Find the Cause.

Address the Cause.

Live Pain-Free Again.

A scientific, logical, and results-driven approach to overcome your back pain, based on the McGill Method.

Find the Cause.

Address the Cause.

Live Pain-Free Again.

A scientific, logical, and results-driven approach to overcome your back pain, based on the McGill Method.

There is Hope

Back pain can be incredibly frustrating – and often feels mysterious, especially when you have already tired multiple treatments. It can feel like an unending cycle of pain.

Our approach is about breaking that cycle. It is about giving you the tools and knowledge you need to fix your back and keep it pain-free.

We help you:

  • Understand what is causing your pain.
  • Stop doing the things that bother your back.

  • Start doing the things that help your back heal and strengthen.

How It Works

This approach works because it addresses the actual cause of most back pain: too much stress on your spine.

Back pain is usually not from a one-time injury that just will not heal, but rather from repeatedly irritating your back by doing things it cannot tolerate. To overcome back pain, you need to stop doing the irritating things and increase how much your spine can handle.

Even if there are changes in your spine (like a disc bulge or arthritis), those changes do not have to hurt forever. With the right approach, your body can adapt and feel better – just like a pierced ear stops hurting even though the hole remains.

We fix the problem by:

Identifying Your Pain Trigger

The first step is to identify the strain or stress that is exceeding your back’s capacity.

Removing the Excessive Strain

The second step is to modify your daily activities to avoid the excessive strain.

Building Spine Strength

The third step is to increase your spine’s strength and resilience so that it can safely handle more.

Who This Approach Is Ideal For:

  • You have chronic back pain (or repeated flare-ups) that is negatively impacting your life.
  • You have tried other treatments (like physio, chiro, massage, or even surgery) without lasting results.
  • You do not know what is causing your pain.
  • You are ready to play an active role in your recovery (ie. you realize that someone else cannot ‘fix’ your back pain for you)

What It Helps With

  • Herniated or bulging discs

  • Sciatica
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • End plate fractures (Schmorl’s nodes)
  • Facet joint syndrome
  • Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain
  • Ligament strain
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Joint Instability
  • Spinal osteoarthritis
  • Spondylolisthesis
  • Non-specific back pain

This approach helps with most types of back pain the come from that originate from the muscles, joints or discs of your back. In short, if your back pain is affected by your posture, movement or daily activities (which is over 95% of cases), this approach is likely to help.

The Process

Step 1: The Assessment

We start with a detailed assessment to find out what is really causing your pain. This includes:

  • An in-depth conversation about your pain history and daily activities.
  • Movement and posture tests to identify what triggers or relieves your symptoms.
  • Review of your imaging (such as MRIs or X-rays)

The assessment takes about 2 hours.

Step 2: The Recovery Plan

You will receive a customized recovery plan that includes:

  • What to do (movements, postures, and daily habits that are safe for your back)
  • What to avoid (movements, postures, and daily habits that worsen your pain)
  • Specific exercises to strengthen your spine and build stability.

We will go over the plan together so you understand exactly what to do, and why it matters.

Step 3: Ongoing Coaching & Support

You will be guided step-by-step through your plan with:

  • Movement and posture coaching on how to safely use your back.
  • Exercise training on how to build a foundation for pain-free activity.

The number of times we will meet, depends on your needs and situation. We will meet as often as needed to:

  • Progress your exercises
  • Fine-tune your movements
  • Troubleshoot any challenges

What Makes this Approach Unique and Different

The focus on the cause of your pain, not just your symptoms.

You can think of back pain as having three parts:

  • Symptoms – what you feel (e.g., pain)
  • Source – the tissue that is irritated (e.g., a disc or joint)
  • Cause – the reason it is irritated (e.g., too much spine compression, shear, bending, twisting, etc).

Most treatments focus on relieving symptoms or ‘fixing’ the source. But unless you address the cause, the pain will keep returning.

Our approach targets the cause. We identify and remove the strain that is causing the pain. We teach you how to move, live and work in ways that do not hurt your back.

You play a key role in your recovery.

Back pain is caused by strain, and that strain comes from how you use your back. Your posture, movements, and daily habits all effect the stress on your spine. That means only you can make the changes need to reduce the stress on your spine.

Passive treatments (like massage, adjustments, or pain meds) might make you feel better temporarily, but they don’t reduce the strain that’s causing the pain. It’s like putting a bandage on a finger you keep hitting with a hammer — the real fix is to stop hitting it.

You cannot rely on someone else to fix you. How you use your back is what really matters.

The McGill Method

The McGill Method was developed by Dr. Stuart McGill, a world-renowned spine expert who spent over 30 years at the University of Waterloo researching back pain. This method has helped thousands of people find relief from their back pain, including many who found no relief with physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, or even surgery.

Ready to Move Forward?

If you are tired of short-term fixes and want to finally get to the root of your back pain, I would love to work with you.