Boom-de-yadda - "E" is for "excellent"... and "Egoscue"

Boom-de-yadda

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"E" is for "excellent"... and "Egoscue"

12th-May-2008 01:53 pm

So I had my first session at the Egoscue Clinic in San Francisco last Tuesday. The clinic is conveniently located, practically upstairs from the BART Montgomery station. You can't really tell from the photos on their website, but the space is open and airy, with lots of light.

I met my therapist (A.B.) and we had the "so, what brings you in today?" conversation. After reviewing my history, it was time for the moment of truth: the photos. When you go to an Egoscue Clinic, one of the diagnostic/evaluative tools they use is a digital camera. (Used to be a Polaroid, but they've moved on with technology.) They take four photos of you (front, back, side & side), then superimpose a plumb line before printing them out. This ~~forces~~ allows one to see just how badly misaligned and skewed one is.

It would be good for me to open up my binder and look at the photos again, because when I first saw them my brain went into "AIEEEEE I LOOK LIKE A CRESCENT MOON WHEN I STAND UP ACK ACK ACK!" and I think I might not have really evaluated them calmly and coolly. In any event, they show that I am indeed badly misaligned; my right hip is higher than the left, my right foot everts, and the entire pelvis is out of vertical alignment (too far to the right). "Your right hip is having to work much harder than the left," A.B. said, "which is causing the pain in your back and your leg."

She also had me walk back and forth across the carpet several times, to get a sense of how I move when I walk. And how do I move when I walk? Answer: not enough. My shoulderblades and thoracic spine are held tight and locked up (probably from being braced against the pain), which impairs the ability of my arms to swing freely when I walk. And my right foot slaps down to a much greater degree than the left.

Next she put me into the Static Back exercise position (lie on your back with your calves up over a block or chair, legs up at 90 degrees from the torso, knees at 90 degrees) for a bit while she put together my first menu of E-cises. She took me through all the exercises on my menu to see how I did with them and give me pointers on form, and rearranged the order of a couple because of my particular misalignment issues.

After that, and once I'd put my shoes back on, we went over the binder of things she was giving me to take home. It includes a listing of my E-cise menu, plus detailed descriptions (including photos) of each E-cise, plus (ack!) my diagnostic photos.

I was very pleased with the experience. The space is lovely and conducive to the kind of work they're doing; the people who work there all seem friendly and competent; and my pain is SIGNIFICANTLY reduced. We wound up signing up for the 16-visit Friends & Family package so

spiritualmonkey and I can both get fixed up and functional again.

I've been doing my menu every day since then, and the difference is PHENOMENAL. I graphed my painkiller use since April 1, just to get a visual (before April 1, it looked much the same, except the values were more in the 4, 5, and occasionally 6 range):

I LURVES me some Egoscue Method!

Got another appointment tomorrow.

Tags:egoscue, pain, san francisco

Comments

12th-May-2008 10:49 pm (UTC)

tongodeon

Egoscue.com seems to be pretty light on actual explanation for what exactly they do, but the basic idea seems more or less sound. Exercise, range of motion, etc.

The only thing that seems a little crazy is the price - $250 for the visit, $175 each after the first 8 visits. I know lawyers who work much cheaper than that. Seems a bit much, especially with

spiritualmonkey's recent do-it-yourself "you don't need to join a fancy gym if you've got your own big iron weight" approach. It's great that this is so effective but it seems possible to achieve the same result without the huge cash outlay, especially if you guys are trying to save money.

I checked PubMed and I get exactly six results for "Egoscue", five of which involve the breeding of southern-hemisphere rats. That's about as inconclusive as results get. :)</cite>

13th-May-2008 12:59 pm (UTC)

spiritualmonkey

Nice to know where one can always go to be told what one is doing wrong with ones healthcare choices, whether it's being a deluded irrationalist acupuncture patient or a spendthrift making bad economic decisions.

:-|

13th-May-2008 03:45 pm (UTC)

tongodeon

And it's nice to know who I can count on for defensive, knee-jerk reactions to helpful comments.

Seriously, man. Nobody said anyone is "wrong" here. On the contrary - I went out of my way to say that you guys seem to be right with this thing. I can find no negative studies, no pending lawsuits, no bad reports about this thing. Everything seems cool so far.

You know I love you guys. I'm on your side. I'm watching your back. I know money is tight, and I'm just wondering whether it's possible for Lexi to feel just as good without paying what seems like a lot of money to some guy that not a lot of people seem to have heard of. That doesn't mean this thing is "bad". It's the difference between this thing being "good" and the opportunity to find something "even better". The same benefit without the cost. That's better, right? "No pain" good. "No pain less money" better.

It's like the painkillers on her chart. If she's using name brand medication, she can probably save some money without giving up any benefit by switching to generics. She's not wrong to buy name brand pain meds; they're good, but generics might be even better.

Side note: Maybe you knew this but it's news to me. Pete Egoscue seems to have a radio show called "Pain Free Radio" and his website offers free podcasts. I'm going to give it a listen.

13th-May-2008 04:23 pm (UTC)

spiritualmonkey

Remember that part about not understanding why you have this pattern of alienating friends and cow-orkers?

I'm of the mind that you still don't understand.

13th-May-2008 05:14 pm (UTC)

tongodeon

We are of the same mind on this. I definitely do not understand why my comments here would alienate anyone.

13th-May-2008 06:11 pm (UTC)

lexica510

I definitely do not understand why my comments here would alienate anyone.

Let me see if I can shed some light on that for you.

The only thing that seems a little crazy is the price - $250 for the visit, $175 each after the first 8 visits. I know lawyers who work much cheaper than that.

