Customer Reviews

Pain Free for Women: The Revolutionary Program for Ending Chronic Pain

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Over 3 years ago I had constant shoulder, back, and hip pain. I had already invested in over a dozen books and had come to the conclusion that nothing was ever going to help me - chronic pain was a part of growing older. I also had a difficult time doing the Taijiquan (a martial art) form I was working on because my back was overly curved. On the advice of a friend, I got Egoscue's first book, Pain Free.

After doing the exercises (30 minutes each day) for a few months, wonder of wonder, my curved back relaxed and I was able to sink into the Taijiquan postures I'd been trying to achieve for ten years. But best of all - the pain disappeared. For the first time in years, I didn't wake up to daily pain in my joints!!!

Unfortunately, almost a year ago, I got into a car accident that is still causing me a great deal of pain in my neck and back. I had been doing those same Pain Free exercises from before, but they didn't seem to be doing much.

I decided to purchase this newer book anyway - since it was written specifically for women. I actually didn't think it would help much and prepared myself for disappointment.

Oh MY!! After just a few weeks, once again, I was amazed at the difference. The exercises in this book (and yes, they do take much longer than the simple Pain Free book) were so helpful that I was able to change from a narcotic pain reliever to a non-narcotic pain reliever. Believe me, for someone trying to function- that is a BIG difference.

Egoscue is a genius. I have seen many doctors, including so-called pain specialists, and the only thing that has significantly helped me so far is Egoscue exercises. I now do them every day, and can feel the difference in my neck, back, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and feet.

Even better - this book explains in much more detail than the Pain Free book exactly what's going on in my muscles and body - so that I can really tell why the exercises are working (or not). Now that I can feel the difference, I can tell when to stop doing one phase and move on to the next.

I felt compelled to write this review because I noticed a few negative reviews. The only thing that I can postulate is that

1. The people writing were not committed to the exercises for long enough for them to work, or...

2. The people did not really have chronic pain to begin with and therefore no motivation, or....

3. The people have something personal against Peter Egoscue (I have never met him, so I wouldn't know).

All I can say is -- this book changed my life. I only wish I had read it BEFORE my accident - I suspect that I wouldn't have gotten so hurt had I been in better "functional" shape prior to getting rear-ended.

This book is about prevention, about taking control of your body and making it work the way it was designed to work. If you are a women in chronic pain - believe me - if you do these exercises, you will change your life for the better. Don't let others disuade you from doing the most that you can for yourself.

I first found Egoscue seven years ago when I was experiencing unrelenting pain in my ankle due to a car wreck that had crushed my heel. For ten years I'd lived with the pain -- until I started doing the Egoscue exercises. Within a week, the pain disappeared. Ten years of pain -- just up and disappeared. I was able to walk without lumbering, walk without wincing every step. As years progressed, I got sloppy and less commited to doing the exercices. As my body got more and more out of alignment, the ankle pain returned WITH excruciating hip pain. This pain was so bad that I couldn't get to the bathroom without lunging to the next piece of furniture, couldn't stand at the sink to grate a carrot. I was popping aspirin like they were m&m's. I went back to the book, did the hip menu and, within seventy-two hours the pain completely disappeared. Another couple of years passed, and I again got lazy and stopped doing the excercises. This time, it was the searing pain of sciatica that grounded me. This pain was so bad that I would scream out as I tried to pull myself out of the bed. This was evil pain that wouldn't go away. Lamenting to a friend (whom I had introduced to Egoscue!) about the pain I was in, I was surprised to hear that her husband had gone to the Egoscue clinic for the exact same sciatic pain. She shared his menu with me and -- I am almost embarrassed to say it -- the pain disappeared after just three days. And stayed away until I quit doing the exercises. (I am, if nothing else, an exceedingly slow learner.) Pete's program has brought me back from debilitating pain THREE separate times. I think I finally get it. The Egoscue method works when you work it. It has been a miracle cure for me three times. Yes, it takes a long time to do the menus. Yes, it's really boring to lie on the floor for that long. And yes, it's SO worth it to finally feel GOOD again. Anybody who complains that it's too much trouble or takes too long simply hasn't been in the kind of pain I've been in. But, when they are, this is a method that has never failed to fix what ails me.

regarding the reviewer who wrote that it takes 3 hours to perform a menu, he or she has misinterpreted something from the book. Static back is recommended for 5 minutes, not 30. Supine Groin Progressive is a long ecise, but for people who are in intense pain (especially intense low back pain) it is a life saver. Even so, at the most it takes a little less than an hour, not 45 minutes a side. and that's when first starting. after the body begins to adjust, this ecise can be completed in less than 30 minutes.

The average 'menu' takes less than an hour and to my knowledge there is not a menu in the book that takes longer than 90 minutes in total.

