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7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 If You Have Chronic Pain, This is the Book for You Jul 08, 2009
By Michelle Doyle
I recently gave my copy of the Schatz book I have used for several years to a physical therapist friend when she took a new job in Atlanta. I was about to purchase another copy when I saw his newest book and decided to add it to my library.
The "Schatz Technique" presented here is a refinement of healing practices he developed during years of work with patients of all ages who had all types of chronic pain and disability. His method of exploratory massage, gentle tissue manipulation and percussive fingertip and palm actions is easy to learn, and gives patients autonomy and control over their own healing. The techniques are non-invasive and easy to learn, even by lay persons. I am not a massage or a physical therapist, but I am living proof that the Schatz Technique works.
At 61 I suffered an open fracture, with comminution, to both bones of my left forearm. My surgeon called it the "nastiest broken arm" he had seen in several years. As I healed, I supplemented my physical therapy sessions with the Schatz Technique. I had three goals: reduction of scarring and adhesions along my surgical incisions, restoration of nerve function to a badly stretched and inflamed radial nerve, and repair of muscle tissue that had literally been "chewed" by bone fragments. Today, one year after my injury, I have no adhesions or thickening of the tissues along my incisions. I have complete flexibility and sensation in my hand, and there is no pain in the areas enervated by the radial nerve. I have pre-injury strength in my left forearm as well, and can lift and carry anything I want to without pain.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Not that detailed... Oct 11, 2009
By K. Haas
I thought the book was very weak. The technique is basically make small circles, rub back and forth lightly with lotion (not too much pressure though.... you don't want to rub or massage! Huhhhh?) This is basically the method! You need to lightly rub all over your body to find "tight bands, or bb's" underneath your skin and gently massage them out. Definitely not worth the money. I used the Trigger Point Therapy workbook for much better results with detailed pictures of where to find your common trigger points. Just remember to try and massage the knots out....not force them.
P.S. If you go to get a deep tissue massage, don't let them push so hard that it causes extreme pain...... this does more harm than good!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A real roadmap for discovery and self-treatment of chronic pain! Sep 15, 2010
By Rise Myers
"Screamin' Good Gluten Free Bakery"
Having left a professional career behind as a violinist, I recall so many colleagues lining up for carpal tunnel surgery, a standard malady of any string player. If only they could have read this book first! My husband has suffered from serious shoulder pain, so I got him the book and had him read the chapters. He felt pain relief after one session of what the author describes as "tissue exploration". This is no ordinary book, and this is no ordinary author. Mr. Schatz has over 50 years of experience as a physical therapist, and in all my years of dealing with backpain, no profession has helped me more. I have the upmost respect for good physical therapists.
The Schatz Technique is a must read for anyone experiencing chronic pain from head to toe. You will be amazed at the avenues of discovery we never even considered, and how a simple manipulation of certain areas can relieve pain somewhere else. These are techniques I would never have found on my own.
For about the same cost as a doctor visit co pay, you can have a lifelong reference of self healing that you will find yourself wanting to turn to before seeing your doctor. The chapters on fibromyalgia and migraine headaches are nothing short of sheer brilliance. The chapter on carpal tunnel is amazing. This will remain my reference for all pain relief. The lotion recommended in the book assists your fingers to "discover" and feel below the skin; it adds the ability to better locate the source of the pain. It's very evident to me why doctors and especially pharmeceutical companies would not want to recommend this book, as it will take away a source of income. I highly recommend this book. If you have any friends or loved ones suffering from pain, buy them a copy out of love! If there were a 10 star rating, I'd give it that!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A fellow PT that's reading and wants to learn more! Mar 29, 2009
By A. Friese
I bought my copy in early 2009 so it's not the very most recent edition. On first reading I felt this book was just an off-shoot of "trigger point" therapy concepts. But, motivated by frustration with my clinical outcomes with my "pain" caseload, I decided to give it another read and am indeed finding several things very helpful. I think this book can help both people in pain seeking to treat themselves AND practitioners seeking to better serve their patients/clients that are in pain. It is easy reading, the concepts are simple, and the directions are fairly clear (I'm a visual and hands-on learner so I *really* wish there was a workshop or an instructional DVD for this!). The specific things I'm learning that are helping me in practice that are different than other "trigger point" type instructions are: 1) be prepared to spend some time on this stuff...tissue dysfunction may be a simple concept but convincing the body to let go of its tightness won't necessarily happen quickly. I don't think I'll ever be able to spend 2+ hours with a pt in my setting like Mr Schatz writes of doing, but I now realize for most problems the standard 30 minute PT appt will likely be insufficient. 2)slow and gentle! I think trigger point therapy is moving in this direction too but Mr Schatz seems to have caught onto this idea long ago and I'm finally getting the message as well...when treating a person in pain if the treatment is intrusive feeling the nervous system will not allow "tightness" to release. 3) don't ignore surface tissues...this is one of the biggest things I've taken away from my reexamination of this book. Treatment of skin is something I've ignored but now that I'm devoting more time to it I'm seeing how potent it is...even "deeper" tightness often "lets go" with work on the surface.