And there are tattoo artists who charge more. So what? If you want to make a valid comparison, you need to be comparing it to some other form of in-depth bodywork. Their prices are comparable with what it would cost to get Rolfed, for example.

Do I think it's unreasonably priced?

On a relative basis: as

dottie_dear says, this is what physical therapy costs when it's not paid for by insurance.

On an absolute basis: you haven't been around for the past 15 years that I've been dealing with recurrent pain. You weren't there when I spent two months in a back brace and walking with a cane. You weren't there any of the times I had to wait an extra 20 minutes for a bus because I couldn't hustle half a block to catch it before it left the stop. You weren't there the times that I've woken up in the middle of the night sobbing in pain. You weren't there during the past 8 months when I've been basically living like a shut-in who's able to get to work. You aren't there when I get a sharp pain in my lower back like it's been stabbed with a cattle prod or when my leg aches like I ran a marathon one-legged. And you aren't there every time I look down at my ankles and am reminded by the uneven cuffs of my pants that my hips are of perceptibly different heights and my legs look like they're different lengths as a result.

I appreciate your good intentions. However, for me this is a matter of being able to live my life day by day without being in the kind of ongoing pain that after a while starts to make suicide sound like an attractive alternative.

For you, as far as I can tell, this is a matter of academic and intellectual interest. And to be honest, unless and until you or anybody else has spent a chunk of time dealing with lasting, chronic illness or injury, I don't care what you or they think I should or shouldn't be doing regarding my healthcare.

If I go off my head and start talking about taking colloidal silver, or sleeping under a pyramid, or doing high colonic therapy, at that point I would very much want you to speak up and say "hey, bad idea." Short of that, I don't care if you think what I'm doing is a placebo, or mushily unmeasurable and controllable, or in any other way not sufficient to meet your standards of scientific rigor. You don't know the situation. You don't know the circumstances. You don't know the context. And short of moving in with

spiritualmonkey and me, you're not likely to know any of those in enough detail to give advice.

13th-May-2008 06:42 pm (UTC)

tongodeon

And there are tattoo artists who charge more. So what? If you want to make a valid comparison, you need to be comparing it to some other form of in-depth bodywork.

I'm OK with what tattoo artists charge *and* what this guy charges. He can charge what he wants and you can choose whether it's worth it and none of it is any of my business. Maybe it's worth it. I have no idea. People can spend a bunch of money for a professional tattoo or they can get "prison tattoos" at home for free - there's a quality difference that you pay for. Either way it's your decision. I was just making sure the other option was on your radar.

If I go off my head and start talking about taking colloidal silver, or sleeping under a pyramid, or doing high colonic therapy, at that point I would very much want you to speak up and say "hey, bad idea."

To be honest I probably wouldn't say anything even then because those treatments aren't going to adversely affect you. I might suggest "you could build your own pyramid for a fraction of the price" or say "make sure that pyramid is fastened to the ceiling very securely" but please, by all means, take every opportunity to sleep under the geometric shape of your choice with my blessing. As long as nobody's taking advantage of you I am cool with all of it. I can't scientifically prove that "Speed Racer" was a great movie but I still enjoyed seeing it last night.

I don't care if you think what I'm doing is a placebo, or mushily unmeasurable and controllable, or in any other way not sufficient to meet your standards of scientific rigor.

I realize that. That's why I didn't bring up anything about placebos or studies here except to say that I can't find anything either way which is not necessarily a bad thing. To repeat: I have zero objections to what you are doing. I'm trying to give you a few encouraging words. I've disagreed with you guys in the past and I was going out of my way to say that now is not one of those times. Except for the price which might very well be worth it (that's for you to decide not me) everything seems totally cool.

It's frustrating. When I saw this entry I thought "this seems like legitimately good stuff, here's my opportunity to show that I'm not just some wet blanket". Have we really grown so far apart that I can't even give you a qualified thumbs up without offending you? If so this makes me really sad.

Is there any chance we could discuss this stuff face-to-face sometime? I get the feeling that there is a giant misunderstanding somewhere between us.

13th-May-2008 02:48 am (UTC)

dottie_dear

Wow. VERY cool!

I've got a different take on the price than the previous comment maker has. This is on part with physical therapy and the cost is pretty much in line with PT. Most people don't know what PT costs, because they pay their insurance co-pay and that's it.

Between overhead, equipment, liability insurance, continuing education, certification requirements, licensing requirements, rent, space, non-therapeutic staff, a biller (or other financial person) and therapists, it probably breaks town such that the actual person you are working with is being paid a rate relatively consistent with that of a massage therapist.

And, if it's getting out of pain? Fantastic. If it's going to help you correct chronic issues and, hence, prevent lots of future wear and tear (and pain)? Priceless.

Go you!

Edited at 2008-05-13 02:49 am (UTC)

13th-May-2008 03:28 am (UTC)

ad_kay

You just can't argue with actual data. And the fees should be tax-deductible anyway. I'm hoping to get my Egoscue book later this week. We actually have a clinic here in Austin.

13th-May-2008 03:57 pm (UTC)

matrushkaka

Dude, Montgomery BART is in front of my office, please let me know next time you are in the area - let's meet for a beverage. It's been way too long.

14th-May-2008 05:15 am (UTC)

tcmneedler

I wish there was a place that did this closer than 470 some odd miles from where I am. I'd like to check this out first hand.
Please, by all means, continue to share your experiences.

25th-May-2008 01:49 pm (UTC)

ad_kay

Hey, Lexi, did your therapist talk about Conditions I, II and III and say which one you were? I have Egoscue's first book and am still trying to diagnose myself. I think I need to work out some kind of visual marker with plumb lines or something because I'm not seeing the rotation/eversion stuff I'm pretty sure I must have. I'm just seeing knock knees. :/

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