Live pain free! Now fully updated and revised throughout, this million-copy bestseller will help you feel and move better.
“This book is extraordinary, and I am thrilled to recommend it to anyone who’s interested in dramatically increasing the quality of their physical health.”—Tony Robbins
With a new foreword by John Lynch, Hall of Fame NFL safety and general manager of the San Francisco 49ers
Starting today, you don’t have to live in pain. That is the revolutionary message of the Egoscue Method, a breakthrough system for eliminating musculoskeletal pain without drugs, surgery, or expensive physical therapy. Developed by Pete Egoscue, an internationally renowned physiologist and injury consultant to some of the most successful performers in all walks of life, the Egoscue Method has helped millions of people with an astounding success rate of over 90 percent. The Method uses a series of gentle exercises and carefully constructed stretches called “E-cises” to teach the body to return to its natural, pain-free state. Inside, you’ll find detailed photographs and step-by-step instructions for dozens of E-cises specifically designed to provide quick and lasting relief of
• joint discomfort, including back and neck pain; achy knees, hips, and shoulders; arthritis; and injured ankles.
• muscle and soft-tissue problems, including rotator cuff injuries, tendinitis, and common foot ailments.
• shooting pains, including sciatica and carpal tunnel syndrome.
• and much more, including headaches, vertigo, and fatigue.
With this book, you’re on your way to regaining the greatest gift of all: a pain-free body!
The layout is efficient, but can leave you flipping back and forth a bit.
I do wish there was an app that could assist with the timing and instructions!
Husband’s back pain, Mothers hip pain, my own shoulder, elbow, knee pain.
Photos and discussion are helpful, book is easy
To navigate.
Well written, easy to understand, easy to do exercises to restore your proper posture. With proper posture you can restore a pain-free body in many cases.
This is a must read. It's well worth the price.
I’ve been suffering with very painful bursitis for about a year. I couldn’t sleep at night. I had to give up walking in our neighborhood, and then I found this book. After doing the specifically designed exercises outlined in this book, my bursitis stopped shooting pain. I am pain free, as long as I continue to do the exercises.
I want to make clear that you must put in the time to do the exercises, It is not a quick fix book. But after physical therapy, several doctors, cortisone shots, dry needling, etc. I’m so happy to find something that works long term!
heard of Pain Free” by Pete Egoscue in the late '90s. At first I checked the book out at the library, but since then have purchased many copies. I was having constant pain in my lower back (bulging disc) and in my left hip. Prescribed muscle relaxants and pain medication were ineffective. Side effects didn’t help either. When the doctor recommended surgery I balked. At that time, every one I knew who had had back surgery of any sort continued to have back pain. Egoscue offers a totally different approach based on allowing the body to heal itself, and on your desire for wellness. Their customer support always had time to listen, whether I had questions or just wanted to update them on results. Now, I’m going to tell you what I was first encouraged to do by the person who first recommended it to me: “Get the book. Read the first three chapters, then go to the chapter dealing with your pain and do what it says.” Today, I’m 23 years older than when I first started, but I still go to this book for age related issues as they come. It works.
so I am a bit evangelistic about this method after my own experience. I hurt myself snow boarding-didn't think much about it at the time as I thought I had just twisted my ankle up a bit-no biggy. Well after injuring it again in the same way twice after the initial injury I finally made my way into to sports medicine clinic where they took an xray, informed be that I was missing ligament (!) and I would be doing PT for the rest of my life or just continue to injure it and feel pain. I tried their PT. it was ho hum..didn't really feel much better and could not walk longer than a block. Then another PT, more ho hum and mobility but still not as much as I wanted. Then acupuncture (that did provide some relief but was hella expensive). Then I had one session with my 3rd PT and he gave me this book and a set of exercises out of it (static back, supine groin stretch). Holey crap it was like night and day. It still is-wish I was more disciplined to do it everyday, but doing the exercises after I have over stressed myself ALWAYS works. Every time. I was even able to run a marathon after finding these exercises-pretty huge after not being able to walk farther than a block for a couple months, and I have not re-injured it since. So, totally evangelistic about it- In total it's cost me 1 appointment with the 3rd PT ($200) and ($12) for the book-which is like ~23 times less than what I had spent up to that point trying to just be able to walk comfortably and not "fall off" my foot. If you're like me, and not so disciplined, it's great that it still works after the fact. When I know I am doing some serious hiking I do it in advance and have no problems of over-stressing, but sometimes I still just walk, hike, or run too far without having done the exercises enough, but again-45 minutes later I am actually 'pain free'. And I CAN walk, hike, and run. super grateful and stoked about that.
I’ve had back, shoulder and neck pain for years from whip lash YEARS ago and major arthritis in lower spine. I’ve had injections in the past and also success with physical therapy relieving pain during “flare ups” however didn’t realize that I wasn’t addressing the cause of the pain.
I was in tears from pain for months and considering surgery at the time I purchased this book. I read...no, I absorbed...this book in one day. The book addresses from head to toe and provides the remedy to relieve the pain and KEEP it away. I’m following daily and pain free for two months and getting stronger every day!
You won’t be sorry and you won’t believe how simple it is to treat your body to proper maintenance.
