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The Egoscue Method "This is great for acupuncture students because we can teach them to recognize postural dysfunction and what it means, as well as what exercises would correlate to correct various specific conditions," said Brian Bradley, vice president of Therapy Protocol for the Egoscue Method. "Students would benefit from this learning and be able to integrate this method into their own practice. It is important for practitioners to understand that the body is resilient, and you can make changes within your body." The Egoscue Method has enabled those who suffer from chronic pain and limitation to rebuild their lives and bodies through a series of personalized exercises that are tailored to correct a specific dysfunction of the body. It was designed to treat and eliminate pain associated with disorders such as carpal tunnel, migraine headaches, neck pain, back pain, knee pain, scoliosis, dislocated joints, as well as a myriad of other physical disorders without drugs, surgery, or manipulation using stretches and gentle exercise. Using the human body as a guide to bring all aspects of the body into alignment, the Egoscue Method focuses on bringing an individual back into the standing normal anatomical position. If an individual's body deviates from this position, and no trauma has caused the body to shift in alignment, it is because there is a muscular imbalance in strength or flexibility. An individual's posture and body structure changes over time as muscles that are continually un-stimulated become ineffective and are compensated by another muscle group. The longer this pattern continues, the more dramatic the change in posture will become, as the body is pulled out of alignment and loses balance. "The body works on a brilliant principle of what's called 'vertical load.' The skeleton has two jobs as a muscular skeletal organism; one is to bear weight, and the other is to absorb the shock of movement," said Pete Egoscue, creator of the Egoscue Method. "It does this with joints called load joints, such as shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. The law of vertical load says that in order for these joints to enjoy their range of motion, they must align, meaning stacked one over the top of the other. This design requirement is the same for all human beings, male or female, short or tall, skinny or fat. Range of motion takes place from the inside out. The big posture muscles are the ones that no one can see. They're located deep next to the skeleton. As they lose their function, the body begins to compensate. So what happens is a series of steps that are taken by the body, because it's an incredibly adaptable machine. The muscles of the outside, the ones you can see, eventually begin to do the work of th e vertical load, of stabilization, compensating for the inside muscles that have become dysfunctional. You end up acquiring a posture that is visible to an evaluation: one hip in a different position than the other, or one shoulder forward or higher than the other one. And this eventually leads to pain." While postural changes are inevitable for a body that has been pulled out of alignment, the degree and method by which an individual's body will be affected varies dramatically. A person's age, activity level, occupation and weight are a few of the factors that determine where and to what extent the body will be physically impacted. To bring a body back into alignment and relieve the painful symptoms of the dysfunction, the Egoscue Method focuses around the three Rs - rediscovering the body's design, restoring function and returning to health. "Rediscovering the design, that's the postural balance, that vertical load we talked about," said Egoscue. "And then, once you are aware of this, to restore the body to its function requires an absolute belief that this imbalance has nothing to do with poor design, nothing to do with our age, and nothing to do with genetics. It has to do with the reaction of the stimulus to our environment." In order to repair the postural dysfunction and balance our musculoskeletal system, a change is necessary in our reaction to our environment. However, returning to health using the Egoscue Method takes more than just changing our physical stimulus. It also requires an emotional change. "We have to change our mind," said Egoscue. "That is the key. We need to realize that we're not fragile. We're not overly complicated, and we do have all the abilities necessary to get well." Starting treatment using the Egoscue Method is markedly different than seeing an orthopedist or physical therapist. Each client works directly with a therapist to determine the cause of their specific condition. While many therapies focus solely on the symptoms of a disease or malfunction, the Egoscue Method looks at the bigger picture, seeking to understand how the pain initially came to the surface. Once a therapist has taken into account a clients' past history, as well as observing the structural mechanics of the body, a series of functional demand exercises are developed called E-cises. These exercises are created to help re-align the body and correct the muscular imbalances and dysfunction that originally cause the client to experience discomfort. "We personalize the process to the specific dysfunction," said Egoscue. "And the body always remembers its design. So when you starting changing the stimulus with E-cises, the body has no choice, it changes. The goal is to allow the body to return to its birthright, its design template, and it can because it never forgets the memory. All we are doing is providing the necessary stimulus, personalized to the postural dysfunction, and the client is implementing the stimulus by doing the E-cises. So the body goes, 'I get it; I understand what you want me to do.'" Once the client has received their personalized series of exercises, and has been instructed on the correct use of the E-cises, they are expected to continue with the prescribed treatment at home. An essential part of the treatment is that the client takes responsibility for his or her own well-being, instead of becoming reliant on someone else. While the exercises are an important part of treatment, in order to fully restore the body back to its original form, a series of components must come together. As each client is given specific exercises in accordance with their dysfunction, it is imperative that the client follow not only the exercises that will benefit them, but also the sequencing of exercises that is given to them. "The exercises are sequenced so that one exercise prepares the body for the next and that a successive exercise does not negate a prior exercise," said Bradley. The exercises are performed for an average of seven days. After a week of maintaining the exercise program, each client is re-evaluated, and may have their routine altered in order to continue making progress. On average, clients are seen for about eight weeks. "Once the client has made the changes to relieve their pain, they may never have to come back, but they will have homework for the rest of their lives to maintain their alignment," said Bradley. "Ideally we would like them to come in for updates down the road as Peter [Egoscue] is constantly creating new exercises and new methods of treatment." According to Bradley, while the Egoscue Method has seen a 94 percent success rate with eliminating pain, they also encourage their clients to seek other complementary therapies such as acupuncture. "We want our clients to take advantage of acupuncture or other therapies," said Bradley. "Complementary therapies are looking at the system and not just the symptom. When you treat the entire system, you are 100 times more effective in resolving the underlying cause of the pain."
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