Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection
- Downloads：2067
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-12 00:21:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：John E. Sarno
- ISBN：0446392308
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Liz
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Interesting。 I think there’s validity to the mind-body connection when it comes to chronic pain。 I also believe that Dr。 Sarno oversimplified where pain originates & how to cure it。 The studies he shares are very outdated - focusing on those done in the 1980s。 It would be nice to have some updated ones。
Natalie
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this book changed my life！ i got recommended it after someone recognised what seemed like inconsistent moments of experiencing severe back pain vs not。 since reading the book and practicing the recovery techniques， i’ve been pain free。 would encourage anyone who feels like their back pain will never dissipate to read this。
Stacey
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I agree that there is a mind-body connection， but this is not the book to learn about it。 This reads like a repetitive high school paper where the writer is just trying to hit a minimum word count。 And he did no research other than his own opinion and some personal accounts from his own patients。 According to Sarno， all pain is in your head and can be relieved by acknowledging your feelings。 And every single problem comes back to being TMS。 🙄
Christy
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Lots of filler， but generally helpful to remind me that so many times my body is reacting and making me aware of emotional things。
Jimelle Mader
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If you have chronic pain of any type you should check this out。 Many have recovered just from reading this book！ I personally found his book called Mindbody Prescription easier to read and relate to。 Either is an introduction to a different way of looking at chronic pain。 A way that actually works very well！
Sonja
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Very good information for those dealing with chronic pain。 The author points out the mind-body connection of pain， focusing on repressed emotions， especially repressed anger and how recognizing that releases the pain。 If you think that makes no sense， then read the book to find out how he gets to that conclusion and how he's successfully used this RCA （root cause analysis） to relieve thousands of people of back pain as well as other chronic pain。 Docked one star because it was a little repetitiv Very good information for those dealing with chronic pain。 The author points out the mind-body connection of pain， focusing on repressed emotions， especially repressed anger and how recognizing that releases the pain。 If you think that makes no sense， then read the book to find out how he gets to that conclusion and how he's successfully used this RCA （root cause analysis） to relieve thousands of people of back pain as well as other chronic pain。 Docked one star because it was a little repetitive at times。 。。。more
April
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Acknowledging the mind/body connection and working through the emotions does work。 My sister stopped her ankylosing spondylitis in its tracks by doing mind/body work。 That was after nearly a decade of doctors visits， Mayo Clinic， holistic/functional and alternative medicine， bodywork， dietary shifts， unanswered questions etc。 Even though I know Dr。 Sarno's methods do in fact work， I was hoping that this book would describe the process in a bit more detail。 Dr。 Sarno is cited by many bloggers and Acknowledging the mind/body connection and working through the emotions does work。 My sister stopped her ankylosing spondylitis in its tracks by doing mind/body work。 That was after nearly a decade of doctors visits， Mayo Clinic， holistic/functional and alternative medicine， bodywork， dietary shifts， unanswered questions etc。 Even though I know Dr。 Sarno's methods do in fact work， I was hoping that this book would describe the process in a bit more detail。 Dr。 Sarno is cited by many bloggers and youtube'rs however， so there's plenty of places to get additional info on doing the work。 The channel， "Pain Free You" is especially good， and Nicole J。 Sachs， LCSW （also on YouTube） does a great job of detailing the process of journaling to relieve physical pain。 。。。more
Elle Moser
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While the book could be written better， the Information is worth its weight in gold。 My back pain is 90% gone as I practice techniques given and do the homework to shift my thinking and redirect my unconscious mind。
Lucy Dacus
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There's a reason so many people recommended this to me， I think it may help me avoid back surgery， fingers crossed。 I really recommend to people who have chronic back/neck/limb/nerve pain and have found no helpful fixes so far。 There's a reason so many people recommended this to me， I think it may help me avoid back surgery， fingers crossed。 I really recommend to people who have chronic back/neck/limb/nerve pain and have found no helpful fixes so far。 。。。more
