Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain

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by: C. Souders (PA)
on: Monday, 25-October-2010

A few years ago my husband was going to therapy for his hands and shoulders. He worked in a machine shop and had a few childhood accidents that haunted him as an adult, as many of us do. The one therapist had just returned from Pete Egoscue classes and was sooo excited about what he learned that he recommended this book to my husband. It took a while before we took it seriously but when we finally got dedicated to these simple e-cises, it was life changing. Yes, they are boring but that is a small price to pay for the relief from aches and pain, without drugs or surgery.
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. Weve even had one acquaintance that decided he didnt 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 youre body doesnt have to battle pain throughout the day!

by: B.J. Greetham (United States)
on: Saturday, 23-October-2010

You can read the testimonials showing the apparent value of this book to many people. I also seem to be having success with this after years of difficulty with other methods. This raises the question why this approach has not entered into mainstream treatment 12 years after this book was written and why for example has Wikipedia removed the article on Egoscue method?

I have yet to compose a complete answer to this question. The basic criticism seems to be that this book presents nothing new. I will present a critique of this point as follows:

1. First read what the author has to say about this (p.42): Many of the E-cises in the following chapters are variations on familiar exercises drawn from yoga and other disciplines. Techniques for manipulating the biomechanical components of the human body have been around for centuries, mostly as means to enhance endurance, speed and balance. Still, no ancient yoga master, Renaissance fencing instructor, or Victorian-era proponent of Wooden Indian clubs and leather medicine balls ever anticipated a time when motion would become scarce.

2. Extending this idea, and adding in my own experience, it seems that the key to recovery from long term injury is to know at what level to start: for many people standard yoga and pilates classes are just too much. Ive been to pilates based physiotherapists who told me to do just 2 hip rotator repetitions each day - Ive tried this and in a week Ive injured my hip further. For me and others out there whove got this weak, Egoscue seems to be providing a ground zero - exercises which engage and connect muscles without straining them. Unfortunately there are some conditions for which even this is not low enough - you can read about them in some of the negative reviews to this book - but for the rest of us this can be a possible start point to rehabilitation back to motion. For those who moan the exercises take too long - well youre lucky not to be ill enough - yet!

by: Name withheld (United States)
on: Saturday, 16-October-2010

I had a frozen shoulder and all doctors could recommend were painkillers and physical therapy that could take months and possibly a cortisone injection or surgery if physical therapy wouldnt handle. I started the exercises in the book and after a few days I was off the painkillers and after one week I had full mobility in my shoulder again. The method makes perfect sense but even better, it works and works fast without having to go the prescription drugs/surgery route.

by: JESSE DEROUEN (USA)
on: Friday, 15-October-2010

This book helped with a friends sciatica, but I found this book difficult to navigate and lacking in terms of photographs and illustrations that would really go miles to helping the reader visualize bone structures and muscles involved.

I used this book to help someone else. It worked within two days, but I had to consult others who had already gotten help in order for me to know what chapter to use. Should I use the one for hips or the back? This book does not specify which chapter to use for sciatica. Turns out the one for the back worked while the ones for the hip were not needed. I give this book an A+ for working so quickly once I found out which exercises to use for what problem. But, imagine having a specific issue and not knowing which exercises to do. There are many routines, and it certainly is no small step to do more than you need to. Many routines have overlap. The issue with sciatica is that its felt in the buttocks or hip area, but the nerve is in the lumbar-sacral region. Its easy to be confused over which exercises are needed. Throughout the book attempts are made at describing positions and postures that are unhealthy, but there are very few pictures to show exactly what these positions look like. This brings me to my recommendation of Esther Gokhales book.


8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee, and Foot (Remember When It Didnt Hurt) is a brilliantly laid out book complete with photographs of not only the correct posture positions, but also of common mistakes. Also included are illustrations of the skeleton and muscles that cut out the trouble of wondering if youre imagining the details as they have been explained. The other major benefit to Esthers method is that there is practically no maintenance routine. Once you have re-learned the way your body is meant to be carried and moved, its simply a matter of consciously focusing until the old pattern is replaced with the new one.

I give Pete credit for his method working and even in a lightning fast time frame; however, I cannot recommend it for easy of use. I think Esthers book is profoundly easier to use and offers a practical solution that requires no daily exercises beyond the initial learning phase.

by: Lois Pidde (United States)
on: Thursday, 7-October-2010

This book was initially recommended by my doctor, I read it and shared my copy with other doctors, then ordered a copy for my daughter-in-law who is a Chiropractor. Many who have read, do the exercises, and remain pain free, A great investment.

by: David R. Cornwell (Harrodsburg, KY USA)
on: Saturday, 25-September-2010

The methodology in this book eliminated my lower back pain on the
first day. You must continue the VERY easy exercises until the muscles
and joints are correctly aligned but I am now pain free.

by: Technology Challenged (Florida)
on: Monday, 20-September-2010

Good book, good examples on excercises. Solution centers on posture and exercises to correct bad posture. Rationale is good, results so far have been positive. Addresses different exercises for general pain and exercises for certain sports.

by: J. Galligan (Cape Cod)
on: Tuesday, 31-August-2010

I was introduced to this book by a friend who had 5 ruptured disks and didnt want to accept the risks of surgery. His disks healed using the Egoscue method and he loaned me the book (he was playing tennis again three years later; the back surgeons warned he might never walk again if surgery failed). I used the exercises faithfully until my back healed. During the process, I purchased my own copy of Pain Free. I have since recommended and/or loaned the book to many others. My latest order of the book from your site was a gift for my niece who is suffering from back pain.

