Dr. John E. Sarno's Healing Back Pain is a New York Times bestseller that has helped over 500,000 readers. Continuing the research since his groundbreaking book, the renowned physician now presents his most complete work yet on the vital connection between mental and bodily health, The Mindbody Prescription. Musculoskeletal pain disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with most doctors failing to recognize their underlying cause. In this acclaimed volume, Dr. Sarno reveals how many painful conditions--including most neck and back pain, migraine, repetitive stress injuries, whiplash, and tendonitises--are rooted in repressed emotions . . . and shows how they can be successfully treated without drugs, physical measures, or surgery. His innovative program has already produced gratifying results for thousands of patients. The Mindbody Prescription is your invaluable key to a healthy and pain-free life.

 

Introduction: A Historical Perspective

Like a wildly growing cancer, the problem of pain of all kinds has become, since my graduation from medical school, a major epidemic in most of the industrialized countries of the Western world. The diagnosis and treatment of these disorders in the United States is now a gargantuan industry. The back pain problem alone costs the nation upward of seventy billion dollars a year, and if we add all the modern pain epidemics, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, the figure is probably twice that. One does not hear these medical problems described as epidemics, probably because they are not usually life-threatening, nor is the public fully aware of their financial, social and emotional ravages. That they do not threaten life is the only positive thing that can be said about them, since they can be more physically and emotionally disabling than many seemingly catastrophic disorders. A well-rehabilitated person with paralysis of both legs can lead an essentially normal life, while someone with severe chronic pain may be almost totally disabled, unable to work and capable of very little physical activity.

The immediate and inevitable question is, Why and how did this happen? After millions of years of evolution, have we suddenly become incapable of functioning normally? Are there architectural inadequacies in our bodies that have only become apparent in the last forty years? If these pain disorders are not caused by structural abnormalities, how else can these epidemics be explained?

My early work in the diagnosis and treatment of back, neck and shoulder pain syndromes was decidedly unpleasant and frustrating. The conventional diagnoses and conservative (nonsurgical) treatment methods yielded disappointing and inconsistent results. Even as I explained the rationales for diagnosis and treatment to patients, I was uncomfortable, for the explanations seemed to lack physiologic and anatomic logic. As far back as 1904 doctors had described a painful disorder of the muscles -- variously called fibromyalgia, myofasciitis, fibrositis, fibromyositis -- but no one had been able to identify the exact pathology or cause of the condition. Eventually I began to approach patients as though nothing were known about the cause of back pain. I soon realized the primary tissue involved was muscle. Something was happening to the muscles of the neck, shoulders, back and buttocks.

Because they are easily identified on X ray, most practitioners attributed the pain to a variety of structural abnormalities of the spine, such as normal aging changes, congenital abnormalities or malalignment. Others believed that the muscles were painful because they were weak, sprained or strained. Furthermore, back, neck or shoulder pain was often accompanied by pain and other neurological symptoms in an arm or leg. If, therefore, a structural abnormality was found in the vicinity of a spinal nerve whose destination was an arm or leg, the clinician would be strongly inclined to attribute the symptoms to that abnormality without concern for the rigors of a scientific diagnosis. However, a careful history and physical examination often revealed that the presumed culprit was innocent, that the bone or disc distortion could not account for the findings. Nevertheless, pain was still blamed on the spine.

An unlikely alliance arose among disparate disciplines.

 

"My life was filled with excruciating back and shoulder pain until I applied Dr. Sarno's principles, and in a matter of weeks my back pain disappeared. I never suffered a single symptom again. . . . I owe Dr. Sarno my life."

 

"John Sarno has changed my life and the lives of everyone to whom I have recommended him. He is a true miracle worker."

 

"Dr. Sarno has had great success in treating TMS simply by explaining to patients the true nature of their pain. I'm convinced that Dr. Sarno is right and that all chronic back pain should be considered TMS until proved otherwise."

 

"For fifteen years, my life revolved around my back. I took time off from work, conducted meetings lying on the floor, and slept with ice bags. Could this be psychogenic? I had considered Dr. Sarno's idea preposterous, but ten years ago I was talked into seeing him. I haven't had back problems since. If Dr. Sarno is right about other psychogenic pain, America is wasting billions of dollars. What a tragedy."

 

"Dr. Sarno describes in clearly written and understandable language how emotions influence and cause illness. . . . He has cured thousands with debilitating chronic back pain and now offers curative approaches to other painful conditions. . . . I recommend this book highly."

 

"If you're suffering from an ailment that is difficult to diagnose or not responding to conventional or even alternative cures, read Dr. Sarno's book."

 

The Mindbody Prescription by John E. Sarno
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