Back Pain and Headache Relief with The Dorn Method
Having suffered from headaches for the past 25 years I felt only too grateful when a friend told me about the Dorn Method treatment and how it could possibly help. The problem for me was that headaches are in the family; my father, brother and sister all suffer the same frustration of having to live with daily headaches routinely. Over the years I have tried all manner of treatment from traditional Chinese to modern Complementary therapies, and of course standard medical tests which included both X-rays and MRI scans which revealed nothing that could be picked up.
The Dorn Method sounded appealing not only because its founder was known to have successfully helped relieve his own wife from her headaches, but also the fact that Dorn sprung up from a small village only a short distance away from my own home town in Bavaria.
It wasn’t long before I was on a flight over to Germany to discover more about Dorn and try out this treatment. Dorn is practiced very widely in Germany and so it wasn’t hard to find a reputable Dorn Method therapist in my own local home town. To my astonishment I felt so much better after just one treatment that I was hooked, and wanted to add Dorn to my own treatments I could offer. During my first visit I was also shown various self-help exercises which I could use at home to regularly align my hip joint, pelvis and neck area. I knew Dorn wasn’t going to be a wonder treatment which would end my headaches for life, but overall Dorn has brought enormous relief by making daily headaches a thing of the past, and these days I manage to stay pain free for long periods of time.
It wasn’t long after my first Dorn experience where I found myself back in Germany on an intensive training course eager to learn all I could about The Dorn Method so I could start practicing it back over here in the UK where I live. That’s all now history, and since starting to treat over 6 years ago I have found The Dorn Method beneficial not only in the treatment of Back and Joint pain, but due to spinal connections with many parts of the body via the nervous system, Dorn is able to help with other common health problems from bed wetting and stomach complaints to ear ache, visual problems, acne and allergies.
How the treatment works
Apart from being easy to learn, I think one of the key features to Dorn’s success and its effectiveness is its approach to getting joints to move more readily back into their correct natural positions and then stay there. There is no magic about The Dorn Method, it's really all based on physics, fact and common sense, and a little help from the patient who assists the Dorn Therapist to create some useful ‘muscle distraction’. This effect is achieved by asking the patient to actively participate in the treatment by either swinging a leg, arm or the head from side to side whilst at the same time I work on guiding joints back into their proper position with gentle thumb or hand pressure. The main point being that during movement muscles are in a distracted or relaxed state, and it is then therefore quite easy to realign joints without having to overcome too much muscle resistance.
My aim in any treatment is to correct any indifference in leg length and to focus on realignment of the spinal column. As a consequence of a balanced and firmly seated spinal column, the likelihood of additional health benefits through spinal connections as mentioned above is likely possible.
Case Studies
Client A - Shop Manager
This female client came to see me suffering Back Pain on and off for the last 24 years, the onset of which occurred after her youngest son was born. She was given injections and physio therapy treatment to ease the pain but nothing seemed to help, and in fact everything just got worse over the years, and 6 years ago she also started suffering Sciatica which was now playing up tremendously.
As always I started with a leg length check which revealed a difference in her left leg of a little over 1cm. After correcting the leg length difference I checked the pelvis and sacrum for alignment, and discovered that the right pelvis and left sacrum was tilted back. The vertebrae L5 left, TH11 left, TH1 and C7 right were also out of alignment and corrections were made with the help of gentle assisted dynamics from the client who was asked to swing either her left or right leg. I then continued up the spine to the neck area in a similar fashion looking for displaced vertebrae and making any corrections. In this case no further work was needed higher up the spine.
After the first treatment client A felt much better. She was able to move about with hardly any pain at all. Various self-help exercises were shown to help her keep the hip joint, pelvis and sacrum in alignment. The pain from her sciatica was almost gone after the first session, and after only 2 further sessions most of her back pain had also disappeared. Ever since that day she occasionally encounters light twinges but nothing as severe as it used to be. She is mostly pain free and just comes in for the occasional maintenance treatment.
