McGill Method Master Clinician: SF/Austin/Denver/NYC

25/07/2025

69 Y.O. Male Runner and Sailer flew to San Francisco from Washington for his McGill Method appointment. He suffered a head on MVA collision with combined speeds of about 80 MPH - Resulting in Low Back and Leg Pain for 2.5 Years. Improving after only a month with the McGill Method.

Here is his review of his McGill Method experience.

"I am in my late 60s and was an avid runner until a distracted driver crossed the centerline and totaled my vehicle, leaving me with low back pain and pain down my leg. I have spent the last two and a half years dealing with Doctors, Physical therapists, and chiropractors. They would spend very little time just ask a few questions before sending you down the next step of the medical assembly line with no long-term relief. Most imply that I am too old to be running, and back pain is something that comes with getting old. I contacted Dr. Tiltmann and the experience was completely different and very positive . He actually took the time to find out what movements were triggering the pain and then gave me tools I could use to avoid or reduce the pain. Some of the triggers were movements that my PT had given me to do. It's now been a month since I saw Dr. Tiltmann in person and my back pain is greatly reduced. I have even started adding some short runs to my daily walks. For the first time since the car wreck, I'm positive about my future.

Thank you!"

Mark.

09/07/2025

Why be evaluated by a McGill Method Master Clinician if you suffer from chronic low back pain?

This information is directly from the Backfitpro.com website from Professor Stuart McGill.

A McGill Method Master Clinician is an elite clinician who has demonstrated clinical competency with patients. Becoming a “McGill Method Master Clinician” requires candidates to first become McGill Method Certified. They must also possess a clinical degree, pass the Master Clinician exam having both written and live patient components. McGill Method Master Clinicians will be actively referred patients from Professor McGill and passively referred patients from the Backfitpro website and other sources.

Achieving the status (McGill Method Master Clinician) is rare and has a very high standard. Professor McGill’s work over the years has shown that back pain has a cause. The cause may be quite simple in terms of mechanism, or it may be very complex. There are often elements of mechanics, neurology, personality and psychology, anatomy, load exposure, age, and social forces, to name a few. Some patients have several mechanisms that may be independent of one another or they may feed into one another. Nonetheless a thorough assessment will reveal the pain mechanism. Obtaining an understanding of the pain mechanism guides the approach to wind down the pain sensitivity as the first priority, followed with a plan to build a foundation for pain-free activity.

A McGill Method Master Clinician has competence to conduct the assessment and execute the therapeutic plan. Professor McGill has confidence in their abilities demonstrated with an exam and an in-person observation of their assessment skill abilities.

A McGill Method Master Clinician patient:
Has failed several clinical approaches and upon leaving the assessment will:
Understand their pain trigger mechanism
Clearly understand what to do to allow pain de-sensitization
Clearly understand how to build a foundation for pain-free movement
Clearly understand some progressions and milestones
Have a report with a precise diagnosis (most of the time) sent to the referring clinician with a recovery plan
Have read Back Mechanic
Have a follow-up contact to quantify efficacy
A McGill Method Master Clinician:
Performs an assessment that reveals the pain mechanism
Has the skills to coach the patient to understand their pain trigger mechanism
Has the skills to coach the movements that allow pain de-sensitization, followed with how to build a foundation for pain-free movement
Prepares a report with a precise description of the pain mechanism sent to the referring clinician with a recovery plan
Is competent with the material in Low Back Disorders

If you are suffering from chronic low back pain, consider being evaluated by a McGill Method Master Clinician.

https://www.backfitpro.com/backpain/master-clinician/

What is the difference between a McGill Method Master Clinician and a McGill Method Certified Practitioner? McGill Method Master Clinician: Has attained the highest level of clinical competency and has the full confidence of Professor McGill to assess the pain mechanism and show the patient how to s...

08/07/2025

The benefits of seeing a McGill Master Clinician - Diagnosed Ehlers Danlos Syndrome in a thoracic spine pain patient.

55 y.o. male with thoracic complaints (not the typical McGill Method patient), has never been diagnosed properly and is receiving inappropriate treatment including nerve ablation, for his instability. Here is what he said.

"I would like to say how much I appreciated your thorough evaluation. Even though I had RF ablation and PT by doctors at a top hospital in the world, none of the practitioners at any point in time (including before the ablation procedure!) gave me a thorough physical examination, nor did they put me through any diagnostic exercises with loading in various directions like you did. In fact, the practitioners made spinal adjustments and had me doing daily exercises that were not only not productive, but if anything, they made my condition worse. As a result of the non-diagnosis at that institution, I had no idea what was causing my mid-back pain or how to address it. With your help, I have begun to move in the right direction, and I am hopeful that I can minimize further damaging movement patterns and live my life pain free. As a bonus, your exam helped me potentially diagnose a connective tissue disorder that makes me hyperflexible, and that may come in handy in addressing my overall health.

