8Chronic pain has become an international epidemic--an estimated one billion people across the world suffer from it every day. Many people attribute their pain to a cause that can only be fixed with surgery or medication, but what if the most common cause was one that did not require such extreme or pharmaceutical remedies? What if everyday pains could be addressed with basic strengthening techniques aimed at achieving our muscles' optimal force output? What if we maximized muscle balance and functionality simply by ensuring that our muscles were used in the manner in which they were originally intended?Dr. Mitchell Yass, author of The Pain Cure Rx, presents an alternative model of treatment that can resolve pain quickly and effectively from the convenience of your own home. In his more than 25 years of clinical experience, Dr. Yass has found that about 90 percent of chronic pain attributed to structural problems, such as herniated discs, stenosis, or arthritis, is actually caused by a muscular weakness or imbalance--all of which stem from the muscles' inability to respond to the forces created by performing everyday functional tasks.In The Yass Method for Pain-Free Movement, Dr. Yass focuses on enabling you to perform the necessary and normal activities that you need to do to go about your day without pain or discomfort. From getting out of bed to reaching a shelf to climbing the stairs to trying to travel comfortably on a plane, Dr. Yass identifies the muscles involved and provides easy-to-do stretches and exercises for fully experiencing life in a satisfying and pain-free manner.