The difference is...proven, time-tested mechanical techniques

McKenzie Method

A Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy

Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy involves a system of logical, organized examination and treatment principles. It is based upon the knowledge that all soft tissue behaves in certain, predictable ways and that the body speaks to the patient about its status through the "language" of pain.  That is to say, if the body is being mechanically stressed inappropriately, the noxious stimulus will be made known through the experience of pain (or other symptoms), so appropriate adjustments can be made to relieve the pain generator.

Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy is patient-driven.   It is not passive but demands patient participation.  Through this active involvement, patients quickly learn how to read their pain and perform successful self treatment.  Because of the patients' active involvement, they tend to progress faster (fewer visits) and are positioned to manage themselves for the long term (self reliant and independent of medical care).

Patients, once taught methods of self treatment, can achieve on their own something that can never be provided by even the best-intentioned therapist.   The therapist providing mobilization or manipulation therapy can apply those procedures, at best, once every 24 hours, if the patient is seen daily.  The patient taught self-applied reductive movements for derangement can apply regularly, throughout the day, the pressures that will progressively reduce the derangement.  Should the patient inadvertently move or position him/herself incorrectly and experience a return of symptoms, he/she merely exercises again to reverse the process.  The patient with dysfunction cannot be mobilized enough in the clinic in a day to regain normal motion, but on his/her own, stretching frequently throughout the day can achieve a steady increase in mobility.