Egoscue recommends reading the introductory chapters, then moving to the chapters specific to your needs. This advice works well with one possible exception: you may miss the story about the woman so misaligned that after 45 minutes in a relaxed, static back posture, she went into muscle spasm. This story indicates that it might be wise for people with considerable pain or strong mis-alignment to have someone with them during the first days or weeks of doing these exercises, to begin with the minimum times recommended for each exercise, and to expect to take longer to reach maintenance.

Egoscue might also have provided directions on how to get up after lying in some of these positions: I've found it helps to pull my legs in toward my torso, then turn onto my side before I try raising my head and upper body.

All in all, Egoscue's book appears very helpful. I now have high hopes for my own recovery from various chronic muscle ailments and recommend the book (I'm getting ready to have Amazon.com mail a copy to my sister right now).


An absolute must for those with back pain   November 21, 2001
 32 out of 32 found this review helpful

I had tried just about everything to relieve my back pain, including chiropractors, massage therapists, personal trainers, and a host of other methods. Nothing worked and my lower back ached, as well as my hips and legs.

Then while surfing the internet, I came across Pete Egoscue and his book, Pain Free. I picked up a copy, and it has been a real blessing. Plain and simple, Pete Egoscue's method WORKS. The exercises he offers are quite simple, but it does take discipline to do them every day. This is not a "quick fix" for those with severe postural problems. You can get pain relief, but it might take time.

While the book is helpful and may be enough for some people, I chose to use the special services Egoscue offers through his web site (...). There is an online program where you send digital photos of yourself to his clinic in San Diego and they e-mail a specialized set of exercises to you (with photos and descriptions). These exercises are designed directly for you, based on your postural misalignment.

Every two weeks, I send them new digital photos by computer and they send me a revised list of exercises. Some of the exercises are in the book, and some are not found in this book. I have been working with them for 3 months now, and I am delighted with the results. His clinic is staffed with excellent trainers and they provide first-rate service.

My back pain is virtually gone and my posture is improving dramatically. The fees they charge for these services are very reasonable -- much less than you'd pay for chiropractors, doctors, etc.

For the last 3 months, I have done the exercises every day for about 45-60 minutes per day. If you want to get rid of your back pain, then you'll do them, too. It is worth it to me! I still have some soreness in my hips and legs, but I know I am working toward a Pain Free life.

Even if you chose to look into his online program, I strongly recommend that you buy this book and read through it. It will help you to understand the method and you can even try out the exercises in the book. I still feel the online, customized program offers the best benefits.

This is a groundbreaking book that will alleviate your pain...if you have the discipline to stick with the program. You'll simply be amazed at how your posture will change (and your pain will diminish) by doing the recommended exercises.

One final suggestion: if you have pain in your back, buttocks, hips and legs (and especially if the pain moves around), I strongly recommend that you also read Dr. John Sarno's book, Healing Back Pain. It has helped me tremendously.


A great book on pain... but irritating to read.   November 6, 2000
 29 out of 89 found this review helpful

This is a great book on eliminating pain, but if you are a Christian and believe that God created man, you will probably find Egoscue's extensive references to Darwinism and evolution to be irritating and unnecessary. As there are not a lot of books that truly help those with chronic pain, I recommend this book; however, I did find it quite annoying to read.


Please pick and choose   February 16, 1999
 26 out of 31 found this review helpful

Suffering from low back pain, hip pain, and neck pain for over five years I was given this book to read. After one session of chapter 7 I felt relief in my hips and my knees were more directly positioned over my feet. But as I read through this book I came upon some disturbing statements made by the author. On page 137 he states that spinal stenosis, spondylolysis,spondylolisthesis,spondylosis,and scoliosis are also muscular conditions. It may be true that these conditions were caused by skeletal misallignment, but I can tell you that after suffering with spinal stenosis for all this time and finding out that my stenosis is genetic and to try some of the exercises he shows for the back for someone with spinal stenosis would be crazy. He constantly talks about the curve in the spine but if you have spinal stenosis the last thing you want to do is arch your back. To disregard these conditions in one sentence and to think they can be fixed with exercises that put you in more pain is wrong.Even though it sounds like I'm condemming this book I just wanted to show that you have to pick and choose what is right for you and not to take it all as gospel. Remember in this book he talked about helping jack nicklaus the golfer,well jack just had a hip replacement last week.