Thank you Pete Egoscue!!
For me, finding the right pillow has also been critically important in reducing neck pain. You have to experiment a lot, but the right one makes all the difference. Also, if you sleep on your stomach, as I used to, you must cure yourself of that habit. It's murder on your neck.
This book, and the right pillow, were the best money I ever spent on the road to reducing neck and back pain. Highly recommended!
The E-cises are easy to perform & low impact. I did look at YouTube videos to ensure I was performing the exercises correctly. You don't have to have the pain to gain the benefit. I look forward to repeating these & other E-cise routines. Hoping & praying for long-term results & completely getting off meds.
And, twenty years later, it continues to be an incredible source. The one pain that the book did not solve was chronic hip pain; a few years ago I had arthroscopic surgery to correct femoral acetabular impingement, and the surgeon found that my labrums on both sides were torn to pieces. Well, that explained the pain. But the hip pain was coming back after the surgery, making walking painful. I turned, once again, to the Egoscue. exercises and, again, after only a week, a huge reduction in pain, so much that I'm walking three times further, with one tenth the pain. I once again am astonished at the effectiveness of such simple exercises.
Get this book and give it a try--you have nothing to lose but your pain!
After just a few workouts my body felt different. I don't mean as in "I worked out, now I have sore muscles... duh!" No, I mean everything felt different, my back and shoulders almost seemed to move differently. I'm sure there are some physicians and/or physical therapists that would take great issue with the ideas in this book. But as for me, it works great and I'm very thankful to have gotten it/read it/done it.
I saw some were upset with the explanations/illustrations of the exercises. Personally I thought they were simple and easy to follow. All it takes is a little time and effort.
Doctor told me to forget about kayaking or other active stuff and just take drugs for the pain, and try physical therapy or surgery.
2 years later I am in better shape and stronger than ever before the injury
No drugs (hate opiods), No physical therapy (tried it once, it was useless), No surgery, No doctors at all actually!
A masseuse friend gave me this book (I assumed it was some new age BS till I started reading it):
I followed it like a bible, and to this day still do the exercises every day without fail (I skip weekends now though)
I added in some lower back yoga and core strengthening exercises as well.
Takes 20 minutes a day for the whole routine.
Most people in this age are unwilling to do this, so they opt for surgery or just decide to be drugged for the rest of their lives.
Within 1 week of starting the routines, the pain was completely manageable. Ibuprofen here and there only.
I was able to go to a weekend festival at one month.
Within 4 months I was completely pain free most days
Within one year I was completely pain free 24/7 and my back and core was like an iron cage.
At almost 2 years now and I thank the universe daily and just continue to get stronger and maintain amazing flexibility. I'm in this for the long haul.
Surgery might fix the immediate pain in the short term, but unless you build your back muscles up and maintain correct alignment daily, you will be back in the same position.
I just took it one day at a time, and my commitment never wavered.
I kayak every weekend, mow my lawn, etc. Once in a while a feel a slight dull ache in my lower back if I’ve been really active all day, but that’s it. I actually like being reminded it’s there cause I often forget I ever even had a back injury.
Just my experience of course. Never met anyone else with the same results, because nobody is willing to do 20 minutes of exercise every day. Drugs or surgery are considered the only "realistic" options. My orthopedist considers it a miracle...but all it is is commitment.
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I had a friend tell me about this book and I had it on my shelf and would thumb through it occasionally and LIKE ALL OF THE PEOPLE LEAVING NEGATIVE REVIEWS I THOUGHT THIS DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANY HELP. After my first shoulder injury, a year in PT and yoga therapy I tossed this book straight into the garbage. Fast forward a year later and I hurt my shoulder AGAIN only WORSE! PT and yoga therapy got me out of pain but I never actually recovered - I couldn't get back to the computer (I was a graphic designer) or any work. I just kinda blamed the computer for my problems.
Welp, after I hurt my shoulder the second time, that really messed up my body. I lost a lot of muscle in recovery and everything got super tight all over my body, even with PT. So I remembered this book and purchased it again hoping it would help my tight calfs and hamstrings. I read it, understood the concepts and then tried the menu for tight calfs. It changed my life. In one day. I could move my back again. My calfs weren't tight. Like it was crazy - these exercises look ridiculous to someone who compares them to any other "normal" exercises or PT. Let me explain the difference to anybody who will hopefully listen.
Modern medicine and physical therapy ONLY work on the thing that hurts. They don't take into account the entire body and what could be really causing it. It is not holistic in the slightest. Trust me, I've been in 3 rounds of PT! Sure they might say hey strengthen your core in addition to what you have injured. Um, yeah, not the problem or the solution. Ever.
