Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

I have read every Sarno book multiple times as well as listened to the audio versions of each many times. I truly believe his TMS theory is spot on. I wanted to share my story because I believe it aligns with everything he describes. I also know that I benefit from reading other people's reviews when they share their personal experiences with chronic pain and TMS because it helps strengthen my belief in TMS when I hear others just like me. I hope this helps someone. So here is my story. It is VERY long, but nobody is making you read it! I believe the details are all very relevant to my complete chronic pain story. I am a 43 year old male with a long history of continuous health issues for the better part of the past 25 years of “adulthood”. Only recently have I realized that these might all be related and the result of a deeper stress/tension induced psychosomatic issue. I have read 100’s of similar stories of people with “TMS” or other stress induced disorders over the years, and I believe my symptoms and traits perfectly match the typical profile. Summary of my personality traits: perfectionist, overachiever, people pleaser, want to be liked, want recognition/approval/validation, chronic worrier, anxious. Probable sources of unconscious anger & fear: years of constant, relentless worrying about career and job security, afraid of failing in my education or in my jobs, fear that work is too hard and I won't be able to handle it, fear of losing my loved ones, guilt/shame, messes/disorder (neat freak), and frustration over my chronic health issues. At the end of this, I will talk about my latest issues and current battles with all of this, but first, here is a summary of my history that may put things in better context: 1974-1992: Childhood through end of high school. Perfect childhood, parents, family, and middle class life. No traumas- physically or emotionally. Driven, perfectionist, afraid to fail. Graduated 2nd in my class of 300 students in school. Put a lot of pressure on myself to be “the best” and make everyone happy and get praise and admiration from people. 1990’s: Developed Allergies. Controlled by shots & medications. (mold, pollen, dust) 1992: 18 years old and started college. Chemical Engineering student and member of rowing team. Difficult courses and studies, and very busy schedule with sports. Started to develop constant sore throats and “sinus infections”. Many months of every kind of antibiotic. Always sick. 1993: Had tonsils removed. Sore throats were better, but still always getting sick. 1993: For 6-9 months had what was diagnosed as Carpal Tunnel syndrome from one really long day scooping Italian ice non-stop for 10 hours in my summer job. 1994: Sinus surgery. Stopped getting sick as much. 1994: After feeling a “pop” and a jamming feeling in my lower back while on a rowing machine one day, I had an “injury” and Back Pain for the first time in my life. Until then, I was in great physical condition with strength training, running, and rowing almost daily. From that day, I developed chronic low back pain which lasted 2 miserable years. -Pain was in lower back. Mostly on left and right sides of spine in the small of the back in the boney parts around the Hip/SI joint areas. Sometimes pain would be bad in the center and hurt to touch the spine, but also moved side to side throughout the day. Pain never went into legs or any numbness/tingling/burning. It was a constant, dull, but torturous aching. The pain was the worst when sitting. I couldn’t sit for a minute. I spent two years of college with an ice pack on my back to get through class to numb the pain. It also hurt to stand for too long. The only relief was walking or lying on my back, but even that hurt to some extent. -The only thing that helped with the pain was ice (which just numbed it temporarily) and Ultram (tramadol) which I lived on like candy for 2 years. -I had X-Rays, MRIs, CT Scans, Nuclear Bones Scans, and went to probably 8 different co-called “best doctors” in FL and NJ. Nobody could find anything wrong on the images or exams. Best they could say was “soft tissue” inflammation or strain. -I did months of Physical Therapy with stretching, core strengthening, walking, stairs, massage, heat/ice, and TENS unit. -I tried acupuncture (at two different places) and 3 or 4 different chiropractors in NJ and FL. -Nothing ever helped and the pain was 24/7 causing so much rage and frustration, Depression, and hopelessness. I wanted to die every day. It was so hard to go to class all day, study Chemical Engineering, and my life (which was supposed to be full of possibilities) was upside down and miserable. -Cortisone injections didn’t help, nor did any other OTC NSAID or Rx medicine. -I did meditation and self-hypnosis. -Found out about Dr. Sarno and TMS, and read all of his books at the time, and was 100% convinced I had TMS! As an Engineer with a logical, rational mind, it made perfect sense to me. Unfortunately, I was just unable to undo the pain even the slightest bit. 1996: A “so-called” top in the nation spine surgeon in North Jersey (Dr. Casey Lee) said my L3/4 disc was destroyed. He said I probably broke the vertebrae above (or below?) the disc when I “injured” it that day, and the broken bone probably destroyed the disc. Nothing bulging or herniated, but rather he said the disc has small nerves in