by Nancy Webster

Doctors would say my right elbow suffers from bursitis or “tennis elbow.” Lifting the gallon jars of our cow’s fresh milk from the fridge had become a killer chore, thanks to joint pain triggered by the bending and twisting required to milk our cow. If I weren’t dubious about medicine, cortisone would be the answer.

Instead of doing drugs, though, I started doing Windmills, the Static Wall Clock, and the Progressive Groin Stretch four to six times per week. Within a few sessions of these and several other healing exercises, my right shoulder and hip—the real culprits in my problem—regained function and stopped making my elbow do work it wasn’t meant to do. The pain subsided. No drugs. No surgery.

The feet and ankles of Grace, our 13-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, are so pronated (rolled inward) that they cause pain in her knees and hips. The typical solution is shoe orthotics and leg braces, but Grace does Knee Pillow Squeezes, the Floor Block, and the Air Bench, among the exercises in her routine. The resulting strengthened muscles are helping hold her body correctly, and we no longer hear regular complaints about her aching legs. Even more exciting: she won’t have to wear cumbersome and expensive orthopedic aids.

Pain-free Secrets Revealed

The drug and surgery-free answer to your skeletal pain issues is found in the landmark book Pain Free by Pete Egoscue, a nationally renowned physiologist and sports injury consultant to some of today’s top athletes. The Egoscue method claims an astounding 95-percent success rate in relieving chronic pain, the key to which is a series of gentle exercises and carefully constructed stretches called Egoscuecises or E-cises. These strengthen specific muscles and bring the body back to its proper alignment and full, pain-free functioning.

The Egoscue book contains photographs and step-by-step instructions for dozens of E-cises specifically designed to provide quick and lasting relief from:

• Lower back pain, hip problems, sciatica, and bad knees;

• Migraines and other headaches, stiff neck, and sore shoulders;

• Shin splints, sprained or weak ankles, and many foot ailments;

• Bursitis, tendinitis, and much more.

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It also features preventive programs for maintaining health throughout body. So even if you are not hurting right now, you can prevent future pain and keep your body in alignment with the E-cises in Pain Free. The book is a wonderful gift of hope and knowledge for loved ones with chronic aches and pains. (Pain Free can be found on page 14 of our Winter 2010 catalog.)

How the Book Works

To educate and care for hurting people, Egoscue clinics have been established in major cities around the world. Our local advisor and friend, Cecilia Brewer, is currently in training to be an Egoscue instructor and says Pain Free book owners can achieve satisfying results even without a personal exercise consultant. The best approach is to choose four or five E-cises from any section of the book. Repeat those E-cises four to six times per week for one or two weeks until your muscles start to “remember” the proper place to hold the skeleton. Then follow a new menu of E-cises for another week or two, and so on. Because the body’s frame is interconnected, E-cises in the foot section, for example, will benefit the neck, so any combination can help your situation.

In making your exercise plan, note that one E-cise, the Supine Groin Stretch, stands above the others and should be included as part of every menu. This stretch can be done at the conclusion of the day’s menu, or it can be done at a separate time during the day, depending on how much time you have available. While you can improvise E-cise equipment using a belt, a chair, a pile of books, and throw pillows, I highly recommend purchasing the Egoscue “tower” which makes doing the Supine Groin Stretch much simpler (the tower is available from the Egoscue website www.Egoscue.com).

A Supplement to the Supplements

The folks at Beeyoutiful now offer Pain Free as its “third dimension” in health maintenance. Egoscue’s approach to physiological health provides a fitting complement to the Beeyoutiful line of supplements and information about nutrient-dense food preparation (see Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon in Beeyoutiful’s recommended books section).

The Egoscue method works wonders in place of, or in combination with, chiropractic care. When a chiropractor manually adjusts your spine, for instance, you schedule your next appointment and go home. But between appointments, muscles naturally return your spine to its previous position if you do not regularly teach and strengthen them to hold your bones in the correct place. This “teaching” is precisely what E-cises do for your body. The Egoscue premise is that all pain—even pain like carpal tunnel in your wrist—is related to the alignment of your body from head to toe, and regular E-cises maintain this alignment. The best news is that you can do them at home, for free, with phenomenal results if you are faithful.

Fearing that we had only costly “traditional” options for helping Grace, I had fairly well despaired of ever addressing her pain issues. But seeing her now pain-free is truly liberating. Discover Egoscue, and you’ll discover affordable, do-able options for managing and even healing your chronically sore feet, back, shoulders, neck, and more. The Webster family testimonies are just two of thousands from people helped by making the Egoscue method part of their lives.