Yoga and flexibility exercises will also not answer your tight muscle problems. Sure you may feel better because you are literally stretching the fibers and the nerves, but it will not cure your problem and here's why: You are stretching the top layers of muscles, the superficial ones. But you are tight because the deep, super tight muscles are tight. You ain't never gonna get those babies to loosen up with normal stretches that only target the top layer of tightness. You're ALSO tight because you, like most people in the world who have a more sedentary and stressful life, have huge muscle compensation problems. Take me for example. Perpetual neck and shoulder tightness no matter what I did! Welp, come to find out, my hips were tight and weak A.F. and as soon as Egoscue fixed that for me, my shoulders released their tightness on their own. Like, so much so, I'd equate a SINGLE MONTH of Egoscue, twice a day, to basically what an ENTIRE YEAR of PT and yoga therapy couldn't even do for me. Yoga may make you more flexible and strengthen you somewhat, BUT, you are still not using the correct muscles to move correctly and exist in the world as your physical body was made to exist and move. My Egoscue therapist tells me on the regular of yoga people who come in and can touch the floor easily but who have crazy back pain and problems because they're body is not moving correctly REGARDLESS OF THEIR FLEXIBILITY. LIMBER DOES NOT EQUAL MOVING CORRECTLY.
Also, since everybody loves to try to be skinny and have abs: ALSO not going to help. With weight training and running and the likes, you are literally strengthening your muscle COMPENSATIONS and will eventually be really screwed because you're just asking to hurt yourself. When your joints don't move properly, neither will the rest of your body. And any like "leg lifts" and "squats" and the like are using huge muscle groups. Not the smaller muscle groups that are more like the fine motor skills of movement. BIG MUSCLES DO NOT EQUAL HEALTH OR PAIN FREE OR MOVING CORRECTLY. This is also where PT lacks, hugely. And the health and wellness industry in its entirety.
And lastly, manual therapy. Massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, etc. NEVER LASTS. It feels good in the moment but you have to keep going back. Why? Because if you're weak in the areas of your body that need to be strong and strong in the areas of the body that need to be weak or rather, take a back seat, you will always have problems in those areas no matter how good a massage or adjustment feels. It won't help in the long run, ever. Every time you go, you should just throw your money out the window and drive away, because that's the net benefit to your body.
After 6 years of increasing back pain, a neck injury, 2 shoulder injuries, and not being able to feel "free" in my body at the age of 31, I took to this like white on rice (after I threw the book away once, hehe). With the amount of PT and yoga therapy I did, I never should have had another relapse of the same shoulder injury. I go to the Egoscue clinic down the street and LIVE EGOSCUE, I do my exercises every day and have been able to completely change the posture of my entire body, fix my shoulders completely and get back to not only working on the computer again PAIN FREE but to be more active PAIN FREE as well. It's incredible. It's like getting handed back my life. Give it a try and reap the benefits! Be a critic and live pain full.
But after doing some Consciousness Managment work that got me to the root of why I was manifesting these pains and limitations, the solution to the physical aspects presented itself.
(The student was ready so the teacher appeared.)
After one visit with an Egoscu Clinitian, and I could move my shoulder freely. The results were immediate. Now I do my menu daily, and even more often. Each time I do I feel better, stronger, more in alignment and balanced. It's an incredible feeling. I love my before and after pictures, but that pales in comparison with how fantasticly I'm doing.
Egoscue is just that powerful.
Now I want to share it with my whole family, all of my friends, and each person I come into contact with, so this book offers me a way to do this!
Egoscue in general, and this book is totally life altering in a great amazing way!
I highly recommend it!!!
Beyond the exercises, the overarching philosophy of regaining and maintaining health through movement is tremendously valuable. Just reading this book will give you a better idea of what type of questions you should ask doctors before embarking on surgery or pharmaceuticals. I was very proud when at a recent visit with a very well-esteemed local nutrionist/chiropractor I was able to say that I already had this book when she suggested it.
This book is the answer to the kinds of question I asked after returning to physical therapy for the 3rd time in 2 years ( for 3 different physical ailments). Questions like: "Ok. Enough with just fixing my current problem... how do I keep from coming back here in a year with something ELSE?". This book goes a long way toward answering that type of question. Preemptive, holistic wellness care of yourself in place of constant, reactive, after-the-fact treatment of symptoms without ever getting at the cause.
My sister used the foot regimen with great success. Wearing any shoes was painful. Being a fashionista, this cramped her style. After following the exercises she can now walk in nearly any decent shoe pain free.
We are both in our 50's so not young.
My mom, in her 80's, has used it for her back & was the one to let us know about it as it worked for her too.
There are many other exercises for other areas of the body. I'll be sure to go to them if something goes wrong.
It is important to understand that the Egoscue Method will be effective only if one is willing to be disciplined and put in the time necessary for the desired result. It would probably be helpful to have someone monitor you as you begin to ensure that you are doing the “E-cises” correctly. I recommend this book to anyone who is living with chronic pain.
So I tried this book out last night, and found out I probably have problems with my right side, even though the left side is the one in pain. I tried a few stretches and exercises, and this morning my pain's mostly gone. I'd probably pay $10 just for the experience of being this pain free for this long. Great book so far.
More recently, I developed instability in my right hip, knee and ankle. It became enough of a problem that I bought a cane.
Then, I saw this book recommended by someone in a Facebook post and I read some reviews, then bought the book. My life has been changed. After one week, just doing the ankle movements, I am pain-free for the first time in years. I can still feel tightness in my right knee and hip, but I feel stability in my joints when I walk and I don't have any back pain. I am confident that the tightness will disappear as I work my way through the movements in the book.