the annulus and that was causing the pain which was “referred” to the area a few inches below it in my back. He performed a discography(discogram) the confirmed his diagnosis. For the first time I had hope that someone figured it out, and I was confident this was the answer. He proceeded to perform a discectomy and interbody spinal fusion (no metal, just hip bone graft). I had to take off a semester from college and took about 4 months to recover before I went back to finished my final semester before graduation. The surgery was a success by every measure. In fact, recent MRIs this year (2017) were reviewed by a chiropractor, and he said that he and his partner have reviewed 1000’s of MRIs over the decades, and this was by far the most impressive fusion they had ever seen! 1997: I went back to college after the recovery, and slowly rebuilt my strength and was in great shape again. For the next 20 years, I was pain free (for the most part). I definitely thank Dr Lee for the surgery. It was a success both medically and for getting rid of my pain. I was pretty much able to do anything, but I was always cautious not to lift anything too heavy. I did however lift weights regularly for years with no problems. A few times over the years, I would have the occasional back spasm or muscle strain that would go away in a few days. No big deal. A couple times over the years I had pain very similar to the pain that I had prior to my fusion surgery, which made me wonder- how could that be possible? How could I have the SAME EXACT pain in the SAME EXACT location if the problem (the disc) was removed? After a week or two, I got worried, and I immediately read Dr Sarno’s books and people’s reviews on amazon all day for weeks, and I was convinced it was TMS. Eventually the pain went away. That had me 100% a believer in the TMS diagnosis now. This made me think I probably never even needed surgery. Was it just a placebo? I couldn’t change the past, so I didn’t dwell on that thought to much. 2001- 2008 – I had a lot of career changes and stressful jobs during this time. Always still trying to be perfect and successful (like I was “supposed” to be). Always fearing losing my job as the main income provider in my family (with a wife and 2 small boys). I was in the computer/tech industry which was constantly downsizing and laying off people every few months. Lot of worrying and stress daily from that. 2006/2007: After 15 years of contact lenses, I developed Dry Eye Syndrome and have never been able to wear contacts since. 2008: Fell into a severe depression with anxiety. Spent 4 months on long term disability. Tried every antidepressant, anti-psychotic, anti-anxiety medicine in every class of meds. Eventually got better and returned to work. Been on antidepressants ever since then. 2010-2012: For about two years, I had a constant strange Stomach “tension” or nervous/butterflies feeling. Nothing would relieve it. No medication or therapy. It was not painful at all. Just a strange feeling of nervousness in my stomach which was distracting and uncomfortable. It felt like nerves. Doctors said it was not a digestive issue. 2012-2014: For no reason, out of nowhere one day, I got terrible Elbow Tendonitis pain, and the stomach issue went away! I never did anything to injure the elbow. Pain was awful. Couldn’t even lift a gallon of milk. Did a few months of PT everyday with no improvement. Spent two years getting many cortisone shots in my elbows. Elbow(s)? Oh, did I forget to mention that the pain would go away after a cortisone shot and then my other elbow would hurt just as bad a couple of months later!!! So I would need a shot in that elbow! This went back and forth from elbow to elbow, shot after shot for almost two years. Sometimes they would work, and sometimes not. Then one day the pain just stopped and never again! 2015: Lots of uncertainty about my job (my company was closing locations and might be forced to move away from our families). I developed bad anxiety with shaking arms and legs when I would lay in bed in the morning. Never had a panic attack, but just chronic general anxiety. Wound up out of work again for 4 months in a treatment program on long term disability again. 2015-2016: Developed IBS (Irritable Bowel System) with diarrhea. Many docs, colonoscopy showed a perfect colon, yet now all of a sudden I had constant diarrhea for a year! Put me on medicine (Viberzi) which helped a little. 2016: Spent about a year of intense job searching because the end was near at my job. No luck. Very discouraging. A few months later in mid-2016, the anxiety got really debilitating, and once again, I was out for 4 months in a program on disability. I should mention that for the past 8 years since 2008, I saw a great psychiatrist and therapist for the depression/anxiety. Did a lot of CBT/DPT therapies. Meditation, deep breathing, mindfulness, etc. My doctor and therapist and I believed that the job environment was toxic (60+ hour weeks, high stress because it was in nuclear power, and the impending thought of having no job in a couple of years). The belief was that if I got a new job, the anxiety would go away. November 2016: Finally got a new job!!! Was SOOOO happy for once! I felt hope and relief. I felt like my problem was solved and I could finally relax and be happy for the first time in a long time! December 2016: Started the new job. It was great. Great people, boss, the type of work, hours, etc. