Joint pain can be one of the most debilitating things we experience – at best annoying; at worst restrictive; at very worst all consuming.
Sometimes, eg accidents, unforeseen circumstances, physiological issues, joint pain is outside of our control. However many aspects of joint pain are within our control and can mitigated and managed. I’d like to say this book shows you how – to a degree it does, however it is very focused on physical remedies – yoga stretches – and whilst the authors enthusiasm for the benefit of yoga postures is warming, I can’t help but feel an awful lot is missed when the psycho-emotional aspects aren’t addressed – chronic inflammation, stress based muscle tension, to name but two, and scant attention is given to arthritic issues. Perhaps that is a function of the age of the book – 2006 – perhaps it reflects the authors traditional physiotherapy background – she is an acclaimed back pain expert, back whisperer to Prince Charles, and her well known and popular book on back pain is, in my view, quite mechanical in its outlook.
As far as it goes, on physical and mechanical aspects of joint pain, this is a readable and comprehensive work with a systematic coverage of the spine, shoulders, hips, and limbs – all the major joints of the body – with common conditions and suggested stretches – almost all yoga based – given.
If you are interested in a primer for mechanical issues, then this is a good book, and for me it was certainly a useful refresher. However with the omission of so much around wider causes of joint pain, its limitations needed to be noted.
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