The author explains how most pain is related to misalignment and lack of movement and then details specific e-cises to realign and regain mobility. The book is easy to understand, the movements are simple and clear and, most importantly, life changing. I no longer have to accept daily pain. I no longer have to plan my days around pain. I have a new sense of freedom and ability.
August 1, 2014
As an introduction, I am a 43 year old male, have been married for 17 years with four young children, am a pediatric doctor specializing in the care of hospitalized children, and a devout Christian involved in medical missions. I would say that my life has not been easy but has been meaningful and filled with many wonderful things. I have always prided myself on being able to overcome life’s obstacles. When I was nine years old I was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently had three and one-half years of treatment. This was of course a difficult time, but it gave me an appreciation for life and established in me a desire to make a difference. It also taught me at an early age how to cope with pain. I have some long-term minor health issues related to it but have been relatively healthy as an adult until I injured my back six years ago. This back pain has truly impacted my life and that of my family. In the past couple years I have felt like I am falling into the abyss. Egoscue is helping bring me out. It is out of gratitude to Elliott, my therapist, that I wanted to share my story.
I have “thrown my back out” seven times in the past six years. I have a problem that many people have, a herniated, ruptured disc at L4-5. I initially injured it in 1999, quickly recovered and did not really think anything of it. Then in 2006, at the age of 36, I had just returned from a month of medical work overseas, I was lifting awkwardly and felt a shock in my back. I then fell to the floor and was not able to get up. I spent the next 10 weeks recovering. Needless to say it was awful. After my recovery from that I seemed to return to a pretty normal level of functioning until eight months later when I did it again. That time I recovered faster (only missed three weeks of work) but did not seem to recover to my prior level of activity. Each time I have hurt it seems to follow this pattern. I am better at recovering from the episode but am not able to return to my previous level of functioning. In the last two years I have also developed chronic, daily pain. These episodes have caused me to miss 22 weeks of work.
Looking back over the past six years, my decline in functioning is frightening. Before I injured my back the first time, I was a pretty average 36 year old in my ability to do work around the house, travel, play sports, and do just about anything I wanted. Since that time I have seen my ability to move decline sharply. Four years ago I had some pain but was still able to travel to Cambodia and do medical work in villages for a month. Over the past three years I had been having pain on a daily basis and significantly limiting my activity. After work I would often lie down and not be able to help with the kids. I was having significant pain with driving so was not able to take them to their sports practices, go to dinner with my wife, or really do too much of anything. At work I do research and teach residents along with my clinical responsibility. I was worried that I was going to have to give those things up as I needed to lie down and rest anytime I was not taking care of patients. I was honestly afraid to get up in the morning for fear of pain and that I was going to hurt myself even more.
I have been to and through many therapies, therapists, and physicians over the past six years. I am a pediatric doctor so I have good access to all aspects of mainstream health care. I have consulted and been helped by some wonderful people. I am thankful that I have excellent back surgeons who have told me to stay away from surgery and a physical medicine doctor and physical therapist who believe in health through exercise. These people have helped me get over the initial pain of not being able to get out of bed and getting back to work, but I have not found anything that can take me the remainder of the way. I had not found any person or program that can help me get rid of the chronic pain and return to my prior level of functioning and an active lifestyle, not until I met Elliott at Egoscue.
My wife and I first came to Egoscue on April 7, 2014. We were skeptical at best that Egoscue could help me in any significant way. I had hurt my back pretty badly for the seventh time in the past six years on March 22nd and had been off work since. I felt hopeless about my back ever getting better. At the age of 43, I was investigating long term disability out of fear that I was not going to be able to work. On this day, I could barely get out of the house and down to the Egoscue office. I remember how painful it was just to sit there and talk. One of the first things Elliott did was acknowledge that I looked like I was in pain, tell me that he had been there himself, and ask me if I wanted to lie down while we talked. That was my first indication that this might be different. During what turned out to be a two and one-half hour visit, I started to have an inkling of hope that this could actually help me. By the end of that conversation I felt as if I had met someone that seemed to truly understand what I was going through and someone that felt confident that he could help me. And through his confidence, I actually started to believe that I could get better. He put me through a set of E-cises that day that I would not have thought I could complete, and unbelievably I actually felt better when I left the office.
I remember Elliott talking to my wife at that first visit, wanting to know how she felt and how it was impacting our family. He let both of us talk and tell our story. It was incredibly emotional for us being able to give voice to the pain that our entire family was experiencing as a result of my back. He just got it. He was able to convey to us that he got it, that he cared, and that he had a solution for us. He introduced us to Mita and Brittany and they were wonderful as well. When we left that day, we had a plan, in writing and online. We had specific instructions for the remainder of the day. He said he would call the next day and he did. He was available and helpful. He told us it would get better and it did.
It seems that at Egoscue you understand that relieving my pain is not just about putting my body in a position that makes the pain go away. The pain has been emotionally debilitating and physically oppressive. It affects the way I view myself and interact with those around me. Healing is of course about taking the pain away, but it is also about taking the fear away, and about empowerment and control. That is what I feel that Egoscue and Elliott are giving me. I know that Elliott will not want his name in here like this, but to me he is Egoscue. Our relationship, his encouragement, his getting it, has been critically important in these initial stages of my recovery. My wife, who is a far better judge of character than me, just loves him. She appreciates how much he cares about me. I feel like in him, we have someone to walk this journey with.
