Freedom from Back Pain. - video recording reviews

American Fitness, Jan-Feb, 1990

FREEDOM FROM BACK PAIN

Karen Perlroth is a certified Mensendieck exercise therapist who has saved hundreds of painful back sufferers from the orthopedic's scalpel. She practices an 84-year-old technique developed by Bess Mensendieck, a European physician. The method is far more popular in Europe than in the U.S., but Stanford University Medical Center physicians are now recommending that their patients who have no apparent organic cause for their back pain see Perlroth. The video reviews simple exercises of the Mensendieck system, and teaches the viewer the basics of good posture and correct body mechanics. You'll like the promise: in weeks you will feel taller, have a slimmer waistline and hips, and your back will feel great. Only time and consistent practice could prove that kind of promise. Reviewers appreciated the segment on abdominal strengthening, and one even recommended that every exercise instructor should be taught this method of breathing, contracting and leg lifting. A living advertisement for this method, Perlroth, a mother of four, shows off her remarkable taut abdomen during the program. On the whole, you'll get a full education regarding the muscles responsible for good posture, and never want to slouch again.

Mensendieck Enterprises, P.O. Box 9450, Stanford, California 94305-9450.