I spent the first 4 years(and the only 4 years) of my career as a physical therapist becoming certified in this technique.  After I became certified, 6 months later I had a stroke.  Regardless of the MAGNITUDE of stuff I’ve learned in the last 2.5 years since my stroke, I still think that this is the best way to treat back/neck pain and should be the go-to form of treatment initially for cases of back/neck pain, especially acute cases.  HOWEVER, and this is something I’ve learned in the last few years – Mechanical Diagnosis is not the be all and end all form of treatment for the spine.  There is a whole crapload of other stuff that SHOULD be done.  If mechanical treatment is not yielding the results you want, try something else.  And sometimes other things should be tried quickly, not after weeks of failed McKenzie exercises.  Anyway, the founder of the McKenzie method, Robin McKenzie, died a few months ago.  This makes me sad.  😦  RIP Robin.  Robin’s #1 piece of advice was about having proper posture.  No matter how the back and neck are being treated, posture should be thoroughly addressed.

Categories: Health, Rehab

Tags: back pain, cervical spine, LBP, Low back pain, lumbar spine, mckenzie, mcKenzie certified, Mckenzie method, neck pain, Physical therapy, robin mckenzie, thoracic spine