Probably the biggest change for me has been getting control over my fear. I used to not want to get out of bed in the morning for fear of the pain and fear that I was going to injure my back and not be able to work and take care of my family. Fear affected my mood, my ability to take care of my patients at work, my interaction with my wife and kids. Today I still have fear but it is minute compared to what it was. Instead of thinking about my back multiple times an hour, I now think about it off and on and often when I do I am just excited about how good it feels. I am trying to transition my fear back to being that rational thing that keeps me safe, motivated and humble, and away from the thing that it became that caused so much anxiety and paralysis. I am on the way.
So what is my life like four months into Egoscue? I am not in pain all the time. I can work a 14-hour day in the hospital and concentrate on taking care of my patients. I can drive my kids to sports and stay and watch them play. I can go out to dinner with my wife. I can get out of bed in the morning without stiffness, pain, and fear. When I walk I feel good, straight, and comfortable. I can sit evenly and upright. I can help put my two year old son to bed. I can do yard work. My wife and I are talking about overseas missions work again. Life is good. I still have a long way to go. And I know, as Elliott has reminded me, that I am going to tweak my back again at some point, but I will take that if I can have my life back.
I feel hopeful about my ability to return to and stay at a level of functioning that I want, hopeful that I am going to be able to work for many years to come, that I am going to be able to take care of my family, participate in my kids lives in a meaningful way, be a good husband, father, and son.
I feel like Egoscue, and Elliott in particular, have given me my life back. It is rare to meet a person that truly cares and that can and wants to help. I want to thank you, Egoscue and Elliott, for giving me my life back. I honestly did not think it would happen but it is. I look forward with anticipation to what is ahead.
Thank you Pain Free, Pete Egoscue, The Egoscue Method and my therapist, Elliott Williams
When I first started using this book, I'd tried "everything" and was still in significant pain from a series car accident. When I read this book I instantly felt hope and promised my son that I was about to make significant improvements. Sure enough, I did. Now I recommend this book to anyone who hurts.
If you look at my reviews, you'll see that I found many helpful products for neck and back pain. However, if money is tight, I'd probably start with this one.
After borrowing a copy from our local library to make sure I would like it enough and follow the e-cises, I bought a copy of the book. I was having pain in my left ankle and knee that kept me awake at night. After the first two days of doing just two of the e-cises my pain was cut by 50%, enough to allow for better sleep. I do the e-cises every day and am pain free. When I skip a day or two the pain returns. I still haven't incorporated more than two of the e-cises. Once I add a few more of the recommended e-cises I believe I'll feel better longer even if I skip them a couple of days.
I recommend it to my friends who have pain in their feet, knees, back, neck, etc. and want to be proactive in getting to the source of the pain without taking painkillers or going under the knife.
This was a small amount of money well spent.
Satisfied in Florida,
C.S.
Okay, let me just give a little background on my condition so that people looking to treat their pain can relate. I've been suffering from lower back pain for about nine years. I'm 25 years old right now. My latest bout of severe pain came in November 2013. I had an MRI performed and showed three herniated discs a small bulge in the L3-L4, a large rupture in the L4-L5 and another small bulge in the L5-S1. This latest injury knocked me hard. I was in bed the entire time for the first two weeks, in extreme pain. When the pain settled down (and I use settle down lately) I began seeing doctors about my condition. I walked into many waiting rooms in complete agony not able to sit, stand or lay without pain. After being prescribed painkillers, which barely work, I saw my orthopedic surgeon. My doctor takes a very conservative approach to spine health and says that surgery is the last resort. But after dealing with this for nine years with many bouts of physical therapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, and posture correction I was ready to consider surgery. I'm glad I didn't go through with it. For the past two weeks I've been doing vax-d (look it up) treatments with little improvement and while researching my condition I stumbled upon Pain Free.
About the book:
The book is set up to get you started right away. I got this book Saturday morning in the mail and started "E-cises" (Egoscue's version of his exercises) Saturday evening after I read the first three chapters and then flipped to the lower back chapter. The exercises consisted of five exercises and takes about 20 minutes to do. The exercises are low impact it really easy to do. I was still in pain so there was some mild discomfort with some of the exercises.
Pros:
Easy to read
Set up to tackle your problem right away
A method that isn't practiced by many physical therapists or chiropractors
Quick acting (at least for me)
$14 that might potentially save you thousands and other therapies
Cons:
Some of the exercises in my chapter reference to other chapters and had to flip back-and-forth to learn the exercises initially
Does not mention of some supplies you might need for the exercises. (Small blocks for stretches, but I use pillows to substitute)
I will update this review as I go along to track progress and let everyone know how it worked for me.
I have been doing the Egoscue TMJ exercises as directed in the book for the past week. My pain is about 20% of what it was in the weeks before I got the book. I also sit and walk with better alignment in my hips/knees/back. I have gone from being miserable and dispirited to hopeful, call me a fan.
