Dr David McGrath

Spine Physician

MB BS (Hons) FAFOM, RACP, FAFMM
Master of Pain Medicine

Testimonials

Dear Dr McGrath and Staff

As you are aware I have been attending your clinic from October 2006 when I presented to you in a great deal of pain and limited mobility. At that stage it was one year from my initial injury and I had been subjected to physiotherapy and pilates which made the pain much worse.

Prior to the accident, I was running every day and at my physical peak. In October 2006 for one month I was unable to stand up without the support of my husband or 4 children. At aged 29, this had a massive impact on my ability to cope emotionally and physically and also due to the stressors of my job as Team Leader in child Protection.

As such I was demoted, which again was a severe blow to me as I had worked so hard for that position.

Currently and through your gentle and consistent approach to my back problem, I have now re-won my position within the department and my dignity has returned. I have been swimming up to one km per day and walking at night up to 1800m, I am getting strong, pain free and happy again.

Thankyou so much for helping me to feel normal again, I know Im not out of the woods yet but I feel much improvement.
(name not for publication)

February 2007

To ease the pain I have been putting up with for over 3 years. His practices make sense and my body is responding well to what he has taught me. I will endeavour to keep up my exercises to seek a pain free, happy body.
Thanks Doc.
Dianne Boege.
30.01.2008

One word..........BRILLIANT!
(Unsigned)
February 2008

Have to admit I felt sceptical at first. How wrong I was. Without the aid of my drugs I am making fantastic progress.
Thank you.
Margaret L.
18.03.2008

I have every faith in Dr McGraths treatment. What he says and shows you, work.
M. Grainger
03.09.2007

I am very happy to provide a testimony for Dr McGraths approach to
treating back pain.

I was an athlete for many years and had started suffering from lower
back pain some 15 years ago. I am 45 years old now and still training
and keeping fit, but regularity of pain and time taken to recover was
gradually increasing and I would normally feel back pain even after some
light gardening work or sitting in a sofa.

In the process of trying to get over my back pain I was diagnosed with
L4/L5 disc protrusion and tried every treatment I could think of
including chiropractic, acupuncture, osteopathy, physiotherapy, yoga,
pilates, remedial massage, egoscue method, but nothing would give me a
lasting improvement. A few months ago I suffered a severe case of
sciatica and blessing in disguise was that I was referred to Dr
McGrath.

Dr McGrath clearly explained the connection between brain, muscles and
ligaments and by talking to him I filled the gaps in my knowledge of
back pain Based on that explanation he suggested a treatment focusing on
mobility exercises or individually prescribed movement experiments as
he calls them. These are were easy movements to do and can be done any
time while sitting on a chair or lying on the floor.

Anyway, my back problem is gone and I can work even in my garden without
any back pain. I have incorporated these "experiments" in my daily sport
routine and will continue with these exercises for life.

In my suffering I was lucky to get referred to Dr McGrath as I can not
even imagine what would happen otherwise in the long term. This
testimony refers to my experience with Dr McGraths approach but
unrelated to this there are a few of my work colleagues that had similar
positive experience with Dr McGrath. This gives me a confidence to
highly recommend this approach to anyone who searches the internet (as I
did) trying to find a "magic solution" to the back pain. Ive tried many
of the approaches available on the internet but this is the only one
that works long term as it re-educates the body to heal itself.

Cedomir Pilipovic

March 2008

David-thank you for your sage advice and common sense approach - I only wish I could have met you 30 years ago so I could have avoided all those years of sit-ups and other damaging behaviours!
Simon Andrews
30 May 2008

After many years of very temporary relief from physiotherapy, I can only say how grateful I am at long last to have found this practitioner who teaches the patient to work with the body to allow it to regain normal function.

Eileen Byrne
2 June 2008

In the early hours of a Saturday morning (approx 2AM) I rolled over in bed and was struck by an excruciatingly painful lower back spasm...the pain was similar to what I imagine that of child birth to be...Once the spasm passed I attempted to move again, but once again went into spasm...for the rest of the night I lay completely flat on my back, fearful to move. Each time I did I spasmd. After a long and painful night I contacted the ambulance services to seek some assistance... They advised me they could stretcher me to hospital but without any pain relief...This was not an option !!!..I wasnt game to move anywhere. At this point I phoned my brother David and asked for help..David then proceeded to talk me through some simple, but delicate movements, and body positionings which eventually brought me to a point where the spasms ceased..I was finally able to relax without fear of another spasm...I was still confined to bed though. I was due to play competition tennis that Saturday afternoon..I did not play. After overcoming the spasms David then coached me through some more simple and gentle movements which eventually (next day) allowed me to put my feet on the ground...A member of the tennis team visited me that day and commented that I would not be participating in the upcoming finals in two weeks...I agreed. Over the next few days I continued to follow the program of "movements" (ever so gently) and two weeks later played in the tennis finals (playing 4 sets of tennis) and moved as freely as I ever had..and we won ! and all this was done by phone consultation !!! Prior to this incident I had experienced some periodic back problems...Since then (5 years) I have followed a simple program devised by David and can say that I am trouble free (except when I over-stretch my 55 year old body with exercise meant for a 20 yr old) With the greatest thanks and appreciation, I would, and have recommended David to many a friend and acquaintence who is experiencing any spinal discomfort or pain...truly remarkable.
John McGrath ADELAIDE
April 2008

I have had back pain for the last 25 years. I have seen specialists and had chiropractic and physiotherapy treatments. These treatments did not completely solve my problems.
I was so relieved to find a Doctor who was able to get to the bottom of my problems and have a positive solution for them. Dr McGraths treatment is wonderful-the treatment works in harmony with the body and not against it. It is wonderful not to suffer with chronic pain each day. Life is so much better now !
I can now take care of my husband and young family. Thanks Dr. McGrath
your treatment really works !

