Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

As a personal fitness trainer I have seen how diet and exercise works
in preventing the reacurrence of back pain. Recently however, I saw a close family member in the midst of excrutiating back pain. We both felt helpless, and confused. Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection
Dr. Sarno's book really helped!
Richard Walters, MA. in Ed.
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Author The 16 Minute Body Sculpting Kit: Attain Your Dream Body in Just 16 Minutes a Day!

I stumbled on Dr. Sarno's book while I was searching for cure to my pain. I have had neck, leg and back pain for 6 months and it gets worse everyday. I tried everything I can find, nothing worked. Even pain killer didn't work. MRI shows L5 disc pressed the nerve, disc degeration... I was convinced that I will be bed ridden when I am in my 60s.
After I read the review here, I bought the book and read it as soon as I got it. The pain went away in a day!!! I shared this with my mother in law who is considering back surgery. She was in doubt. That alone will make her recovery long and slow. I strongly recommend this book.

This particular Dr. Sarno book has been extremely helpful to several of my acquaintances and myself in over-coming physical pain such as backaches, sciatica,headaches, arthritis, and more. If you follow Sarno's thoughts, and are able to be objective and self-analyze, you may find that many pain issues can be helped and conquered with TMS. It's worth the read.

This review will be quite short because so many folks have echoed my own experiences with Dr. Sarno's work... I just want to add my voice and enthusiasm about this book. I could not possible praise it's simplicity and effectiveness enough. If you are reading this, just buy the book - it's so very cheap and please, please believe me, it is worth your time.

This review is long overdue, but after recovering from 10 years of back pain, I've been having too much fun to write in (dancing, scuba, travel, bicycling, swimming). I've read a lot of books, but this by far is the most important. If you have any kind of chronic health problems, this is your best chance of recovery.It's no exaggeration when I say that Dr. Sarno saved my life with his groundbreaking theory.

I suffered with 10 years of chronic pain, muscle spasm, tingling in my neck, upper back and arms. I tried many treatments, both traditional and alternative. Cervical traction, chiropractic, massage, myotherapy, trigger point release, physical therapy, cervical collar, medications, acupuncture, homeopathy. I even had surgery on one of my shoulders for a supposed shoulder impingement. Some of the treatments gave short term relief only. The surgery did nothing to help. I spent years searching for an answer, and thousands of dollars out of pocket. I had testing and the diagnoses I received were bulging discs and degenerative disc disease (sound scary dont they?). I was offered no hope of a cure. I was 40 at the time, yet physically felt like I was 90 due to the pain. I had no hope for my future because if I had a degenerative process, it would only get worse. My pain went from a low level annoyance to becoming debilitating.I had pain every day, all day I struggled to care for my children and home. I felt like a failure as a mother and wife, and became depressed about my situation.

Then I found an answer, in the form of Dr. Sarno's Healing Back Pain book. Being a medical professional, I was skeptical as I began to read the claims of relief without surgery, PT, or specific treatments. I decided, I had nothing to lose by reading the book except a couple of hours of my time.

I found myself on every page of his book. I felt he knew me despite never having met me. He was telling my story. I literally wept as I read the book and found a glimmer of hope. I began to improve slowly and continued to read and re-read, began a gradual return to activites, as well as starting to journal about emotional issues and feelings. As I applied his theory to my life, I continued to improve both physically and emotionally. Amazingly, I'm still doing great 8 years later.

I don't want to mislead anyone. I did not have an instantaneous resolution of my symptoms (although I now know people who have). It has been a process of healing and self discovery for me, but well worth it. I have had occasional episodes of some discomfort over the years (during stressful times) but now I know how to address it and can make it go away pretty easily. The most important thing is that it has never been as bad as it was at it's worst, and most of the time I have no pain at all. I no longer have fear and I know that I am healthy and strong. I have no limitations in what I can do. I have proven that to myself over and over again in the past 8 years since recovering using Dr. Sarno's information. Probably the most physical things I have been able to do is that I painted an entire house, took a dance class, learned scuba and just last year I rode a bicycle 110 miles in a day (having trained for it in only 3 weeks).

I realize these claims may seem hard to believe. Had I not experienced it personally, I'm not sure how I would feel about it. But I'm here to say that my life has been forever changed and enriched by learning about this incredible mind-body connection. If you are looking for someone else to fix you, then this is probably not the book for you. But if you're tired of being in pain, have an open mind, and are willing to do the work, then this information can change your life. I wish you health and peace.

I would like to share a Galileo quote which speaks to me regarding Dr. Sarno's work: "In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual."
Words can not express my heartfelt gratitude. Thank you Dr. John Sarno!