Bea
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Excellent discussion of TMS。
Julie Grace Immink
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I'm not falling apartI'm not falling apartI'm not falling apart I'm not falling apartI'm not falling apartI'm not falling apart 。。。more
David Clouse
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This was not what I was expecting， but I actually really enjoyed it。 Basically， Dr。 Sarno boils down a lot of back pain （and other pains） to psychological and emotional problems that we have repressed and refuse to acknowledge （primarily anger， stress， and anxiety）。 Many things doctors say require surgery or other forms of being inactive/hoping to recover only further exacerbates the problem。 Repressing emotions can lead our body to not want to deal with them so instead of painful emotions erupt This was not what I was expecting， but I actually really enjoyed it。 Basically， Dr。 Sarno boils down a lot of back pain （and other pains） to psychological and emotional problems that we have repressed and refuse to acknowledge （primarily anger， stress， and anxiety）。 Many things doctors say require surgery or other forms of being inactive/hoping to recover only further exacerbates the problem。 Repressing emotions can lead our body to not want to deal with them so instead of painful emotions erupting， it triggers painful physical conditions primarily through a lack of oxygen to whatever part of the body is ailed。 。。。more
Suzanne
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Since I don’t have any back pain or the other ailments talked about， I just skimmed the book。 I am already familiar with the mind-body connections。
Delrene
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If you have suffered from "chronic" anything， I highly recommend you read this book - immediately！ If you have suffered from "chronic" anything， I highly recommend you read this book - immediately！ 。。。more
robert
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excelente book It was a good book with a lot of information regarding back pain。 I realized that so many things that I was told they were bad， are not really that bad …
Karen Maxwell
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Very interesting book。 I still have back pain but I learned why and how to prevent it。
TessaCollinsMilligan
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The work of Dr。 Sarno has had a profound impact on my life。 It has been sorcery， some real divine intervention shit。 As many other people have experienced， learning about his work alone cured my chronic back and leg pain。 This actually happened BEFORE I read this book， as I learned about this work through an amazing app called Curable， where people are continuing Dr。Sarnos legacy of curing chronic pain through mind body principles。 Sure this book was dry in the middle， the cover looks like a dat The work of Dr。 Sarno has had a profound impact on my life。 It has been sorcery， some real divine intervention shit。 As many other people have experienced， learning about his work alone cured my chronic back and leg pain。 This actually happened BEFORE I read this book， as I learned about this work through an amazing app called Curable， where people are continuing Dr。Sarnos legacy of curing chronic pain through mind body principles。 Sure this book was dry in the middle， the cover looks like a dated soft porn novel you would find in the airport bookstore， and I often read it purposefully so I could fall asleep faster。 But the work speaks for itself。 （Although I probably recommend the app more， with a good thorough skim of this book。）。 Read on if you want to hear another cliché cure story。I quite literally suffered for years with chronic back pain， which changed my life from joyful， active， strong， outgoing， athletic， ambitious， to a very depressed ball of sad pain。 I couldn’t walk a flat quarter mile without fear， couldn’t sit at all， was told to not do yoga， swim using my legs （？？？）， hike， bend over， etc （the list goes on from there） and pretty much thought my life was over at the ripe age of 22。 I did every possible treatment under the sun （acupuncture， electric shock therapy， physical therapy for ages， ultrasound heat therapy， icing， heating， anti inflammatory medications， creams， balms， all the supplements， walking， massage， cupping， and more）。 Nothing helped and even when there was improvement， it was unstable and I always had FEAR。 I found Curable while at a very low point， crying in bed thinking i was doomed forever， googling what if any yoga poses I could do。 The app showed up and i started immediately。 It was like a freaking light switched。 As soon as I started the app program I was 100% better。 Wtf。 It has been about 4 months now and I have had almost no pain at all。 The best part is I have had no FEAR （and i have fought hard to beat back the learned fear I’ve acquired）。 I have sat on 11 hour flights （thought impossible）， washed my face leaning over sinks （！ Big moves）， I have hiked， swam， biked， gotten back into yoga， lifted heavy shit， washed dishes， gone skiing， and sat a lot！ （Sitting is a lovely thing to be physically able to do again）。 I haven’t even been diligent about doing the apps mental exercises （which are great）， it is just the initial knowledge of what is going on that has stopped my pain （like with many others）。 Get the app， read the book， have an open mind， help yourself 。。。more
