Cure Your Back Pain Without Drugs or Surgery

The American Institute of Stress estimates that 90 percent of all doctor visits for pain and illness are stress induced or psychosomatic in origin. It is the reason that drugs and surgery are big business in the United States. Yet, within the medical field, there seems to be a disconnection between the treatments of the mind to heal the physical body.

One doctor sees things differently. Physician and former back surgeon, Dr. John Sarno of New York University School of Rehabilitation Medicine, believes that all the pills and surgeries in the world cannot cure what originates in the mind. Dr. Sarno believes it is unresolved conflict in the subconscious, or unconscious mind, that causes the vast majority of illnesses even though the pain or illness is very real.

Based on the teachings of Dr. Sigmund Freud, Dr. Sarno says the subconscious mind is irrational and uses illness and pain to divert the conscious mind from dealing with the problem, or problems in one's life. His theory may explain why so many conventional medicine attempts at healing the physical body do not work.

During his many years as a prominent surgeon, Dr. Sarno could not understand why his and other physicians' patients needed additional surgery and did not get better. After years of analysis and research, he discovered some interesting things. He found that some patients with X-rays that showed bulging discs, slipped discs, vertebrae misalignment, spinal stenosis and other maladies did not experience any pain while other patients with normal X-rays complained of terrible pain. It was this discovery that drove Sarno to consider alternatives to the conventional treatment of back pain and, eventually, many other areas of pain and illness within the physical body.

Deciding that the remedy was something other than performing surgery or prescribing prescription pain medication, Dr. Sarno focused on educating patients regarding the power of the mind, quit performing surgery and his cure rate skyrocketed.

In his books, The MindBody Prescription, Healing Back Pain and The Divided Mind, Sarno discusses the phenomenon he calls Tension Myositis Syndrome, TMS, which he believes is the cause of the majority of physical disorders. Sarno states that it is not necessary for most patients to undergo analysis to understand the nature of their unresolved conflict in order to be cured. The majority of people can be cured through the acceptance of the idea that it is the subconscious mind rather than a true physical problem causing the difficulty.
ABC's 20/20 reporter John Stossel, radio personality Howard Stern, the late actress Anne Bancroft and thousands of others have testified that they have been cured as a result of Dr. Sarno's teachings.

Kathryn Tyler "Cut the stress: with HR-provided training, employees can learn how to avoid what makes them tense - Training & Development Agenda". HR Magazine

Sarno, John E. (1991). Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection. Grand Central Publishing.
Sarno, John E. (1998). The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain. Warner Books.
Sarno, John E. (2007-03-27). The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders. Harper Paperbacks.