A Chance Occurrence Leads to a Great Discovery
In Wellington, New Zealand, in 1956 a young physiotherapist named Robin McKenzie made an accidental discovery with a back patient whom he had been treating, without success, for three weeks.
By being astute enough to realise that he was witness to a simple but undiscovered process he took this new information and through much clinical experimentation developed a unique approach to the examination and treatment of mechanical spinal problems.
Some years later a colleague who had been witness to the effectiveness of this new system commented to Mr McKenzie that if he were to be run over by a bus the next day the world would be non the wiser to what he had discovered. He duly set about putting his ideas to print, publishing two papers and subsequently his first textbook. Being a non-scientist entering the scientific arena with a fresh approach he was not, at first, well received by many in the medical profession.
Over the last few years the McKenzie Method, as it has come to be known, has been subjected to considerable research, both well and poorly designed. There can, however, be no doubt today of the immense impact that this system has had in the field of spinal mechanical therapy both in terms of popularity with patients and therapists and in validation through scientific research.
“Tell me, and I’ll forget; Show me, I may remember; But involve me and I’ll understand.” – Confucious