There is no question that an investment of time is required to make this program successful, but the amount of time it does take should be accurately portrayed.

I had been a suffered of sporadic lower back pain that usually came on when I was asleep. It was so painful that it would wake me up and I would be afraid to move because I knew the pain would be agonizing. I thought that lack of muscle strength was the problem and so I faithfully did abdominal crunches and lower back extensions, but that didn't help. Rather desperately, I went searching for other answers and stumbled across this book. Pete's discussion of posture struck a chord in me, so I worked on that and added his restoration exercises. The first phase was too mild to help me, but I noticed an improvement in my pain as I moved on to the second phase. My back pain completely vanished as I moved into the third phase and has not come back. I am truly grateful to be restored to normality. The exercises don't sound very intensive, but they worked wonders for me - stretching, release, and balance is what I needed, not mere muscle. I would recommend that you *try* these exercises, not just read the reviews or sit in a chair and read the book. Once again, it worked for me, and I'm so grateful. I hope it will work for you.

I have so many things to say about this I would like to use bullet points. I will cover what it has done for me, add some comments on the book itself and then make a couple of final notes.

Notes about what using Egoscue's method has done in my life:

* I have been using this and Pete Egoscue's other book "Pain Free" for a year and a half now. I am a female in my early 30's. I have sent a copy of this book to all the women close to me because it has helped me so much.

* I have a very severe case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and had constant pain throughout my body. I tested only two pressure points short for Fybromyalgia. As I became more ill my overall physical health declined severely. I couldn't even stand to do dishes for long, let alone cook or exercise or many of the things I am now become able to do.

* Within the first two weeks of doing the e-cises (only about 30 min a day) I stopped getting night sweats and the pervasive, all-over body pain went away. I still had a lot of joint pain and realized I was very badly out of alignment (when standing comfortably my right foot was turned out and further forward than my left by 6 inches - no kidding!).

* Over the last year and a half I have become less chemically sensitive, I don't get dizzy as often, my stamina has improved (I had gotten so I couldn't handle even handle flying on an airplane). For years I had a yellow tint to my skin (my doctor thought it was normal), but this has now disappeared, my liver enzymes were mildly elevated, but are now normal.

* I haven't had ANY pain from my herniated disk for over a year now!

* You don't have to be in pain to benefit. For years I tried to do handstands, but never go good at it. Presently I can do them with complete ease. I never realized that it wasn't my arm strength that was lacking (I had really strong arms), but rather, shoulder strength and alignment.

* I've had a limp ever since I was 11 when I cut the tendon to my large toe. I can now proudly say that the limp is completely gone. :) I also don't lose my balance all the time when I walk like I used to.

* Almost best of all is that I had sleep maintenance insomnia, which has greatly improved. I used to wake on average once an hour every hour throughout the night. Now I wake perhaps once every three. This is continuing to improve.

* Most importantly, I had stopped being able to sweat years ago. I would simply overheat. After a year of doing e-cises I started sweating again!! Once I started sweating I found I can tolerate being around chemicals more (perfumes and such), I don't get as swollen, and I recovered from exposures faster.

Nothing else I tried really helped my MCS, but this has made all the difference in the world. I'm not sure I would have recovered to this point without it. The improvement in my quality of life has been worth every minute of it!

Notes about the book itself:

* This sort of thing is very difficult to teach from a book. I've found using "menus" from each of his books to be very useful.

* Some things you have to figure out for yourself. I started on my age group's restoration e-cises in this book and my knee pain got worse. That is when I figured out that Egoscue was really serious when he said that if you have pain in a specific joint that using the "Pain Free" book first to target it was best. I did the knee exercises in that book for about a couple months and then was able to return to the menus in this book without difficulty and found it much easier.

* I love the format of this book. It starts with infancy and how even babies and children can get inadequate movement. I found its detail in how we became "out of alignment" to be most useful and it really inspired me to get back into alignment.

* He also gives a restoration menu for each age group and a maintenance menu for when that one because really easy.

* For those who want to go further than the maintenance menu, he gives a strength menu and a strength menu with weights if you are interested in using them.

* He has a menu for people who are seriously ill and need "slow changes".

* He also includes menus for prepregnancy/1st trimester, second trimester menu, third trimester menu, and post pregnancy.

* The Supine Groin Stretch Does take a long time - but only at first. The first day it took me an hour each leg for the groin muscles to relax. The second day it was about 50 minutes each. The third day it took about a half an hour each leg. But within two weeks it only took a few minutes each leg and now, still, it only takes me about two minutes a leg.

* If you have a lot of problems in many joints or very severe joint pain I suggest starting with Egoscue's "Pain Free" book, but if you don't have many problems or don't have much pain then I would recommend this one.

