Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention

by John M. Kirsch

This is a self-help book written by John M. Kirsch, M.D., an Orthopedic Surgeon for the common man. It is the result of 25 years of research into a new and simple exercise to prevent rotator cuff tears and impingement syndrome in the shoulder, as well as treating these conditions and frozen shoulder. Testimonials and research CT scan images are included as well as images of the exercises performed by models and patients.

Genres: Health, Fitness, Nonfiction, Self Help

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2010

Reviews

[David Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely astounded at the results I have gotten from the exercise regime in this book. I have suffered from impingement issues with both shoulders for 3 to 4 years, an MRI revealed Supraspinatus Tendonitis and type 2 SLAP tears of the superior labrum. There has also been mild degeneration of the anteroinferior labrum, due perhaps to not using one of the arms for many typical everyday activities. I had tried physical therapy, osteopathy, chiropractic treatment, cortisone injections and a host of other alternative treatments. None helped for very long at all. The hanging, perhaps aided by the other exercises, but certainly the hanging have left me pain-free for the first time in years. I felt a benefit after the first time and by the end of the third day all pain and movement restriction was gone. At the moment I am hanging doing 3 circuits of his exercises, with a 15 second hang and 20 repetitions of each of the weight exercises with 2.5lb. I will very, very slowly increase the duration, repetitions and weight. I am now back to being able to exercise with no issues for the first time in 4 years, every other time in that period I started to make progress I would have to stop. Just for the record I am 47 years old. The only note of caution I would give is to reiterate Dr Kirsch’s guidelines of who the book is suitable for, so if you cannot raise your arm to horizontal with no issue or you have a shoulder which dislocates then it is not recommended, otherwise I would say give it a try and I hope you have the same relief I have.

[Fran Moriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably a good treatment. For sure it is a bad book

You don’t need to read the whole book. Basically hung from a bar some time everyday and you will heal your shoulder. Hanging is good and everybody should do it everyday. That’s all.

[DanielL · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had left shoulder pain for the past 20+ years. About 5 years ago, I really aggravated my left shoulder while kayak surfing (an overextended paddle brace into a wave). Since then, I’ve seen numerous doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, and an acupuncturist. I was told that I had shoulder bursitis or a rotator cuff tear. I had a cortisone shot, but nothing seemed to helped other than shoulder stretch exercises.

I’d spoke to other guys at my gym about my shoulder pain. Several guys mentioned passive hanging, but I dismissed it since it didn’t make sense to me how hanging could help my shoulder pain.

Last month, I saw a YouTube video by physical therapists Bob Schrupp and Brad Heineck in which they explained John M. Kirsch’s passive hanging and how it can fix shoulder impingement, rotator cuff tear, and other shoulder issues. That video lead me to other YouTube videos touting the benefits of passive hanging so I tried it. After one week, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to freestyle swim with significantly less pain than before so I ordered Dr. Kirsch’s book. I also found that I had less pain and better range of motion when my arms were extended over my head.

Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention isn’t a long book or overly technical or medical for the layperson. It includes some testimonials from people who have benefited from passive hanging. The testimony by Rick Newcombe could have written by me.

In the beginning passive hanging will be painful and difficult; and the benefits may not be noticeable unless you’re consistently doing it. Some people have difficulty doing a passive dead-hang. I have arthritis in both my hands so my grip strength is weak so I do a partial assisted passive hangs. I also use a resistant band and a cable lat pulldown to mimic the passive hand. The book also recommends performing light weight dumbbell overheads immediately after the passive hanging.

John M. Kirsch does point out that people with significant shoulder limitations and pain, e.g., unable to lift arms beyond 90 degrees overhead, will not be able to benefit from passive hanging.

I wish I had read this book many years ago.

[Victoria Swipas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very easy read of an interesting topic. I had a patient ask me to read the book as she is suffering from bilateral rotator cuff tears after recovering from a meniscus surgery, and has very little use of both arms right now. I think there was some good info in here and made me think of the shoulder in a way I haven’t before for overhead activity rehab.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiler: Hanging from a bar is good for you. You're basically a monkey.

[Daniel Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is unacceptably common in our present culture to find people who suffer from dreaded shoulder pain and/or injuries. The fact of the matter is that most of these awful conditions are due to neglect of one of the most basic human movement patterns: hanging and brachiation. Dr. Kirsch’s “Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention” deeply explores this revolutionary discovery of how simply incorporating hanging back into your life will not only drastically reduce the risk of developing shoulder disorders in the future, but it can also, in many cases, reverse them without ever needing to rely on drugs, therapy, or surgery. Imagine a world where shoulder pain is virtually unheard of, where people live their lives fully and freely in unrestricted, boundlessly healthy bodies. That reality is absolutely possible. Help me create it.

