Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain

Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain
This is a fabulous book. I had borrowed it from a a friend and decided I wanted my own copy. The concept is when your muscles are not strong your body is out of alignment and causes pain. The exercises don't require any expensive equipment and they work. The exercises also are not exhausting nor time consuming. In a few minutes a day you can do them. I love this book and system.

I had five years of chronic knee pain cured doing these knee postures three times. The very straightforward approach of this book is to get your big muscles doing big muscle work again. Pain is caused when the small muscles take over. I am a doctor and have used this effectively with many patient. More accurately I have given them the book and they have done it.

Egoscue is a leader in his field, no question about that. The book is well written and easy to follow. The exercises are easy to do, and best of all they work. As a healthcare provider and three sport athlete, i am always looking for conservative ways to treat minor aches and pains both for me and the patients that I treat. This book is a valuable asset to your collection, and you will not be disappointed if you purchase it.

I was impressed by the claims of "instant pain relief" by many of the commenters of this book, so I was looking forward to receiving this book as soon as possible. I recently bruised a nerve that caused my thumb to become tingly and I get upper back pain after typing for hours at a time at work, but rest assured, none of the claims came true. Apparently this is a case of the placebo effect and nothing more, i.e. - it will only possibly work if you have blind faith that it will work. For example, none of the exercises ever offered any "instant relief" and I could not feel any beneficial effect like the "loosening of knots" from any of the exercises. I had high hopes for this book because of the theory put forth by the author that many of our modern repetitive motion ills are actually caused by restricting our movements without any compensation for the unused musculature, leading to atrophy (and pain) of the unused musculature. This theory is in harmony with legitimate research of the benefits of movement like that of the neurophysiology of dancing (and how it can be used to treat Parkinson's disease. See SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE? Sci American, June 16, 2008), and it explains how Tai Chi or Qigong can work as so many people have claimed it has (although the claims of enhanced psychic powers is still pure utter nonsense). There is one Hindu Sadhu in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT who sat with one hand held up in the air for years. He did this for so long that eventually his whole arm and shoulder became permanently fused and even birds would nest in his outstretched hand. When asked what was the most difficult part of his practice, he said enduring the first three months of extreme pain, but after his arm started to fuse in place, the pain went away. While our civilization hasn't gone to that extreme, it does vividly illustrate the validity of the theory. It is only too bad that this book did not deliver on its promises but I guess it is the thought that counts.

Egosque's thoughts and plans are very logical and make good sense to me. The writing is clear and the logic is clear. There are lots of pictures of the various exercises, and the explanations are clear. Good book easy to read and to use.