Head tilt is more common, and a head characteristically tilted to the left would indicate shortness in the left splenii or left Spiral Line in general. Oddly, if the head is right shifted (level, but held to the side, like Asian temple dancing), that would also indicate contraction in the left Spiral Line (and the client is using another muscle in the neck, frequently the scalenes or sternocleidomastoid, to level out the head). The second indication, one shoulder hanging forward of the other, can suggest that the shoulder is being pulled around by shortness in the serratus anterior, or again, by the line in general (Image 6). This is not as certain a red flag as the first, because other factors like hand dominance, injury, or use patterns can bring that shoulder into protraction or anterior tilt without involving the Spiral Line. But if you see one shoulder significantly forward of the other, it is a good idea to assess the two Spiral Lines for imbalance. The last sign is pretty reliable, and involves an eyeball measurement. Make a mental X across the belly, from ribs to the opposite hip. To be precise (although with a little practice, eyeballing it is easy), measure from the right ASIS to the 7th rib on the left where the lateral edge of the rectus abdominis crosses onto the rib cage, and make a similar measurement on the other side. If one side of this measurement is significantly shorter than the other, then Spiral Line imbalance is a near certainty (Image 7A, page 98). Be real here. If you have to get out your tape measure to determine if there is any difference, it is probably not clinically significant. In those with significant imbalance between the two Spiral Lines, you will see with no trouble the difference in the two legs of your X. The shorter side, of course, indicates the shorter Spiral Line. This series is about visual assessment, not treatment options, but myofascial release, stretching exercises, or awareness work can all be effective here when applied to the shortened tissues. It would be nice if life were simple and everyone showed up with one or the other upper Spiral Line consistently short all the way along, but unfortunately that is not how it works. Sometimes the back side of the upper spiral on one side is short from head to ribs, counterbalanced by the other spiral An off-center head is a frequent indicator of Spiral Line imbalance, which is linked (in my opinion, no evidence) to our vestibular system, or inner-ear balance. Though shoulders go into imbalance for many reasons, significant difference in placement alerts me to look at the Spiral Line. being short in front from ribs to hips (see Image 7B, page 98)—thus more or less canceling each other out, and making the simple visual clues we listed above a bit more complex. You can, however, take the measure of head to ribs on the back, and then the measure we made above of ribs to hips in the front. Again, if it is too close to call visually, probably better to work on some other imbalance that is more telling, but sometimes the discrepancy between these two lines tells the story. The last complication in visual assessment of the Spiral Line is that there is a deeper line (the core, or Deep Front Line, as we call it—stay tuned), which often produces rotational deviations as well, via pelvic or spinal twists and torques. We will get to this in a later article, but for now, suffice it to say that it is common enough for the core to produce a twist in one direction, and the Spiral Line to compensate by countering the twist in the other direction. Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 97