This Egoscue book seems like the better one for a short term fix for a specific problem. I also ordered "The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion" and it seems to have a better general prescription for overall health (but it lacks the specifics for TMJ, headache, knee pain, lower back pain, etc).
Surprisingly, the TMJ section does not have exercises that directly stretch, reposition, or strengthen the jaw muscles. The idea is that when the head is leaning forward too much, it messes with the neck, and that activates the jaw muscles, which then cause problems. The exercises act indirectly, on the position of the hip, lower back, shoulders and neck. Sounds strange, but this is working for me. This may or may not work for all types of TMJ, but I can see where many people could benefit. The mouthpiece from the dentist didn't work for me, the hot towels to relax the jaws only helped a little sometimes, but this method is good. The isometric exercises are boring but not very strenuous or difficult, it takes 15-20 minutes to do the TMJ program, and I sometimes do the shoulders or neck program as I have issues there.
My adult son suffered with excruciating back pain and a bulging disc following years of racing motorbikes. Last year he was unable to sit for 8 months…he could only stand or lie down and could barely move. Throughout that period he was receiving medical treatment almost daily but without results. He just seemed to be getting worse. In desperation he agreed to borrow my Pain Free book to see if the exercises would help. Within 1 week he could sit and within 4 weeks he was back at work part time doing light duties. He is now working full time and pain free. I purchased another book for him so I could get mine back! We both do our exercises every day without fail.
This book also contains interesting information about posture and how to avoid pain. A must read even if you are not in pain and want to lead a pain free life.
It did not happen the first week, although within a few days I felt like my hips were looser in an odd way. It did not happen the second week, although my hip pain started to abate from a constant 6-8 to a more livable 4-6. I kept doing it. One day, my hip pain was so noticeably reduced that I thought: it's time to move on to my achilles, which had been literally hobbling me for months. (I started with my hips because, despite how bad my achilles were, my hip pain was more accute/intolerable.)
Fast forward to yesterday: 46 days after starting my e-cises and finally I can undeniably say that I am pain free! Today is day 47 and still pain free. A week more of my e-cises and this girl is moving on to Chapter 13 (the "for life" chapter). I have to say that I was skeptical, but I figured: What's the harm? It's not some MLM trapping me into a payment program for years; it's less than fifteen bucks. Best thirteen dollars and 99 cents I've ever spent!
I'm so happy! I'm trying not to think about how much it stinks that it took me this long to find this book: 26 YEARS of pain. But that's the past now.
However, it's not for everyone. Most people don't have the discipline to do their own body work, even though it's neither difficult nor painful. It takes time, and that's what seems to be sorely lacking with most people, even those suffering from daily pain. If you're tired of hurting and willing to take the time for your own body, it's fantastic. If you're not committed to spending 45 min to an hour a day to help yourself, don't bother. It's helped me significantly, and I've just started....
The author, Pete Egoscue, writes of his experience with chronic pain having survived the Vietnam war. He eventually became a physiologist and did the world a favor by writing this book. I don't know where you are, Mr. Egoscue, but I telepathically send you many thanks. I now carry my body and walk around the world with more confidence and understanding about how my muscles work...
for full review, check out my blog:
http://kimberlysimonsays.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/122/
The Pain Free book gives a completely different perspective on the underlying cause of musculoskeletal pain. Pete Egoscue, the author of this method, developed it as a result of dealing with his own pain. When he was told that he had to live with chronic pain for the rest of his life after a Vietnam War injury, he figured out a way to heal himself with very special exercise program that later expanded and become the Egoscue method. To make a long story short, the reason for just about any musculoskeletal pain is postural misalignment. It puts too much strain on our joints, ligaments, muscles, and spine. If we can fix the postural deviations, we can allow our bodies to heal and become pain free.
In his Pain Free book, Pete explains first how our bodies become misaligned - sedentary life style being the major culprit - obviously he talks about it in much more details. We live in a motion starved society and need daily exercise routine to keep our musculoskeletal system happy and our postures aligned. His method is not a quick fix and requires effort and dedication. Proper motion is essential for our health and well being and if we want to live a pain free life, we better keep moving.
In the book, there are very clear practical recommendations how to deal with most common types of the musculoskeletal pain: feet, ankles, knees, hips, low back, upper back, neck, headaches, etc. Pete also gives exercise menus for athletes to do before doing any activity. I usually don't like doing exercises from the book but descriptions are very clear and pictures help. They are also very easy, many adopted from yoga poses. Some of them even hard to call exercises - they are more like quite comfortable static positions. But don't be fooled by their perceived simplicity, they are very effective. Some of them might surprise you with how difficult they feel while it seems that you are doing nothing.
The only minus of the book is that it's hard to figure out which program to do first and how many of them you need, especially when somebody is experiencing all sorts of aches and pains, starting with stiff neck and shoulders, and ending with knee arthritis. What it does not convey clearly, is that you will benefit from the method the best if you see an Egoscue certified postural alignment specialist and get an individually tailored program for your specific postural deviations. Somebody, who is trained to evaluate your posture and monitor your progress. The book is aimed to educate, to try exercises, and to get a sense what you can do to help yourself with chronic pain. And then decide if any other action is needed.