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m 28, had a shoulder injury (tore my rotator cuff) from a fall 2 months ago and while most ranges of motion do not hurt me anymore and I can even play pickleball, it feels chronically sore and I feel pain when I lie on my shoulder. my friend recommended hanging because she only found progress after hanging, and before that her minor shoulder injury soreness persisted for 2 years.

well I tried 5 sets of 30s on the assisted pull up machine at my gym and the next day I feel like my shoulder hurts less when I lie on it. chronic pain still persists but that could be due to overwork (I did a lot of arm exercises). I’m optimistic about the recovery and will continue to do 5 sets of hanging daily.

anyway short read but could have been a one-liner: do dead-hangs (with assistance if needed) every day for shoulder recovery (SIS or rotator cuff tears)

[Mez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had shoulder pain

I had shoulder pain for the last 1 years. I started using the techniques from this book one week ago, my shoulder feels 50% better already. Before this book I did many different physical therapy exercises along with applying ice to my shoulder almost daily. It seems like my pain was gradually getting worse. I became desperate. Good thing I stumbled upon this book on Amazon. This is my first review. I feel responsible to write this review since the techniques mentioned are working for me. It’s a terrible thing to have shoulder pain. Chronic shoulder pain makes it really hard to sleep. I would recommend the techniques from this book to everyone. It’s safe, and harmless. By trade, I am a personal trainer, and work as an ICU nurse.

[Matthew Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with lots of technical language and images for the expert. I'm not one of those. But for the layman, Dr. Kirsch has a theory of remodeling the shoulder through hanging (and a few minor movements) that are supposed to relieve most types of shoulder pain over time and prevent it from occurring in others. I have pain in one of my shoulders and will be using this prescription to heal it. Success for me would be if I can get back to bench pressing without pain. It's hard to review a book before such a thing occurs but it comes recommended from trusted expert sources.

[yamiyoghurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with a single but important message that is to brachiate and lift weights overhead. The author who’s a board certified orthopaedic surgeon goes on to provide imaging evidence of the acromiohumeral joint and how hanging creates space in the corocoacromial arch. The message is convincing and consistent with what I’ve been hearing from other experts and I’m happy to get it from an orthopaedic surgeon’s pen.

[David Varallo · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I plan to update my rating after a few months of trying the suggested exercises**

Very simple and easy to understand book. Hang everyday and do light weight, high hep shoulder raises to reverse the effects of gravity on your shoulders, neck, back, etc. The content in the book was very repetitive and could have been just as effective in an article. I am looking forward to giving it a try as someone who has had lingering shoulder pain following a SLAP tear for 3+ years.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

11 hours ago I had an MRI on my shoulder for a possible rotator cuff problem that has been bothering me for 2+ years. I saw this book a couple days ago on a friend's feed and thought I'd check it out. The exercises are ridiculously simple and if it works like they say it does, well, that would be pretty freaking amazing... Here goes nothing!

[David Erik Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

By no means a great book, but a life-changingly effective non-surgical, no-cost intervention for increasingly bad pain in my dominant shoulder due to rotator cuff tear. Strongly recommended for all humans crossing into middle age.

[Caleb · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was recommended by a friend. There were about 10 pages of useful information in the book and a whole lot of useless, self-promotional filler. Most of what was recommended isn't novel and was prescribed for me by a physical therapist a few years ago.

[Vicki Moseley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh! My shoulder is much better, simple exercises, the book is rather tedious, but it was cheaper than one copay to my orthopedic doctor.

[Rebekka Kuzichev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely some cool science and I think everyone should know the information in this book. I have 3 stars because there was so much repetition. Still would recommend everyone to know though.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting concept

[Willy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

[Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

It will probably heal your shoulders

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful for my shoulder pain, and how to protect my shoulders in the future.

[Bede · Rating 5 out of 5]

f

This is a very good book. The instructions on how to do the exercises is simple and easy to understand

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly anecdotal, but definitely worth a go. Time will tell whether this works, as it is a very simple program.

I wish books like this didn't contain website links in them.

[Josefk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book itself is not particularly well structured or written and the layout of images needs a lot of work. However the content is good and the methodology is sound.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book itself sucked but the advice is pure gold. Hang. A lot.

[Anna Orecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka do przeczytania na raz. Całość przesłania można streścić w jednym zdaniu, ale ciekawa była dla mnie również teoria anatomiczna.

[Alan Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Works for me!

Fix your shoulder pain without drugs or surgery. Simple and effective, with lots of documentation. This is a try it, you will like it program.

[Bojan Avramovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Srecan sam kada citam o novim idejama. Ova knjiga detaljno razradjuje jednu novu ideju rehabilitacije ramena

[Peter]

Make so much sense

As a CrossFit Level 2 coach an weightlifting coach and a lifetime athlete I struggle with shoulder pain. I always thought this was normal and would be solved by itself. With this book I realize that gravity + bad positions can create SIS (impingement). Being a pragmatic I am not soo interested in the science but rather practical applications on how to solve my problem. This book provides exactly that.
Hanging from a bar and lifting "light" weights overhead is the solution. Protocol could be: 3 Times a week (at least) hang 30 seconds 6 times (or accumulate to 3 min) and to 30 repetitions of lateral, frontal raises with 4lbs weights.

Something like that.

The makes total sense considering that our species use to live in trees and used hanging and swinging in them (brachiate) which solved this gravity/position issue automatically.

Great easy read. Implement hanging in your life now!

[Shane Groff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not certain whether the author's advice would work for my particular shoulder pain, because I just couldn't keep up the exercise he suggests.
The book isn't very big, which is because it boils down to "grab a bar and hang".
It is possible that might help, but it is not comfortable, and if it would help, I haven't been able to do it long enough for it to work.

I've found other more effective exercises (at least for me), so I can't really recommend the book (although I would suggest trying hanging, to see if it works, I do think it helped a little sometimes when I could stand it).

[Chet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains why hanging is ok for treating frozen shoulder. Hanging is a more direct treatment for frozen shoulder than what the physical therapists were doing, although the objectives were the same: to extend one's arm, again.