Pain Free for Women: The Revolutionary Program for Ending Chronic Pain Review

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(More customer reviews)Over 3 years ago I had constant shoulder, back, and hip pain. I had already invested in over a dozen books and had come to the conclusion that nothing was ever going to help me - chronic pain was a part of growing older. I also had a difficult time doing the Taijiquan (a martial art) form I was working on because my back was overly curved. On the advice of a friend, I got Egoscue's first book, Pain Free.
After doing the exercises (30 minutes each day) for a few months, wonder of wonder, my curved back relaxed and I was able to sink into the Taijiquan postures I'd been trying to achieve for ten years. But best of all - the pain disappeared. For the first time in years, I didn't wake up to daily pain in my joints!!!
Unfortunately, almost a year ago, I got into a car accident that is still causing me a great deal of pain in my neck and back. I had been doing those same Pain Free exercises from before, but they didn't seem to be doing much.
I decided to purchase this newer book anyway - since it was written specifically for women. I actually didn't think it would help much and prepared myself for disappointment.
Oh MY!! After just a few weeks, once again, I was amazed at the difference. The exercises in this book (and yes, they do take much longer than the simple Pain Free book) were so helpful that I was able to change from a narcotic pain reliever to a non-narcotic pain reliever. Believe me, for someone trying to function- that is a BIG difference.
Egoscue is a genius. I have seen many doctors, including so-called pain specialists, and the only thing that has significantly helped me so far is Egoscue exercises. I now do them every day, and can feel the difference in my neck, back, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and feet.
Even better - this book explains in much more detail than the Pain Free book exactly what's going on in my muscles and body - so that I can really tell why the exercises are working (or not). Now that I can feel the difference, I can tell when to stop doing one phase and move on to the next.
I felt compelled to write this review because I noticed a few negative reviews. The only thing that I can postulate is that
1. The people writing were not committed to the exercises for long enough for them to work, or...
2. The people did not really have chronic pain to begin with and therefore no motivation, or....
3. The people have something personal against Peter Egoscue (I have never met him, so I wouldn't know).
All I can say is -- this book changed my life. I only wish I had read it BEFORE my accident - I suspect that I wouldn't have gotten so hurt had I been in better "functional" shape prior to getting rear-ended.
This book is about prevention, about taking control of your body and making it work the way it was designed to work. If you are a women in chronic pain - believe me - if you do these exercises, you will change your life for the better. Don't let others disuade you from doing the most that you can for yourself.

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Soft Tissue Release Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an easy to use book. I have little knowledge of the subject and obtained the book to help me understand what I need to know. It is thorough and the step by step photos really help although they could do with updating. There is an excellent page on situations where soft tissue release can help. Some exercises can be done on your own, others you need someone to work on. It includes muscle diagrams and simply everything you need to know. This review first appeared on Karen Platt's book review website.

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Soft Tissue Release is a clear, concise, and practical book that guides you in understanding and applying the three types of soft tissue release (STR): passive (clients do not help), active assisted (clients and therapists work together), and active (clients do it on their own). Rather than focus on the specific purposes of soft tissue release, this text provides basic information about the therapy and prepares readers to perform the techniques. The result is a text that professionals and students in massage therapy, physiotherapy, and osteopathy will find invaluable.

Soft Tissue Release thoroughly explains the differences between the three types of STR by providing step-by-step descriptions on performing each type along with the key holds, moves, and stances for various muscles. The descriptions are accompanied by handy reference charts indicating the types of clients and situations in which each technique is particularly useful. Complete instructions explain how to apply STR to various parts of the body—the trunk, the lower limbs, and the upper limbs—and detail the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. Numerous full-color photos depict the locks and stretches.

The book also explains how to use alternative options—such as massage tools and forearms, fists, and elbows—to protect the hands and thumbs from overuse. Tips sidebars provide short, practical comments on applying the techniques, while Client Talk boxes share the author's experiences and provide insight on situations that a therapist is likely to encounter. Each chapter ends with Quick Questions to test knowledge of the information, and answers are provided at the end of the book. A quick-reference photo index allows readers to look up techniques based on the client's position—prone, supine, sitting, or side lying—and find the page number for the complete instructions for that technique.