Egoscue method was the only exercise program that really helped me after years of chronic back pain (working in computer field), a number of back and hip injuries (yoga related, hate to say it), and a frozen shoulder for almost a year. I am forever grateful to my acupuncturist who told me about the Egoscue method - at the time I was so tired of constant pain I was willing to try anything since nothing else worked.
I did not read the book first - I went straight to the Egoscue specialist who was coming to our area once a month from one of the Egoscue travel clinics. The 10-appointment package was costly but worth every penny. I still cannot believe how much it helped and how much my posture has improved. I do my Egoscue exercises first thing in the morning and then I proceed to my daily yoga practice without any fear of injury. And, if I experience any pain after a long day at the computer, I know exactly what to do.
After experiencing the benefits of Egoscue method first hand, I was so impressed that decided to learn the method myself and now I practice upright posture fitness professionally.
Since then, we have either recommended this book to many others or have bought this book as a gift for friends and family.
Those that have chosen to open this book and follow through with the e-cises have been pleasantly surprised. We've even had one acquaintance that decided he didn't need back surgery after following through with these e-cises.
They are not a "once and done" thing but a routine that you will actually enjoy once you commit to it.
Also, I would recommend doing them in the morning as your schedule allows. You will find that you have more energy because you're body doesn't have to battle pain throughout the day!
What I like is that the exercises are simple, gentle (they're stretches more than exercises, in my view), and most of them don't need any special equipment. You can do them at home or in a hotel room, you don't need a gym. Best of all, this is something you do for yourself, rather than have somebody else do TO you (like going to a chiropractor or something). You take responsibility for fixing your own problems.
I haven't tried the exercises in other chapters, although the many of the exercises show up all over the place with just a few that are unique to a given body part. I can't personally testify to the effectiveness of other chapters, but I'm extremely happy with the upper back program.
The only thing I don't like is that there's no explanation of the theory behind the program. Geeks like me always want to know why something works, and why it was designed in that particular way, etc. Of all possible ways to move your body, why are THESE stretches so effective? Unfortunately, Egoscue is silent on that.
Bottom line: worth a try by anyone who has chronic pain, in my opinion. The stretches are gentle and it's hard to see how they could possibly mess you up any worse than you already are, and you can do them by yourself without a trainer or special equipment. It takes only a minimal investment, and hopefully you'll have amazing results like I did.
If I am consistant, I cannot see how I cannot continue to improve ANY part of my body that hurts. THIS BOOK IS SOOO VALUABLE TO ME--IT HAS BEEN A MIRACLE. I'm still amazed at the relief and improvement each time I do the routines. YOU MUST READ AND STUDY TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO THE E-CISES- YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID. It gives you confidence and results that you are wanting.
YOU MUST BE WILLING TO DO 20 MINUTES DAILY (THEN MAINTENANCE)--
AND READ, READ, READ UNTIL YOU FEEL EASY AND COMFORTABLE ABOUT THE SYSTEM AND E-CISES ( EXERCISES). IT'S NOT HARD, BUT IT'S MORE ENJOYABLE KNOWING HOW TO DO EVERYTHING QUICKLY AND EASILY.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, TOO.
In late 2008 I was at my university library where I found the book Pain Free. I read the book with an open mind. I started the exercises for my particular area. The results were nothing startling. But, I had nothing to lose and I was optimistic. Eventually I called Pete Egoscue, (spoke to him twice- and recieved some very good advice.
I have been doing the exercises now for about 12 months. I have an egoscue therapist who has tailor made a serious of exercises to my specific posture. He also makes sure I do the exercises properly. The pain (discomfort) hasnt disapeared. Its still there a little. But, its greatly improved. (And continues to improve with time) Its done more than ALL the other therapy had ever done. For this, Im very greatful for.
Maybe egoscue isnt for you. Its not for everyone. I know people who are skeptical (dont we all) that continue to rely on doctors and surgeons for their advice. Thats fine if thats what you want. I see egoscue like SELF HELP for the body. If you like to be responsable for your own health and wellbeing then egoscue may be for you.
Things improved, but just moderately. I couldn't figure out why I would be one of the few to get so-so results, especially with all the glowing reviews. So I was a bit disappointed.
But then I went back and scrutinized the exercises.
That's what finally did it...
The exercises are very simple, but they have very important subtleties and details that you must not overlook or skip. Following them precisely is essential. As an example, one of the exercises requires you to sit with your back flat against the wall. That's easy enough (or so you would think), but then come the other components. You need to flex your toes (feet) back towards your chest while keeping your quadriceps (front thigh muscles) tightly contracted. To this add resting the backs of your hands on the top of your thighs while at the same time pressing your shoulder blades back into the wall. Now hold this for a few minutes.
May not sound that difficult (and really it's not) but keeping all of these muscles engaged for extended periods requires keeping your attention pinned to what you're doing.
This is why the exercises didn't seem to work for me initially. When the author tells you to keep your toes flexed back towards your chest, he means to do it the entire time.
When I finally figured out all the nuances and got everything working at once, it was -- to be honest -- excruciatingly painful... but oh what a sweet pain it was. After two key exercises in the very next exercise session virtually all the pain was gone. It vanished completely shortly thereafter and has never reappeared since (6 years now).
