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Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection | 
 enlarge | Author: John E. Sarno
Publisher: Warner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy Used: $2.93
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Avg. Customer Rating:  360 reviews
Sales Rank: 2347
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0446392308
Dewey Decimal Number: 617.564
EAN: 9780446392303
ASIN: 0446392308
Publication Date: February 1, 1991
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Amazon.com Review
Healing Back Pain promises permanent elimination of back pain without drugs, surgery, or exercise. It should have been titled Understanding TMS Pain, because it discusses one particular cause of back pain--Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS)--and isn't really a program for self-treatment, with only five pages of action plan (and many more pages telling why conventional methods don't work). According to John E. Sarno, M.D., TMS is the major cause of pain in the back, neck, shoulders, buttocks, and limbs--and it is caused not by structural abnormalities but by the mind's effort to repress emotions. He's not saying that your pain is all in your head; rather, he's saying that the battle going on in your mind results in a real physical disorder that may affect muscles, nerves, tendons, or ligaments. An injury may have triggered the disorder, but is not the cause of the amount or intensity of the resulting pain. According to Sarno, the mind tricks you into not facing repressed emotion by making you focus on pain in the body. When this realization sinks in ("and it must sink in, for mere intellectual appreciation of the process is not enough"), the trick doesn't work any more, and there's no need for the pain. (Healing Back Pain should not be used for self-diagnosis. Always consult a physician for chronic or acute back pain.) --Joan Price
Product Description
The renowned author of the classic Mind Over Back Pain has written a new guide examining revolutionary treatments to relieve pain without exercise, medication, or physical therapy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 355 more reviews...
 Literally A Lifesaver November 23, 2008
Dr. Sarno's book was literally a lifesaver for me. I had heard about his revolutionary theories on the radio, and was fascinated with the mind-body connection. I don't have any back pain, but read the book applying the same theories to my migraines and frequent heartburn. The results were amazing. Improvement didn't occur overnight or without many, many re-reads of this book. But I credit Dr. Sarno and his theory regarding TMS as minimizing the impact of these chronic conditions in my life. After one year, I experienced probably about a 90% reduction in the occurrence of migraines and 80% reduction in the incidents of heartburn.
Dr. Sarno's theories won't work for everyone. But for those open to exploring the mind-body connection, I believe his thought-provoking theory of pain is a revelation and provides an effective way to reduce chronic pain. It definitely worked for me.
 Too narrow minded of a view November 4, 2008
I understand that sometimes back pain can be in your mind, but to attribute every type of back pain to always being in your head is a little far fetched.
Life changer October 22, 2008
I've read this book about 5 years ago, and didn't think about writing a review for it. Just now, as I was searching for something else, I came across this book and I had to write about it.
Five years removed from my first encounter with it, I can safely say that it was a life changer. Like many here, I was suffering from back pain for many years, and did the whole chiropractor/muscle relaxers/x-rays/physical therapy thing, only to have my back pain come back some time later.
As I was reading this book, I was dealing with yet another episode and frustrated with the crap the doctors were slinging at me. I was skeptical, until I had the x-rays done again, and they showed that I had the problem with the exact same discs described in the book. I started listening. Then I noticed that I indeed had the worst episodes after very stressful times. I was hooked. To make the long story short, I have not had a single episode of back pain, even in the slightest, in about 4 years (it took me a year to master what Dr. Sarno is describing.)
People that rate this book low are doing it for the very simple reason - they do not get it. Many more do get it, and do free themselves from back pain - just look at the sales numbers of this book, and overall ratings.
Definitely read the book, but read it whole. There is a reason why it is so long - you have to be convinced that your back pain has nothing to do with physical state of anything. And Dr. Sarno's credentials, and arguments he is using, are very convincing. Then do a little experiment, and next time your back hurts, do not take drugs, or do your usual, just try to convince yourself that your pain is not physical. You'll see - it works, and you'll be done with it forever.
Finally, the reason why this book was a life changer for me, was because after going through it, and seeing how successful it is, I started to wonder what else am I capable of, what else do I convince myself of, and you'll be amazed at the answers.
 Anti-depressants may cause back pain October 21, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was recommended to me during a time I suffered from severe back and neck pain. The pain went on for over a year. I went to see many doctors and physical therapists, and none of them mentioned the side-effect connection. Finally, a massage therapist brought it to my attention that the anti-depressants I was taking was causing the pain. I stopped them, and my pain went away. It blows me away that Dr. Sarno has written a book without considering any of the many, many causes of back pain. He is doing his readers a real disservice. Doctors in general need to be much, much aware of side-effects. Any one with back pain, who is on anti-depressants, should consider whether these drugs could be causing the pain. Of course the drugs may be extremely important to one's overall health, but side effects should be taken into account.
