The McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) is a method of assessment and treatment for spinal and extremity pain that has been used all over the world for more than 30 years. Its main objective is to set self-treatment principles so patients can learn techniques to improve thier pain independently. If you have ever experienced neck pain, answer the following questions with a "yes" or "no" response to see if you can benefit from MDT treatment
- Are there periods in the day when you have no pain? Even 10 minutes?
- Are you generally worse when sitting for prolonged periods or on rising from the sitting position?
- Are you generally worse when inactive and better when on the move?
- Do you sometimes experience pain across the shoulders or into the hand with symptoms like feeling of pins and needles or numbness in the fingers?
- Do you have periodic headaches?
- Have you had several episodes of neck pain over the past months or years?
- Are you able to move your head fully in all directions without pain between episodes?
- Are you pain-free between episodes?
- If you have pain in the scapulae, or upper/lower arm, does it sometimes stop completely, even though you may still have pain in the neck?
If you answered "yes" to four or more of those questions, seek a certified MDT specialist to get help with decreasing neck pain and increasing the activities you love to do.
If you cannot see a certified MDT specialist right away, try these few tips that may help to decrease neck pain due to postural deficits.
- Use the right number or thickness of pillows so as to align your neck with the rest of your spine when sleeping on your side or back.
- When using a computer, the center of the screen should be at your eye level.
- Hold your smart phone at chest level when texting and use your yes joint (upper neck joint that we nod with) to look at it.
- Exercise and stretch the neck to keep proper alignment
Call us today for a free 10-minute phone consultation with our certified MDT physical therapist.
Refrences from mckenzieinsituteusa.org and spinehealth.org