​Among the many successful patient encounters I had in Peru, an especially memorable case was a male patient around 60 years old who presented with complaints of left knee pain with walking on hills and with squatting. He demonstrated a minimal loss of left knee extension, pain with left knee flexion overpressure and extension overpressure, weakness in the left hip flexor, and movement loss in his lumbar spine. We used squatting as his primary baseline test - it was indeed very painful for his left knee, which also buckled at the bottom of the squat, forcing him to push on a table with his hands to return to standing. Repeated movements in the sagittal plane for the spine had no effect on squatting; nor did repeated movements of the left knee (sagittal and transverse planes). I did not enjoy continually asking him to retest squatting, but that information was crucial, especially considering I would never see him again. I could sense he was growing frustrated as well since, after movement upon movement, squatting remained very painful. It wasn’t until we performed supine rotation in flexion that squatting proved better. With repetition, his squatting ability continued to improve. His knee now had no movement loss and no pain with overpressure and his hip flexor was strong. You could see the excitement on his face; the translator conveyed that the patient was happy and appreciative. I taught him how to perform the maneuver at home and am optimistic that he will be walking and squatting better in the future. -- Laura

I was honored to join a group of experienced McKenzie method specialists for a pilot trip to Peru last week. We treated patients in the city of Cuzco and in the nearby village of Ccorca. Additionally, we provided an introductory seminar to local physical therapists on what the McKenzie method is all about. What a great experience we all had, both treating patients and seeing some of the country!

This August I will be traveling to Peru with a small group of McKenzie-trained physical therapists to provide mechanical diagnosis and therapy to residents of Cuzco. We will be volunteering our clinical services to patients as well as helping to educate professionals in the area.​ I am honored and excited to be a part of this team! To learn more, click here. To donate to this volunteer cause, click here.