Pete Egoscue - Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain

This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.

PAIN FREE
A Bantam Book

PUBLISHING HISTORY
Bantam hardcover edition published 1998
Bantam trade paperback edition / March 2000

All rights reserved.
Copyright 1998 by Pete Egoscue.
Photos copyright The Egoscue Method
Line drawings by Wendy Wray.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97-31745
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8041-5264-8
ISBN 0-553-37988-7

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words Bantam Books and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

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It has become obligatory for health books to carry a legal disclaimer. Youve read them: The following material is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician. And they go on to recommend that you consult a doctor before embarking on whatever program is being offered. They conclude with the author and publisher disclaiming any legal responsibility for adverse consequences. As I did in my first book, I will again urge readers who feel they need the disclaimers protection and counsel to close these covers and leave the pages unread. My working principle as an author and exercise therapist is that the most important consultation is the one a person has with him- or herself. Health care starts with personal responsibility. Any disclaimer that suggests otherwise does a great disservice.

: The spinal S-curve in a ticktacktoe grid.

: A group of people exhibiting sagging dysfunctional effects in different ways.

: Knees with valgus stress.

: A nonbilateral body.

: The foots bone structure and arches from above and from the side.

: A flat foot.

: A foot on cradle rockers, showing pronation and supination movements.

: Flat, everted feet; the arrows illustrate the downward pronation pressure on the inside of the foot.

: Foot Circles and Point Flexes.

): Supine Calf/Hamstring Stretch with a Strap.

: Static Extension.

: Air Bench.

: A side view of the ankles basic structure.

: The bodys load-bearing joints, dysfunctionally loaded and functionally loaded.

: The ankles fibular ligaments.

: The attachment of the Achilles tendon to the heel.

: Static Back.

: Static Wall.

: Supine Groin Stretch.

: The knees internal structure.

: Misaligned shoulders and hips.

: Functional and dysfunctional knees.

: Knees with internal rotation.

): Standing Gluteal Contractions.

: Sitting Heel Raises.

: Isolated Hip Flexor Lifts on a Towel.

: Supine Groin Stretch on Towels.

: A knee with external rotation.

: Sitting Knee Pillow Squeezes.

: Sitting Floor.

): Progressive Supine Groin.

: The pelvic girdle.

: Hip socket with femur inserted.

: Seesaws illustrating hip flexion-extension.

: Counter Stretch.

: The spinal curves.

: Static Back Knee Pillow Squeezes.

: Modified Floor Block.

: A seated person with a healthy arch in his back.

: A seated person with hips and back in flexion.

: The vertebrae shown in relation to each other.

: A vertebral disk under pressure.

: Reverse Presses.

): Pullovers.

): Floor Block.

: Squat.

: The shoulder joint.

: The modern range of motion.

: Sitting Scapular Contractions.

: Prone Ankle Squeezes.

: Gravity Drop.

: Triangles are a basic musculoskeletal unit.

: The arm, bent at the elbow, with the wrist and hand.

: The ulna and radius as they cross and as they lie parallel.

: The palm in pronation.

: Circumduction.

): Wall Clock.

: Two models, one functional, the other with symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

: The head and neck.

: Frog.

: Wall Towels.

): Arm Circles.

): Elbow Curls.

: Standing Overhead Extension.

: Upper Spinal Floor Twist.

): Cats and Dogs.

): Downward Dog.

: Kneeling Counter Stretch.

): Three-Position Toe Raises.

: Standing Quad Stretch.

): Runners Stretch.

): Spread Foot Forward Bend.

): Abdominal Crunchies.

: Sitting Floor Twist.

: Kneeling Groin Stretch.

: Hand/Leg Opposites Blocked.

This is a book about our bodiesyours and mine. We are different in height, weight, and possibly gender. But our common possession is the bodys inner power to heal itself and to be pain free. By choosing those two words as my title, I am celebrating our mutual good fortune. I am also making a promise that I know you can keep.

Being pain free takes personal effort and commitment. It doesnt come from a pill bottle, a surgeons knife, a brace, or in specially designed mattresses, chairs, and tools. The thousands of men and women who in the course of a typical year visit my Egoscue Method Clinic in San Diego, California, know it, or they soon find out, and I watch them transform their lives as they rediscover the joy and health that had seemed lost forever. While each client is dedicated to stopping chronic pain in one form or another, they are all taking the easy way out. The easiest, really.

The following pages show you the way. It does not involve high-tech medicine or elaborate physical therapy routines. You wont need to buy special equipment or consult cadres of experts. In the first three chapters, I review how the human body is designed to maintain its own health throughout a