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Only downside was an increase from 20 mins to 60 mins each way in commute, but I was willing to live with that for all of the positives that came with it. Not a problem. I was a few weeks into my new job and all was wonderful for once! My job is not strenuous. I just sit at a computer all day in a nice ergonomic chair. A few weeks into the job, before I could barely enjoy the relief of years of anxiety, and my low back started hurting. I didn’t think anything of it. Started a little achy. Felt like I might have just strained something from bad posture as I was leaning forward and twisting to the side a lot reading and typing a bunch of reports for a few weeks. A few weeks later and it was very sharp and “spasming” on the lower right side. I could barely bend down to tie my shoes. It hurt to even breathe. I thought I must have done something serious, but how? I did nothing to injure it!! I was able to do so many physical things prior to this with no pain. What caused this? Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that the IBS that I had every day for the past year miraculously stopped ever since the back pain started! Another ailment/pain replaced by another once again! So I started the doctor/treatment/medication routine. A few weeks later, it developed into more of a dull, nagging ache. Moved from left to right sides throughout the day. I would describe it as having two dull knives stuck into my low back all day. Pain never goes into buttocks or Leg. No numbness/tingling. Unbearable pain to sit for any period of time. Relieved only when walking and lying on back. In the beginning, heat helped. Then it no longer helped. Then ice helped numb the pain for a few months. Now neither really help. I spent the next 2 months reading every TMS, mind body syndrome book, audiobook, website, testimonials etc. I was convinced this was TMS and nothing really wrong. Unfortunately nothing changed. I believed 100% in it but just like back in 1994, no luck. I immerse myself in the TMS readings all day and night, buy into fully, but never helps. I want it to help so bad, but I never feel any sign of relief to give me hope. Went to 4 MD’s and chiropractor in the 6 months since Dec 2016. An MRI showed L2/3 disc degeneration and a couple of “mild” disc bulges. Initially tried OTC NSAIDs, Flexeril, methylprednisolone, ice, heat, bed rest, pain ointments/creams, etc. Tried yoga/stretching. That didn’t help, and one day I bent and twisted the wrong way at Yoga, and got a really sharp jolting pain, and never went back. I have tried about 5 different lumbar support pillows/devices at work, in my car, and at home. They don’t help at all. The first Spinal Orthopedic Surgeon at a reputable, established Ortho/Pain center basically said it is probably soft tissue strain or an annual disc tear (but never even said which disc). She sent me for PT. I tried physical therapy – core strengthening, stretching, TENS, etc. No improvement. I then tried a supposedly reputable Chiropractor with decades of experience and he said I had two bulging discs that were pressing into nerves and causing the pain. He was 100% sure. So he started me on a fancy “VAX-D” Spinal Decompression table. I went every day for 30 mins each for about 4 weeks (~17 treatments) along with some PT there afterwards (core strength, massage, TENS). No relief at all, so I stopped going. This was really affecting my ability to work or be useful at home to my family or around the house. I have spent every waking moment at home on the couch or bed or floor. I went to a Physiatrist (gave me Ultram, Flexiril, Valium) and said probably soft tissue strain. After more weeks, no improvement. He sent me to a “top” Spine Pain Specialist MD. He scanned the MRIs and a quick evaluation and said it is most likely your facet joints (arthritic). Sounded 100% sure that was it. No question. He said we need to inject anesthetic into the medial branch nerves of the vertebrae (a medial branch block). If the pain was reduced significantly enough for a few solid hours, then it would confirm that the pain is indeed from the facet joints and the next step would be radiofrequency ablation (RFA) where they would burn those medial branch nerves to provide 3-18 months of relief until they grown back. He did the lower 3 lumbar/sacral vertebrae one week and then the upper 3 lumbar vertebrae another week. The first procedure seemed to provide some relief for a few hours, but second procedure didn’t help at all. That brings me to this past week at my follow-up again. He said they need to repeat the first procedure again!!! This was needed to confirm it works (that the relief I experienced wasn’t a fluke) before proceeding with the nerve ablation. This seemed to be his practice of ensuring success but also apparently required by my insurance (BCBS) before they will cover the ablation procedure. He said if it is confirmed, then an ablation would be recommended. If not, however, then he said it is probably the L2/3 degenerative disc causing a “referred” pain to the area a few inches down lower in the back where I feel it. That would require more consults with a separate surgeon, a discography (discogram) diagnosis procedure, and then potentially a surgery (fusion or artificial disc replacement). I do NOT want any of that! So here I am today in May 2017. 