Dr. Richard Hazel, DAc - Range Of Motion Acupuncture

08/27/2026

08/27/2026

🎨 **Behind the Biomechanics: The Tireless Anchor of the Shoulder** 🎨

Ever wonder how your shoulder manages to stay stable during complex overhead movements, even though the joint itself is built with a massive anatomical mismatch? It all comes down to **joint centration** and an incredibly engineered muscular mechanism.

🔹 **Joint Centration (The Ball in the Socket)**: The rotator cuff muscles act as the shoulder's primary dynamic stabilizers. By contracting in unison, they compress the large, spherical humeral head directly into the shallow glenoid cavity—creating a stable dynamic fulcrum. This is known as the **concavity-compression mechanism**.

🔹 **The "Always On" Function**: Unlike larger power muscles that only turn on when you lift weights, the rotator cuff has a continuous, low-threshold postural activation. It is "always on" to anticipate and center your joint before and during every single movement.

🔹 **Engineered to Resist Fatigue**: How do these muscles work continuously without burning out? The secret is their histochemical profile. The rotator cuff is packed with slow-twitch, oxidative, and highly fatigue-resistant **Type I muscle fibers** (constituting about 54% of the supraspinatus, 41% of the infraspinatus, 49% of the teres minor, and 38% of the subscapularis). These specialized fibers allow your shoulder's stabilizers to run indefinitely without hitting a wall.

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08/22/2026

Deep groin pain in the anterior hip on hip flexion may be AGS and the problem is not in the front of the hip. It's in the back of the hip! Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com Instagram: If you are watching on YouTube please Like Share and Subscribe to the Channel.

08/19/2026

An excellent explainer about peptides from Dr. Vincent Pedre.

Learn everything about peptides, including what they are, how they work, peptide types, gut health benefits, and longevity science.

08/18/2026

Think deep hip rotators like the obturator internus and gemelli are only worth needling when a patient is in pain? Think again.

In Functional Acupuncture, we don't wait for a labral tear, groin impingement, or severe sciatica to treat the deep rotators. These muscles act as the "rotator cuff" of the hip joint, and optimizing them is essential for high-level movement mechanics and injury prevention.

Here is why treating them for function—not just pain—is a game-changer:

* Joint Centration: The obturator internus is primary for maintaining femoral head centration inside the acetabulum, with the gemelli ("the twins") working synergistically below it.

* Feed-Forward Mechanics: Similar to how the transverse abdominis engages prior to core movement, the obturator internus pulls the femoral head inward before you take a step to keep the joint centered and prevent rubbing.

* Proprioceptive Powerhouses: These lower deep rotators are packed with muscle spindles. High sensory feedback is required for the nervous system to feel dynamic joint position and maintain stability.

* Protecting the Knees & Ankles: For athletes making explosive lateral cuts or changing direction, the deep rotators control the steering wheel of the hip. When they fail to centrate the joint, excess stress shifts down the kinetic chain, leaving the lateral knee and ankle vulnerable to injury.

Elite athletes often test "strong" on standard manual muscle tests simply because they are strong, but their deep rotators can still be shortened, ischemic, or tight. Using functional motor point acupuncture with low-frequency e-stim restores essential muscle elasticity, contractility, and joint centration—keeping your athletes fast, stable, and out of pain.

Drop a 🎯 below if you're already treating the deep rotators for performance!

08/15/2026

https://youtu.be/WfUK1maB1IU

Getting started is always challenging. I made a lot of mistakes and...

08/15/2026

Getting started is always challenging. I made a lot of mistakes and I'm sharing what worked and what didn't work. I'm not your guru so I'm not suggesting that you do anything. I'm just sharing what I think so maybe some of you will benefit from what I have learned by trial and error. Online Courses:...

08/13/2026

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08/13/2026

08/09/2026

Checkout The Acupuncture Outsider Podcast
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