Getting back in line

The Egoscue Method helps treat ailments and banish pain by restoring structural muscles to their correct alignment


For 20 years, Peter Drittel suffered from lower back pain that in 1998 took a turn for the worse. Golfing, outdoor activities and time spent at a wilderness camp took their toll, leading to a severely herniated disc.

After unsuccessful surgery left the 43-year-old of Greenwich, Connecticut, USA, in chronic pain and with limited range of motion, he turned to a variety of therapeutic approaches: acupuncture, therapeutic massage and nutrition. Among them was a tailor-made exercise programme called the Egoscue Method – which alleviates pain by achieving muscular balance and good posture. Drittel began doing the exercises "on and off,'' following exercise videos and instructions sent from the company's San Diego headquarters. He also attended intermittent Egoscue clinics set up by the company's travelling therapists.

After a successful operation on the same disc in March 2002, Drittel decided to make Egoscue his only therapy.

"I realised that despite the fact I had done Egoscue for four years, I still didn't get it until a year ago,'' he acknowledges. "Getting it,'' meant a commitment to doing the exercises daily. He lived up to his word. Mornings, he practices a "menu'' of exercises that periodically changes because, "you constantly need to fire up other muscles that are dormant and address other postural issues.''

Now, more than a year after his last back surgery, Drittel says he's "relatively pain-free, with a greater range of motion than in many years''. He credits his recovery to the second back surgery and "being religious'' about doing the exercises.

A stroke of good luck helped Drittel reinforce his commitment to Egoscue: About a year ago, the company opened an East Coast branch in Stamford, Connecticut, supervised by Michael Bellofatto.

Back pain is just one of the maladies for which individuals seek help from Egoscue, explains Bellofatto. Others include headache, carpal tunnel syndrome, sleeplessness, incontinence, sciatica, knee and ankle pain, chronic ankle sprains, even bunions.

Bellofatto says the Egoscue Method helps people achieve proper body alignment by restoring structural muscles to correct posture and eradicate pain. Explaining the concept behind the Egoscue approach, he says, "We are designed to look a certain way.'' Medical books show frontal and side views of the anatomy with all parts balanced, he notes. "That information is not ours, that's science. We're just trying to show you that if science says you are supposed to look like this and you don't, you're going to have problems.''

Egoscue, he says, helps people move closer to the way they are supposed to look. When that happens, he notes, "those problems are going to disappear''.

Also key, he adds, is that Egoscue looks at the body as one connective unit. If one of the parts is out of alignment, other parts will be affected.

For example, he says if someone comes in with neck pain, practitioners of Western medicine may prescribe exercises for the neck. "We don't do that,'' he says. "We look at why the neck is hurting... we look at someone's whole posture.'' A painful neck might be caused by an unbalanced shoulder, which may come from an misaligned hip. "I could make someone's neck pain go away by giving him exercises focused on making his hips more equal.''

A patient is initially photographed from frontal, back and side views, to "demonstrate why his body doesn't look the way it is designed,'' says Bellofatto. The trainer discusses an eight-step exercise programme targetted at the individual's problem. After performing the daily regimen for two weeks, the patient returns. The trainer looks at the person's posture, watches him walk or takes his picture for an assessment. After receiving feedback as to how he feels and what he's been doing since his last visit, the trainer generates a new set of exercises. The patient returns every two weeks for an evaluation and new exercise routine, totalling eight visits over 16 weeks.

Within 16 weeks, says Bellofatto, "most people feel considerably better''. If they're happy with their progress, they return three months later for an evaluation. "Ideally, they see us two or three times a year, kind of like going to the dentist.''

The exercise programmes are designed around the individual's schedule.Of course, the less time spent exercising, the slower the rate of improvement. Egoscue patients embrace all walks of life from executives and athletes to moms, dads, seniors and kids. "I've worked with a two-year-old and a 92-year-old and everyone in between,'' he says.

While the therapy has been endorsed by many well-known athletes such as golf's Jack Nicklaus, weekend warriors are equally impressed. Drittel calls himself a "real advocate'' of the programme. "Within a month of my surgery, I was able to throw a baseball and coach in a way I was not able to do in 10 or 15 years.''


© Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service