McKenzie Technique

The McKenzie^© Method (McKenzie Technique) was developed in the 1960’s by Robin McKenzie, a New Zealand physical therapist. During the course of his practice, he discovered that extending the spine (backward bending) could provide significant relief from low back and lower extremity pain for certain patients. This represented a significant shift in thinking for spine care practitioners, as much of the focus of spine care previously was on flexing (forward bending) the spine.

With the McKenzie approach, a step-by-step examination identifies the movements and postures that best relieve a spine pain sufferer's complaints. The focus of the examination is on identifying which movements and postures "centralize" the patient’s pain. That is, which positions and activities reduce any extremity (or "perhiperal") symptoms. The theory of the approach is that centralizing the pain allows the source of the pain to be treated rather than the symptoms.

A central tenent and goal of the McKenzie Method is to teach neck pain and/or back pain sufferers how to treat themselves and manage their own pain for life using exercise and other strategies.