6 months of the SAME EXACT pain as 23 years ago! Just like back then, only ice, laying down, and Ultram provide any relief. Lately the Ultram (50 or 100 mg, 1-3 times per day), or the ice, or lying down don’t really help anymore. I try not to take the Ultram because I don’t want to go down the opioid addiction/narcotic path. I may be take 1 to 4, 50mg pills a week. I am 3 weeks away from that 3rd nerve block procedure. I am frustrated on how this has dragged on for 6 months now with NO IMPROVEMENT. I can’t believe I am still in pain. How could this be? The pain consumes me every waking moment (and even disturbs my sleep at times lately). Every once in while I have a better hour or day, and think I am turning the table, but then the next hour or day, I am back in the normal state of pain and misery. I really think if I didn’t have a family, I would not be alive at this point because it seems so hopeless and the thought of living the rest of my life with this constant pain is unthinkable. Because I love my family, I decided to be positive and beat this. I have to. I started a strict self-PT program this week. Every day walking 20-30 mins, and 10 mins of core strength and stretching. I go back and forth lately between thinking something must be really physically wrong to cause this kind of 24/7 horrible pain vs. the TMS psychosomatic pain theory. I don’t know what to believe. I am currently re-reading everything by Dr. John Sarno, “The Great Pain Deception” by Steve Ozanich, and now “Crooked” by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, Dr. David Schechter’s work, etc. They are all AWESOME books and I believe they describe me on every page. I just don’t know how to undo this? Are my neural pathways so strong now that I cannot reverse this after 6 months? So here’s why I think I have TMS… 25 years of constant pains or sicknesses. Always something getting my constant attention on my body- instead of letting my unconscious fear and anger surface which would be emotionally painful to face. There has never NOT been something wrong with me since I became an “adult”. It all started in college when life got stressful. One ailment moves to the next, and the next.... Pains move from Arm to Arm, side to side in lower back. How can a real physically induced problem do that? Either something is hurt or it isn’t. It is frustrating seeing 5 different medical professionals/doctors and getting 5 different diagnoses! It seems like they just guess and try things until something works. I feel like a guinea pig while they just try to make money and push meds and procedures on me. I am sure they are well-intended, but it doesn’t feel right. Each time I had confidence in their diagnoses, but each time they failed to result in any improvement. I find it hard to believe that my discs are the problem. I have seen WAY WORSE spines on MRIs! The two discs are barely bulging (probably how everyone’s discs look over 20 years old), and one degenerative disc which wasn’t even that bad from what I have also seen. Even the first two docs or radiology report said NOTHING about the discs! So I’m really wondering now where to go from here. I am reading all these books and believe so much in TMS and feel like that has to be it. However, I just don’t know how to change it? I would love a TMS expert or Mind-Body Doc to read my story and let me know what they think. How do you ignore the pain and tell yourself nothing is wrong when it hurts you 24/7? How do you unlearn that and reverse that? Would love to hear from you all. Thanks for your time. james.e.kerr (at) comcast.net

I have tried this book and it did not work for me. I do believe I had a placebo effect and it worked for 3 days or so. I even went to see a therapist for my "stress." I gave it 4 stars because I think it can help others out there. I would rather have this book work than have to take any meds or supplements. I have come across ANATABLOC. It is a supplement, not FDA approved. You can only get it at GNC. I can not believe how amazing I feel. Here is my review I wrote on GNC.com. Please try this book first! No back surgery for me since I have found this product. I am a 35 year old female and have had chronic back pain for a year and a half. I have tried physical therapy, Pilates, massage, books on back pain (it says it's stress related, I agree in some cases), a change in diet, and epidural/cortisone shots. The physical therapy, Pilates and massages have helped a bit but only for a temporary time. When I started taking this I had no back pain and could not believe it. I have not been able to have a normal life since my pain began. I am so amazed that it is working. Insomnia has been a side effect for me when I was taking the full dosage. So I started taking 3/day in the morning for the first week. I am slowly working up my dosage. If you take the doses too close together or too many at once it will cause dizziness. I would rather not have to take this since it is not FDA approved. I plan on trying decompression for my back. If it works then I won't be taking the supplement anymore. My friend who takes this says it increases her anxiety. But she has had anxiety problems for 10 years. So she doesn't take it all the time. She has Hashimoto's disease and when she first started it she could not believe how great she felt. I found a link online that says what symptoms it helps with: [...]

