159: Can You Really Palpate the Psoas? (with Christopher DaPrato)

🎙 Can You Really Palpate the Psoas? MRI Evidence, Clinical Debate & a Bonus Visit from the Researcher

Can manual therapists actually palpate the psoas, or is it anatomically out of reach? In this episode, Til Luchau and Whitney Lowe unpack a new real-time MRI pilot study presented at the 7th International Fascia Research Congress by UCSF physical therapist Christopher DaPrato and colleagues. The study offers rare imaging-based insight into what really happens when we try to touch this deep, controversial muscle. And at the end, Christopher drops in for a brief bonus segment to share safety insights and his hopes for future research.

The debate around psoas palpation has become a kind of proxy war in manual therapy — between pain-science and movement educators who question highly specific anatomical claims, and hands-on practitioners who have used psoas work for decades and find it clinically meaningful. This conversation explores how DaPrato’s imaging helps reframe that debate.

In this episode, they discuss:
- Why psoas palpation has become a flashpoint debate and a stand-in for deeper philosophical disagreements in the field
- How DaPrato’s team used dynamic MRI to observe what happens under the hands during attempted psoas palpation
- What the images showed about depth, tissue layers, and muscle deformation when pressure is applied
- The surprising finding that even a higher-BMI participant showed clear psoas shape change under palpation
- How viscera behaved under pressure — including what the study suggests about visceral compression and safety
- Clinical implications for angle, depth, and pressure when working in the anterior hip/abdominal region
- The role of tools like the PSO-RITE compared with hand palpation, and what may (or may not) be interchangeable
- How this research interacts with the idea of “palpatory pareidolia” (imagining specificity that isn’t there)
- What this study does — and doesn’t — say about treatment effectiveness and future research priorities
- And in a bonus segment, Christopher DaPrato joins Til to talk safety, visceral sliding, and practical precautions for working this sensitive region

Whether you regularly include psoas work in your sessions, or you’re skeptical of deep abdominal palpation claims, this episode offers a nuanced, evidence-informed look at what our hands may — and may not — be doing.

✨ Resources
👉 DaPrato et al. pilot study abstract (MRI of psoas palpation): https://www.cuptherapy.com/_files/ugd/12c814_c0500f355036456eb450562461ff267c.pdf 
👉 Thinking Practitioner Ep 25: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/25-psoas-work-is-it-safe-is-it-necessary/id1492004207?i=1000496358416
👉 Video version of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancedTrainings/podcasts
👉 Episode image courtesy Christopher DaPrato @cuptherapy

Sponsor Offers:
- Books of Discovery – Save 15% with code thinking at https://booksofdiscovery.com/
- ABMP – Save $24 on new membership at https://abmp.com/thinking
- Advanced-Trainings – Try one month free of the A-T Subscription at https://a-t.tv/subscriptions/ with code thinking
- Academy of Clinical Massage – Grab Whitney's free Assessment Cheat Sheet at https://academyofclinicalmassage.com/cheatsheet

✨ Connect with us:
Til Luchau – https://advanced-trainings.com | Facebook | Instagram
Whitney Lowe – https://academyofclinicalmassage.com | Facebook | Twitter

📧 Email us: info@thethinkingpractitioner.com

The Thinking Practitioner Podcast is intended for professional practitioners of manual and movement therapies — bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, physical therapy, osteopathy, and similar professions. It is not medical or treatment advice.