White Oak Family Wellness

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St Charles Chiropractic

"McKenzie credits the patient's ability to learn the principles and empowers them to be in control of their own symptom management, which can reduce dependency on medical intervention. The McKenzie method promotes the body's potential to heal itself... in a cost-effective and time-effective manner."

- The McKenzie Institute

McKenzie Method

Mechanical Diagnosis & Therapy

McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy is a widely recommended assessment and treatment therapy for back and neck pain due to the massive amount of supporting evidence. It is grounded in the fact that most low back pain, for example, has a mechanical cause. This means that the pain resulted from some type of sustained or repetitive force. Examples of this force include sitting for long hours at a desk or bending over to pick up a child several times throughout the day. In its simplest terms, the McKenzie Method aims to abolish that pain and restore any function lost by applying the reverse of that force.

The first step is assessment, which uses an algorithm to classify spinal disorders (including lumbar and cervical disc herniation or"disc bulge") and place them into sub-groups. This allows for the practitioner to determine the most appropriate treatment for each individual patient. It is during this step that the practitioner will attempt to find a direction of "centralization." Which means movement that causes the pain to move from the periphery (the leg for example) to a more central location (the spine). Research has shown that 87% of patients in which centralization occurred will experience "excellent outcomes." Step two is treatment, in this step the practitioner will educate patients on how to manage their own treatment and the importance of their active involvement. This will result in faster recovery of function and decreased pain as well as decreased visits to the doctor. The final step is prevention, managing the skills learned during the treatment, even after recovery, will help prevent future episodes and give patients the tools they need to manage symptoms when they do occur.

References:

Donelson R, Silva G, Murphy K.; Centralization phenomenon. Its usefulness in evaluating and treating referred pain. Spine; Mar;15(3):211-3, 1990.

Dunsford A, Kumar S, Clarke S ; Integrating evidence into practice: use of McKenzie-based treatment for mechanical low back pain. J Multidisciplinary Healthcare; 4.393-402, 2011.

Kjellman G, Oberg B:; A randomised clinical trial comparing general exercise, McKenzie treatment and a control group in patients with neck pain. J Rehabil Med; 34:183-190, 2002.