Rating: 
Summary: Strict mind-body approach -- but it usually works
Review: I have worked with dozens of people with chronic pain and found that this very controversial theory often works, but not always. Dr. Sarno has decades of experience treating back pain using only the power of the mind. He believes that nearly ALL back pain and most chronic pain is caused by our mind's using physical pain to distract us from emotional pain that would be even worse. Usually the emotion is unexpressed anger. He says the mind will actually cut off circulation to muscles or other tissues to create real, physical pain. He calls this tension myositis or TMS. Usually, the cure involves acknowledging the emotional causes and dealing with them. He doesn't like to use pain meds of any kind. Researchers have not found how the brain actually creates the pain Dr. Sarno describes. Many pain experts and patients do not believe his theories. But I think he is on to something. In my work as health coach, I use the guided imagery techniques developed by Dr. Martin Rossman and David Bresler. In guided imagery, people can have imaginary conversations with an image of their pain. It very often turns out that the pain represents some person or event in the patient's life, usually a person who has done them wrong, for whom they feel a lot of unexpressed anger. I wrote about Sarno's theory and my use of it in my book, The Art of Getting Well: Maximizing Health When You Have a Chronic Illness. These books make good companions -- chronic pain is a kind of chronic illness. David Spero RN www.art-of-getting-well.com
Rating: 
Summary: Must-read for back pain sufferers
Review: This classic book may not work for everyone, but it has worked almost like a miracle for me and several other people I know. When I first started to develop back pain, I went from being an active exerciser and hiker to a near invalid in a matter of months. I even bought myself a cane, and spent a good part of the day lying down with my knees up, or crawling around the house to get exercise, because my back hurt when I stood up. During that time I tried two chiropracters, physiotherapy, and acupuncture, to no avail. My back kept getting worse. I got an MRI, and found that I had a bulging disk that was consistent with the pain in my lower back, and the tingling and numbness down my leg.
Then I found this book in a book store and started to leaf through it. The words that leapt out of it seemed to reflect my experience exactly. I bought the book, read it in one day,and my back already started to feel a little better just from reading it. The most important points for me were: 1. There may be a physical cause for the pain, but my mental attitude was making it a thousand times worse, 2. Lots of people who have bulging disks don't even know it because they don't have pain, 3. I should resume all my former activity without worrying about protecting my back.
There is one page in the book that you're supposed to meditate on every day, to reeducate your brain. And that's basically the "program". My back pain didn't go away overnight, but it got better gradually and simply stopped being a problem. I did all my normal activities as if there was nothing wrong with my back. Now,almost a year later, the only time I get discomfort in my back is when I have to sit for a very long time -- and it goes away as soon as I get up and move around. No more tingling or numbness up and down my leg, and no more excruciating pain in the morning when I get up, as I had before.
I know a lot of other people have said this about the book, and it sounds like a cliche, but I really do feel as if this book "gave me my life back." However, it is necessary to check with a doctor, to rule out the very few rare conditions that do need medical treatment.
Rating:
Summary: no more pain
Review: This book literally saved me thousands and thousands of dollars. Last summer I threw my back out and was in excriciating pain. I was so bad I literally could not walk, and was on painkillers. I bought Sarno out of curiosity and within a week of reading it, and recognizing that my pain was stress related, my back pain was gone. One has to be willing to deal with issues, though, and I'm sure there are many people who would rather take a pill or have surgery than really deal with their lives.
Rating:
Summary: dancing again!
Review: After 20 months of horrible excruciating back pain, and months in bed, at home and very depressed, going to over 20 back specialists and some alternative medicine people, I am now dancing again, (besides being a photographer, I am also a professional dancer for 12 years now) and back to my normal life, lifting, doing photo shoots, traveling and performing.
I first read the book a year before I got cured with its help, but couldn't accept the diagnosis Dr. Sarno suggests in his book, I couln't trust his concept. Unfortunately I wasted a year of misery before I gave it another chance, thanks to the advise of a friend who suggested that I'll try to 'put it on me', not doubt it and give it a chance for a whole month.
I am 100% pain free all thanks to this revolutionary book, 'Healing back pain'.
I could never thank Dr. Sarno enough; he gave me my life back, my happiness and livelihood.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book! Answered all my questions.
Review: I was suffering for many months from chronic pain in my back, legs, knees, feet, neck, arms, and hands, and was almost completely disabled. Healing Back Pain answered the many questions I had about my condition. Combining guidelines provided by Dr. Sarno with techniques used by Olympic athletes, I was able to design a nine-step rapid recovery program that allowed me to improve immediately and recover within four days. My story is detailed in Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain: A Nine-Step Recovery Plan and serves as another testimony to the accuracy of Dr. Sarno's diagnosis.