A couple final notes:

The e-cises really must be done everyday to see the benefit. When I skip day, two or especially three I start getting pain back, not as bad as when I first started this, but I start losing ground. When I am consistent I see progress daily. My closest friends all use this and they keep coming back to me and saying how well it works to get rid of their pain and how much better they feel afterwards.

My husband is a professor in a medical school, not only does he use Egoscue's exercises from his "Pain Free" book, he recommends these two books to people regularly.

I checked out three of Egoscue and Gittines' books from the library today. I read "Pain Free for Women" first. I have a few thoughts about it:

Pete Egoscue describes himself as an "anatomical physiologist." He never claims to be a licensed healthcare provider or a scientist (this last will be painfully obvious to any biologist); instead, his background is more like a personal trainer at the local gym -- but one who happens to attract, and have an interest in, people who are recovering from injuries or wanting to prevent them.

Except for the chapter on pregnancy-related exercises, this book is not really just "for Women." The authors actually go to great lengths in the introductory material to convince the reader that men and women have the same muscles and therefore need the same kinds of balanced, varied exercises. There are also suggestions for exercises that kids might enjoy at the end of the book. (The photos of the kids are absolutely darling.)

Not everyone can, or should, do all of the exercises in this book. This is intended primarily for people who are in basically good health and have no specific problems. As the authors say (read the first two full paragraphs on page 130), if you have pain in a specific spot, then you need to get the plain "Pain Free" book instead of this one.

For example, the time-consuming Supine Groin Stretch that normally takes 45 to 60 minutes is actually done "until your lower back settles into the floor" (page 159 and elsewhere), however long that happens to take. In my case, it takes about three seconds. Unfortunately, then I'm in serious pain and I can't always get up without help. In particular, I think that people with connective tissue disorders should take seriously the authors' injunctions against doing anything that hurts.

Having said that, a woman who is in basically good health, and who follows the directions in the book, is unlikely to hurt herself. These are really very common exercises. The suggested "menus" of exercises are combinations of standard physical therapy exercises, Pilates work, yoga positions, and calisthenics. They are pretty gentle, and most of them don't require much strength or energy -- the sort of thing you could do even if you were tired or not feeling very well.

There is really nothing 'revolutionary' about anything exercise he suggests, except perhaps his optimism that you will actually DO the exercises, instead of merely thinking about them.

This book will not be helpful for me because of my specific issues, but it may be useful for any man, woman, or teen who is in basically good health. And, as with any exercise program, books are only helpful to the extent that you get out of your chair and do the exercises!

After reading all the 5 star reviews for the predecessor (Pain Free) to this book, I checked it out at the library to see if the program really worked. The program sounded to good to be true, but the volume of 5 star reviews really made me want to try it out. After about a week and a half on the program, I no longer had bad arthritus pain in my wrist, and was able to get off the glucosamine. Glucosamine worked for me, but it is expensive. Since doing the exercises, my shoulder pain is also much less severe.

After returning the the book to the library, I ordered myself of a copy of "Pain Free." I received "Pain Free for Women" instead. After looking it over, I decided to keep it, which was a wise decision on my part. It has specific exercises for different age groups of women. Last night I timed my exercises. They took about a half hour to complete. I do them five or six times a week. Not a bad investment to be pain free.

One thing I very much appreciate about the exercises is the ease in preforming them. Even a clutz can do the program, which definately applies to me. They are other programs and gadgets on the market which claim to reduce or eliminate pain. While some of them may work, they are all more expensive than the price of a book.

The book is an incredible resource for women. It gives a new paradigm for viewing our bodies and for believing in the possibility of health. We are well designed, we just need to use our bodies according to the design!
I do wonder whether there was a faulty batch of this book that came from the publisher: I bought one that fell apart in my hands, returned it for another that is doing the same.

I was slightly put off by the cutesy chapter titles in this book. I'm in the "Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness" age bracket (fifties). Once you get past that, the book is loaded with exercises to fit different age needs plus special situations such as postpregnancy or strength improvement or breast cancer.
He starts the 50's age section by debunking the idea that we must expect pain as part of aging. My aches and pains seem minor compared to some reviewers' experiences, but still it encroaches on my enjoyment of daily activities such as walking or golfing. Fear of future hip replacement or spine surgery is a powerful motivator for change.
The menu of restoration and maintenance E-cise (as he calls them)seem easy enough to undertake. The activities for improving balance seem similar to those recommended by an osteoporosis newsletter that I take. Since I'm just starting these, I don't have results to share yet. Anything I do at this point should help, since it's obvious to me that my body has started protesting the neglect of the past.

I love Mr. Egoscue's work. His techniques are right on! However, this book was very wordy and did not deliver like his other media has. Pain Free and the Pain Free workout are much more meaty and helpful.