Robin McKenzie - 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life How to Rapidly Relieve Back, Neck, and Shoulder Pain

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 Ill be in to see you.

Mr. Smith compliedto the letter. I didnt 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.

Its the best Ive 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. Hows the low back? I inquired.

The funny thing is, the pain is a little worse, but its moved from the right side over to the center.

How are you tolerating that pain?

Better. Its better when its 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, thats 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, thats long enough for today, I said. Come back tomorrow and well 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, .

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, .

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