Rating:
Summary: Just the RIGHT book if you have back pain!
Review: A friend suggested this book to me when I was going through a period of back pain. She and her husband swore by it, but I was more than a little skeptical. However, I was also bedridden and they had it delivered to my door. I have to tell you, that if you are open to the idea, once you read the book, you can easily help your back pain. I have since sent this book out to three other people, and they all now swear by it as well. I suggest you sit down (or just lay there if you're having back pain) and read it cover to cover with an OPEN mind - nothing ventured, nothing gained. You will likely find that you can effect you pain level and possibly learn to control back pain. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: This booked saved me!
Review: This is an amazing book! I was suffering from severe back pain which I blamed on excessive weightlifting. I was told that I had a herniated disk. I went through months of physical therapy yet was still in excruciating pain. I even missed 6 months of work. I had epidurals done as my doctor advised, still nothing helped. My last resort was getting surgery which I had scheduled. Fortunately I came across Dr. Sornos book, read it, and within 1 month I was pain free. That was 4 months ago and I am very active, working out 5 days a week, and have never felt this back pain again.
This is all true. My pain was horrible. Often bringing me quickly to the floor because of its intensity and it was too painful to stand. Do yourself a favor. If you have back pain, read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: quack, quack ....
Review: Sarno is a Dr., but that is very difficult to believe. Here are some of his 'opinions'. What causes back pain? In every instance it is TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrom)... that is, muscle tension caused by repressed emotions. Let's look at the evidence ... he did a 'survey', and found that, quoting from the book "77% of patients fell between the ages of thirty and sixty ....what I call the years of responsibility". For Sarno responsibility equates to tension, so, TMS causes back pain, QED (the hypothesis is proved). He also argues, I won't look it up, that both tension and backpain have increaed dramatically in the last 30 years, so, again, QED. But here's my favorite .... we all know the body's capability for healing itself of physical injury, correct... so, since back pain is chronic, it must not have a physical cause! I'll quote the good Dr., demonstrating his acute medical knowledge "Even the largest bone in the body, the femur, only takes six weeks to heal. And, during that time, there is pain for only a very short time. It is illogical to think that an injury that occurred two months ago might still be causing pain". Again, QED. The book purports only to 'diagnose' back pain, not to treat it, and the diagnosis is invariably TMS. The Dr. also claims he is very successful treating back pain.... and the treatement ....get ready for this one ...all one must do is buy and listen to two two hour lectures by the good Dr., available on videotape, and follow a few simple guidelines, here's an example, quoting, "think psychological at all times, not physical". If you think your low self-esteem, and/or repressed anger, might be the cause of you back pain, this book is for you. It didn't convice me at all. Sarno, for the most part, offers only anecdotal evidence for his opinions. There are no footnotes, references to published articles, and the like, that one would expect if he were a serious person. Just constant restatment of his 'diagnosis', and many of his own 'case histories'.
Rating:
Summary: Want Pain Relief? READ this review!
Review: I discovered Dr. Sarno's book 3 years ago and it has transformed my body and my mind. I suffered with chronic pains in my back, hip, buttock, legs, knees and feet for more than 20 years. Sarno's information brought to my attention for the first time that my chronic pains could be caused by
inner tension. My only disappointment was that there were no real techniques explained to help eliminate the pain and that even though I was really excited to be 90% out of pain I still had one nagging "Butt" pain that would not go away. Since I am a competitive long distance runner, I really wanted to be 100%. Finally I discovered how to eliminate all my pain through several mind-body techniques. Dr. Sarno's work inspired so much that I have now written a book on how to eliminate these chronic pains. I have written it from a fitness perspective and include all the techniques that worked and did not work. I believe that
my book, Get Rid Of The Pain In Your Butt NOW!, combined with Sarno's work can help everyone, even you folks that think it is hopeless and you will never be out of pain. All the Best to everyone.
Monte Hueftle
Get Rid Of The Pain In Your Butt NOW!
Pain Relief For Your Back, Legs, Knees, Feet & Sciatica
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful but!
Review: I agree with the reader from Kansas City. Dr. Sarno does an excellent job describing the cause of back pain, but he does not give the reader concrete steps for recovery. That's where Fred Amir's Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain complements the process. It gave me specific things to do to plan my own recovery from back pain and sciatica. It worked very fast and the additional strategies in the book have helped me remain pain free for two years now. Maybe someday they will be made into one book, as the other reader suggested. Thank you Dr. Sano and Mr. Amir.
|
