Chronic Back Pain

It’s a fact that up to 72% of patients who have had lower back pain still experience pain a year later… whose fault is it?

Here’s the latest news regarding the McKenzie Method (“MDT”) for reducing back pain. The McKenzie Method is now widely considered to be the superior approach in terms of physical assessment.

Why? Believe it or not, after 30 years of research, we have irrefutable evidence that:

1. Expensive imaging procedures are not required for the majority of lower back pain cases. These cases can be assessed in less than 30 minutes by a physiotherapist practicing the McKenzie Method.
2. More than 80% of lower back pain complaints show centralization (positive “MDT” responses).
3. 70% of severe cases and 49% of chronic lower back pain cases have positive responses following the use of the McKenzie Method and can avoid unnecessary interventions (including costly tests like MRIs), while non-centralizers (negative responses) can be immediately referred for follow-up to determine the severity of the issue.

Furthermore (and perhaps most importantly for the patient), “Immediate responders can learn the necessary physiotherapy exercises to treat themselves, as well as techniques related to their posture for their recovery, thereby reducing their use of our overloaded healthcare system.”