Fixing You: Hip & Knee Pain: Self-treatment for IT band friction, arthritis, groin pain, bursitis, knee pain, PFS, AKPS, and other diagnoses

This book was extraordinarily helpful. Olderman lays out the anatomy involved in a thorough but simple way so that I could visualize what needed to be strengthened, what needed to be stretched, and why. He then talks about normal movement patterns- walking, sitting, etc. and how you're going go shift these as you re-train your muscles. This is such an important part, because, of course, walking happens several thousand times in a day, and if you shift that, it has even more effect than the exercises that you'll maybe once per day. The exercises are not numerous which is cool because too many exercises makes things too tedious.I had labral tears in my hip about 8 years ago, with two arthroscopic surgeries on the same hip. I've been trying rehab this ever since with help of several highly qualified physical therapists. I wish I'd been given this book at the beginning of that process because it really clarifies the problems and the goals nicely.This book is an easy read; I think I read it two or three sittings. The book gives you access to video tapes of each of the exercises plus a few other useful tips. Highly recommended for hip problems.Note: I've not had knee problems, and was not really paying attention to that portion of the book so I can't comment on how useful that might be. Alderman's explanation of how the entire leg functions and how its joints interact in walking is more graspable than anything else I've read on this topic. And I've read quite a bit, believe me. (Oh, pain is such a motivator . . .)

I've been suffering from progressively worsening hip pain for a couple of years now, which I've been pretty sure is due to a muscular imbalance---"gluteal amnesia" caused by sitting too much. Lots of advice out there on YouTube and books that claim to tell you what's wrong and how to fix it, but none of them even came close to helping me, or allowing me to definitively figure out the exact nature of the malfunction.So I was pretty skeptical (but desperate) when I purchased this "Fix You" book on relieving hip and knee pain, but am so glad I took a chance on another PT who claimed to be able to help.In a word, this book is Fantastic! Rick Olderman not only enabled me to match my pain with a diagnosis (anterior pelvic tilt on the right side) but also goes into detail about how to fix it, and how to correct bad habits that caused the muscular imbalance in the first place. The book taught me about the anatomy relevant to hip and knee problems yet was easy to understand. The corrective exercises are described very well, and when you purchase the book you get a password to use on the "Fix You" web site to access videos that illustrate the exercises in greater detail, so there's not much chance that you will do them incorrectly.Yes, it will take some work and effort on your part to achieve relief, but these are things you certainly can do, without an unreasonable expenditure of time and effort. I've only been doing the exercises for a few days and can already feel a difference. Best of all, now that I know exactly what's going on with the muscles involved, I feel very motivated and confident that I'll be able to work through the problem on my own. (BUT . . . see below)(UPDATE, Oct. 13: Turns out that I have lower back and joint issues that are beyond the scope of this book to fix. Currently seeing a chiropractor who took X-rays and discovered the problems, and he is performing adjustments to address those issues. After just a few adjustments, I'm already seeing improvement.I still think this book is great---it made me aware of how muscle imbalances can really mess with your joints, but do yourself a favor and seek a professional diagnosis sooner than later. A similar book, End Everyday Pain for 50+, written by an osteopathic doctor, makes it very clear that you can/should take charge of maintaining your body through proper stretching and exercises, but he emphasizes that you also need the help of a professional as part of your "took kit." So don't be stubborn and think you can fix things all by yourself, especially if you are older---seek hands-on help and a firm diagnosis sooner than later.

I just wish this book had been written by a medical doctor. But, it does have illustrations, so I can show these to my doctor and make sure which ones are safe for me to pursue. So, overall ~ the book should be useful if used in that manner.

This book is right on. Reading this book ad viewing the videos (that you are given the link to in the book) takes only a few hours and the results are spectacular. Hip pain is much better . I learned more from this experience than I did after 3 months of physical therapy, and 10 years of working out with a trainer years ago. Everything is very well explained , making it easier to understand and practice the exercises involved. I highly recommend this book to anyone motivated to fix their pain. For anyone undergoing physical therapy, this book is a great adjuvant, explaining how and why exercises work, which encourages compliance and leads to real success.

Wish there were more pictures to learn to do the exercises. I suppose I should have purchased a DVD to watch. It was informative, I wanted a quick and dirty on the exercises.

I am a distance runner who has been battling injuries since 2010. I practically gave up on running when my friend introduced me to this book. I hate reading but I was desperate and this book wasn't a thick textbook, so I decided to give it a try. This book is very easy to read and yes, he does use a lot of terminology but there's no escaping that if you want to sound professional! I never knew how important having strong glutes is to preventing knee pain and ever since reading this book, my life has changed. At the same time, I'm also seeing a physical therapist to help enforce some of the things I've learned in this book (I had him show me a bunch of other glute strengthening exercises) and after 2 weeks of absolutely no running, followed by some strength training and PT visits, I'm now back up to 5 mi of pain free running. I hope to be back to half marathon distances by the end of summer and maybe marathon distances in 2014. Wish me luck....

The exercises in this book are clear, easy to follow and effective if practised daily. From a code in the back of the book one can access on line videos of the exercises that are helpful for people who may not be used to following this kind of instruction. I highly recommend this for people with bad knees.

Having been diagnosed with the necessity of 2 replacement knees and hips, due to osteoporosis and arthritis joints, I decided to investigate alternatives, and I have learnt much from investigation and reading books like this. No operations to date and none planned. I think I have been listed as NC non-compliant, but if I can strengthen the muscles, tendons and ligaments which are part responsible for the movement at these joints that is what I intend to do and have found this and other books so helpful, far different to the Consultant who just said '4 operations, you will be out of action for 2years'. I have supplemented these books with Physiotherapy and Osteotherapy privately as because I have not had surgery I am not eligible under the NHS for this funding, although I have paid into the system for many years! Buy this book and others, read and use the information, the only Magic Wand is Yourself!

Review of a french reader.I have a pelvis inclined on the left and rotating backward. I have a sole in my left shoe, had sessions with a physiotherapist and my unbalance was still increasing. Surprisingly, the book was hard to find on Amazon.fr despite the fact it's the only one I know for the moment to treat of that specific hip unbalance.It filled my lack of knowledge on basic anatomy and biomechanics with multiple and simple visuals. It provided corrective exercises.After few weeks, I can already see improvements but I have no illusion, it's long-term rehab after years of bad patterns.A no-brainer purchase if you need help.

good book

This series of books is excellent, there is a self-diagnostic scheme which enables you to find out where the trouble comes from, and there are simple exercises to correct your problems. On his site there are free access videos, (the access code is in the book) and you can also download them for a modest sum. The drawings and explanations are very clear. Like the other review I have trailed this problem for some time and this is the first real source of help, includings physios etc where I felt I was getting somewhere. I emailed the author and he answered the same day. What more can you want?