I would not normally write a review but today I read some reviews of other books which helped me decide if I wanted to purchase them. After doing so I felt compelled to write a review about this book, this is the first review I have written on Amazon. I was referred this book by a friend who said that he had a miraculous recovery from back pain 3 weeks after his doctor told him he would have to have his back operated on. My friend told me he read the book, practiced the theory and after 3 weeks returned to his doctor who could not believe my friends' recovery. At the time my friend referred me this book I had terrible neck and shoulder pain which radiated down my left arm and made me continuously try to relax and massage my shoulders. The pain in my arm and neck made it hard for me to sleep in general and impossible to sleep on my left side. I am a swimmer so I attributed the pain to my swimming regimen and resigned myself to the fact (as I saw it then) that I could either quit swimming or live with the pain. I chose to live with the pain. This book will teach you that your chronic back problems stem from the suppression of your negative emotions in your mind and once you truly realize and accept that, your mind will not be able to create your back problems any more (even when you are stressed out). It does not matter where your back pain is, mine was in my upper back but the book references people cured of back pain from all over. Dr Sarno states that mankind had no chronic back problems until about 40 years ago, what we used to have were ulcers, which within the last 4 decades have been cured for a majority of us with Tums, pepcid and anti-ulcer medicine. We got the ulcers because we were mentally under some negative emotion or stress that we did not want to reveal or think about because it was too mentally taxing, too scary. Our mind attacked our stomach so we'd focus on that pain rather then on the mental and emotional pain we suppressed. Since we could now better counter the ulcers with new medicines, our mind went looking for some other way of forcing pain to the body so that the pain in the mind could remain hidden. What the mind now does is attack our body by creating chronic pain in our back by slightly lowering the amount of oxygen that the muscles in our body (where the pain is located) receives. This causes the muscles to become tense and creates debilitating pain for many of us. I started reading the book the same month my father passed away. I had incredible tension and pain in my upper back, neck and arms. I have never finished the book, there are parts where it drags a bit with other patients' testimonials and experiences, but I understood the principles and applied them and within 3 weeks all of the tension in my shoulders and neck were completely gone and the pain that radiated down my arm was less than half what it had been and eventually (within another 2 weeks) that pain was gone as well. I know this sounds unbelievable, it sounded too good to be true to me too, until I started applying the principles and telling my mind to lay off my back. I have had no pain and very little tension in my back, neck or arm in the past 11 months. If I find myself getting a bit tense in my shoulders I can quickly (within minutes) get rid of it because I know what the cause is (my mind) and how to stop it. I mentioned the passing of my father because I used that grief to help me with my back. One of the things Dr Sarno teaches you is that it is helpful to "let it out"; yell, cry etc. If you'd like to try out one of the principles that this book will teach you for healing your back, wait to be alone when you are experiencing bad back pain. Gather some emotion that you think is troubling, your marriage, job etc and have yourself a good old cry/breakdown about it and just let it out for a few minutes. Then see if your back is feeling worse, better or the same. By letting it out, those negative emotions are going to reduce the stress in your back and your body will feel better, your mind will too for allowing you to let out those mental demons. Give it a try and good luck with your back problems. This is a fantastic book.

TLDR: if you have neck, back, knee, shoulder, etc. pain, give this book a read. it could be your unconscious brain’s way of coping with repressed stress, anxiety and/or anger. this is the single most insightful book i have ever read. i had been suffering from neck, upper back, and shoulder pain for eleven months. after so many months of no relief and it getting worse, it was the most overwhelming pain i have ever been in in my life. an MRI showed i had a straightened cervical spine and two bulging discs in my neck but neither seemed to alarm my doctor. i started getting migraines, more tension headaches, had issues focusing, anxiety because of the pain, and nothing seemed to provide any relief (PT, muscle relaxers, OMM, mild pain killers, prescription anti inflammatories) except for a chiropractor, which made me uneasy but i was desperate. after 3 miserable days of trying cymbalta, i ended up on a reddit thread where someone mentioned this book. i stopped the medication and flew through the first 30% of it, realized exactly what events and distress the pain was all attached to and my pain literally vanished. it was like magic. there are times when it will try to resurface and i have to remind myself it’s a defense mech from my brain and that although the pain feels real, it isn’t and it goes away. and then i try to figure out what stress or event triggered it. grateful for this book and grateful God led me to it. cannot recommend it enough.

I've long suffered with back pain. I have scoliosis, arthritis and the typical stuff people get as they age (degenerative disc disease, sciatica, etc). I don't normally go for books like this but like others I was getting desperate so I gave it a read. I knew Dr Sarno would offer a non traditional approach to healing back pain but I never expected this. Dr Sarno believes that back pain is caused by the subconscious mind in an effort to keep you from thinking about or dealing with unpleasant or painful thoughts and feelings. It accomplishes this by depriving oxygen to the nerves and tissues surrounding the spine. This is a condition he calls TMS. Conveniently, this is not a condition that can be measured, viewed on imaging or the like. You just got to take his word for it. If this sounds crazy, hang on, it gets crazier. One might think that the solution to TMS would be psychotherapy then, right? Well, not exactly. Dr Sarno thinks that the important step to recovery from TMS is to understand how TMS works. You see once the subconscious mind becomes aware of the fact that you have discovered this big trick its trying to pull on you then it knows it can't use that anymore and relent on your back pain. One thing I found particularly interesting about all this is how its written. Normally pseudo-scientific books will dress up their theories with lots of sciencey and clinical sounding words. To a reader untrained in medicine, this may make the claims seem more authentic. Dr. Sarno makes no attempt at all to do any of this. In fact, he goes out of his way to explain his theory in the most raw and uncomplicated terms possible so that his theory will be easily understood. It seems clear to me that Dr. Sarno honestly believes everything he has written in this book. So Sarnos treatment is bunk then right? It's like this, read the book. Do what Sarno recommends. If you feel better then it isnt bunk at all. My back pain does feel better after reading the book but that might be because ive lost some weight and started exercising.

