Go back

How and When was the Mckenzie method developed?

Robin McKenzie writes:

In 1956 in my clinic in Wellington, New Zealand, I observed a remarkable event that has changed the nature of treatment administered worldwide for the alleviation of back pain. This serendipitous event led to the development of the theories and practice that have now become the hallmark of the McKenzie Method of diagnosis and treatment (also known as mechanical diagnosis and therapy) of common painful back problems.

The chance observation arose from a sudden change in the condition of a patient, Mr Smith. Mr Smith had pain to the right of his low back, extending into the buttock and thigh as far as his knee. He had undergone the conventional treatment considered suitable for back pain in that era. After three weeks of heat and ultrasound, his condition had not improved. He had difficulty standing upright. He could bend forward, but when standing could not bend backwards.

‏I told him to go through to the treatment room and lie face-down on the treatment table, the head-end of which had been raised for a previous patient. Without adjusting the table, and unnoticed by any of the clinical staff, Mr Smith lay face down with his back arched backward and overstretched for some five minutes. When I returned to commence his treatment, I was extremely concerned to find him lying in what at that time was considered to be a most damaging position. On enquiring as to his welfare, I was astounded to hear him say that this was the best he had been in three weeks. All pain had disappeared from his leg. Furthermore, the pain in the back had moved from the right side to the centre. He found he could now bend backward without having severe pain.

‏‏When Mr Smith arose from the treatment table, he could stand upright and he remained improved with no recurrence of leg pain. I placed him in the same position the following day, and this resulted in complete resolution of the remaining symptoms.

The important point is that as Mr Smith lay in this position, his pain changed location and moved from the leg and right side of his back to the centre point just at the waistline. The movement of pain from the leg or buttocks to the middle of the back is now known worldwide as the centralisation phenomenon.

Robin has spent the years since then developing this method. The establishment of the McKenzie Institute International in 1980 started a new era of education worldwide in MDT. There are now 26 branches worldwide who have trained over 20,000 healthcare professionals in MDT. More information can be found on www.mckenziemdt.org

Go back