What Is...the McKenzie Method?

March 11, 2010

Author: Catherine M. Callery (Kate) | Louise M. Tarantino

When reviewing medical records for a client with a neck or back impairment, you may see an entry noting that a treatment known as the McKenzie method was tried. So what is this?  The McKenzie method, also known as Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT), is a specialized method of physical therapy used to treat neck and back pain.

How does it work?  The principles of the McKenzie method involve the understanding that the spine has normal curves.  When the curves become flat, due to disease, injury or poor posture, patients experience pain and loss of movement.  Using the McKenzie method, which involves postural re-education, manual techniques and repeated motions, the normal curves are restored.

The McKenzie Method involves an assessment which leads to the classification of spinal-related disorders. It is based on a consistent “cause and effect” relationship between historical pain behavior as well as the pain response to repeated test movements, positions and activities during the assessment process.

A systematic progression of applied mechanical forces (the cause) utilizes pain response (the effect) to monitor changes in motion/function. The underlying disorder can then be quickly identified through objective findings for each individual patient.  The McKenzie classification of spinal pain provides reproducible means of separating patients with      apparently similar presentations into definable sub-groups (syndromes) to determine appropriate treatment.

These three mechanical syndromes are known as Postural, Dysfunction and Derangement.

• Postural: End-range stress of normal structures
• Dysfunction: End-range stress of shortened structures (scarring, fibrosis, nerve root adherence)
• Derangement: Anatomical disruption or displacement within the motion segment  (all three mechanical syndromes – postural, dysfunction, and derangement – occur in the cervical as well as thoracic and lumbar regions of the spine.)

So, now you know that when you see that the McKenzie method was implemented in treating your client’s neck or back pain, there should be additional assessments and classification of the nature of his/her impairment.  For more information, see http://www.mckenziemdt.org/approach.cfm?section=int.