The Egoscue Method vs. Z Health
Today I had a chance to witness the assessment protocol of "The Egoscue Method." One of my clients, was very kind enough to invite me into her appointment with an Egoscue practitioner and I am very thankful for Linda's contribution in helping me expand my skill set. For those of you that are not familiar what the Egoscue Method is...it's a functional exercise approach of treating pain, postural correction and performance enhancement. Which is of course, right around the alley of what Z Health is about (Dynamic Joint Mobility). If you know me, you would know that I am passionate about helping people move and function efficiently - without pain - in their daily activities.The obvious similarities between Z Health and Egoscue methods are; 1) the postural and gait analysis (movement analysis of your walk); 2) the ultimate goal of pain relief, postural improvement and increased performance; 3) both are a "Do It Yourself" tools to treat your aches and pains; 4) the exercises are simple; 5) where it hurts may not necessarily be the problem, it's the "all the body all the time" theory.
The differences are in the type of exercises and the system. While the Z Health focuses on short repetitions of dynamic joint movements that targets the nervous system, Egoscue does many repetitions of exercises - and some that are static, which appears to target the musculoskeletal system. Now, here's the clincher....the results in the movement changes and pain reduction are faster with Z Health because the nervous system reacts faster than the skeletal muscles. To give you an example, this Tuesday, Feb. 20, I helped Ray, a 65 year old man that was presenting with right hip pain. After analyzing his walk, I decided to give him an ankle and foot mobility exercises. Ray immediately got a pain relief and there was a dramatic change in his hip movement. It took me 20 minutes and 2 exercises. Today, I sat and observed Linda do her exercises for 1.5 hour before she got a pain relief and a change in her hip movement.
Though The Egoscue Method took longer and consisted of many exercises before seeing a result, I am still curious and would consider learning the techniques. Why? Because while Z Health may have worked easily for Ray, it may not work as well with Linda. Clearly, Linda had better pain relief with The Egoscue Method rather than the Z Health exercises I've given her. But that can be easily justified that I am only a Level 1 Z Health practitioner and I have 3 more levels to go.
Nevertheless, I would still like to add The Egoscue Method in my toolbox.
Labels: Adventures









