Healing Back Pain by John Sarno, M.D.
Healing
Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection
by John E. Sarno, M.D.
Chronic pain can be a technique the subconscious mind uses to divert your attention from emotional pain. Through
awareness of this process, you can remove the cause of your physical pain by redirecting your attention to your
emotions, or merely by acknowledging/affirming that the cause is emotional.
According to the author emotions such as repressed anger, low self-esteem and fear of pain and additional injury
cause the mind-body connection to produce physical pain through localized mild oxygen deprivation. He does not
believe most back pain is caused by structural problems such as herniated discs, disc degeneration, strenuous exercise,
poor posture, incorrect body mechanics during movement or lifting, or a sedentary lifestyle. Nor does he believe
it is helped by even the best of physical therapies or exercise programs designed to strengthen the back.
For some people, this is difficult to believe. Being a hypnotherapist, I had no difficulty accepting the author's
contoversial ideas. He is correct in saying that it can be difficult to let go of traditional beliefs about the
causes and treatment of back pain. However, once you get beyond that, you will find his advice to be remarkably
accurate and helpful. I highly respect his methods, which include building your confidence in his system before
returning to normal physical activity.
Though beliefs are essential to this system, it is not a placebo affect which you will experience. It is a new
way of directing your energies, of dealing with your subconscious, which allows you eliminate emotionally induced
pain.
I'm sold on the concept myself, and would like to let others know about it. The copy I read was from my local library.
You don't have to buy the book to benefit from it! But please, if you have back pain (or other chronic pain) do
read this book!
-Randi Kuhne, editor, The Healing Arts
Order this book at Amazon.com