Thank you for this very helpful book!
Tony Friese, PT
Marinette, WI
9 of 13 found the following review helpful:
This is the book to buy!!!! Mar 02, 2009
By JoAnn M. Christy
"JoAnn M. Christy, R.R.T., C.M.T., CSTP"
Chronic Pain Self-treatment written by Bernard Schatz, P.T. is a ground-breaking, awareness-expanding book that every family should own.
This book comes with a recommendation by none other than Patch Adams, M.D. who himself referred a patient for treatment with Mr. Schatz resulting in an astonishing change in pain level for that patient.
Well-written and honest, this self-treatment manual can teach you how to reverse chronic pain. We all know that when we visit our health care professionals for treatment of chronic pain, one of three things will happen. Either you'll be handed a prescription for medication, or you're sent off to physical therapy, or in the worst case scenario, you're booked for a surgical procedure.
As Mr. Schatz so aptly explains, medication merely masks the symptoms of chronic pain, it does NOT cure the underlying problem, the reason why the pain exists. Mr. Schatz discovered many years ago that the reason for chronic pain is contracted tissues that press on nerves.
While physical therapy MAY help, in Mr. Schat'z experience in over 50 years as a physical therapist, the results can be short-term or not work at all. In fact in some cases, physical therapy can actually exacerbate someone's pain.
Surgery can be beneficial for some but for many others, surgery causes scar tissue which then presses on nerves and causes pain. One problem solved while another is created.
In laymen's terms, this book will teach you how to work on your own chronic pain issues. The book is packed with real life case studies addressing various forms of chronic pain as well as detailed drawings by the author that show you where and how to work on your affected areas of pain.
When I use the term "work" it doesn't adequately describe the technique. The technique involves gently coaxing and exploring the tissues that are painful. Using lotion, you will discover areas that are tender and painful but you will also discover that in these painful areas there are small substructures, sometimes feeling like bb's or larger knots or ropes. As you gently explore these areas, you are actually doing the technique!
As Mr. Schatz describes, when one part of the body is affected, the areas adjacent to that part become affected. No doubt when you read this book and begin to use the technique, you will find areas of pain that you weren't aware existed, having long ago gotten used to having this pain. You will learn to gently coax and gradually soften the painful tissues until they are healthy, supple and most importantly, pain-free.
You may be wondering why I'm such a huge fan of this book. I became an apprentice to Mr. Schatz many years ago after being his patient. As a certified massage therapist, only one year into practice, my forearms burned and hurt even when I wasn't massaging someone. I was treated by Mr. Schatz in 4, two-hour sessions and was astonished by the results. Not only was I pain-free but I had learned how to use the technique on myself.
I was so amazed by the results, especially when regular massage had NOT worked, that I asked to become Mr. Schatz's apprentice. I worked with him on all of his patients for the next four months and became the first and only Certified Schatz Technique Practitioner.
We went into private practice together for the next two years where we helped countless people to reverse their chronic pain. Mr. Schatz left our practice a few years ago to concentrate his efforts on this new, even more reader-friendly book, Chronic Pain Self-treatment.
Mr. Schatz and I stay in touch but we have not been business associates since he left our private practice. I will not benefit by the sale of this book. My wish is to get the word out about this technique so that you, the reader will benefit by learning how to reverse your chronic pain.
I know this technique works because it constitutes more than half of my private practice. Why do people come to me instead of buying the book you might ask? The answer is that clients are referred to me by physicians and other health care professionals because their patients have reported to them that finally, something has worked!
While I certainly could have learned the Schatz Technique by reading the book, as a massage therapist I wanted to experience it myself. I cannot state this firmly enough, this technique is NOT massage. I do massage people in my practice for the purpose of relaxation and massage is a wonderful destressor in this hectic world but massage does not reverse the cause of chronic pain.
I cannot speak highly enough about Mr. Schatz's newest book, Chronic Pain Self-treatment. It is packed with the knowledge of a man with over 50 years of experience. It will teach you that you CAN learn how to reverse your chronic pain.
It will take some time and patience on your part but if you consider how many years it took for your chronic pain to develop, you will understand that coaxing your painful tissues back to good health is well worth the effort!
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