Pain Free for Women: The Revolutionary Program for Ending Chronic Pain

I have so many things to say about this I would like to use bullet points. I will cover what it has done for me, add some comments on the book itself and then make a couple of final notes. Notes about what using Egoscue's method has done in my life: * I have been using this and Pete Egoscue's other book "Pain Free" for a year and a half now. I am a female in my early 30's. I have sent a copy of this book to all the women close to me because it has helped me so much. * I have a very severe case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and had constant pain throughout my body. I tested only two pressure points short for Fybromyalgia. As I became more ill my overall physical health declined severely. I couldn't even stand to do dishes for long, let alone cook or exercise or many of the things I am now become able to do. * Within the first two weeks of doing the e-cises (only about 30 min a day) I stopped getting night sweats and the pervasive, all-over body pain went away. I still had a lot of joint pain and realized I was very badly out of alignment (when standing comfortably my right foot was turned out and further forward than my left by 6 inches - no kidding!). * Over the last year and a half I have become less chemically sensitive, I don't get dizzy as often, my stamina has improved (I had gotten so I couldn't handle even handle flying on an airplane). For years I had a yellow tint to my skin (my doctor thought it was normal), but this has now disappeared, my liver enzymes were mildly elevated, but are now normal. * I haven't had ANY pain from my herniated disk for over a year now! * You don't have to be in pain to benefit. For years I tried to do handstands, but never go good at it. Presently I can do them with complete ease. I never realized that it wasn't my arm strength that was lacking (I had really strong arms), but rather, shoulder strength and alignment. * I've had a limp ever since I was 11 when I cut the tendon to my large toe. I can now proudly say that the limp is completely gone. :) I also don't lose my balance all the time when I walk like I used to. * Almost best of all is that I had sleep maintenance insomnia, which has greatly improved. I used to wake on average once an hour every hour throughout the night. Now I wake perhaps once every three. This is continuing to improve. * Most importantly, I had stopped being able to sweat years ago. I would simply overheat. After a year of doing e-cises I started sweating again!! Once I started sweating I found I can tolerate being around chemicals more (perfumes and such), I don't get as swollen, and I recovered from exposures faster. Nothing else I tried really helped my MCS, but this has made all the difference in the world. I'm not sure I would have recovered to this point without it. The improvement in my quality of life has been worth every minute of it! Notes about the book itself: * This sort of thing is very difficult to teach from a book. I've found using "menus"

regarding the reviewer who wrote that it takes 3 hours to perform a menu, he or she has misinterpreted something from the book. Static back is recommended for 5 minutes, not 30. Supine Groin Progressive is a long ecise, but for people who are in intense pain (especially intense low back pain) it is a life saver. Even so, at the most it takes a little less than an hour, not 45 minutes a side. and that's when first starting. after the body begins to adjust, this ecise can be completed in less than 30 minutes. The average 'menu' takes less than an hour and to my knowledge there is not a menu in the book that takes longer than 90 minutes in total. There is no question that an investment of time is required to make this program successful, but the amount of time it does take should be accurately portrayed.

I first found Egoscue seven years ago when I was experiencing unrelenting pain in my ankle due to a car wreck that had crushed my heel. For ten years I'd lived with the pain -- until I started doing the Egoscue exercises. Within a week, the pain disappeared. Ten years of pain -- just up and disappeared. I was able to walk without lumbering, walk without wincing every step. As years progressed, I got sloppy and less commited to doing the exercices. As my body got more and more out of alignment, the ankle pain returned WITH excruciating hip pain. This pain was so bad that I couldn't get to the bathroom without lunging to the next piece of furniture, couldn't stand at the sink to grate a carrot. I was popping aspirin like they were m & m's. I went back to the book, did the hip menu and, within seventy-two hours the pain completely disappeared. Another couple of years passed, and I again got lazy and stopped doing the excercises. This time, it was the searing pain of sciatica that grounded me. This pain was so bad that I would scream out as I tried to pull myself out of the bed. This was evil pain that wouldn't go away. Lamenting to a friend (whom I had introduced to Egoscue!) about the pain I was in, I was surprised to hear that her husband had gone to the Egoscue clinic for the exact same sciatic pain. She shared his menu with me and -- I am almost embarrassed to say it -- the pain disappeared after just three days. And stayed away until I quit doing the exercises. (I am, if nothing else, an exceedingly slow learner.) Pete's program has brought me back from debilitating pain THREE separate times. I think I finally get it. The Egoscue method works when you work it. It has been a miracle cure for me three times. Yes, it takes a long time to do the menus. Yes, it's really boring to lie on the floor for that long. And yes, it's SO worth it to finally feel GOOD again. Anybody who complains that it's too much trouble or takes too long simply hasn't been in the kind of pain I've been in. But, when they are, this is a method that has never failed to fix what ails me.

