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Summary: Another 5-star review
Review: I had problems with my neck and shoulders and this book has helped me relieve pain better, faster and more permanently than any doctor, drug or other method.
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Summary: An absolute must for those with back pain
Review: I had tried just about everything to relieve my back pain, including chiropractors, massage therapists, personal trainers, and a host of other methods. Nothing worked and my lower back ached, as well as my hips and legs. Then while surfing the internet, I came across Pete Egoscue and his book, Pain Free. I picked up a copy, and it has been a real blessing. Plain and simple, Pete Egoscue's method WORKS. The exercises he offers are quite simple, but it does take discipline to do them every day. This is not a "quick fix" for those with severe postural problems. You can get pain relief, but it might take time. While the book is helpful and may be enough for some people, I chose to use the special services Egoscue offers through his web site (...). There is an online program where you send digital photos of yourself to his clinic in San Diego and they e-mail a specialized set of exercises to you (with photos and descriptions). These exercises are designed directly for you, based on your postural misalignment. Every two weeks, I send them new digital photos by computer and they send me a revised list of exercises. Some of the exercises are in the book, and some are not found in this book. I have been working with them for 3 months now, and I am delighted with the results. His clinic is staffed with excellent trainers and they provide first-rate service. My back pain is virtually gone and my posture is improving dramatically. The fees they charge for these services are very reasonable -- much less than you'd pay for chiropractors, doctors, etc. For the last 3 months, I have done the exercises every day for about 45-60 minutes per day. If you want to get rid of your back pain, then you'll do them, too. It is worth it to me! I still have some soreness in my hips and legs, but I know I am working toward a Pain Free life. Even if you chose to look into his online program, I strongly recommend that you buy this book and read through it. It will help you to understand the method and you can even try out the exercises in the book. I still feel the online, customized program offers the best benefits. This is a groundbreaking book that will alleviate your pain...if you have the discipline to stick with the program. You'll simply be amazed at how your posture will change (and your pain will diminish) by doing the recommended exercises. One final suggestion: if you have pain in your back, buttocks, hips and legs (and especially if the pain moves around), I strongly recommend that you also read Dr. John Sarno's book, Healing Back Pain. It has helped me tremendously.
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Summary: 25 years of pain
Review: I have been in daily pain for 25 years--neck, lower back, knees primarily. It has restricted my life--everyday comfort, exercise, traveling. I started Pain Free ecises in July and now, in January, I am tremendously improved--in terms of everyday pain and in terms of the kind and amount of exercise I can do. Furthermore, it has helped my husband, who suffers lower back pain, my 21 year old daughter who has ankle problems, my 17 year old son who has calf pain when he runs cross-country and friends. Most important, it appears to be curative rather than palliative. Buy this book. Use it. Be patient. It sometimes takes a few hours after doing the ecises to get pain free and if you have been in pain for years, it will take more than a few weeks to see permanent improvement.
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Summary: This book relieved hip, knee, and shoulder pain for me.
Review: I must add my endorsement to those of others. Last summer, after two back operations, and hundreds of hours of physical therapy, and facing the prospect of beginning school in chronic pain that required me to lie down for several hours a day, I saw Mr. Egoscue's book. I tried the exercises, doing them exactly as he instructs. Within a few weeks, I noticed significant improvement, and not only in my back, but in chronic knee and shoulder problems. I kept up with the exercises, and, after about six months, I found I could do things I hadn 't been able to do for over ten years--like swim, lift weights, ride a bike. . . I'm not completely pain-free, but I credit the exercises in this book for returning me to about 80% normal. I continue to do the maintenance exercises daily. I'm completely convinced by Mr. Egoscue, and this is after trying conventional medicine and every alternative in the books and quite a few not in the books. His approach works far more effectively than anything else I've tried, from surgery to herbs. I recommended it to a friend who called me one morning in severe back pain--two weeks later she, too, was calling it a miracle. I'm in danger of becoming a bore at parties, because whenever I hear anyone with any kind of chronic musculoskeletal problem I spend about half an hour extolling the virtues of Mr. Egoscue's method. It works!
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Summary: Buy it Now!!