Client B - A builder
He came to see me having suffered from Headaches for as long as he can remember on an almost daily basis. Only painkillers and sleeping it off would give some sort of relief. Alcohol would set the headache of immediately.
A leg length check quickly revealed a leg difference of almost 2.5cm. Furthermore the left pelvis and left sacrum where twisted, along with a number of lumbar, thoracic and cervical vertebrae were out of alignment. Vertebrae C6 and C7 were slightly rotated to the left and the C1/Atlas were rotated to the right. The slightest pressure felt very sore to the client so I had to work especially carefully. A very gentle alignment of the Atlas was made while the client helped by turning his head from side to side to deliver dynamic assistance. Again, a simple set of self-help exercise to help correct the hip joint and the Atlas on a daily basis were shown.
A further treatment was carried out a week later with a third treatment the following week. After the 2nd treatment the client reported being headache free for a whole week. He was advised to carry on with the regular self-help exercises and to come for regular maintenance treatment every 4 months or so.
Client C - Young Male Student
This 18 year old student was constantly suffering Back Pain since the age of 15. He enjoyed the usual sports at school as well as skateboarding but admitted to sitting for hours at a time at his play station and computer games. He said he often felt unable to take part in sports activities due to aching lower back pain. I felt I had to comment on his evident poor posture which I find so many teenagers adopt, i.e. slouching to one side, carrying a heavy shoulder bag, etc.
When checking his leg length I found there was a 1cm difference in his left leg; I also found his right pelvis and sacrum were tilted back which then has an effect on vertebrae being forced out of position, which could lead to the back pain problem. Vertebrae L1and L2 were also misaligned and according to the connections chart can indicate constipation or diarrhea, which he said he also regularly suffers from.
I encouraged him to do regular hip joint self-help correction exercises which aim of helping him maintain and sustain the aligning of misplaced joints after I applied the initial treatment. I saw him for two further treatments where he felt better. Of course, it was easy to see that his lifestyle typical of teenagers meant potentially reoccurring problems, and recommended he came back for regular top-up treatment every 6 months to keep his spine in alignment. He no longer suffers constipation or diarrhea.
Conclusion
I have found The Dorn Method to be able to help with all sorts of problems, not only those directly related to skeletal and muscular problems. This is because Dorn focuses on correcting imbalances found within the body and especially in the spinal column, which supports the nervous system in contact with all parts and organs of the body. Out of place vertebrae which put stress on nerves routing out to body organs are sure to have some form of detrimental effect.
I also find I have a very high success rate in treating most forms of common Back pain, and find only a few treatments are necessary with recommended top up treatment on a six month or annual basis to keep things in balance.
About the author
brigitte@dornmethod.co.uk
One of The Dorn Method's aims is to educate people to look after
themselves. The role of the Therapist is to first treat the patient,
i.e. look for any problems and help to sort these out, but then the role
of the Therapist turns to that of educating the patient in order that
they can continue doing for themselves what the Therapist started. This
is vitally important and sadly something not addressed by most other
therapies; if after treatment, the patient continues to do what caused
the problem in the first place, then it is likely that the health
problem will return at some time in the future.
Anybody having some sort of misalignment of the spine or pelvis area if
not corrected will over time usually lead to some kind of health
problem. If a person is very mobile, fit and active, very often problems
won't occur or show themselves as the body will keep making adjustments
to the body structure (through mobility and exercise) and therefore is
more or less self-correcting. However for many people, especially those
who are less mobile e.g. those sat in front of a computer all day long,
any misalignments in the body structure will often end up manifesting as
some sort of health problem.
After treatment, the body normally takes anything from 6 to 8 weeks or
more to adjust to a new state initiated by the Dorn Therapist. This
means for example, that if any spinal misalignments were found and
corrected by the Therapist through treatment, then Dorn self-help
exercises/further treatment should be continued for at least that time
span for the full healing or the new state of balance to become the
norm. The body simply takes time to adjust, and a little Dorn each day
encourages the body to adjust to this new state - and then of course
continuing with self help exercuses will help keep the body balanced and
healthy over the long term.
