Rating: 
Summary: Not A Good Experience
Review: I bought this book after being diagnosed with a herniated disk. I understand where he is coming from by saying that the mind causes pain, if you do not face up to emotional problems, however my situation is different. I finished this book 2 weeks ago and my pain is no different. I have thought of everything that could be causing stress in my life and tried to believe that is where my pain came from. It did not work. I go to physical therapy and when I stretch my back, I feel a pinch on the nerve that is irritated. That is a definite mechanical problem. When I stand for a long period of time, I get pain down my leg. When I sit for more than 10 minutes, I get burning down my leg. During some of the most stressful times, my pain actually is better so I can't believe that the pain is only from stress. The book says not to do physical therapy for back pain. It says only exercise for health reasons. I can't do both. If I do physical therapy, then I am believing that my back pain is physical and if I drop it then I am saying it is mental. I don't feel this book works at all. I was very open minded and was let down. With the correct lumbar supported chair, my pain is reduced. Why is that if it is all mental pain?
Rating: 
Summary: Think it may not be you?
Review: Everyone carries their stress different. Some manifest it in their shoulders, and seek out a massage for comfort. Some feel it in their neck. Many of us feel it in our back. For the latter of us, this book is a real help. It is hard, in this rush-rush world of ours, to slow down and actually be aware of.. our selves! We dedicate our time to work, family, friends, and for most of us, WE COME LAST! It's why we are the fattest people on the planet with the most stress related illnesses. Dr. Sarno hit it right on the head -- a lot of back pain has nothing to do with deformed spines or degenerating disks. In fact, few people have a "perfect" back. Most of us have issues. But only some of us have pain. Why? Some physical, a lot mental. Read this, try it -- it works!
Rating:
Summary: It works.
Review: It works. All orthopedic surgeons should read this book. Just
like ulcers, back pain can be caused by emotions. This book is
worth a fortune. Perhaps it will not work for all, but I
suspect it will work for most people. Get it!
Rating:
Summary: It works.
Review: It works. All orthopedic surgeons should read this book.
Would you pay $200,000 to cure your back pain? The book only
costs about 10 or 15 dollars. It is worth a fortune. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: This book will save your life
Review: If you can get by its simplistic language and repeatitive nature (which helps actually) this book will change your life. I spent 4 months of agony that melted away at some point in the second chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Material
Review: I was very sceptical when I heard news correspondent John Stossel do a story on this author. It took me 3 weeks to read this book, a few minutes before bed every night. After about 2 weeks, I noticed that my chronic back pain was gone. I was still sceptical, but I followed the book's suggestion to resume physical activity, and I'm now convinced that this author's theory is the key to my back pain.
Rating:
Summary: Phoenomenal Results!
Review: Thank you, thank you, thank you to Dr. Sarno. He absolutely saved my livlihood! I had severe back pain for over 10 years and had finally been at my wit's end when I couldn't even play with my children because of it. My physical therapist gave me this book and at first I was very skeptical. As I continued to read I realized that Dr. Sarno just may be onto something. I tried it and it worked! Not only did it work with my back pain, but it also worked with my migraines! And just as Dr. Sarno described, the pain tried to move elsewhere in my body...to my ankle, which I had no known injuries to. So I applied his techniques to that as well, and once again, it worked! I am so grateful to Dr. Sarno and his research. Please give this book a try no matter how "different" it may seem! You'll be glad you did !!!
Rating:
Summary: Addendum
Review: As an addendum to my earlier review endorsing Dr. Sarno's approach, you may read an extended excerpt of Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain: A Nine-Step Recovery Plan, which includes research information on treatments that don't work, by visiting www.rapidrecovery.net.
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.
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