Best,
Fred"

16/06/2025

2 interesting spine cases addressed with the McGill Method

I recently returned from seeing patients in NYC, Denver, Austin and Houston. 2 notable cases presented:

1) 21 year old college track athlete injured from olympic lifting at her college. Now has disc herniation, foot drop and walks with a limp and recently became medically discharged from track. This could have been avoided with better supervision of her training program and a better understanding of how the spine works under load. Watching a video of her squat (under supervision and with a spotter) it is clear she was going too deep for her hip anatomy and creating a disc herniation mechanism, which eventually resulted in compromised spine integrity, tissue failure and symptoms.

I am seeing more and more young patient who have been injured by their school's athletic training / weight program. I understand that there is an inherent risk with weight training, but that does not have to be exacerbated by poor coaching.

2) 50 year old male with thoracic spine pain. Normally I focus on low back exclusively but this case was intreging. Patient has mid back pain not responding to conservative treatment and received thoracic nerve ablation (burning away the nerves) at 4 levles. It did reduce his symptoms, but did not address the cause. Based on that result, they were going to burn away more nerves above and below. During the examination, I discovered systemic hypermobility similar to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome a connective tissue disorder that can lead to skin and joint hypermobility. With proper cueing, he was able to eliminate his pain through various loaded and unloaded movement - a significant revelation for the patient. We modified his training program and focused on stability vs mobility exercises.

I will be back in Sept/Oct. 2025 to see more patients for their low back complaints in my 4 travel locations and of course San Francisco where I live. Maybe I will get to see you too. Take care.

Best regards,

Dr. Kai Tiltmann, DC

Phone: 1-415-321-9462

www.drtiltmann.com
dr@drtiltmann.com

Dr. Kai Tiltmann, DC - Chronic low back pain treatment applying the McGill Method for patients that have failed all other therapy

06/06/2025

Here is a longish review from a patient that was seen in Austin last week for his 14 years of back pain. He works in the fitness and powerlifting space and is only 35 years old.

"Review to forward Dr. McGill:
--------------
I've been suffering with back pain for many years following a series of barbell back squat injuries 14 years ago that left me with disc herniations and an annular fissure that's pressing on my nerve root. After failing PT and rehab numerous times, combined with my general hypermobility, I largely gave up hope on trying to fix my back pain which I had chalked up to SI joint pain from my Psoriatic Arthritis condition (sacroiliitis is a hallmark symptom). Unfortunately this means that I haven't slept properly in years and have endured persistent chronic back pain that has made it a challenge to keep up with my very physically active lifestyle.

I was previously familiar with Dr. McGill's work having read Back Mechanic many years ago and saw Dr. Layne Norton's and Brian Caroll's rehabs, and even did a "second opinion" consultation with Dr. Lysander Jim (also McGill method certified) back in 2019 while I was under the care of a different PT. I incorporated some aspects of Dr. Jim's guidance which I think may have helped some, but I never gave the protocol a full effort as it was in conflict with the guidance I was receiving at the time from a different PT. In hindsight this was remarkably foolish.

After receiving another clean MRI showing no sign of inflammation in my SI joints, I renewed my commitment to trying to resolve my back pain and sought out the assistance of Dr. Tiltmann with the goal of fully committing to following the program 100% and becoming pain free.

I came to see Dr. Tiltmann for a full 3 hour consultation, and I'm very pleased with the experience. We first discussed my injury and symptom history, as well as reviewed all my activities (lifting, cardio, etc.). Dr. Tiltmann convinced me that it's highly unlikely that I ever had any SI joint issues and the pain was caused by my lumbar injuries (as shown on MRI). We then proceeded to do numerous pain trigger and movement assessments which identified my specific pain triggers and movement modifications to reduce the pain and not risk putting my spine in a position that might jeopardize proper healing. Dr. Tiltmann then had me demonstrate the big three exercises and helped correct and refine my technique and ex*****on. We ended the session by going through my questions and modifying my workout routine.

Though of course I'm very early in my rehab process, I do feel empowered and optimistic about being able to get to being pain free. Dr. Tiltmann set a very realistic expectation that it's going to be a slow process that might take 1-2 years. I appreciate his proactive scheduling of 30 day, 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, and 24 month follow-ups which will absolutely help hold me accountable and keep me motivated to "stick with it". While I know that there is no guarantee, I'll do my best on my part and very much look forward to being able to put 15 years of back pain to rest and leave the most glowing review possible for both Dr. Tiltmann and the McGill method."

I am currently in Denver and have one appointment for Sunday, June 7th 12:30-3:30 PM if you are interested.

Dr. Kai Tiltmann, DC

Phone: 1-415-321-9462

425 Divisadero Street, #204
San Francisco, CA 94117

1720 South Bellaire Street, #305
Denver, CO 80222

1602 East Riverside Drive
Austin, TX, 78741

8564 Katy Freeway #142
Houston, TX, 77024

29 West 38th Street, #601
New York, NY 10018

Certified McGill Method Master Clinician www.BackFitPro.com

www.drtiltmann.com
dr@drtiltmann.com

Dr. Kai Tiltmann, DC - Chronic low back pain treatment applying the McGill Method for patients that have failed all other therapy

15/05/2025

27 y.o. chronic low back pain patient with sciatica. Injections and pain medication. Looking for an alternative.