Professional Feedback

Read my blog about the Hesch Method here:
http://blog.newyorkorthopedicmassage.com/2012/08/12/the-hesch-method/
and here: http://blog.newyorkorthopedicmassage.com/2012/08/12/the-hesch-method-works/
Kiambu Dickerson, LMT, New York, NY

    "I just wanted to say thank you for the course last weekend and what you did for me personally. I have not had a headache since last weekend, which is amazing. I usually live on advil. My headaches aren't disabling, but more of a sometimes near daily annoyance that I am so happy to be rid of. The rest of my body is feeling better too. I have been spending time reviewing all the coursework, and bought a used portable massage table so that I can practice on family and friends.
    "I worked on my 10 year old son and the results have been astounding! (He) has always had a lordotic posture and has always had difficulty running correctly. He could not correct his posture with verbal cues. He has never had any pain. He would run with an excessive heel strike, almost looking like he is leaping when running and exagerrating the pumping of his arms. He could not land on his mid foot or toes or with his foot directly under his hip, and could not get a good push off no matter what strategies we tried. On the treadmill, he would have difficulty picking up his feet and they would drag/slap during swing phase.  I tried strengthening his gluts and calves (glut med and max are weak, gastroc/soleus lacks endurance and
poor balance going up on toes). Worked on stretching his hip flexors which were really only a little tight.  Nothing really worked to improve his running or his posture, and I'm ashamed to admit I didn't really put it together till after your class.
    "I took another look at him and found that he fit in the 2nd most common pattern, plus lacked hip extension (only 0 degrees) and dorsiflexion in subtalar neutral. I think he had a posterior sacrum but I'm not confident enough yet to be sure. I did the manual treatments and started him on the HEP. 
    "You can see in the attachment his posture before, and his posture on day 3- a remarkable change! His balance is much improved also-doing the nudge test to the sternum with his eyes closed, he was stumbling
all over and now can hold his balance easily. His running is already much better.
    "I am so glad I came to your class- Thanks so much! I will keep in touch-
Stacy S., PT West Bend, WI

"The seminar DVD that I recently purchased is a great review and learning aid for studying the Hesch Method and putting the skills into practicing."
Carla Rock, PT, Lafayette, IN

“In my quest for answers to questions that I haven’t been able to find in 40 years of athletic  training, including soft tissue courses, osteopathic knowledge and manual therapy techniques, the Hesch Method is like the ‘icing on the cake’ in its ability to bring my knowledge  to a new level and answers  to my questions. The Hesch Method has helped me to realize that the SIJ is the key to the kinetic chain, linking the distal and the proximal."
David Craig, Head Trainer, Indiana Pacers

"My patients have always derived incredible benefits from his insightful evaluation  and comprehensive treatment of these problems."
Dr. Ralph J. Luciani, D.O., M.S.,
Ph.D, M.D.(H)
Flight surgeon to the astronauts in the 1980s,
now Director of Southwest Integrative and Aesthetic Medicine

    "I just wanted to thank you again for the great course in Indianapolis, Indiana. You have a contagious excitement and I am now pumped to see some SIJ clients, instead of dreading them as I did before your
course. I will relay my positive feedback to my director for we are still hoping to bring the course to Goshen. 
    "Also, thanks for treating me. We saw the difference at the course, but I also saw a difference while
playing disc golf the next day. In disc, there are huge transverse plane motions. I felt better power transfer from my left hip with less effort to get the distance required. I'm looking forward to applying the techniques, and I'm sure I will have a few questions, so plan on a few more e-mails. Please extend my thanks to Jerry Hesch for developing this work."
Craig Enright PT,
Centers for Rehab, Goshen General Hospital, Goshen, Indiana 

"I attended your course in Jacksonville, Florida, several years ago (2002), and it changed my practice. I
now employ passive accessory motion testing as my primary indicator of pelvic joint dysfunction, along with SIJ provocation testing. I also use active motion testing, load transfer test, ASLR, and palpation for alignment and pain. I share your suspicion that the mobility of the SIJs and pubic symphysis can directly
affect the function of the pelvic floor."
Cynthia E. Neville, PT, BCIA-PMDB
Recent Director of Women's Health Rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