Elizabeth Ranger
June 2008

By age 25, I had been a teacher and an oil engineer. I had travelled to India and spent time in an Ashram,studying yoga. At 31 I was a graduate doctor,and was starting to fall apart. My feet and back hurt after 15 minutes of standing. My neck hurt after one hour of driving. I turned to yoga with more dedication,but became steadily worse. I looked in the mirror,and saw a crooked person. I could only sleep lying on my stomach. To make matters worse,my T4 vertebrae was broken during my career in the RAAF. My frustration and anger were high.After ten years of relative neglect, I was paying a high price for my education. Too many hours of study,too little diversity. This was the beginning of a long inquiry, into spinal function and dysfunction. Along the way I studied Feldenkrais Technique and I also had a close association with Prof Bogduk, the worlds foremost authority on the lumbar spine. I was greatly impressed by the writings of Humberto Maturana, and his theory of cognition. As I increasingly worked with patients and designed movements, I appreciated the plasticity of our structure and our individual possibilities. Firstly my own pains disappeared. As patients followed my advice they too became pain free, and with relative ease. I realised that the current view of stretching and strenghening was inadequate. More attention needed to be given to fine details of geometry, in order to de-stress component parts, and allow healing. This itself required a better body image. Thus I was drawn into cognitive science. Modern views,here, are also inadequate. The mind or brain cannot be understood as a computer,processing information. This view fails to appreciate our historical origins as a multicellular structure. The spinal care program, which I developed over 30 years, is a synthesis of spinal science and cognitive theory.
I have been pain free now for 25 years, and have greater flexibility and movement skill than younger people. But the journey is not over. This site is dedicated to further understanding and success. Finding a solution to spinal arthritis and pain, for all, is the ultimate goal.

Dr David McGrath
June 2008

Dear David
I just want to say thank you for all the things you have done for me over the past two years. The exercises are still working and the diet you put me on has worked and I have lost 12 kilos. Without coming to see you I dont think that I would be as fit and healthy as I am today. I feel 100% now.
I will still keep up the good work!
Margaret Sloane 23/7/2008

To Dr David McGrath
Thanks, for showing me all these exercises.They are a great asset to me and my day to day work, living and leisure. It has given me a new insight as how to manage my way of going things with less pain and stress.Thank You
Yours Sincerely
Pete Hart 28/7/08

Dear Dr McGrath
Many thanks for helping me through the pain.Those exercises and your patience have been wonderful. I feel I can now cope with the farm confidently and know what to do if problems arise.
Caroline Wilson 1/8/08

Dear Dr McGrath
Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness and thoroughness Peter Stossel

Dear Sir McGrath,
I would just love to say thank you so much for everything you have done for me. Everything is starting to come together now and you are the only doctor that has made me understand everything about my injury and recovery process.
You were so correct about how my injury would start to heal naturally and how stress and worrying makes things much worse. Now that the stress side of things has subsided my pain is fading out and I can start building my old self back up slowly. My body is starting to get fit and healthy again. The strength inside of me is building and I am just not worrying like I used to! Yes that is right!
I am not 100% yet but Ill get there soon if I keep confident and strong. I think at this stage I am at 93% which is fantastic!
There is still mild pain now and then but I dont worry about it. My headaches are really fading out, and the last time I had a headache was 4 days ago but lasted a few minutes which is dramatic result for me considering I was getting migraines before for months! I am still doing the exercises you have taught me and will keep them up. I am walking an hour a day when the weather is great, and I have started light weights with a trainer. At first I was a bit worried but it really has started to help me. I am doing light swimming once a week which is so lovely and I still have my skills.
I am applying for jobs in the commonwealth sector but I am not stressed if I dont get something. I still have all my excellent skills in the IT world and cant wait to get my hands dirty and build some networks!
I have come a long way, my family and I have had a rough year but have learned so much from this awful experience. I have started to become a much stronger and more confident person and I will always put my health first.
This whole experience was terrible but from this I will keep getting stronger and tough and my physical self will only get stronger!
Before my injury I was an athlete and was career driven and most importantly I was so happy, and I doubted myself so much when things were bad during the worse times throughout my injury, but like I said I am only getting stronger and I will get my athleticism back and career will be back on top but everything will only be better!
I appreciate all the reports you had to write for the insurance and work and others and thank you for communicating with everyone.
My family thanks you very much also and are admired by your work and kindness
So Dr McGrath I thank you from the depths of my heart and appreciate all the help and relief! I still need more exercises so I will still make appointments monthly for some new workouts!
Please write a book of your work and about the spine! So many others would love that!
Thank you for everything Dr McGrath and thanks wonderful kind Alisha for always being an angel.
This is only the beginning for me and things will only get better.
Elena xx 11Nov 2008

Thank You both for your generosity + Kindness

Anonymous 1/09

I was in constant pain and could not do anything without being in pain. I was unable to work and my home life was suffering. Without work, I was getting further into debt. After seeing Dr McGrath and following his "movements" as best I could I am now back at full time work,all the bills are paid and my family life is great. Thank You

Brett Langdon 24/2/09

Thank you Dr McGrath for your information,assistance and exercises. It has all proved to be wonderful in the rehabilitation of my injury. I am pleasantly surprised with the results.

Kate Lang 27/3/09

My movements were slow and painful and it did not look good for keeping my style of employment. The good doctor not only ended the pain and increased my movement and flexibility, he also increased my awareness of why and how these back injuries occur. So with a spry step and straight back, I face the world again.

Thanks Doc Peter Collins 28/5/09