this is a weird book. it's not really all that impressive, in and of itself -- a couple hundred pages of loosely sketched out theoretical ideas, and a general sort of critique of common chiropractic diagnoses. some of it makes a lot of sense, some of it seems a little far-fetched – objectively speaking, i can absolutely understand why some people dismiss dr. sarno and this (and his other similar) books as fluff/quackery. that being said – it works. or can, depending on who you are and what kind of pain you’re experiencing. i was suffering from horrible, near-disabling levels of lower back and neck pain when i first read this book, and as many others report, simply reading the book and thinking about what it had to say, made 95% of my discomfort simply vanish overnight, like magic. it was frankly shocking to me how effective it was, and i am a person who absolutely, 100% realizes how ridiculous that sounds. but that was my experience. i do still have back pain, but it is now 10 years later – just reading this book one night literally produced something like eight or nine years of very significant relief. whether the back pain i’m experiencing now is something different or just a recurrence/regression of the TMS described in this book is something i’m currently trying to figure out. the general argument put forward here is that changing the way you think about back (and certain related types of) pain can dramatically alter your experience with it, because the way we’ve been taught to evaluate this type of condition to ourselves is largely based on false medical myths that have an (unfortunately) strong influence on the way our psychology interacts with our body. sounds a little out there, perhaps, but it is – to my honest surprise – quite true. what the book offers is not a placebo effect. what's weird is that the pain a lot of people are experiencing is in itself a kind of (negative) placebo effect already – what this book can do, is sort of quickly train you to reverse the psychological processes that create that scenario. it's not that the pain you’re experiencing isn't real, or that it’s just imagined – it is very, physically real, as any sufferer knows – but in many people/cases, it's being produced and greatly exacerbated by a kind of trick of the brain that can be unlearned with surprising ease. a lot of people in the last couple of generations have, for various reasons the book gets into, unconsciously programmed themselves to be susceptible to certain types of back pain that don't have any real physical cause. most chiropractors and even physical therapists will x-ray you and explain you have a herniated disc, something out of alignment, scoliosis, etc. -- but while true, this is in most cases a very natural part of aging, and it only produces ongoing pain/discomfort in certain people. generally, they won't know exactly why – they'll theorize you have a "pinched nerve" or something along those lines, but this book explains how, in dr. sarno's opinion, that's just unethical guesswork and makes no diagnostic sense. he proposes that the pain is more akin to a negative placebo effect based on the anxiety natural to certain personality types, and nurtured by cultural conditioning. this anxiety and conditioning train the brain to deny oxygen to certain muscle groups and body areas, which produces spasms/constrictions/tension in those areas. while harmless in and of themselves, they can be very uncomfortable, and many in the medical community erroneously link this discomfort to what is actually pretty normal wear-and-tear along the spine. in turn, we (the sufferer) begin to overthink the fragility of our spine/back, and expect it to give us problems, which fuels the negative link the brain has already made to those areas. this begins to allow all kinds of personal anxieties and emotions to start registering in a very physically real way as body pain, usually in certain parts of the back or neck where we most anticipate pain to occur, and it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle that can just grow worse and worse over time. the book explains this all better and in more detail. not everything put forward in the book is 100% convincing, but dr. sarno has definitely tapped into a legitimate phenomenon – and i say that simply because the book just plain worked for me. after years of very depressing and increasingly excruciating levels of discomfort and pain that i attributed to a slipped disc, i read this book, and poof ... it was just literally gone. i couldn’t quite believe it and many people i relate the story to do not take it seriously. but my brain wised up to the trick it was playing on my body and the relief was literally an overnight phenomenon. and not only did it work – the results lasted many years. many people will blow off this book and sarno’s others as pseudo-scientific fluff – i get that. but, listen – i spent $2 on this book at the time i first read it, and got years of shockingly significant relief from it. it’s not like it’s a big expensive gamble, if you think it might help you. i also get that it won’t work for everyone – obviously there are legitimate injuries and conditions that can occur and cause pain that are unrelated to what the book describes (and which the book is very clear about). however, a lot of conditions that people think are legitimate physical problems are covered by this book, and have a far shakier medical basis than you’d think. psychology and the way your psychology programs your body and its expectations has a lot to do with a lot of the pain people suffer from. if you think there’s even a chance this book could help you, spend a couple bucks on a used copy and give it a shot. it takes a couple hours to read, and it could save you thousands in medical bills. worst case scenario, you learn a little about an alternative theory re: body pain. even if you’re skeptical, it’s sort of a no-brainer if you’re really suffering discomfort.

