ALIGN THE SKELETON TO REDUCE PAIN
"Miracle Cure"
Just after finishing graduate school for my masters in physical therapy, I was in a car accident. My back was bent and I could not stand up straight. I found a physical therapist who helped reduce the pain within 30 minutes. He introduced me to a technique to align the skeleton called Strain and Counter Strain, developed by Lawrence Jones, D.O. D.O. stands for doctor of osteopathy which is a doctor that is like a medical doctor combined with a chiropractor. They can give you medications and do surgery but they also believe that is something it out of alignment in the skeleton it needs assistance to move it back,
After the physical therapist finished working on me I could stand up straight and all the pain was gone. Needless to say, hooked was I on this miracle cure! Since 1993, I have worked on simplifying this method to teach my patients to do it for themselves.
Gary
I find that the more I learn, the more there is to learn. Every patient teaches me something new. The patient that has taught me the most is my friend Gary. Strain and Counter Strain had been a constant in my treatment toolbox over the years with good success in helping people reduce pain. I prefer to use the name “Releasing Joint Restrictions” in place of “Strain and Counter Strain”, as I believe this is a more descriptive name. I decided to start taking photos and see if I could see the difference. Gary shows a big improvement in his spinal alignment as well as his shoulders and elbows after one simple 90-second stretch. He appears tilted to the right with his left elbow and left shoulder higher than the right. After the one simple stretch, his spine is closer to neutral no longer tilted to the right and the left elbow and left shoulder are closer to normal.
Gary left shoulder quite high
Gary shoulders closer to neutral
Objective Measures
As a result of this specific stretch for 90 seconds, he noted less pain. I measured his range of motion of his spine and hips in standing before and after. Gary showed a 10-degree improvement in bending forward or flexion of the hips and a 10-degree improvement of bending backward or spinal extension. A 10-degree improvement in one week is good. So an overall 20-degree improvement was amazing. It was thrilling to have the photographic and objective measurement of range of motion evidence to show how much of an improvement this stretch provided. And for Gary, well he was happy with the reduction in pain. I want to thank him for allowing me to share his story. He is one of my biggest fans!
Releasing Joint Restrictions, or Strain and Counter Strain
In conclusion, if you are in pain, I urge you to call your local physical therapy offices and see if you can find someone who specializes in Strain and Counter Strain treatment techniques. The therapy offices will not recognize the name of Releasing Joint Restrictions, as that is the name I use for this technique. This website is intended to teach some of these techniques without the need for going to an office. But if you feel you cannot wait for my posts, then by all means, find a local therapist. I will explain this simple exercise that Gary did and you can try it to see if it makes any changes for you.