By Brigitte Nath

Although you have probably never heard of it, The Dorn Method was developed in Germany around 35 years ago by Dieter Dorn, who still teaches this simple but hugely effective Back and Joint care therapy to this day in his native Bavarian homeland. Stories of Dorn’s amazing successes abound, and indeed can now be found in increasing numbers not only in the UK, but also as far away as the U.S.A., Australia and The Philippines.

Although you have probably never heard of it, The Dorn Method was developed in Germany around 35 years ago by Dieter Dorn, who still teaches this simple but hugely effective Back and Joint care therapy to this day in his native Bavarian homeland. Stories of Dorn’s amazing successes abound, and indeed can now be found in increasing numbers not only in the UK, but also as far away as the U.S.A., Australia and The Philippines.

I learned Dorn from the master himself by flying over to Germany on numerous occasions to join packed workshops. In Germany, the method is very well recognised and practised by thousands of Therapists and as well as some Doctors and Physiotherapists. Once I started applying the method over here I quickly discovered why it is so popular over there - it works really well, and to my joy I was beginning to find clients recommending my services time and again. 

So what is the method and why is it so good?

The beauty of Dorn is in its simplicity, relying on common sense theory and easy to learn techniques which can be used to safely correct any imbalances and joints in the body. Amazingly, the basics can be learned in only a few days, which means no expensive and long courses.

It is used to treat not just back pain, but also sciatica, headaches, neck pain and many other related common health problems so prevalent today, so you can see it’s a very useful skill to have. It is a very gentle discipline because you work together in harmony with the client, using a ‘dynamic’ approach which enables joints to move easily back into place and restores balance to the body, and avoids unnecessary stress to muscles and ligaments and involves no jerky manipulation or ‘clicking’ and ‘crunching’ of joints, which so many people fear or dislike.

As well as having proven itself to be extremely effective, part of it’s success must also be that it is incredibly easy to learn in a short space of time, making it the ideal ‘Bolt-On’ skill for any Complementary Therapists who wants to do more for their clients.

A complete health system

Dorn has the word ‘Method’ in its title because it is actually a combination of three parts, all of which are considered essential for a complete maintenance and preventative healing system to be effective:-

Part 1 simply involves showing clients how to avoid common joint problems from developing in the first place by highlighting the need to adopt a better posture in day to day life. Simple suggestions include not sitting crossed legged or slouching in front of the computer at work which are bad habits leading to joint potential future problems.

Part 2 is the actual treatment, this focuses on looking for and correcting imbalances within the body which are believed to be the root cause of pain and distress.

Part 3 promotes a set of simple, easy to learn self-help aftercare exercises which have been designed for clients to take away with them, and which will help them to prevent future problems.

Achieving balance in the body

The method’s theory says that imbalance within the body is believed to be the fundamental cause of any health problems. We know that the pelvis sits upon both legs, therefore it’s not too hard to imagine that any unequal leg length will lead to an inclined or twisted pelvis (it’s worth noting that most people have uneven leg length because of badly seated hip joints). Now if the spinal column must rest on top of an uneven, i.e. no longer horizontal pelvis, it will find it almost impossible to stay completely straight and vertically aligned.

We therefore now have a spine which is under extra stress because its very foundations are no longer strong and in balance, able to provide optimum support. A spine which is not straight will then find stresses acting upon it from external factors (such as lifting heavy shopping bags) to be compounded greatly, which can then lead to all manner of possible problems from slipped discs to nerves becoming trapped. This situation can cause problems elsewhere in the body to form such as headaches, neck and shoulder pain, etc. Muscles must do extra work to support badly loaded vertebrae and joints, and can cause the person to suffer backache and strained muscles.

Treatment begins by focusing on restoring balance to the body to help remove underlying stresses and strains on muscles, joints and ligaments, and to help prevent future problems from occurring.

How it works

One of the key features to Dieter Dorn’s success and his methods effectiveness is its approach to getting joints to move more readily back into their correct natural positions and then stay there.

A twisted or badly seated spinal column may have vertebrae which are being held out of place by muscles under strain, and any attempt to move the joint back into position will fight against the muscle. Rather than forcefully trying to move the vertebrae, The treatment works by cleverly ‘distracting’ muscles whilst corrections are made.

This muscle distraction is achieved by asking the client (patient) to actively participate in the treatment by moving the joint at the same time the therapist pushes or guides the joint back into its proper position using gentle thumb or hand pressure. This ‘dynamic’ movement provided by the client working together with the Therapist enables logical mechanical principles of counter pressure and levering forces to come into play, and this form of dynamic correction is usually readily accepted by our bodies.

What does the treatment involve?

One of the nice things about this method is that it is not difficult to learn and master, having said that of course like any new skill it does require practice. The procedure is to start at the feet and work up the body making checks and corrections as they are found, using easily learned techniques that gently push joints and vertebrae safely back into place, restoring balance to the body.

Appropriately, the treatment starts with a leg length comparison check. A very high percentage of clients suffering back pain do show a difference in the length of their legs, again this is not so often due to a physical difference in leg length, but because of bad joint seating in the hips. The leg length check is very effective and simply involves lifting the client’s legs for a visual comparison, and then making any corrections as necessary. In fact to help prevent future problems from occurring, the client is also shown how to do simple leg length corrections by themselves at home.

Next the pelvis is checked for any misalignment, followed after that with lumbar, thoracic and cervical vertebrae (neck) checks. Any imbalances or vertebrae to be found out of place are gently corrected as necessary using simple techniques, and again all these corrections happen in a dynamic way with the client assisting the therapist by swinging either leg, arm or head, depending on the area being worked on.

The Breuss Massage

Dorn treatment can also be combined with a spinal massage called the Breuss Massage. This is a very gentle massage that safely stretches, nourishes, aligns and energizes the spine. Herbal oil is used to massage into and around the spine to help expand the discs, this increases the distance between the vertebrae and results in improved flexibility. This sensitive pressure technique alleviates pain, back muscles relax, spinal mobility can be regained and blood circulation improved. If the person being treated is very tense, treatment will usually start with a massage, but often the massage is done afterwards in order to stretch and nourish the spine.