by: Sheila M. Chaleff (Los Angeles, California USA)
on: Tuesday, 24-August-2010

I highly recommend this book. I had severe knee pain and could not walk. I did the exercises for reducing knee pain with the result that the pain lessened daily. After a week I had no pain, and could walk. I am now doing the maintenance exercises and my body feels alive and able to move easily - much more than I have in years. I have also learned to spot imbalances in my bone structure and turn to the book to handle. This book is a real tool for handling physical problems without drugs or surgery.

by: Richard (United States)
on: Sunday, 1-August-2010

i am a 32 year old male who has been very fit all my life. Over the last 3 years i have had ongoing calf trouble when i run. I have been to physio, chiro, accupunture, massage, & even run bare foot now. None of that helped.
It seemed crazy. Then i noticed when looking at photos that my right foot pointed out a little and i seemed a bit crooked when standing. Thats when i did some research to find corrective methods to re-align things. After doing 2 sessions of the stretches outlined in this book, the pain in my calf has gone and i can run again. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who has any sort of ongoing pain. Treat the cause not the syptoms!

by: J. Diers (Cincinnati)
on: Thursday, 24-June-2010

This book is amazing! Stepped in an open floor vent hole at my daughters house during rennovation and the back issues started and didnt stop for three weeks. Someone noticed at the gym and loaned me this book. Wow! Pain free for the next 15 hours and then the same routine the next day. Maintainence now! Wow! Several friends now have a copy and we all love it!!!!!!!

by: Tricia P. (United States)
on: Tuesday, 8-June-2010

Written by an author who has suffered with chronic pain himself, Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain takes a specific stand on why youre hurting and what you should do about it. In a nutshell, the idea is that chronic pain is due to imbalances in the body- mainly those of posture and alignment, which can be corrected through proper motions the book calls E-cises. Heres a few highlights...

-the book starts you out with three chapters that go over its main ideas
-from there, you go to specific chapters for specific problems (like the foot, the back, the shoulder, etc.)
-youll find lots of good pictures that do a good job of showing you how to do the exercises
-you dont really need a lot of equipment to do the exercises- mainly some pillows or something to rest your arms and legs on
-there are routines for maintenance, as well as specific sports (like soccer, football, etc.)

Mostly good stuff here, as you can see, and an all around sensible approach I thought. I did find the exercises simple enough, and will probably help relax a lot of pain sufferers to boot.

The negatives? Not many. The only thing I think that might turn off some people, is the time involved- sometimes its recommended you do them for 45 minutes to an hour. But, you get out of it what you put into it.

Worth a good look, I recommend any chronic pain sufferer give them a try. Those with back pain might also be interested in Treat Your Own Spinal Stenosis.

by: Bruno Evan Dcosta (NC)
on: Wednesday, 2-June-2010

This book saved my knee pain but not 100%. The exercise in this book is very effective and if you do it as he instructed then you might see the results that you are looking for...

Also you can check out Pete Egoscues website where he is selling DVD Workout which is perfect for lazy people who dont like to read...I already handed out the DVD to few of my friend and they are loving it...45 min simple full body core workout...

by: Lawrence Desaules (co)
on: Monday, 24-May-2010

Very informative for physical therapy of knees, hips. Recommended by my PT guy after knee replacement.

by: Peggy Whiter (Bend, Oregon, US)
on: Saturday, 22-May-2010

I have had physical therapists, orthopedic physicians, surgeons, massage therapists, a variety of exercise/yoga/dance/sports coaches and personal trainers over the years. This is the best integrated approach to staying healthy and treating/preventing pain. I wish I had seen this before I had carpal tunnel surgery! I have hope that Escogues methods will help me to stay comfortable and active throughout my life. Im 66 now and have hope for the 80s!

by: Skuldsurfer (CORONADO, CA United States)
on: Friday, 26-March-2010

Many of my friends have used this book after surgeries & have bounced back quicker & with less pain & more agile. I use some of the exercises daily to fight my fibromyalgia.

by: J. Krakow (San Francisco, CA)
on: Friday, 26-March-2010

I have bad posture and for the last year or so Ive had chronic low-level pain at the base of my neck/upper thoracic back. I tried the exercises for upper thoracic pain and was surprised at how effective they were - one time through the menu and the pain went away for several hours. That was the best result Ive ever had with any sort of exercises, and definitely gave me the motivation to stick with the program!

What I like is that the exercises are simple, gentle (theyre stretches more than exercises, in my view), and most of them dont need any special equipment. You can do them at home or in a hotel room, you dont 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 havent 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 cant personally testify to the effectiveness of other chapters, but Im extremely happy with the upper back program.

The only thing I dont like is that theres 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 its 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 youll have amazing results like I did.

by: Sea Horse (United States)
on: Tuesday, 23-March-2010

A friend of mine recommended this book after I had been suffering from severe knee pain and swelling for more than a year, despite arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus. After the second day, I noticed significant improvement with reduced pain and swelling and increased mobility. Not quite PAIN FREE, but definitely better! I may now be able to delay having a knee replacement.

by: Richard E. Pflaum (Seequim,WA USA)
on: Saturday, 13-March-2010

Completely read by my wife. She has tried many of the exercises,but one or more has left her quite sore. The exercises must be approched slowly and repetitions of them not done to excess. It takes time to get in shape. There are many more exercises so all cannot be adopted unless a person has a lot of time to devote to this effort.

by: J. Ward (NORTH AUGUSTA, SC, US)
on: Saturday, 27-February-2010

The exercises really do help. After reading the book I had a session with an Egoscue instructor and was very impressed her information and instructions. Do it!