Andi
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The healing power of knowledge is the basis of this book and while I agree with that， there are some dubious claims throughout。 The author claims that most low back pain that occurs in perfectionist and competitive people is a result of repressed anger and anxiety。 This leads to fear and preoccupation with the body as a way of avoiding unconscious emotional pain。 The solution is to think psychological （“talk to the brain”） and resume all physical activity to liberate oneself from fear that keeps The healing power of knowledge is the basis of this book and while I agree with that， there are some dubious claims throughout。 The author claims that most low back pain that occurs in perfectionist and competitive people is a result of repressed anger and anxiety。 This leads to fear and preoccupation with the body as a way of avoiding unconscious emotional pain。 The solution is to think psychological （“talk to the brain”） and resume all physical activity to liberate oneself from fear that keeps the mind focused on the body。 Learning all about what he calls TMS and changing their perceptions about their backs will effect a cure。 You don’t even need to change your personality， but just simply recognize that the combination of life and your character generates lots of anxiety and anger which are unacceptable emotions and hence submerged into the unconscious。 The author does concede that it is a “mysterious process by which the brain chooses a site for TMS” and “selects an area of abnormality like disc herniation。” Huh？！ 。。。more
Aleksandra Rafailović
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Although I completely agree with the premise of the book that there is a mind-body connection， and that many physical ailments are， in fact， psychologically induced， there are several points for which I believe that this book cannot be considered neither amazing nor fully applicable in all cases when it comes to treating the physical pains one might endure。The abovementioned points are:1。 The author is highly repetitive。 These 200 or so pages could have easily been summed up to around 130， 140 p Although I completely agree with the premise of the book that there is a mind-body connection， and that many physical ailments are， in fact， psychologically induced， there are several points for which I believe that this book cannot be considered neither amazing nor fully applicable in all cases when it comes to treating the physical pains one might endure。The abovementioned points are:1。 The author is highly repetitive。 These 200 or so pages could have easily been summed up to around 130， 140 pages。2。 In several cases the author mentions various treatments as placebo ones， whereas he just states that his method is not a placebo， but he does not explain at any point why is it so。3。 Major issues， such as disc herniation， are easily dismissed by the author as something that might be the true cause of the issue， which I cannot take seriously as there really are people who have these injuries from real physical damages， and not only mentally induced。4。 There could have been more of the statistical data， considering that the author had numerous patients with whom he worked with， as these patient stories should be an addition to statistical data， and not standalone "data"。5。 Although the author repeatedly mentions his method， there is no explanation of how his method works， except for the fact that he mentions that one should recognize on his/her own that he/she might have some repressed anger， anxiety， etc。On the other hand， the author does mention many issues that are related to TMS， and offers numerous patient stories， which is a good start for anyone facing any of these issues to overcome them。 And of course， I must take into consideration that I am reading this book 30+ years after its publication， and that there might have been additional updates by other authors along the way， but nonetheless I am glad that it has found its way to me， after the suggestion of my acupuncturist who has helped me with treating my lower back and sciatica pain。 。。。more
Alaa Jerbi
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4 stars for the revolutionary approach to healing and the courage to speak the truth against medical dogmatism。 Yet， as much as I enjoyed the author's thoughtful insights on the role of the mind in generating （and healing） diseases， I could not give it 5 stars for the Freudian psychoanalytical speculations （repressed anger and anxiety determined by childhood events and life experiences which the patient has no control over） he puts forth as the ONLY explanation behind the generation of TMS。I exc 4 stars for the revolutionary approach to healing and the courage to speak the truth against medical dogmatism。 Yet， as much as I enjoyed the author's thoughtful insights on the role of the mind in generating （and healing） diseases， I could not give it 5 stars for the Freudian psychoanalytical speculations （repressed anger and anxiety determined by childhood events and life experiences which the patient has no control over） he puts forth as the ONLY explanation behind the generation of TMS。I excuse him for not being deeply immersed （maybe he was？） in the different competing approaches to psychotherapy and understanding of the psyche ― the author being a Rehabilitation physician， not a psychotherapist ― but I would have been much satisfied if he could entertain the possibility of other explanations instead of insisting that the mind -> body influences are unquestionably explained by the Freudian anger-repressed-in-the-subconscious theory。 。。。more
