http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4432126.html Back treatment has McGrady feeling good Problems have been corrected, says rehab specialist By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Tracy McGrady flashed his best pump fake, and with it, juked New Jersey Nets forward Richard Jefferson off his feet. McGrady gathered himself to launch a shot when Jefferson, off-balance and with nowhere to land, crashed hard into McGrady's back and side. Barely more than one game into his return from back spasms, McGrady made his way toward the scorer's table, moving as carefully as if walking on spikes. He hunched over the table, held his lower back and for a few familiar moments, did not move. Then McGrady was hit with something more surprising than a crashing opponent. He realized he was all right. "It's all mental," he said. "When I take a hard hit like that, I assume something bad is going to come out of it. I was just taking my time, making sure everything was OK. When I walked away, it was OK. It was a pretty hard hit, though." It also was the clearest sign McGrady had at least recovered from his latest episode of back spasms. But perhaps the better news is McGrady's rehabilitation specialist, John Patterson, said that barring a violent collision, McGrady's latest back spasms incident will be his last. "He should function very well for the rest of his life," Patterson said. Patterson worked on McGrady for about 2 1/2 hours last Friday, with McGrady reporting he felt much better as soon as he got up from the table and ever since. "Tracy was probably the most pessimistic person I've worked on in a long time," Patterson said. "We've done it for 30 years. He said, 'When will I feel the difference?' I said, 'When you get off the table.' " Rockets assistant coach Charlie Ward recommended Patterson to McGrady. McGrady then called tennis player Andy Roddick, who had a similar condition. "What we did is make sure what caused the back to go out in the first place," Patterson said. "Once we located that, we used passive resistance I call 'synergy release therapy.' Basically, it's looking for what caused the soft tissues or muscles to retract and correct that." Patterson said the technology, a frequency specific microcurrent machine, was developed in 1996 by Carol McMahon in Vancouver, Wash. Since then, Patterson has used it on many athletes, including Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, Olympians Michael Johnson, Gail Devers and Butch Reynolds and Roddick. "My main point is to rehab them so they don't get hurt again the same way," Patterson said. "And then, it's to prevent another injury because biomechanics are not right. It's basically a combination of biomechanics and a microcurrent machine. Between the two, you can make it heal faster and prevent it from happening again." McGrady's most recent episodes, including the Dec. 9 spasms in Washington that forced him to miss seven games before returning Tuesday, were not caused by collisions but by awkward twists of his back. "I haven't had any flare-ups," McGrady said. "We'll see, but as of now, I feel good. It's really painful when it happens. "To be able to not wake up in the morning and wake straight is tough. And I have two kids. They're of the age I want to pick them up, toss them in the air and play with them. I don't want to be limited at 27 years old." McGrady had begun to lose hope that he would be back this month. "The treatment I got to get back so quick, I can't even explain it," McGrady said. "It was like he popped my knee back in place. Even my feet — I'm flat-footed, very flat-footed — they were doing this on my foot. After a while, they saw an arch on my foot. "I had a little attitude about it, thinking it was not going to work. When I went to the office, I was still sore. I was still crooked a little bit. "Every time I sit down for a while, it takes me awhile to straighten up. They worked on me for about 2 1/2 hours. I popped off that table and stood straight up. "It worked. I thought I'd be out another month or so. "This is what I love to do. I hate being out. I hate being injured and sitting back watching my guys go out every night competing without me." Now, Patterson said, he won't have to. McGrady is beginning to believe him. jonathan.feigen@chron.com ---------------------- I hope he's right.
Amazing. Can this "microcurrent and biomechanics" stuff be better than acupuncture? Charlie Ward's recommendation >>>>> BBS fans' recommendation.
Hopefully the two and half hour miracle will last forever, at least until M& M can bring us a championship.
I feel like this is not going to be his last back problem. There are probably many "violent collisions" in basketball, from driving to the basket, getting knocked down, etc. I just hope that this miracle worker is right and TMAC will never have back problems again...but time will tell.
