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topdragon's review
5.0
I have, unfortunately, suffered from chronic pain in my lower back and neck for many years. Doctors have diagnosed my condition, prescribed medication, and referred me to physical therapists. While that has helped to some extent in the short term, I still suffer from pain on most days.
This book has helped me to understand what I already know. That is, I know that there are underlying causes for my pain and that somehow, they can probably be corrected, even without surgery. But it’s always been easier to just live with the pain and soreness than to take charge of my own health.
The author of this book, a certified Clinical Somatic Educator, does a great job in presenting methods to correct pain-causing issues through neuromuscular education. The beginning of the book builds the case for why traditional approaches like medication, physical therapy, chiropractic care, etc. don’t really provide long-term solutions. Included is how the somatic processes began and evolved through the years.
Some parts of the text get a little technical with the use of a lot of medical terminology but is still easily followed. It’s important to understand the foundation in order to understand the exercises and techniques that come later and how they will positively affect things like proper posture and movement. Note that the actual demos of the exercises are provided via a link to a free website but having watched most of them, I think that’s really the only way to do it. It’s much more effective to demonstrate techniques through video and sound vs. pictures and diagrams. Besides, this way you can follow along and do the exercises just as if an instructor were in the same room with you.
The book is well-balanced and informative without being too large and intimidating. Chapters include gray-scale diagrams, x-ray examples, etc. but the real power of the book is in the message and the approach to long-term health described by the author.
The author stresses that changes won’t happen overnight. I can’t speak to the results of the exercises presented since I have just started, but I can honestly say that just by making some minor changes in my daily life, posture, and natural movement as described in the book, I feel better already. I am sufficiently impressed and motivated by the material presented here to go ahead and stop merely managing my pain and instead commit to changing my underlying motor movements, the real root cause of the problem.
Highly recommended.
This book has helped me to understand what I already know. That is, I know that there are underlying causes for my pain and that somehow, they can probably be corrected, even without surgery. But it’s always been easier to just live with the pain and soreness than to take charge of my own health.
The author of this book, a certified Clinical Somatic Educator, does a great job in presenting methods to correct pain-causing issues through neuromuscular education. The beginning of the book builds the case for why traditional approaches like medication, physical therapy, chiropractic care, etc. don’t really provide long-term solutions. Included is how the somatic processes began and evolved through the years.
Some parts of the text get a little technical with the use of a lot of medical terminology but is still easily followed. It’s important to understand the foundation in order to understand the exercises and techniques that come later and how they will positively affect things like proper posture and movement. Note that the actual demos of the exercises are provided via a link to a free website but having watched most of them, I think that’s really the only way to do it. It’s much more effective to demonstrate techniques through video and sound vs. pictures and diagrams. Besides, this way you can follow along and do the exercises just as if an instructor were in the same room with you.
The book is well-balanced and informative without being too large and intimidating. Chapters include gray-scale diagrams, x-ray examples, etc. but the real power of the book is in the message and the approach to long-term health described by the author.
The author stresses that changes won’t happen overnight. I can’t speak to the results of the exercises presented since I have just started, but I can honestly say that just by making some minor changes in my daily life, posture, and natural movement as described in the book, I feel better already. I am sufficiently impressed and motivated by the material presented here to go ahead and stop merely managing my pain and instead commit to changing my underlying motor movements, the real root cause of the problem.
Highly recommended.
yates9's review
5.0
A well written overview of pain and treatment with emphasis on Alexander technique and similar near the end of the book. It reads like a candid review of the problems one can find with chronic pain and how it can be hard to rid of them.
I have not tried the techniques…
I have not tried the techniques…
wolfshine's review
5.0
This is a well written book. It reads like an essay, explaining basic anatomy and physiology of muscles in a way that’s easy to understand. The author also takes some time to explain the history behind somatic therapy and the importance of it when it comes to chronic pain.
There are plenty of ways that a person can attempt to get over their chronic pain, and this book helps to outline a number of them.
There are exercises at the end designed to help. They’re easy to follow. I have a lot of back pain so when I was offered a copy of this book, I leapt at the opportunity. Although I haven’t personally tried any of these exercises yet, I plan to in the future.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
There are plenty of ways that a person can attempt to get over their chronic pain, and this book helps to outline a number of them.
There are exercises at the end designed to help. They’re easy to follow. I have a lot of back pain so when I was offered a copy of this book, I leapt at the opportunity. Although I haven’t personally tried any of these exercises yet, I plan to in the future.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
raychel's review
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Very informative and well researched book. Very succinct and to the point as well. I’m looking forward to trying the exercises and seeing how they help!
bookshelfie's review
informative
fast-paced
2.0
Well, that was a waste of time. No relief information.
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