 
     "When I was a PT student, my clinical instructor used the Hesch Method to treat a client. The client was very pleased to finally achieve pain relief, having previously sought care from several practitioners. So when I started working in outpatient Orthopedics, I took the basic/intermediate Hesch Seminar.  I was pleased to achieve quick and lasting results, and I find the self-treatment very helpful. I appreciate that this work is not restrictive or dogmatic, and it is easily integrated with other PT approaches.  Jerry Hesch is very available by phone and e-mail, which helped with learning the advanced material.
     "I completed an outcome study with 11 discharged clients, and 8 out of 11 reported benefit with the Hesch self-treatment. Most clients with pelvic girdle movement dysfunction are significantly improved within 3 visits and readily segue into strength and stabilization exercises. I have presented this approach several times to PT students at UNM, and it was enthusiastically received. It has been 5 years since I took the seminar, and I am grateful that I am very comfortable the lumbopelvic and hip girdle and easily achieving lasting change."
Bernadette Lynch, PT,  Albuquerque, New Mexico 

 
"Having worked with the Hesch Method for more than ten years, I can honestly say that one of the best things about the technique is that you can rule out a misaligned pelvis as a source of pain within 1-2 minutes. If you rule out the pelvis, you will then need to look up and down the kinetic chain to see other sources of abnormal motion. Additionally, you can use Jerry Hesch's principals of treatment for joint
movement dysfunctions anywhere in the body, besides the pelvis. If the movement dysfunction does not resolve in the usual time, then that area is probably properly aligned, and you will need to keep looking for the source of dysfunction."
Luanne Olson, DPT

Letters

April 30, 2011
     "I am a DPT (Doctorate in Physical Therapy). I have an interesting story to tell regarding our experience with the Hesch Method.
      "I learned a few of the early evolving Hesch techniques fifteen years ago from one of my P.T. colleagues, and found these early techniques to be an invaluable adjunct to my physical therapy practice.  Hesch techniques allowed me to successfully treat many patients other therapists had not been able to satisfactorily address.  My own husband, Ron, however, had been extremely difficult to treat.
     "Ron had surgically lost his abdominal muscles twenty years ago, and he had genetic faulty sacral issues and had two lumbar surgeries. Over a period ten years he went to the four best therapists in the area, including a national seminar presenter (teaches back pain approach).   All seemed to make his complex diagnosis worse.  Finally, he could barely walk.  The only pain relief and function return occurred with the early Hesch techniques I used in the clinic myself.  We hoped that the Hesch Institute would be able to
better address his deficits, so we arranged to have him fly to Las Vegas, Nevada for 3 visits with Jerry Hesch.  After several emails and phone calls and a thorough review of the medical files Jerry informed us that he simply could not determine whether or not he could help Ron.  He wanted to make sure that he had
maximized local resources before committing to travel.
     "To our delight, Jerry Hesch treated him with significant success. Surgeries had left him with some permanent deficits, yet he is able to walk today and oftentimes enjoys complete pain relief. Jerry found an Upslip Ilium movement dysfunction, a Pelvic Side-Glide fixation and addressed these.  He then identified a significant weakness of the hip abductor muscle group which is being addressed.  Jerry fully acknowledges that many of these patterns involve multiple structures working in concert, hence the terminology “lumbopelvic-hip pathomechanics”.  Jerry does not fully embrace the sacroiliac joint dysfunction paradigm, but rather interprets it within the complexity of the unified structure; again, the lumbopelvic-hip complex.  Jerry’s treatment techniques for the pathomechanics of the pelvis are superior to any other educator I have encountered. This is an example where embracing controversy lead to effective clinical outcome in my husband, after a frustrating, long and arduous journey.
      "For Ron and I, the Hesch techniques are worth their weight in gold. We are very grateful for the work of the Hesch Institute, the dedicated research and development of the latest techniques. I look forward to gaining the current Hesch skills, when I am finally able to attend the actual Hesch course this Spring."
Ellen Frohriep PT, DPT

"My background as a Maitland trained physical therapist has taught me to utilize a clinical reasoning approach to patient care. The Hesch Method fit into my training in that it emphasizes testing/re-testing and utilizes spring testing. The Hesch Method utilizes what I call "springing with awareness" which allows the clinician to determine the patients dysfunctions without having to make the patient fit into pre-conceived ideas and patterns.  The Hesch Method is also a very user friendly approach which allows the student to utilize the approach immediately in the clinic. This approach gives students specific patterns to follow by utilizing "the Most Common Patterns" and "the Second Most Common Patterns."  The Hesch Method does not limit the clinician to these patterns but gives him/her the ability to find other less common
dysfunctions as indicated. Utilizing this concept I have been able to help numerous patients who where not helped by "traditional methods."  My favorite part about this method is that the techniques utilized are not labor intensive and enable the patient to self treat as appropriate. The Hesch Method has added a new dimension to my ability to treat the most complicated patients."
Robert Shapiro, MA, PT, COMT