Finally, Soft Tissue Release shows how to incorporate the proper techniques into a treatment program. The book guides readers through the consultation process and provides examples of initial questions to ask clients and various assessment forms that therapists can use in identifying clients' needs. Using case studies and comparisons, the book shows how the data gleaned from clients can guide the design of an effective treatment program.

Soft Tissue Release will help the STR techniques come alive through its clear, detailed instruction and the numerous photos showing the techniques being applied by professionals. Whether you are a student or a professional, Soft Tissue Release will help you gain proficiency and confidence in these techniques.

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Bonnie Prudden's After Fifty Fitness Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)Bonnie Prudden calls people over 50 "the last fit Americans." By this she means that older people built their bodies to be strong and functional, by playing outdoors as children, walking to school, etc. Even if their fitness has declined, it can be regained. Ms. Prudden debunks myths about older people ("you can't teach an old dog new tricks," "all old people end up in nursing homes," etc.) and presents a clear, simple fitness test to use in taking stock of one's life and current fitness level. She presents her time-tested exercise program, relating exercises to specific problems such as "gardener's back," "stairs - going up and coming down," etc. Along with the exercises, Ms. Prudden discusses Myotherapy, the pain relief method she developed, and gives corrective exercises for many pain problems (migraine, sciatica, whiplash, etc.)as well as "immediate mobilization" techniques to use after an acute injury. Interspersed with more exercises are descriptions of pain problems related to various occupations and sports. For those who are chair-bound or unsteady on their feet, exercises that can be done in a chair are presented.

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Healthy Hips Handbook: Exercises for Treating and Preventing Common Hip Joint Injuries Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a valuable resource for anyone working with senior adults. From the clear anatomy lesson to the safe and sane exercises this book should be on everyone's bookshelf. I really appreciated the illustrations and the great photos -- you really get the right idea of how the exercises should be done. I also find the charts putting the right exercise with the right activity extremely helpful for a quick reference...well done Dr. Knopf

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END PAIN, REGAIN RANGE OF MOTION AND PREVENT INJURYMillions of people suffer from debilitating hip conditions each year. With Healthy Hips Handbook, you can make sure this doesn't happen to you. This friendly manual outlines the causes for common hip conditions, including snapping hip, IT band fasciitis, osteoarthritis and sciatica.Illustrated with over 300 step-by-step photographs, Healthy Hips Handbook offers easy-to-follow exercises to:•Build strength•Improve flexibility•Hasten recovery•Avoid future injuryHealthy Hips Handbook also features specially designed programs that keep you from suffering common hip issues (such as groin strain and arthritis) and prepare the body for everything from daily tasks to high-risk sports (such as biking, soccer, jogging and skiing). Follow the approach in this book and you'll be able to quickly get back to being pain free-and stay there.

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The World's Best Massage Techniques The Complete Illustrated Guide: Innovative Bodywork Practices From Around the Globe for Pleasure, Relaxation, and Pain Relief Review

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(More customer reviews)This book will inform and engage those who are interested in becoming massage professionals, expanding their professional practice, or simply exploring massage to enrich their lives.
It's one of the prettiest books I've ever seen, a absolute feast for the eyes, as befits a book on an activity that offers sensuous, spiritual bliss! The scrumptious color, pleasing design, and wonderful photos help anchor the clearly stated intructions and background information. It feels as spacious and generous as the gift of touch.
It evokes an immediate sense of relaxation. And like a good perfume, it builds an interesting blend of contrasts. Opulence and grounded simplicity, spice and serenity, all in one world tour of massage techniques and the philosophies that inluence them.
Author Victoria Jordan Stone is an acknowleged leader in the field, as an author, teacher and administrator/co-owner of the prestigious Blue Ridge School of Massage. Her years of experience funnel into the book a wealth of wisdom, practical information, and authoritaive gravitas. Her love of the art and science of massage embues it with soulful beauty. Her continued work as a hand-on practitioner provides it with freshness and authenticity.
I love this book and heartily recommend it for professionals and non-professionals alike, as a gift, a reference, a pleasure map, to dress up the coffee table, and invite lively conversation.

