7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life

A fully revised and updated edition of the program that's sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide--plus a new chapter addressing shoulder pain Since the McKenzie Method was first developed in the 1960s, millions of people have successfully used it to free themselves from chronic back and neck pain. Now, Robin McKenzie has updated his innovative program and added a new chapter on relieving shoulder pain. In 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, you'll learn: · Common causes of lower back, neck pain and shoulder pain · The vital role discs play in back and neck health · Easy exercises that alleviate pain immediately Considered the treatment of choice by health care professionals throughout the world, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will help you find permanent relief from back, neck, and shoulder pain.

“Patients who have learned to use McKenzie’s exercises assert for the first time that they could effectively manage–or banish–their own pain.”—"Dear Abby"

“A fantastic guidebook for people with back or neck pain.”—Dean Edell, M.D., author of Healing Back Pain Naturally

“I think Robin McKenzie’s work is wonderful.”—Art Brownstein, M.D., author of Healing Back Pain Naturally

“The McKenzie Method has become a keystone for back and neck care, and this book is an invaluable tool for better health."—HealthNewsDigest.com

Auteur
ROBIN MCKENZIE was an internationally acclaimed physical therapist, who spent 40 years perfecting the McKenzie Method, now the keystone for back and neck care around the world. He died in 2013.

CRAIG KUBEY is the author of seven previous books. He lives in Davis, California.

Résumé
A fully revised and updated edition of the program that’s sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide—plus a new chapter addressing shoulder pain
 
Since the McKenzie Method was first developed in the 1960s, millions of people have successfully used it to free themselves from chronic back and neck pain. Now, Robin McKenzie has updated his innovative program and added a new chapter on relieving shoulder pain. In 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, you’ll learn:
·        Common causes of lower back, neck pain and shoulder pain
·        The vital role discs play in back and neck health
·        Easy exercises that alleviate pain immediately
Considered the treatment of choice by health care professionals throughout the world, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will help you find permanent relief from back, neck, and shoulder pain.

Échantillon de lecture

PREFACE
THE CHANCE DISCOVERY

I practice physiotherapy in New Zealand. In the different English spoken in the United States, this means I am a physical therapist. In 1956, I was only a few years into my career when a “Mr. Smith” came into the office. He complained of pain that extended from the right side of his lower back to his right knee. It was difficult for him to stand upright. He could bend forward, but he could not bend backward. For three weeks I treated him with heat and ultrasound. These were well-accepted therapeutic techniques then and remain so now. Nevertheless, Mr. Smith did not improve at all.

Then, late on a Wednesday, Mr. Smith came in for another appointment. I greeted him and said, “Go into that treatment room, please. Undress and then lie facedown on the table, and I’ll be in to see you.”

Mr. Smith complied—to the letter. I didn’t know it, but another physiotherapist had left the therapy table at an odd angle: the front was elevated 45 degrees. Mr. Smith lay facedown on that table, his pelvis and legs horizontal, his torso sharply elevated in a position called extension.

But I got a phone call, and then another physiotherapist needed to consult me. And so five minutes passed before I could attend to Mr. Smith. I knocked on his door, walked briskly in, and then froze. To my horror, I saw Mr. Smith lying in the bizarre position just described. Not only was the position odd; in 1956 the position was considered by the medical profession to be one that would cause damage to most any patient. I thought, “My God! What has he done? Has he made his injury much worse?”

“How are you doing, Mr. Smith?” I asked gingerly.

“It’s the best I’ve been,” he replied in sunny tones. “All the pain in the leg is gone.”

I was astounded and mightily relieved, but I wanted to know more. “How’s the low back?” I inquired.

“The funny thing is, the pain is a little worse, but it’s moved from the right side over to the center.”

“How are you tolerating that pain?”

“Better. It’s better when it’s in the middle there.”

Then he stood up.

He could do this without pain!

I asked him to try carefully to bend forward and backward. As you will recall, previously he could bend forward but not backward.

Now, after those five minutes in that strange position, he suddenly could bend backward with only minor pain.

His standing up did nothing to reverse the gains he had experienced on the table: there still was no pain in his leg, and the back pain remained centralized.

I began to recover my equilibrium. “Oh, yes, that’s fine,” I said, stumbling only a little. But I wanted to be sure no damage had been done. “Could you walk around a bit?” I asked him.

Mr. Smith walked around the treatment room. He walked quite normally. I was relieved. I felt that he had improved so much that we could ask for nothing more that day.

“Well, that’s long enough for today,” I said. “Come back tomorrow and we’ll try it again.”

The next day, Mr. Smith was back. And we repeated the same “treatment.” After Mr. Smith had maintained that odd position on the table for about five minutes, all his remaining symptoms were gone.

Mr. Smith taught me about extension. Learning from his remarkable recovery, I was able to develop exercises and postural-correction techniques involving extension and, later, flexion. On the following pages I will explain all these to you. Thanks to Mr. Smith, you are probably just one book away from being well on the road to recovery.

IMPORTANT: If you have severe back or neck pain or are having your first episode of back or neck pain, do not use this book. See a physician or other health care provider.

If you are now suffering from acute lower back pain, and have previously consulted a health care provider about your back pain, skip to Chapter 7, “Instructions for People with Acute Lower Back Pain.”

Similarly, if you have acute neck pain right now, and have previously consulted a health care provider about your neck pain, skip to Chapter 14, “Instructions for People with Acute Neck Pain.”

If you have back or neck pain that troubles you but is not acute, start with Chapter 1.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ROBIN MCKENZIE

To my patients who entrusted me with their care over the past forty years, I give my thanks and gratitude for teaching me all I know. I pass this on to you, the reader, and trust that you too can benefit.

CRAIG KUBEY

I am grateful to the many McKenzie-affiliated health practitioners in the United States who generously provided advice and other assistance in connection with this book. They include Dave Pleva, Vert Mooney, M.D., Ron Donelson, M.D., and McKenzie-credentialed physical therapists Todd Edelson, Gudrun Morgan, Aidan O’Connor, Mary Sheid, Gerald Stern, Mary Stern, and Mark Werneke. Thanks also to Stacey Lyon of the McKenzie Institute U…