I've been away from this site for a while so I'm joining in on this topic a month after its start but... a few thoughts.

I was first introduced to the thought that changes in breathing pattern can affect chonic pain (and other msk pain...not just in the thorax) a couple years ago. The researcher / clinician that was presenting the material referred to their use of capnometry to measure changes in breathing patterns but also to assist in retraining clients' breathing patterns. They found positive effects on their pain / dysfunction. My thought at that time was that this was a relatively new concept in the world of physiotherapy (other than the Tsp and ribs move with inspiration and expiration) and looked forward to hearing more.

So it is interesting to read Esther's comments regarding her previous work experience in the 70-80s. I guess sometimes our new concepts aren't all that new after all??

Regarding the link between the diaphragm, pelvic floor, TrA, Multifidus etc there is definitely a link that continues to proven in research over the last many years. I heard Paul Hodges speak a couple years ago and based on that I jumped at the chance to take one of his courses when he was recently in Canada. My little brain is now jammed with little factoids and graphs. (Anyone who has met him probably knows what I'm talking about!) Very cool research but as the years go by I start to wonder something....

As physios (researchers and clinicians) we are breaking things down in to minute pieces (i.e. we train folks to contract TrA, multifidus......we train people to change their breathing pattern.....we train folks to do pelvic floor exercises etc etc). I guess the theory is that if our clients can get these little pieces working properly again that they will work properly as we introduce more functional exercise and they return to normal ADL / sport / work...
The reason I find this very interesting is that I have been dabbling in yoga of the past number of years. As I learn more about physiotherapy research, I realize how much of what we teach has been stressed in something like yoga that has been around for a very long time. It would be interesting to see research on yoga postures and practice compared to motor control training as researched by Hodges and the likes.

So back to Esther's comments....it would be interesting to note where that rehab process came from in the 70s and 80s when the present physiotherapy research is presenting the link with msk pain and breathing as a new concept.

Any thoughts??