This one you can order with confidence -- the exercises really do work.
it to do the exercises for carpal tunnel. It has saved me from ever
having the surgery all my friends have resorted to. They refused to
try these simple exercises.
Well recently I started having pain going down my right leg into
my right foot. My left knee hurt and my left foot. Well I used the
book and found a clinic that was practicing the Egoscue Method.
Needless to say I could hardly walk in there and within 2 weeks of
the exercises I was at 70 percent, by 4 weeks I was at 85 percent
and by 7 weeks was back on my horse and riding again. Something I
thought I might have to give up.
I had a pinched nerve, bulging disk and then whiplash from a car
accident during my 8 weeks of sessions. All were alleviated and
taken care of.
Peter Egoscue's Method works, hands down. Not sure how or why
I could care less. It works and I am forever grateful. I have
bought 6 of these books thus far since I keep giving my copy away
to those in pain.
I would never resort to surgery when I can invest time and effort
naturally in doing these exercises. Yes it takes time but it is
so worth it. The book gives you a wonderful start and if it doesn't
work buy the other books. If that doesn't get it go to the
clinic. It was the best investment in my health I have ever done.
I am grateful for this book and just ordered another copy, again.
Kirstin Mason
Franklin, TN
Well, I was, and I remain, ASTOUNDED at how spot-on Pete Egoscue is with his method. It's a simple premise - when your body is in alignment, you have far less pain ... similar to chiropractic philosophy EXCEPT- Egoscue takes it a logical step forward. Your muscles are what hold your bones in place... and if you don't retrain your muscles, no amount of chiropractic adjustments will really help.
His exercises are EASY. There's none of the "hang upside down by your toes" absurd things you find so often in 'methods' which purport to eliminate pain.
I've loaned this book (and finally bought several as loaners and gifts) to friends which both acute and chronic pain issues, and IN EVERY SINGLE case, these exercises helped them dramatically. One friend is dealing with advanced cancer, and somehow got intense sciatica - he said the pain was worse than the cancer! - and he did a few of the exercises from Egoscue's book and eliminated the pain. And this fellow had all the high end pain medications he wanted - they couldn't stop his pain, but the "supine groin stretch" did it. (As an aside, can you imagine how great it feels to really HELP a close friend in a situation like this?)
Now, it WILL stop your pain right away, but the effects won't last indefinitely. You do have to participate here... you do these easy and relatively quick exercises daily for a while... ideally you'll make his whole body routine a part of your daily life. (I didn't, too lazy I guess, but do return to the book whenever I need the help... along with yoga, you can't lose!!)
I can't imagine a better testimonial to this method. It WORKS. Just like he says. Wow.
I am editing this review about five years later because of more discoveries. I've recently had better and faster results with Hanna Somatics for musculoskeletal pain but will always recommend Egoscue Pain Free for people wanting a quick fix and it's valuable information about misalignments. Somatics is the missing link I had with Egoscue. Muscles tell bones what to do but Pete forgot to tell me that the brain tells muscles what to do. I'm also disappointed in Pete Egoscue for not crediting Thomas Hanna for his inspiration (Condition 1,2,3 = red light, green light and trauma). Egoscue does have the information that Somatics is missing and that is how the body is suppose to be aligned. Egoscue menus are also more time consuming for me because the stretching and passive exercises take more time for the mind/body connection to occur. After doing Somatics for awhile and feeling more of the mind/body connection I plan to go back to see how I connect with ecises. Anyways I still stick with my 5 star review because the more information about posture therapy the better and Egoscue was my introduction.
And then I found this book! The claims - 95 percent success rate, noticeable results after just one 20-minute session - seemed pretty outrageous, but the customer reviews were so good I figured I had to at least try it.
I did my first set of exercises 9 days ago and I am back to tell you that *it works*. The first time I did the series of 4 exercises/stretches, I stood up after the last one and the pain was gone. --Gone! Additionally, my knee felt different...it felt right in a way that it hadn't felt in years.
The first few days that I did the exercises, about 20% of the pain would creep back around 6 o'clock (I do the exercises in the morning), I imagine because the muscles were trying to revert back to their old "habits." Now I am pain free all the time and enjoying my newfound freedom in every way that has occured to me. I played volleyball - hard - on Thursday. I've gone jogging. At the gym, I was able to lift more with that quad for some reason (it usually wobbles and gives out). Buy the book!
The funniest thing is that "exercises" and "stretches" are misnomers...when I think of "exercise," I think of "feeling the burn" and stretching brings to mind notions of a too-tight rubberband. "Motions" and "positions" are probably better descriptors for Egoscue's inventions than the latter.
The only caveat is that the series for knee problems take longer than the advertised 20 minutes, because of a groin stretch that can take a while on a bad leg (you do it until the muscle lets go). But the time has decreased for me as my knee has been getting progressively better and I have gone from spending about an hour and fifteen minutes per morning to about 30 minutes. In any case, the time spent has been well worth it, and I simply utilize the time to read while I let the position do its work.
I've spent the entire week "evangelizing" all my friends and relatives because my experience with this book has been nothing short of a miracle! Feel free to contact me with questions: [email protected].
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.