I spent my entire career as a medical professional searching for better answers for chronic pain, both for myself and for other people. How is it possible that I and my colleagues never even heard about TMS or Dr. Sarno until this year!? And why was only by CHANCE that I came across TMS and Dr. Sarno's unequaled work and NOT through medical channels, as one would hope for any superior treatment for pain such as Sarno's? One would think that medical professionals would be quick to spread the word about effective treatments--but it's not that simple, and that's not how it works in medicine. In fact, regrettably there are a whole lot of bad practices going on in medicine due to ignorance. I ONLY learned of Sarno's work because an ad from Amazon.com popped up on my computer screen for the book, "The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse" by Steven Ray Ozanich--a book which is about Dr. Sarno's work with TMS. I have over 200 health-related books and I was reluctant to spend money on yet another one. But the subtitle "Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse" caught my eye, so I purchased Ozanich's book out of curiosity. Little did I realize this book, about Sarno's work with TMS, would change my life! But it did. After reading Ozanich's book, I worked backwards and purchased this book by Dr. Sarno himself, "Healing Back Pain." What's happening in our medical system is almost criminal. It's been known for over 30 years that there is no correlation between bone 'abnormalities' that show up on X-rays--such as 'disc problems' and whether or not a person has pain. Yet surgeons are still telling patients, "Lookie here, your X-ray/MRI show you have spinal fractures (or a slipped or bulging disc, whatever) right in the same place that you're having back pain. Well, there you are--that must be what's causing your pain." And the patient believes it because, hey, they can see it on the X-ray with their own eyes. But it's NOT TRUE. As Sarno says, the pain is caused by oxygen deprivation to the muscles. Yet I've heard so many people speak in despair of the 'fractures' that were found on their MRIs and X-rays. In my opinion, learning about TMS is the most important thing that most Americans can do to improve their health. Dr. John E. Sarno's work with TMS changed my life. It not only resolved most of my chronic pain but it changed my whole mental outlook on life. Little things don't bother me as much. I'm more forgiving. I don't crumble in despair when criticized. I'm more accepting of everyone else's flaws as well as my own. I'm back on good terms with my sister again. I'm just plain happier, no bouts of depression or despair. Best thing you can do for yourself, and for this country's failing medical system? Read Dr. Sarno's book yourself. Also read Steven Ozanich's book "The Great Pain Perception; Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse" (about Dr. Sarno's work). Heal yourself and then SPREAD THE WORD. Your physician does not have the answer to you or your loved one's chronic pain, but Dr. John E. Sarno's work DOES. Let the world know. Spread the word.

Loved the info

Why do I give this book such high marks? Firstly, it absolutely was exactly what I needed at a time when I really didn't know if I would ever walk again properly due to a back injury I suffered while cycling. I actually walked away from that brush up but over the course of the next 2-3 weeks I was experiencing increasing levels of discomfort and pain in my lower back. I sought a specialist however this was very arduous in the condition I was in. Eventually an emergency physician prescribed oxycotin for the pain I was experiencing. After 3 pills, I stopped that. I was weary of the effects, of not feeling pain, of feeling so 'happy' when I knew bloody well I had a serious injury and should be taking it easy. Here's the thing, I learned that staying still, staying put was not at all good. You have to move around. However, you have to respect your injury and the limits it has imposed on you and work through that. A friend recommended I read this book to help me in my recovery. I believe I was already in the right frame of mind and this book only cemented my approach to recovery. Early on the pain was so bad I couldn't barely walk, I had extreme pain in my sciatic from a lower lumbar bulging disc (or something like that). I had a cane. It was quite a humbling experience. This book helped me keep my spirit up and determination to listen to my body, stay connected and accept the pain as I healed up and made a full recovery. It may not work for you, but the approach is the right one. Healing from back pain is not guaranteed. This book can help you make the best of your back pain, and in some cases, heal completely.