Over 3 years ago I had constant shoulder, back, and hip pain. I had already invested in over a dozen books and had come to the conclusion that nothing was ever going to help me - chronic pain was a part of growing older. I also had a difficult time doing the Taijiquan (a martial art) form I was working on because my back was overly curved. On the advice of a friend, I got Egoscue's first book, Pain Free. After doing the exercises (30 minutes each day) for a few months, wonder of wonder, my curved back relaxed and I was able to sink into the Taijiquan postures I'd been trying to achieve for ten years. But best of all - the pain disappeared. For the first time in years, I didn't wake up to daily pain in my joints!!!Unfortunately, almost a year ago, I got into a car accident that is still causing me a great deal of pain in my neck and back. I had been doing those same Pain Free exercises from before, but they didn't seem to be doing much. I decided to purchase this newer book anyway - since it was written specifically for women. I actually didn't think it would help much and prepared myself for disappointment. Oh MY!! After just a few weeks, once again, I was amazed at the difference. The exercises in this book (and yes, they do take much longer than the simple Pain Free book) were so helpful that I was able to change from a narcotic pain reliever to a non-narcotic pain reliever. Believe me, for someone trying to function- that is a BIG difference. Egoscue is a genius. I have seen many doctors, including so-called pain specialists, and the only thing that has significantly helped me so far is Egoscue exercises. I now do them every day, and can feel the difference in my neck, back, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and feet.Even better - this book explains in much more detail than the Pain Free book exactly what's going on in my muscles and body - so that I can really tell why the exercises are working (or not). Now that I can feel the difference, I can tell when to stop doing one phase and move on to the next. I felt compelled to write this review because I noticed a few negative reviews. The only thing that I can postulate is that 1. The people writing were not committed to the exercises for long enough for them to work, or...2. The people did not really have chronic pain to begin with and therefore no motivation, or....3. The people have something personal against Peter Egoscue (I have never met him, so I wouldn't know).All I can say is -- this book changed my life. I only wish I had read it BEFORE my accident - I suspect that I wouldn't have gotten so hurt had I been in better "functional" shape prior to getting rear-ended. This book is about prevention, about taking control of your body and making it work the way it was designed to work. If you are a women in chronic pain - believe me - if you do these exercises, you will change your life for the better. Don't let others disuade you from doing the most that you can for you

I had been a suffered of sporadic lower back pain that usually came on when I was asleep. It was so painful that it would wake me up and I would be afraid to move because I knew the pain would be agonizing. I thought that lack of muscle strength was the problem and so I faithfully did abdominal crunches and lower back extensions, but that didn't help. Rather desperately, I went searching for other answers and stumbled across this book. Pete's discussion of posture struck a chord in me, so I worked on that and added his restoration exercises. The first phase was too mild to help me, but I noticed an improvement in my pain as I moved on to the second phase. My back pain completely vanished as I moved into the third phase and has not come back. I am truly grateful to be restored to normality. The exercises don't sound very intensive, but they worked wonders for me - stretching, release, and balance is what I needed, not mere muscle. I would recommend that you *try* these exercises, not just read the reviews or sit in a chair and read the book. Once again, it worked for me, and I'm so grateful. I hope it will work for you.