McKenzie System
The McKenzie system is also known as Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment (MDT).
The essence of the system is to teach patients to treat and manage their own musculo-skeletal problems. Our McKenzie specialist will conduct a detailed examination to determine the underlying cause of the pain, then will teach the patient:
• what has caused the pain
• how to treat it
• how to prevent its recurrence
Our goal is to give each patient the tools to manage his/her own pain, now and over the long run.
Three Steps to Eliminating Pain:
Step 1: Assessment
You will receive a thorough examination which is designed to determine the underlying cause of y our pain. This gives the clinician important information about what is causing the pain and what you need to do to reduce and abolish it.
Step 2: Treatment
After the assessment session you will be given specific guidance about what to do to start recovery. Typically, you may require 3 to 5 follow up treatment sessions. In these visits, the physical therapist will check how you are performing the exercises and show you any necessary modifications.
Step 3: Prevention
By learning how to self-treat the current problem, patients gain hands-on knowledge on how to minimize the risk of recurrence and to rapidly deal with recurrence if it occurs
Literature shows that patients who are more active in the rehabilitation process recover far faster and with fewer clinic visits and fewer future recurrences than patients who have passive treatments. Treatment is based on a partnership in rehabilitation between patient and therapist. The McKenzie system of assessment and treatment is the most extensively researched manual therapy technique to date.