Jo Richardson
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I guess only time will tell what I truly think of this book， if my back pain improves。 The premise is the book will cure your pain but there’s slightly more to it than that。 He makes it sound so simple， think differently and you’ll be pain free but it lacks the real depth of how you do that。 I am convinced I have TMS and not the diagnosis my consultant has recently given me， but the book falls slightly short on the promises it makes on the front cover。 I’ve finished it and now got a lot of quest I guess only time will tell what I truly think of this book， if my back pain improves。 The premise is the book will cure your pain but there’s slightly more to it than that。 He makes it sound so simple， think differently and you’ll be pain free but it lacks the real depth of how you do that。 I am convinced I have TMS and not the diagnosis my consultant has recently given me， but the book falls slightly short on the promises it makes on the front cover。 I’ve finished it and now got a lot of questions and some more books to read。 And I’m not pain free at all， hopefully I’m on my way though。 。。。more
Mike Taylor
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Changed my life。 Anyone with back pain or other should read this book。
Dan
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I'm highly skeptical of non-mainstream medicine， but in this case there is little downside and my back was killing me so I gave it a shot。。。 And it seemed to work。 My two month long back pain ordeal mostly faded away in the course of about two weeks。I don't buy all his Freudian theorizing and he even admits that he has no real evidence for it - but it doesn't really matter -why- it works if it does work。I've read so much about chronic back pain - and new research shows the pain often comes from I'm highly skeptical of non-mainstream medicine， but in this case there is little downside and my back was killing me so I gave it a shot。。。 And it seemed to work。 My two month long back pain ordeal mostly faded away in the course of about two weeks。I don't buy all his Freudian theorizing and he even admits that he has no real evidence for it - but it doesn't really matter -why- it works if it does work。I've read so much about chronic back pain - and new research shows the pain often comes from the nervous system rather than a mechanical problem - this jives with that and seems to be a powerful weapon in breaking the pain -> reaction -> more pain cycle。 。。。more
Roy Howie
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this book made me realize I was gay。 my back pain was fake 💅
Zack
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A pretty incredible yet credible concept。 I fully expect my back pain to recede into nonexistence after reading this。 After all if it can work for thousands of others， including Howard Stern， why should I doubt it？ I feel the effects of this book may already be at work。 I will give it some time and some periodic reviews of the material and I plan to post a follow up review below。 Stay tuned…
Liam Gandelsman
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Extremely interesting book that challenges a lot of medical conventions in modern American society。
Jeannette
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I have runner's knee again， so I thought I'd give this book a read。 It does have some useful tips， but there are better books out there for pain and the mind/body connection。 Maybe a good primer？ I have runner's knee again， so I thought I'd give this book a read。 It does have some useful tips， but there are better books out there for pain and the mind/body connection。 Maybe a good primer？ 。。。more
Dipika Shrihari
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I woke up one morning unable to get out of bed- my neck and back had completely seized。 Immediately after reading this book， my pain dissolved。 I can fully understand why people might not like the book: it feels unscientific and the writing isn't great。 But hey， it worked。 I woke up one morning unable to get out of bed- my neck and back had completely seized。 Immediately after reading this book， my pain dissolved。 I can fully understand why people might not like the book: it feels unscientific and the writing isn't great。 But hey， it worked。 。。。more
Terri
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Interesting read。 This book was part of my yoga training workshop。
Manish
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