The Dorn Method therefore teaches of a set of simple self help exercises
which can be performed easily in a few minutes a day from any location,
at home or even at work. These exercises are meant to help continue
what the Therapist began during initial treatment, providing life long
health benefits and also an awareness of the importance of keeping the
body in balance to avoid all manner of health problems from occuring.
Dorn treatment can be combined with a very relaxing spinal massage
called the Breuss Massage. This is a gentle massage that safely
stretches, nourishes, aligns and energizes the Back. The Breuss massage
can be useful when a patient for example has severe sciatic pain, where
the massage then helps to take away some of the pain and tension,
helping to make Dorn treatment more effective.
The Breuss Massage was developed by the late Austrian Healer Rudolf
Breuss and combines perfectly with the Dorn Method. Rudolf Breuss said
that there is no such thing as ‘wear’ of intervertebral disc but instead
that the discs are ‘degenerated’, he was convinced that regeneration
was possible.
The spine is like any other living organism, which is in a constant
state of ‘stress and relief’. It not only needs nourishment and rest,
but also the right amount of ‘stress’ in the form of active movements to
maintain its strength and function. During the day our spine and
especially our ‘discs’ are stressed and they need to fulfil their duty
as shock-absorbers whenever we stand, walk or sit.
These discs are consequently squeezed and some of the liquid within gets
out making the discs thinner. We are actually a little shorter in the
evening compared to the morning after standing up. During sleep the
spine relaxes and stretches out, and the discs can somewhat regenerate.
This mechanism is altered in a negative way when our metabolism is not
in balance or impaired for many different reasons.
The Breuss Massage actually stretches the spine, and acts rather like a
whole nights worth of healthy sleeping. After the Breuss Massage, the
Dorn Method is much easier to carry out because in this relaxed state,
the spine can be more easily and painlessly re-aligned.
This combination of both Dorn treatment and Breuss massage provide a
very effective tool to gently align the spine and joints, and regenerate
the whole body system in a simple and very effective way.
During the Dorn Method treatment you work together with the Therapist at
all times. Treatment itself begins with a leg length comparison check; a
high percentage of people suffering from back pain show a leg length
difference often due to poor leg seating in the hip joint. Your
Therapist will then make simple, safe corrections as necessary.
To help prevent future problems from re-occurring, you will also be
shown how to carry out simple leg length corrections for yourself at
home.
Next your pelvis is checked for any misalignment, followed by lumbar,
thoracic (spinal column) and cervical vertebrae (neck) checks. Any
imbalances or vertebrae found out of place are corrected as necessary
using very gentle and safe techniques.
The following short video demonstrates some of the various Dorn Method
techniques. As you can see, the moves are all very gentle and safe, but
very effective.
All corrections in The Dorn Method take place in a dynamic way, this
simply means you work together with the Therapist by moving the joint
being corrected. In so doing related muscles are ‘distracted’ causing
joints to slip more easily back into place, and it is this technique
that helps make The Dorn Method so very effective and successful.
Dieter Dorn is a sawmill owner who was born in August 1938 in South
Germany. Over 35 years ago he injured himself whilst lifting a heavy log
and consequently suffered sciatic pain. A local old farmer helped to
relieve him of his pain using some very simple and easy to use
techniques. He asked the old Healer if he could also learn these
techniques to which the Healer replied 'you already know them', implying
how easy they were to learn and do yourself!
Dorn's first patient was his wife who for several years had suffered
from severe headaches. According to some doctors, the transverse
processes of her cervical vertebrae where too long and could be
shortened by surgery but she refused to be operated upon. Dieter Dorn
checked his wife’s neck and found that the vertebrae were only twisted
and that the x-ray was not a correct reading. He gently pushed the
vertebrae back into place and since then her headaches have been
history. She has since became the most prominent patient of Dieter Dorn.
That was the beginning of the DORN METHOD!
Soon after, Dieter Dorn helped many people in the neighbourhood by
correcting their unequal leg length and aligning their joints. To his
surprise many other ailments like knee pains, heart problems, hearing
problems and others also seem to have disappeared.