Sounds great to me. Please let this be true! Even if it recurs, it sounds like at least Tracy has found a treatment that can fix the problem more quickly in the future. (fingers crossed)
HAHAHA I rekon hey? Look at what that dude said, Tracy is the most pessimistic person I have ever worked with. Its probably mental for him now. This procedure anyone done some research on it to see if its the real deal?
if it's true then it won't only be rocket fans that would be thrilled, he'd be making history, since from what i know chronic back problems have no cure...
Well, is he legit? I'm going to go google it for now. I'm really excited that T-mac has his problems fixed, he is by far my favourite player and to see him hobbled wants to make me cry. This guy better be legit.
Allow me to cast the first stone because I'm calling BS on this. I just don't believe this to be the end of McGrady's back problems. However, if the Rockets waited this long to get the best doctor to look at their franchise player then they are the most incompetent sports team in the world. I don't think that is the case. I do think his back will only be fixed with surgery because microcurrent waves and gamma radiation and magic lasers aren't going to fix a structural problem in his spine. Hopefully, this treatment will lessen his condition but I'm not holding my breath. He's walking around on the court like his back is made of glass.
It really depends on the nature of the problem. Some people have degenerative conditions.. others vertebrae problems.. others simply need to stretch / strengthen their backs to prevent injury due to the load the back takes. Not all back conditions are the same. It really sounds like TMAC has a case of the latter from what Patterson says... since adding body mass last year without adequately strengthening his back caused major flare ups. The good thing is, TMAC has found someone that seems to know what exactly caused his back to act the way it does and treatment immediately proved to be positive.
i like what i hear but it's still going to be wait and see for all of us. i'm 100% convinced tracy is the exact same player and athlete he's ever been, he's just scared to be that guy physically. there is no way he's lost athleticism at his age, it's entirely mental and you could tell that from early in the season when he flip-flopped from saying i lost a step to realizing that he actually hadn't. if he can avoid a flare up again than his confidence will come back. it might again be a few weeks before he comes out of that tracy shell but if he can mentally believe in his body again, he WILL carry the team.
OK Basically I've checked it now found a little about this treatment at this link: http://pages.prodigy.net/naturedoctor/microcurrent.html For those who can't be bothered to read it, basically its a massage on drugs using electro currents to stimulate the muscles. Quotes: As an example of how effective FSM is in causing cells to release deeply stored toxins, deep tissue massage, which also allows cells to release toxins, is used for comparison: 20 minutes of FSM releases as many toxins as four hours of deep tissue massage. I decided in early 1998 to specialize in FSM due to its remarkable speed of healing injured tissues in sports, worker's, and auto accidents. When working with these patients, I have witnessed a three-fold increase in healing times, with a more complete / long-term healing, when compared to the other usual modalities used in medicine to treat similar injuries. How does it work: Your body seems to use the Microcurrent energy to increase its own energy production. Microcurrent increases the production of ATP, your own chemical energy, by up to 500%. It also increases protein synthesis and waste product removal. What are the benefits of FSM therapy? Microcurrent treatment is painless, increases speed of recovery, often promotes healing in conditions that have not responded to other treatment, and is cost effective. The effects are long lasting and the healing of tissue is more complete. Do the benefits last? Every patient responds individually but the changes to the tissues seem to be long lasting. About 60 to 80% of the changes created in one treatment last until the next treatment, about four to seven days. Your muscles are used to responding the way they are and may return to the old configuration if not treated again, although some patients have had permanent changes in one treatment. Seems quite positive, on a SIDE note, it seems to be like Acupunture, its an alternative medicine.........or technique compared to the conventional ones T-mac has used before
Nobody knows exactly. With all the medical research available MD's still don't have a real clue. Chiropractors are better but only if they truly understand their profession and aren't in it for a buck. I think it is safe to say that TMac went to the best of the best of traditional medicine healers with not much more success than if he would have just got some bed rest. This guy is just an experienced massage therapist who started using a new machine to assist in what he believes is a way to treat back problems or body mechanics problems. If you look in the Yellow Pages he is listed under Alternative medicine. Many people would consider him a quack. Yet he probably knows more about what he does than almost anyone else in the world. He spent 2 and 1/2 hours working on McGrady and I bet he was really working on him the whole time. There is no denying the results. I think it is safe to say this guy knows more about treating Tracy than anyone else on this board. Keep up the treatment Tracy and see a good chiropractor as well.