Review: I purchased this book after being diagnosed with 2 herniated discs, one ruptured. My neurosurgeon told me there was nothing I could proactively do to remedy this condition, but I refused to accept this diagnosis and subsequently found and bought this book. I performed some of the exercises for back pain and felt some immediate, but not complete, relief. I knew, though, that I had a lot to fix after being in an extremely severe car accident several years ago. I was extremely impressed, however, with the physiological foundations for this form of therapy. It just made a lot of intuitive sense. So, I arranged to visit the Egoscue Clinic in Del Mar, about a 3 hour drive from my home. I'm now 3 visits into the 8 visit program and I could not be more impressed. These people are doing AMAZING things and getting people back to living functionally who thought they'd never be functional again. In the strongest possible terms, I encourage ANYONE to get this book, read it, and use it. And if you suffer from chronic pain that is seriously impacting your life, you owe it to yourself to avail yourself of the clinic's services. By the way, I've had the opportunity to meet Pete Egoscue and have spent maybe a half hour talking with him one on one. He's a very nice, humble man who has a sincere heart for helping people become pain free.
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Summary: Better than yoga for 35 year old runner with hip pain
Review: I was on the verge of giving up running 4 miles several times a week due to hip pain. Yoga did not fix the problem. The hip routine reduced the pain noticeably the first day, and by the second day I only noticed the pain upon waking, before doing the exercises. I am on the fifth day, even the morning pain is fading, and I am able to run. My stride when running seems to be more efficient and shock-absorbing, because of the increased motion in my hip. It's more comfortable. I have been told twice that I am looking healthier than usual, which I think is due to my posture improving. I am also tending to sit up straighter at my desk. I'll still do yoga for muscle tone and balance, but Egoscue is the best for flexibility, and the exercises are easier than most yoga postures.
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Summary: Great info!
Review: I wish that I would have had this information about eleven years ago. Too bad most doctors don't read this book. The exercises have helped my back and tendonitis more than months of physical therapy.
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Summary: Scientific Perspective on the Body
Review: I'll add my voice to the others extolling the virtues of the Egoscue Method. What really impressed me, as an engineer and scientist, was Pete's recognition that the body must obey structural laws, just like a skyscraper. Buildings are designed so that weight is transferred through the girders, not the joints. In people, muscles position our girders (bones) so that they transfer weight effectively. When our muscles weaken from lack of use, the bones aren't positioned correctly. Our personal skyscraper begins to sway, and the wrong joints or muscles are forced to compensate. This causes or allows the myriad of ailments Pete describes, because the wrong joints simply cant bear the load -- knees wear out, backs hurt, etc. Don't think this program is easy. You must pay attention to detail when you do the exercises. It is hard, long work. Muscles that have weakened for years dont strengthen overnight. But feeling good, controlling your own health -- isn't that worth it? After five orthopedists and two chiropracters, it is for me.
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Summary: Buy this book *BEFORE* you need it.
Review: I'm going to have to lower my lathe about 4 inches. Hmm, well that's starting at the end. Back to the beginning: The first thing I noticed when I got the book was a blurb from Depak Chopra. Not very encouraging. The second was on about page 34 or so the author says the X-Rays are one of the biggest problems with modern medicine...and I'm an X-Ray Tech. The biggest problem is that all of the evidence is anecdotal, some even celebrity anecdotes, nary a controlled study in sight. But I'm afraid I've become an anecdote myself. After doing the shoulder pain exercises for a couple of weeks, not only has the pain gone away but my shoulder height has dropped about four inches. I can tell, because both of my lathes were set to be at elbow height, and now they're far too high. After doing the shoulder exercises for a month or so I switched over to the general exercises, and my feet, after 50 years, now point straight ahead when I walk instead of out to the sides. With a little deliberate effort at first, mind you. The book makes consumate sense. And it sure worked for me. Far better to buy and follow the book now before our modern propensity for the sedentary life gets you in trouble.
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Summary: Hundreds of little slips of paper.
Review: I've given hundreds of little slips of paper to people who walk by me walking with their shoulders turned so the backs of their hands face forward, with whom I get into casual conversation and hear about their hurting backs, or why they can't go to the gym any more. It's wonderful when you can graciously allow gravity to suggest to your muscles how they should be reacting. I haven't found that this method replaces a chiropractor, but is rather complementary to him, and to massage, etc. etc.
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