My years and years of severe back pain ended when I read The Mind Body Prescription by Dr. John Sarno. Look up Dr. Sarno and buy one of his books. I'm sure I've related my tale of back pain on here somewhere else, and nico adie had great results from The Book as I often call it.I'm going to be 55 in a couple of months and my back feels better than it ever did in my 20s. I'm no longer careful with it, no chiropractors, no chemicals, no special stretches or whatever. I work out 3-4X a week, lift heavy stuff all the time, no pain. I have at least two herniated discs and some curvature in the spine. Chiropractors told me 20 years ago that my pain would increase over time and I'd be limited in my abilities. Quite the opposite has happened. I feel great. Get this book, it will cost you maybe $15.

zom-zom wrote:My years and years of severe back pain ended when I read The Mind Body Prescription by Dr. John Sarno. I wandered over here to post a similar story, except that I read a different book (Healing Back Pain) by the same author. I have had a very similar experience. I have had a doctor tell me to stop doing all the things that keep me sane (biking, backpacking, bodysurfing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) even while he could not definitively tell me what was wrong. I was convinced that I was on the verge of being crippled and I thought that cutting back on activities and plenty of rest would at least postpone this (wrong and wrong again). I still have some pain and numbness in my arm, but things are getting better instead of worse, and I found that I have no reason not to do pretty much whatever I want. I'd second zom-zom's recommendation, especially if no one can help or at least tell you clearly what the problem is. At the very least, Sarno might offer a new perspective to help you with troubleshooting and solutions.

I'm currently off work because of on going back pain. I am scaffolder. Basically, I have had a trapped nerve right at the base of my spine which causes intense paralyzing pain, where you get shooting pains that go down the left and right leg (sciatica) as well as constant deep throbbing at the location of the trapped nerve. When it goes I cannot move. It's actually quite scary, if you are standing up, you feel as if you upper half is about to topple off, like it's a wobbling stack. The toppling over sensation has been since I was diagnosed with a slipped disc. When this happened I was in such shocking pain, it was terrifying. I have been given strong co-codamal which does nothing, and diazepam which did actually help slightly. The doctors have been pretty fucking useless if I'm being honest. I find it quite hard to explain how debilitating such back problems can be. If you haven't experienced a trapped nerve or slipped disc, you can't really appreciate the fucking complete wankness of it all.

zom-zom wrote:It worked well enough for the magnificent Nico to send me bottle of his nation's finest.I still remember what a wonderful surprise that was.Certainly, an incomparable gift.

Yes, The Mind Body Prescription really worked for me. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Yeah, if you buy into all this slipped disc nonsense and pinched nerve garbage you'll be a slave to your pain, pain-pills, osteopaths, chiropractors or whatever new technique they develop to attempt to relieve back pain caused by TMS. I've had sciatica so severe that I couldn't walk more than a few blocks and the pain kept me awake at night. I cannot stress the point any more that anyone with severe back pain needs to give the TMS diagnosis a shot. No weird exercises or stretches or anything. I woke up with huge purple bruises on my sciatica-wrecked left leg. The muscles twitched like there were moles living under my skin. It went away in a month.

Nico Adie wrote:Yes, The Mind Body Prescription really worked for me. I can't recommend it highly enough.It worked well enough for the magnificent Nico to send me bottle of his nation's finest.I still remember what a wonderful surprise that was.

In my experience, steroids help the immediate flare up, and help the inflammation subside.After you've used the roids and Ibuprofen to make the days manageable, I've found that yoga, massage, accupuncture, and physical therapy are all very helpful. There has been no single magic bullet, in my experience.I am intrigued by zom's book, though.

Paying attention to pain can reinforce and enhance the associated neural pathways. Pain also can be modified (for better and worse) by your perception of and reaction to it.In those regards, Sarno seems totally legit. Whether the origin of the pain is from repressed anger/etc. is a bigger leap.Seeing a massage or physical therapist to help you relax the tensed-up muscles can only help, though. You can always start there, get immediate relief, and then try out the Sarno-based getting on with your life model.

Having pretty much tried All Of The Above, what provided the most immediate relief for me was to more or less declare the Sarno theory as accurate, since it totally resonated with me immediately, and put it into practice. A couple of days after I made the decision, I put a new roof on our cabin. I hauled bundles of shingles up the ladder and spent 10 hours on the roof. Never looked back.