Hi Brickey. I would suggest you get the paperback book Pain Free by Pete
Egoscue. You can visit his site at www.egoscue.com and even write them
about your problem and ask if their stretches will help, but I'll tell you
now, that they will.
I have seen some amazing things happen in situations like yours. Even
though it's bone on bone and doctors will tell you there's nothing you can
do except replace the knee, this isn't true. I'm enclosing a couple
messages I sent to some other people. I have even more remarkable Egoscue
stories, but these pertain to your situation.
There's a wonderful, cheap paperback book out called Pain Free by Pete
Egoscue. I usually find them in the used book stores, too. The 'exercises'
are actually nothing more that specific stretches. When a person first
starts doing them it can take up to 40 minutes before relief is felt, but if
you continue to do these stretches every day, this time should shorten down
to about 10 minutes.
They should be done first thing in the morning so that the effect lasts all
day. Eventually (usually no more than a few weeks) the body will relearn to
use the correct muscles and the back problems disappear.
The book is listed for various parts of the body, so that a person can start
with stretches specific to that area--such as shoulders, back, knees,
etc--and once the correct muscles are being used again, then you go on a
maintenance program for support of the whole body.
You can also go to www.egoscue.com and read about it there. They do have a
way where you can take photos of your husband, upload the photos, pay the
consultation fee and they will determine exactly which exercises he needs.
But I've found that the book pretty much covers all the common problems
without having to go through a consultation.
AND
For your knees--please get the book Pain Free by Pete Egoscue. It's a cheap
paperback and has been out a long time, so if you have a used book store in
your area you can probably find it there.
I've seen some of the most remarkable 'healings' take place due to simply
following the stretches in that little book. Egoscue has a web site you can
visit
www.egoscue.com and you can even write and ask them if they think the
stretches will help you. But I know they will. They would prefer you to
visit a trained therapist, but unless you live in California where the main
clinic is located, it's hard to find a therapist that knows egoscue.
But--here's the story of the first time I saw Egoscue stretches in action.
I was in a group of people listening to a lecture by Pete Egoscue's right
hand man, talking about how the wrong muscles are being used to do the job
of holding our bodies together and doing its jobs, because of some trauma,
or illness, or just because we stand and walk incorrectly.
He looked through the audience and asked if anyone had any pain right then.
About 3/4s of the hands shot up. :-) He picked one lady and she stood up
and said that she had knee pain in one knee every time she stepped. He
asked if she had it now and she said--not unless she walked, and then it was
excruciating. She said the doctors already planned to replace the knee.
He told her to come up front, then had her put her hands, fingers
interlocked, behind her head. He said 'pull your shoulders back' and 'walk
around the room'. She did. He went on lecturing, the audience watching him
I watched her. You could see her eyes getting bigger and bigger.
When she got up front again she stopped. He said "I didn't tell you to stop
Keep walking" so she walked around the room a second time. When she got
to the front again he said "stop".
He asked her if her knee hurt. She had the most surprised look on her face
and said NO. He said any pain at all and she said not even once!
He said--"you are carrying yourself wrong. You are using the wrong muscles
to hold the knee in place. Now, you can't walk around all day with your
hands behind your head, but if you do the stretches I'll show you later, you
will teach the correct muscles to do their job. You don't need knee surgery
You just need to use the right muscles".
So--get the book and go right to the knee section. It's set up for each
body section that can hurt. Once you are out of pain for 24 hours (doesn't
take very long to get like that) then you can start doing full body
stretches. The book explains everything.
As I' said, I have some incredible stories about how these simple stretches
have preformed "miracles".
Best thing is to do them first thing in the morning, because then it sets up
for all day without pain. When you first start it can take up to 45 minutes
to do the stretches (simple things, you just basically lay there mostly,
till things relax) but after you get out of pain and get your body working
right, it usually only takes about 10 minutes to keep things working right.
