Customer Reviews

7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life: How to Rapidly Relieve Back and Neck Pain

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3 star:		(7)
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1 star:		(8)

 

 

Generally, the McKenzie method works well with stiff spines that have lost the natural lordosis(lower back curvature) required to minimise pressure on the intervertebral discs. For hypermobile lumbar spines, these exercises may make symptoms worse and stabilsation exercises are more appropriate. A good physiotherapist will assess which category you fit into. The book serves as one of the best educational resources around, and anyone who has "bad posture" after reading it may have misread or misunderstood the text.

My problems started in March. I had a sharp pain that lasted for two weeks and then a general ache that lasted several weeks. After two chiropractors, I went to a Sports Therapy Clinic, and they help resolve the initial problem using cold/heat, ultra-sound, TENS. By mid May I felt fine, and was back lifting weights, as I am a body builder.

In September the ache returned, and I went back to the clinic. After several weeks of traditional therapy, the Orthpedic doctor prescribed massage therapy. The nurse practitioner immediately noticed I had a posture problem, but after a couple of weeks of therapy, I still had an ache.

I stopped the therapy, and began reading several books on the problem. I purchased this book as a last chance, before exploring the possibility I needed surgery. I got the book on a Wednesday, and began doing the exercises over the following weekend.

Now I had been doing all sorts of exercises for several months to no effect. This book proposed extension as compared to flexation exercises. I write this on a Monday. While I can't say I'm healed, I am significantly better.

If you have lost hope, that you can get better, read this book before having surgery. I now believe that I may not need surgery at all, and may be able to resume my life.

A few years ago I suffered a minor accident that resulted in progressive and long term back and hip pain. The orthopedic surgeon diagnosed severe sciatica. He put me on prescription pain meds, muscle relaxants and lots of bed rest. Actually, bed rest was about all I could handle as all of the prescription meds kept me in a constant mental haze (but did little to relieve pain). The doctor also referred me to a physical therapist 4 times a week (who has time for this - each session lasted hours). After 4 months of this with not much improvement I'd had enough. I stopped taking the prescription meds, switched to OTCs and began chiropractic treatments. A year and two chiropractors later the improvement was small but pain was manageable. Unfortunately the last session with the chiro left me feeling worse than when I began the treatments. Then I found Robin McKenzie's book. I could not believe the improvement I experienced after just two days of following his emergency exercises. After several weeks I had complete recovery. I have given this book to friends and relatives with back or neck problems and they have all found relief from pain and have gained full mobility. The funny thing is that the positions and movements that Mr. McKenzie prescribes are exactly what the chiropractors and surgeon told me not to do!
Go figure!

In February 2002 I developed a problem with my back after a rough racquetball game, followed by shoveling heavy snow a few weeks later. At first, it was a subtle pain/annoyance, getting worse when sneezing, twisting, etc. But after shoveling the snow I could not get out of bed the next day. The pain was terrible, especially in the morning. I could not walk at first without pain. I could not lift my left leg.

I went to the orthopedic who diagnosed "sciatica". I had an MRI done and it showed disc bulge in all levels of my low back ( L1-L2, L2-L3, L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1) with herniation at L4-L5.

I had "pain blocks" (shots in my spine) that did not help, and only pain killers made it possible to go through the day. After several months from the first attack, I was able to walk slowly (dragging my left foot) and the pain level was reduced to general discomfort with some random pain attacks on my left leg, below the knee.

There seemed to be no progress, until a friend mentioned the back extension exercises, advocated by a Physical Therapist from New Zealand, called Robin McKenzie. Until this point, I was trying to do a bit of exercises which involved flexion, usually lay on my back on the ground and bring my knees to my chest slowly. These felt comfortable but did not improve my condition. McKenzie says that you need to do the opposite, lay on your belly and push up trying to bend your back backwards.

A healthy person should be able to bend his or her back both ways, forward (flexion) and backwards (extension). Apparently, I had completely lost the flexibility for bending my back backwards and my forward flexibility was severely reduced. The extensions felt extremely uncomfortable at first, even painful. However, especially since my orthopedic said it was OK to try these extensions, I decided to give them a try and see what happens.

Within one week I was pain free!

That was late May 2002. But my problems did not stop there. I started physical therapy via my orthopedic. Instead of continuing with the extension exercises which had removed my pain, the PT started me in abdominal strengthening and other exercises that included a lot of flexion. Now, under different circumstances these exercises might have been fine, but for me, still having nerve compression, these were really out of sequence. Also, feeling better I started using the computer more and repairing cameras, which meant very bad posture for long hours. My progress was halted. Three weeks later the PT said I was officially recovered. Two days after that, I had another attack, as bad as the first one! I was devastated!

At this point I wised up and ordered Robin McKenzie's book. That was a revelation for me. I read the book non-stop and immediately started the extensions recommended in the book. In one week again I was pain-free. But this time I continued the exercises until the pressure in my toes was reduced. And I also corrected my posture which was the root of many of my back problems. I did go to a different physical therapist, one that was trained in the McKenzie system. She was a very nice person and it was nice having someone monitor and discuss my progress, but I could have skipped this and just followed the book.