Good one

Me lisant handicapé par un lumbago persistant, de bonnes âmes m'ont écrit pour me conseiller diverses pratiques de guérison. Soulagé momentanément par les bons soins de la masseuse chinoise, de l'ostéopathe, du réflexologue et de la nouvelle pharmacopée, en l'occurrence de l'Ixprim, savant cocktail de tramadol et de paracétamol, mais néanmoins bloqué en position allongée depuis trois semaines, j'ai eu tout le loisir de lire Healing Back Pain en anglais dans le texte, le best-seller du Docteur John E. Sarno. Le médecin américain y livre son intuition sur l'origine du mal au dos et comment s'en débarrasser définitivement, même affecté comme je le suis par une hernie discale et trois disques écrasés ! L'hypothèse formulée par le médecin américain tient du bon sens, mais son style est celui d'un auteur à succès s'adressant à une large population plutôt inculte en matière psychanalytique. Dès lors que l'on considère que la majorité de nos afflictions proviennent de la somatisation, ou du moins que notre mental a une influence indéniable sur les maladies que nous attrapons, pourquoi ne pourrait-on guérir par ce qui provoqua le mal ? D'où sa suggestion de soigner les TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome, en français Troubles musculosquelettiques) sans médicaments, ni chirurgie, ni exercice physique, mais par le seul pouvoir du cerveau... Si l'I.R.M. montre une lésion vertébrale, Sarno prétend que ce n'est pas elle qui provoque la douleur. Il est question de manque d'oxygénation des tissus, mais je ne vais pas réécrire ici son bouquin. Le stress et la colère rentrée seraient à l'origine du mal, comme on peut se fabriquer un cancer, un ulcère à l'estomac, de l'asthme, quelque maladie dermatologique, etc., la liste est longue. Pour avoir envisagé moi-même depuis fort longtemps cette théorie et l'avoir testée avec succès, la lecture confirme mon hypothèse. On peut évidemment atténuer la douleur et la faire disparaître en l'apprivoisant, de même on peut très bien guérir de moult maladies par un travail psychologique ou psychanalytique, tout dépend de l'ampleur des dégâts. L'inconscient est hélas plus puissant que la concentration volontariste et la relaxation philosophique, aussi n'est-ce pas toujours facile, particulièrement en période de crise aiguë. Sur tous les terrains il est fondamental de juguler la peur. Là où Sarno est léger, c'est évidemment dans la guérison miraculeuse qui tient, malgré ses dires, plus d'une sorte de conviction à laquelle je ne peux adhérer, n'ayant pas en son temps acquis la petite croix Vitafor qui guérit tout, peines du corps et peines du cœur, il suffit d'envoyer le bon de commande, ici un petit livre de poche à quelques euros, je ne me suis pas ruiné. Le pouvoir de suggestion des praticiens ayant recours à la méthode du médecin américain est certainement la clef de leurs succès, mais j'ai beau avoir suivi, ou plus justement précédé à la lettre, les conseils avisés prescrits, soit traiter l'affaire par le mépris, je me suis tout de même coincé le dos après trois ans et demi de rémission alors que je pensais être sorti de là ! Cela fait trente ans que ma cinquième lombaire joue le rôle de mon talon d'Achille. Si le ciboulot est souvent à l'origine du mal, s'il est possible de s'en débarrasser par un travail psychique, il n'en reste pas moins que le best-seller qui aurait soigné des milliers de personnes de par le monde tient par son style d'une entreprise commerciale juteuse qui laisse planer le doute sur les intentions philanthropiques de son auteur. Ouvrage de vulgarisation sur le pouvoir de l'inconscient, il n'empêchera pas chacun de morfler et de trouver également l'issue qui lui convient...

Encontré este libro de casualidad en la versión inglesa de Amazon y me sorprendió ver tantísimas críticas (más de 1000), todas poniendo el libro como si fuera mágico. La verdad es que al principio estaba algo recelosa y pensé "a ver qué me va a contar esto...", pero me sorprendí gratamente devorándolo como si no hubiera mañana, después de más de siete meses de problemas de ciática-piramidal-hernia-quiro-fisio. Las reseñas decían que entre cuatro y seis semanas se les había pasado todo, incluso a gente que se había operado y llevaba años y años con problemas de espalda/lumbares/hombros. Yo llevo tres y se me ha pasado como un 50 %, aunque tengo esperanzas de que en las próximas semanas remita más (y del todo). La clave del libro es sencilla: consiste en encontrar un origen psicológico a todos estos dolores (y solo a los de este tipo). Se trata de no dar protagonismo al dolor y rehacer tu vida a medida que se te va pasando. ¿Cómo se te pasa? Pues convenciéndote de que el dolor es la forma que tiene el cerebro de desviar tu atención de donde realmente deberías dirigirla: a algún tipo de ansiedad reprimida. ¡LEEDLO, en serio! Pero con la mente abierta...