Review: Some worthwhile information but hardly a cure
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 5, 2014
I was very interested in this book because recently I suffered acute back pain for the first time in my life.Fortunately I was lucky enough to find a good physiotherapist who within a matter of weeks relieved and eventually cured my back pain. She vigorously massaged my back, manipulated my legs while I was lying on my back and put me through a series of stretching exercises. My pain was in the lower right back and at every appointment she manipulated my right leg in such a way that the pain dissipated. She also told me to try and sleep in the foetal position as opposed to on my back (as recommended by the author).I don't think a 'How to" book has ever been written that can provide the remedies to cure back pain and this one is not the exception. After reading it, my biggest disappointment was the "cure" claim made on the front cover. That said, there was some very useful information and good references to websites. The section on building abdominal strength was particularly good but this is something that you want to do as a preventive measure so that you don't get back pain, or if you do it's minimised. As most would know severe back pain and doing abdominal exercises are totally incompatible.I have a personal preference for physiotherapists when it comes to back pain but I agree with the author, if it's severe, it needs to be looked at by a medical practitioner, be it a doctor or a physio.