Learning to read might be the first emotional problem to overcome October 11, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was sort of amazed that at least five reviewers here knocked Dr. Sarno's book because they couldn't find a method in the book to follow. For example:
"I read it, and it didn't change a thing. And there is no description of the actual method."
"Sarno's book helped me understand the cause of my back pain, but I was left with no clear steps to take to get rid of the pain."
"Be warned -- there's no actual treatment plan in this book."
"He doesn't tell you how to heal it (as the title suggests), but rather tries to drum into you the idea that you may, indeed, have his syndrome. After which you discover that the only way to heal it is through workshops/videos/personal consultations."
"There's not one thing about his program. I certainly wouldn't have purchased it if I knew this wasn't his actual program, just a sales pitch for it. This was a waste of money."
While other reviewers' critiques consisted of (inaccurately) boiling the method down to something like "If you're in pain, ask yourself what you're angry about and you will be healed."
Well class, if you will kindly turn to page 70 in the book, as the table of contents suggests, here you will find the step-by-step method outlined under the unambiguously titled chapter called, "The treatment of TMS." Here are the steps, edited for brevity, for those of you who missed it, or haven't quite got the hang of learning how to read yet:
1991 by John E. Sarno, M.D. Text quoted under fair use copyright law. No infringement is intended.
The treatment program rests on two pillars:
1. The acquisition of knowledge of insight into the nature of the disorder.
2. The ability to act on that knowledge, and thereby change the brain's behavior. So, one must learn all about TMS. What actually causes the pain, and what part of the brain is responsible. Then one reviews the psychology of the disorder. The fact that we all tend to generate anger and anxiety in this culture, and that the more compulsive and perfectionistic of us generate a lot.
3. What one must then do is develop the habit of "thinking psychological, instead of physical." I suggest to patients that when they find themselves being aware of the pain, they must consciously and forcefully shift their attention to something psychological. Perhaps, something they are worried about. A chronic family or financial problem. A recurrent source of irritation. Anything in the psychological realm. That sends a message to the brain that they are no longer deceived by the pain. When that message reaches the depths of the mind - the unconscious - the pain ceases.
4. Talk to your brain. What one is doing is consciously taking charge, instead of feeling the helpless, intimidated victim which is so common in people with this syndrome. The person is asserting himself, telling the brain that he is not going to put up with this state of affairs. And it works. Patients report that they can actually abort an episode of pain by doing this.
5. Resume all physical activity, including the most vigorous. Though it is often difficult, every patient has to work through his or her fear and return to full, normal physical activity. One must do this to liberate oneself from the fear of physical activity, which is often more effective than pain in keeping one's mind focused on the body. That is the purpose of TMS, to keep the mind from attending to emotional things. As Snoopy, the great contemporary philosopher once said, "There's nothing like a little physical pain to keep your mind off your emotional problems." I suggest to patients that they begin the process of resuming physical activity when they experience a significant reduction in pain, and when they are feeling confident about the diagnosis. One has to confront TMS - fight it - or the symptoms will continue. Losing one's fear and resuming normal physical activity is possibly the most important part of the therapeutic process.
6. All forms of physical treatment or therapy must be abandoned. Conceptually, prescribing physical therapy contradicts what we have found to be the only rational way to treat the problem. That is, by teaching and through education, invalidating the process where it begins - in the mind.
7. Review these 12 key thoughts at least once a day:
1. The pain is due to TMS, not to a structural abnormality.
2. The direct reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation.
3. TMS is a harmless condition caused by my repressed emotions.
4. The principal emotion is my repressed anger.
5. TMS exists only to distract my attention from the emotions.
6. Since my back is basically normal, there is nothing to fear.
7. Therefore, physical activity is not dangerous.
8. And I must resume all normal physical activity.
9. I will not be concerned or intimidated by the pain.
10. I will shift my attention from the pain to emotional issues.
11. I intend to be in control, not my unconscious mind.
12. I must think psychological at all times, not physical.
Patients are then urged to give this information an opportunity to "sink in," to be integrated, to be accepted at an unconscious level. Conscious acceptance, though essential as a first step, is not sufficient to reverse the TMS.
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