Walk Yourself Well: Eliminate Back, Shoulder, Knee, Hip, and Other Structural Pain Forever-Without Surgery or Drugs (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Randy Rodman (Author) "Walking into pain is not like walking into a wall..." (more)
Key Phrases: gait application, gait corrections, bun muscles, Primary Movement Pattern, Shoulder Rolls, Supine Stretch Routine (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Given the exotic nature of so many bodywork practices, readers will be surprised to learn that they can improve their health and well-being with something as simple as walking. But that's just what Los Angeles physical therapist Brourman asserts here. Walking isn't just a great physical and meditative exercise, she points out, it's the physical activity we do most often. And just as imbalance, poor posture and untoned muscles can lead to painful injuries, correcting the way you walk and strengthening and stretching your muscles can speed your recovery or prevent you from getting hurt in the first place. Because Brourman doesn't have the luxury of seeing every reader personally, a great deal of the book is devoted to diagnosing and solving individual gait problems--something that can be done, she says, because the standards of human symmetry are the same for everyone. "The truth is that height, weight, proportions, age, sex, and all other human features and options don't change the basic elements of a symmetrical walk," she writes. The instructions are reasonably easy to follow (although some readers may be disconcerted by a common experience--when you start thinking about how you should be doing something you do every day, you start to "forget" how you did it in the first place). Those who are suffering from pain in such places as the back and the knees may be most motivated to follow Brourman's instructions, but she makes it clear that just about everyone can benefit from a good walk.

From Library Journal

Anyone who has ever had a leg injury and subsequent pain in the other leg from an altered gait will agree with Brourman's assertion that incorrect movement while walking can lead to physical pain. As a registered physical therapist, Brourman has helped patients avoid surgery through exercises to improve muscle strength, posture, and movement. She explains how unbalanced walking leads to pain and what correct movement can achieve for a person who has experienced an orthopedic injury. She offers self-evaluation tests, gait correction methods, and strengthening and stretching exercises and uses case studies of her own patients as examples. Although there is some useful information here, physical therapists will justifiably advise that people with existing problems be under the supervision of a registered therapist; Brourman's instructions for the exercises are not easy to follow, and it could be dangerous for a patient to do a self-correction without guidance. Not a necessary purchase.?Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans' Hosp., Tampa, Fla.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Books; 1st edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786862939
• ISBN-13: 978-0786862931
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #154,645 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book took me from a level 6 of chronic pain to ZERO, July 4, 2004

By	Wendy Brown "Blueridge Artist" (Hendersonville, nc United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walk Yourself Well: Eliminate Back, Neck, Shoulder, Knee, Hip, and Other Structural Pain Forever - Without Surgery or Drugs (Paperback)

I have spent the last five years in agony with a bad ankle. For some strange reason that I didn't understand at that time,(and neither did the two surgeons, one rhematologist, two podiatrists, four physical therapists and countless er docs with whom I consulted over the last thirty years), as I was doing my regular areobic work, I totally ruptured the peroneal longus tendon in my right foot. Two surgeries later I was left with a chronically swollen ankle. I had lost the tendon and the peroneal nerve. I had total ankle reconstruction and had my heel bone moved over so my ankle would be more stable. It wasn't.

Fast forward three years. The pain had increased and moved up into my back and hips. It was horrible. I couldn't sleep. My foot doc said, you will have to learn to live with it. I had an MRI. I had bulging discs in L1-2, 2-3 and 3-4. The 2-3 was pressing on the spinal cord. I was losing feeling and strength in my hips and legs despite doing all the weight lifting and cardio I could handle, about 90 minutes a day x 6 days a week.
I researched why this would happen. I had a gradual onset of the back issue and couldn't remember a specific incidence of over doing or strain. The title of this book popped up in reply to an internet search I did on the L2-3 disk bulge, so I ordered it.

I had gone to see an osteopath for help with the back issue and was in physical therapy for it. My pt noticed that during exercises my ankle bowed out. She said, "That's the problem."

I went home to find this book had come. I read it in two days and immediately began to do the work recommended. I took the book to the osteopath who agreed with the pt. That was about two weeks ago. I am now totally pain free for the first time in five years, and without pain meds. Not only are my right ankle, leg, hips and back good, but my left shoulder which also hurt most of the time no longer hurts.

It seems that due to my gait my ankles roll to the outside with every step. This resulted in atrophied ankle muscles, which meant more weakness. Finally my tendon blew. And then my spine. Thanks to the information this author presents in a humorous fashion I have finally accepted the cause for my problems and am working on relearning to walk. It isn't all that easy, but then it isn't impossible either, given the other choice. A number of members of my family have the same gait pattern. My father and older brother have both had horrific ankle problems, no one knew why. They both have had back surgery, and both have lost the L2-3 disc. Again, no one knew why. I have two sons in their twenties who walk like me and who have had ankle problems and back pain since their late teens. I am buying copies of this book for them.

Using this book could be difficult for those without an open mind. The author's use of humour and stories of her patients helped me to recognize and accept my problem. I think we sometimes take life way too seriously, and that makes pain worse.

I am so grateful for this book. I can't begin to say what value being pain free is for me. It is as though I have my life back!

That said, I will admit that this information is not a panacea. I don't think it will cure asthma or aids. But, for structural problems and joint issues like mine, this information, and hard work, will be the answer. I am still in therapy and will be for a while. I expect that lasting results will not happen without sustained effort at relearning patterns of movement over a long period, probably the rest of my life. But it will be SO worth it!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I thought I knew how to walk..., December 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Walk Yourself Well: Eliminate Back, Neck, Shoulder, Knee, Hip, and Other Structural Pain Forever - Without Surgery or Drugs (Paperback)

I applaud the author for blazing this trail to "structurally sound walking principles"! She explains in detail how to diagnose your faulty gait, which strengthening and stretching exercises (with illus.) will correct your particular weakness, and offers a simple example how to chart your progress. I appreciated the text inside boxes providing more technical explanations concerning specific muscles... I was able to correct a few structural postures immediately, and I'm very glad to be aware of these principles, especially since I'm into fitness walking. Now I have information which is attending to those nagging knee, hip, and back pains.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A signifigant breakthrough in my physical well being!, March 16, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Manhattan Beach, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walk Yourself Well: Eliminate Back, Neck, Shoulder, Knee, Hip, and Other Structural Pain Forever - Without Surgery or Drugs (Paperback)

A truly novel approach to physical problems, the author ties all nagging injuries and pain (neck, back, knee, etc.) to how one walks. By changing ones walking pattern, many chronic problems can dissappear!

Reading this book was a signiffgant breakthrough in my own physical rehabilitation. After years of abusing myself playing rugby, I was a mess! The author opened my eyes to the world of correct movment patterns.

This book is mainly to be used as a manual to set up your own rehabilition program. To do it correctly, you have to be prepared to do alot of work, and not be afraid of feeling awkward and challenging your assumptions. But it does work!

After just reading the first part of the book, you will never be able to look at people walking the same way again.