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Massage is one of the oldest healing modalities in the world and even modern science is proving its incredible power to soothe anxiety, boost immunity, and alleviate pain. The World's Best Massage Techniques presents the most effective massage and bodywork techniques from around the world—many of which have been used for thousands of years—to soothe stress and tension, alleviate discomfort, and give pleasure. This beautiful hands-on guide teaches you how to skillfully apply a wide variety of massage and bodywork techniques from other cultures for relaxation, stress relief, and wellness.

— Swedish Massage: Kneading strokes lengthen tense muscles
— Hot Stone Massage: Heated, flowing movements penetrate tight knots
— Thai Yoga Massage: Assisted stretches bring the body into alignment
— Reflexology: Focused pressure activates energy meridians
— Lomi Lomi: Sensuous strokes calm the body and mind
— Tantsu: Close, body-to-body contact creates intimacy
— Polarity: Gentle rocking movements loosen muscles and joints
— Shiatsu: Small compressions reduce pain and aid injury recovery

Color photography and step-by-step layout make techniques understandable and immediately applicable. With The World's Best Massage Techniques you can use the world's most exciting bodywork techniques in your own home.

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Trigger Point Therapy for Low Back Pain: A Self-Treatment Workbook (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have purchased quite a few books on trigger points as I have suffered with shoulder and upper back pain for many years. I went to the so called experts in my city, some even had a roster of clients that included pro athletes. Please don't be fooled, they knew little about what they did. I eventually stumbled across Davies book and was quite impressed with the reviews it got. So I started my in depth education of trigger points.
TP Therapy for Low Back Pain is incredibly thorough. It gives you tests to see for yourself where your issues may be. It is an absolute gem. I was so impressed that I took a flight to Chicago to get treated by Sharon and her staff. What a refreshing change. They were highly knowledgeable and really cared about their work!

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Working closely with trigger point pioneers Janet Travell and David Simons, Sharon Sauer developed a range of trigger point therapy treatment protocols for many areas of the body. This book presents her protocols for lumbar, buttock, and ilio-sacral pain. These gentle techniques are easy to learn and administer at home. They include compression, stretching, and range of motion exercises for the muscles that refer pain to the lower back and hip areas. This book includes an overview of myofascial trigger point therapy, describing the basic process of treatment. It also includes an index of all pain and dysfunction symptoms pertaining to the hip and lower back, including pain, numbness, weakness, or restricted range of motion in specific areas, which will enable readers to find the muscles most likely to be the cause of the specific symptoms presented.Although this book is geared toward readers wishing to use the techniques for self-care, one chapter details how health care professionals can add these techniques to their practices.

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The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief, Second Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I was really worried that this book might have been a standard new-age, make-a-buck, quack title. Thank goodness that turned out to be a groundless worry. This is an excellent book (with medical references) that does a very good job of helping you get rid of pain. I had hurt my lower back by performing the arduous task of putting on my underwear. The doctors and physical therapist couldn't really come up with a reason for it. After a month, it still wasn't getting any better. Searching the web gave me references to this book. Within three days of reading it and poking around in my UPPER (not LOWER) back, my thighs, and my abdomen, the pain has faded to just a reminder. I'm still not able to bend and reach like I used to. But, I'm exercising and stretching again, so hopefully that'll change. Best of all, it no longer hurts just to SIT (or lie down or stand, for that matter). After showing my wife that her lower body has just about every active trigger point known, she's also reading the book and working on her points. Hopefully, her pain will reduce in a couple of days, too.
The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that it's kind of hard to find and reference ALL the trigger points associated with a specfic pain FOR THE FIRST TIME. The book does have a diagram for pain locations at the start of each chapter. But, in many cases, the pain will be caused by multiple trigger points in multiple body locations. It takes quite a bit of paging through the book to figure out what you're supposed to do. Once you figure it out, though, the book is great. Of course, in the author's defense, I can't come up with a better organization method outside of having some kind of software with an anatomical display using hyperlinks.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book if you suffer from any kind of chronic pain. Even if your doctor has pronounced judgement that he/she knows what's causing things, try this book. As the author says, trigger point therapy should be the first course of treatment: it's easy and cheap.

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