The Miracle Ball Method: Relieve Your Pain, Reshape Your Body, Reduce Your Stress [2 Miracle Balls Included] Paperback – December 10, 2003

Sorry this is so long. So many words for two little balls...they work for me! I have been using them now for about 9 months. I have Avascular Necrosis in my hips, bulging discs in my spine, a spinal fracture, twice broken tail bone and osteo arthritis. I need both hips replaced. Hopefully, I can begin the process soon. Every movement is painful now. I am on narcotic pain medication, which I don't like a having to take it but I would have absolutely NO quality of life without it, even though I still hurt even while medicated. It is just a little more tolerable. I had the onset of this at an fairly early age. I was always on my feet- "going", working long hours, raising children as a single mom, watching and participating in sports that caused injuries. Who was it that said: "Never stand when you can sit, Never sit when you can lie (down)"? Now... that finally makes sense to me!I began using 'the balls' and studied the book, last November and can't be without them now. Amazingly the air is still in them and I have not had to air them up yet. Just getting them underneath me on the bed (it's a Tempurpedic so real firm-I am not not able to get down on the floor) is painful but once they are in the right positions I can be mostly pain free while they are under me. For me, this is big. Nothing else does this for me. Pain free moments are not part of my life. I find many times it relaxes me so much, I have gone to sleep while on them which is not a good idea-too much of a good thing! Normally I cannot fall asleep quickly like that, it takes hours. They release some pressure on my spine and hips and it is just so wonderful how it relaxes me for just that little bit of time. The pain subsides some afterward, most of the time as well. I am an extreme case so I would think most people would get relief for a longer period.The thing I have noticed as far as improvement after use of the balls is that they help my posture. It is difficult to stand up straight now, no matter how hard I try, as it is terribly painful so I bend forward when I have to walk on my walker. I cannot walk at all now without a walker. Most, but not all the time, afterwards when I get up to walk, my posture is so much better. This is the ONLY way I can walk, for a little while, with better posture. Good posture was always a 'biggie' to me. My parents were always on to me about it and modeling, as I did, it was requirement. I am so discouraged and almost in disbelief that I find it extremely difficult to walk upright at all now. So, when after using these I can get up from the bed and walk to another room with almost erect posture, and, well, it helps me to know it isn't permanent and I will be able to walk erect again in the not-so-distant future!I can only sleep on my right side, usually, so use the balls to "brace" my back. I put them behind me, against my spine and hips, they roll in and stay there. I discovered this by accident when I left one in the bed and did not put it back in the box when finished. So now, both of them stay in the bed all the time with me. I know it may seem strange but it really does help so there is no 'pull' against me to turn back over on my back. Any movement causes me pain and to wake up. Of course don't try it if you sleep on your back, under you, for the entire night. That is too much pressure against your spine and hips for too long a period. It only works if the balls are Against your side, not under you.I use the balls also at the base of my neck for headache and tension. My son uses them for back and hip pain and headaches as well.I have had the injections (be aware, these can cause Avascular Nucrosis), narcotic pain medication and other, physical therapy, traction, Tens units and I still can't believe that the only time I have gone without feeling ANY pain is those minutes while I am lying on these balls! The best pain relief I have received for chronic terrible pain has come from two very inexpensive balls.If you are suffering, please give these a try. Just remember, you have to use them and they are no good to you sitting in a drawer! This society is such a hurried one and we all need to slow down, take some time to "be still" take care of ourselves and be good to ourselves. I have found that keeping the balls within reach and accessible causes me to use them more frequently. For me, they now stay on my bed where, unfortunately, I usually am. (But...not for long)!Blessings!UPDATE 9/21/11- My sweet 35 year old Amazon Parrot decided to play with my ball and guess what?! Now I have one ball left. I thought I could do with that one for awhile but then I got that pulled "something" back pain that seems to go right trough your lung and each breath hurts. The balls fixed that for me before. I can't do without both so am ordering another set now!

4 years ago, when I was 49, I had a total hip replacement (left hip) -- before surgery, no cartilage remained in multiple places, bone spurs shaped like indian heads pierced my psoas muscle ever time I stood up. My surgeon could not believe I was able to walk for 10 minutes without passing out from pain, and I nearly ended up hospitalized before the surgery because my hip would lock and I couldn't move.The surgery was a success. But I've been in varying degrees of moderate to severely crippling pain - can't get out of bed pain - ever since. Imagine giving birth without an epidural for every hour of every day of the rest of your life. My PT explained I'm hyper-mobile and my SI joint frequently dysfunctions (as in the left side of my lower back hikes up between 2-4" higher than my right). I tried physical therapy, chiropractors, massage therapy, and yoga. PT and yoga helped, but both were expensive and offered only temporary relief. Chiropractor and deep tissue massage created more pain and were completely ineffective in reducing the pain I had. I could have gotten a script for Norco, but my work demands a clear mind and I wasn't interested in being "disabled" for the rest of my life.I stumbled across the Miracle Ball Method "surfing" Amazon. I initially hesitated, thinking how unlikely it would be that this little kit could do what all the other physician recommended treatments had failed to do. However, when I compared the price of this to the time and money I had spent on "recommended" treatments, the risk of trying this method was non-existent.Elaine Petrone and the Miracle Ball Method saved me. The instruction book is easy to follow. The balls are comfortable. And I've found a good combination of poses for me that not only permit me to realign my SI joint when it dysfunctions, they taught me which muscles are causing my pain and how to relieve it. My yoga instructor properly diagnosed the muscles that had atrophied before and during my recovery from my hip replacement, but none of the experts - MDs, DCs, yogis, and massage therapists -- devised a treatment method that offered me long-term relief for the weakness in the many muscles that had atrophied, which were leading to my pain. My hips were so tight that my body relied on the wrong parts to carry me upright and walk me forward.Following Elaine Petrone's method is fixing me, reducing my pain, strengthening my muscles and returning me to normal. I am grateful everyday Elaine Petrone and her simple, inexpensive, do it at-home method. I'm getting my life back and I love it! I am trying to do my bodywork on the balls for 30 minutes every week day (longer on weekends), but it is so relaxing I could and would love to spend hours on these movements every day. My schedule doesn't permit that. :-(I have never before had a reason to recommend any product as highly as I recommend this. And I am not affiliated in any way with Elaine Petrone or The Miracle Ball Method.