The answer to all this he discovered by coincidence in a book about
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), where acupuncture and acupressure
were among the techniques used to cure many ailments.
During the course of his treatments he observed that he was also
addressing the meridians (nerve pathways) along the spine. Because of
the connection between the spinal cord and the inner organs connected
through the spinal nerve pathways, many problems disappeared when the
misaligned vertebrae where corrected.
By meeting and assisting Dr. Thomas Hansen M.D., Dieter Dorn started to
lean more about anatomy and physiology, and together, they explored the
potentials of this new method for an extended period of time.
Some years later, Dieter Dorn decided that it was time to teach other
people this wonderful method, and he started to give seminars. Many
learned from him and are now following in his foot steps with equal
success.
Today, more and more people from the medical field, like doctors,
physiotherapists, massage therapists, non-medical practitioners and
chiropractors, attend these seminars and are amazed about what they
learn.
Dieter Dorn still has his sawmill, which makes him independent and his
simple and very kind personality keeps on impressing his students.
He says there are three kinds of thought models in life: • What can I do
for myself? • What can someone else do for me? • What can I do for
others?
Dieter Dorn lives with the third one. “We are born for others, otherwise
our life makes no sense”, is his opinion. This is a way full of
‘thorns’ (Thorn translates in German as ‘Dorn’). Maybe that is why the
method is called “DORN METHOD”, he jokes. Nome nest omen! In German the
spinous processes are called Dorn Fortsaetze, in medical terms, isn’t
that a coincidence?
Some of Dieter Dorn’s early students, like Harald Fleig and Helmuth
Koch, started to give DORN METHOD seminars on their own, thereby
contributing in an important way to the speedy spread of the knowledge
of this fantastic therapy.
Hildegard Steinhauser learned the Method many years ago and, together
with her life partner, Helmuth Koch, a well known non medical
practitioner in Lindau, South Germany. They are now at the forefront of
the mission to make the DORN METHOD popular and acknowledged by the
medical community. As a Reiki Teacher and trained in acupuncture,
Hildegard Stein Hauser says that she thinks learning the DORN METHOD was
a true milestone in her life as a Healer and thanks to Dieter Dorn, it
now becomes a true blessing for humanity.
The above article was extracted from Thomas Zudrell’s book the DORN METHOD.
One of The Dorn Method's aims is to educate people to look after
themselves. The role of the Therapist is to first treat the patient,
i.e. look for any problems and help to sort these out, but then the role
of the Therapist turns to that of educating the patient in order that
they can continue doing for themselves what the Therapist started. This
is vitally important and sadly something not addressed by most other
therapies; if after treatment, the patient continues to do what caused
the problem in the first place, then it is likely that the health
problem will return at some time in the future.
Anybody having some sort of misalignment of the spine or pelvis area if
not corrected will over time usually lead to some kind of health
problem. If a person is very mobile, fit and active, very often problems
won't occur or show themselves as the body will keep making adjustments
to the body structure (through mobility and exercise) and therefore is
more or less self-correcting. However for many people, especially those
who are less mobile e.g. those sat in front of a computer all day long,
any misalignments in the body structure will often end up manifesting as
some sort of health problem.
After treatment, the body normally takes anything from 6 to 8 weeks or
more to adjust to a new state initiated by the Dorn Therapist. This
means for example, that if any spinal misalignments were found and
corrected by the Therapist through treatment, then Dorn self-help
exercises/further treatment should be continued for at least that time
span for the full healing or the new state of balance to become the
norm. The body simply takes time to adjust, and a little Dorn each day
encourages the body to adjust to this new state - and then of course
continuing with self help exercuses will help keep the body balanced and
healthy over the long term.
The Dorn Method therefore teaches of a set of simple self help exercises
which can be performed easily in a few minutes a day from any location,
at home or even at work. These exercises are meant to help continue
what the Therapist began during initial treatment, providing life long
health benefits and also an awareness of the importance of keeping the
body in balance to avoid all manner of health problems from occuring.
The article below was published in Choice Health Magazine, April/May 2011 issue
