Neck pain? Back pain? Is it shooting down your arms or legs? How is your posture? The McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy is an evidence based approach to treating pain. Physical Therapist, Robin McKenzie, founded The McKenzie Method after working with patients, he found that certain planes of movement can affect pain and its location. https://www.mckenzieinstituteusa.org

Lifestyle Factors Lead to Back Pain

McKenzie identified two lifestyle factors that predispose us to back pain. The first being poor sitting posture and the second being the frequency of lumbar flex (bending forward) throughout the day.

Slouched Sitting: Sitting with slouched posture puts the spine in a flexed position and increases kyphosis (abnormal rounding of the upper back). This increases pressure in the discs in the back. Some low back pain is caused and nearly all low back pain is aggravated by poor sitting posture.

Frequency of lumbar flexion (bending forward) throughout the day. From the moment we get up in the morning till we rest at night, we are frequently in flexed posture positions: sitting at home or work, working in the yard, garden, kitchen, mopping or vacuuming the floors. Rarely do we extend our spines (bend back). Studies show that we flex our spines an average of 4500 times each day!

Low back and extremity pain can respond positively to different planes of movement. Using these movements, McKenzie trained therapists can diagnose and prescribe repeated lumbar range of motion exercises to centralise and then abolish pain.

Therapists at Aquacare have been trained in using this methodology and are seeing great results with our patients. Contact us for an evaluation and get back to your life: https://aquacarerephysicaltherapy.com/free-consultation/