At least once a day I am asked the same question: “Doctor, am I straight?”
For many people, the feeling of asymmetry caused by muscle tension—combined with closely and sometimes worriedly observing themselves in the mirror—raises a thousand doubts. Making things even more confusing is the constant stream of information from professionals who, in explaining their work, often go into detailed descriptions of tilted pelvises, short legs, and rotated trunks.
Apparent Symmetry, Real Asymmetry
Let’s try to clarify things a bit and ease some of the anxiety by reflecting on the anatomy and physiology of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system of our body.
The human body presents an external bilateral symmetry that is useful for walking and maintaining balance during movement. When we walk, the movement of our legs is accompanied by the swing of our arms. As the right leg moves forward, the left arm swings forward, and the torso rotates with the arm to help maintain balance.
Up to this point, one might think that our nervous system is organized symmetrically. However, when someone hands us an object, we instinctively reach out with a preferred hand. Most of us use the right hand (about 80%), while the rest use the left.
This happens because part of the organization of our nervous system tends to lateralize the coordination of movement. In other words, it is naturally asymmetrical.
Apart from a small percentage of ambidextrous people who can use both hands almost interchangeably, most of us have a preferred hand and foot. This is referred to as lateralization of coordination. Inevitably, this leads to an asymmetrical presentation in the shape and posture of the body.
If we observe ourselves carefully, we may notice that one pectoral muscle is more toned than the other, one hip slightly higher than the other, or one arm positioned a bit more forward, and so on. If, in addition, we have spent years practicing asymmetrical sports such as tennis or soccer, these functional asymmetries can become even more evident. Up to this point, everything is perfectly normal.
We can therefore conclude that our body appears symmetrical in its musculoskeletal anatomy, but is asymmetrical in its motor organization.
Reading the Body to Understand Pain
Why, then, do we often try to resolve physical pain by starting from detailed descriptions of how our body presents itself?
When chiropractors or other health professionals observe a patient’s body, they try to understand how to structure the course of care by analyzing how the body has adapted over time to daily activities or to past injuries.
This analysis can highlight so-called structural problems, such as scoliosis, or adaptations acquired through practice—for example, a more muscular arm developed over time.
It is important to clarify a fundamental point to avoid creating unnecessary anxiety when observing or analyzing one’s own body: what we see is the result of how the body has adapted over time.
The descriptions that are made mainly serve to understand the path the body has taken and to classify certain patterns of presentation. They do not represent definitive judgments about who we are or how we move.
When someone asks me, “Doctor, am I straight?”, my answer is always the same:
Dr. Franco Cento
“No one is.”
It is also important to consider that the variables that influence and shape our body are extremely numerous and, in many cases, difficult to fully understand, explain, or classify precisely.
Work on the body mainly focuses on reducing the joint and muscular stiffness that has developed over time as an adaptation strategy—ways the body has found to better manage the loads imposed by daily habits, injuries, or even simply by stress, worries, or lack of sleep.
The goal is to identify any areas of weakness and strengthen them in order to promote more balanced function. The aim is therefore to facilitate movement and improve the body’s ability to adapt to its environment.
It is not about radically transforming the body, but rather about restoring harmony to its function.
For this reason, when someone asks me, “Doctor, am I straight?”, my answer is always the same:
“No one is. But we can still work together to help you feel better.”
Dr. Franco Cento is a chiropractor at Isokinetic Torino.
