The doctors I've seen have no idea what caused my musculoskeletal system to break down. I think it was an overload of stress, but they blew that off. Over a 2-year period I was sent for xrays and various other tests, then on to several different physical therapists, all of whom either did nothing for the problem or actively made me worse. I was told it was severe arthritis. Nobody could explain to me why my muscles were chronically contracted.

I had a frozen left shouder, followed by a frozen right shoulder. My left shoulder was higher than the right, as was my left hip. My right hip was rotated too far forward. I could see all this in the mirror! I was swaybacked, knockneed, and was so unstable and off-balance that I was scared to take my eyes off the ground for fear of falling. I am convinced I would have been in a walker in another 6 months, and then a wheelchair. I told my doctor, "Look how crooked I am!" His response was to give me a quick look up and down and say, "Yeah, you are, kind of." And that was the sum of his concern.

I gave up on the doctors and physical therapists and started doing some research. But everything I tried, and I've tried just about everything out there, proved to be a very small bandaid and not a cure. Then I read a 2-year old post on CureZone by a person identified as xxSSxx. (xxSSxx, if you read this, thank you and God bless you!) xxSSxx brought to my attention a physiological genius named Pete Egoscue. Initially I bought his book from Amazone for about $5.00, but I was in such bad shape I knew I would need more than what was outlined in the book. Fortunately, I live in a large metro area and there is an Egoscue Clinic here. I went in for a free evaluation. The exercise therapist took photos of me from all sides and showed me the problems I had already seen in the mirror, along with some I hadn't seen, and proceeded to tell me what I had to do to fix these problems.

The Egoscue exercises, or E-cises, as he calls them, are a unique combination of yoga, isometric and calisthenic, etc., that are geared to a person's specific problems--and they do work. Within a month of diligently following a customized format, I was so much better I could not believe it. I was able to gradually get off all the muscle relaxers and pain relievers that I had been taking for such a long time. Now, after 8 sessions spread over 3 months, and doing the exercises every day, I'm at about 99 percent of where I used to be and continuing to improve rapidly. After the first of the year I plan to enroll in their maintenance program.

If anybody reading this has similar problems, whether due to inactivity, injury or whatever, do yourself a favor and buy Pete's book. His approach will make a lot of sense to you.