This book is much more than a few simple exercises. It taught me a lot of things, from why I should not be lifting heavy things first thing in the morning to what is the proper way to sneeze (looking up). Most important, it made me realize how important good posture is. I always thought it was an afterthought. A good thing to know but not really important. Guess what? Posture is extremely important! The pain will surely come back if the posture is not corrected, no matter how many exercises you do!

We spend a lot of time sitting, usually with bad posture, and then we bend forward a lot. As a result of overuse of flexion, our discs are deformed and we are setting ourselves up for future back problems. The extension exercises aim to compensate for the frequent forward bending and restore the shape of the discs. They are actually a good thing for a healthy (pain-free) person to do.

Bottom line: Read the book and learn from the advice about good posture, etc. Then check with your doctor and if he/she approves the extension exercises, try them. They might save your life, as they did with me. Three years after my painful back pain attack I am OK, I have resumed running and completed 2 marathons, thanks to Robin McKenzie. Good luck to you!!

Reading this book and going to yoga classes finally made me realize that my problem neck was really a posture problem. I used to try to stand up straight but I didn't seem to be able to do it more than a few seconds. Now I understand the anatomy of the spine and that, among other things, I was constantly jutting my chin out, and that this was sending everything else off balance. I used to get headaches when I stretched my neck in certain ways and of course I couldn't do yoga inversion postures like half-candle pose, etc. Now I can do those comfortably by reminding myself to gently retract my chin.

A word about the person who wrote the review saying he had badly hurt himself doing the exercises: the book does give careful guidelines about who can safely do these exercises. I don't remember them saying anything about "going beyond the pain," but they do say the exercises can, for a very short time, cause more pain, but that this is okay as long as the pain is centralizing - in other words, in my case, that meant that while doing the neck exercises, my pain became a little worse in the actual neak but left my head. Still, I was very ginger about doing the exercises and really didn't do them as much and as often as recommended. That was okay for me because, by correcting my posture, I got the same results. I think what another reviewer said, about checking with your doctor or therapist to see which type of injury you have (posture-related or not) is a good idea.

And I think it's probably a good idea to read this book whether you do the exercises or not, just to help you understand the common spinal disorders related to bad posture (which very, very many of us have).

I bought this book in October of 2001 and have considerably reduced the lower back pain I have suffered with for nearly 20 years. After years of doctors, spinal manipulations, drugs, xrays, MRI's, physical therapy, the pain was intolerable and nothing doctors did was helping. Rather than have an epidural steroid injection (research the side effects of those!) I decided to buy this book. It took a few months before I was pain free, but I noticed improvement right away. Using a lumbar roll, always sitting with good posture and doing simple exercises once a day has changed my life. You certainly do want to be under a doctors care and have approval before doing this or any exercise program, but do not be afraid to try this it does work.

My wife and I both are both survivors of a high-speed train derailment disaster in India 9 months ago. We both sustained non life-threatening but painful injuries. My injury was to my lower back, my wife's at her neck. We have spent thousands on doctors visits, chiropractic care and medicine, all helpful but 9 months later we are still suffering daily from pain. We are one week into using this book and find it to be fantastic. We both experienced some relief immediately following our first exercise sessions from the book! The book costs less than a single visit to the chiropractor. Its worth trying if you are in pain.

After doing the extension (cobra pose) for just 3 times "beyond the pain", I have been on leave of absence since December 2001 (now is March 2002) with a severe and incapacitating back and leg problem. I can't sit, stand or walk longer than 5 minutes. The only painless position is laying on my back. Beginning of December I just had a back and foot pain after walking longer than 1/2 hour, but I could work, have a social life, do some sports. Now I have a severe back problem that no doctor could solve so far! I wish I never bought this book! The McKenzie method may be working in many cases, but please don't buy this book and never do any McKenzie exercises unsupervised or by yourself just using materials or books from your doctor. And NEVER go "beyond the pain". Listen to your body! It is telling you something very important when you experience pain. Go to a specialized institute and follow the McKenzie program under the supervision of a certified and experienced McKenzie person, if you want to.
Even if it causes such a severe back problem only in 5% of the cases, I would still recommend the book only to specialized doctors that have completed the full McKenzie training.

Patient----heal thy self. If it's lower back pain you suffer from, definitely turn to the McKenzie exercises first. But... you're going to have to make a tradeoff: A little time and exercise in exchange for much, much less pain (or none at all). The first 3 exercises all start the same way: face down on your belly, head turned to one side. Progressively, through the first 3 of 7 exercises, you arch your back backwards toward the sky...while allowing your pelvis "to sag" toward earth...Don't forget to breath...and relax...and then repeat. McKenzie works you hard: REPEAT every two hours, at first. A small price for rapid pain relief! Yes, the book's layout is a bit cheesy and the black & white photos are repeated verbatim again and again. Who cares? It's cheaper and more effective than a chiropractor...and you'll know how to heal yourself should your lower back pain fire up again.

This is an instant classic. I was in a great deal of neck pain when I opened this book and by the time I finished with the simple exercises I was pain-free. This is a must-read for anyone with back or neck pain.