A single, short book made my back pain disappear—a summary

I mentioned yesterday how I got rid of excruciating back pain by reading Healing Back Pain, The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno, MD.

Mine is just a minimal summary and in no way replaces reading the entire book. The key to removing the pain lies in understanding why it is there, and the path to that is short already, 200 pages only, so there are no shortcuts.

Your mind is tricking you.

Your brain is in the business of protecting you.

At times, your brain believes there are thoughts it should distract you from having for some reason. A method at its disposal to divert your attention is causing some intense pain in your body. One could argue that this sounds like a terrible idea, but brains are in the business of ideas, so who are we to judge?

Your brain achieves that by reducing the blood, your muscles can receive.

It is a harmless condition with no consequences.

It’s probably why your brain uses this subterfuge.

A temporary constriction of blood vessels triggers intense pain but bears no consequences. The pain fades away as blood vessels return to their original state. It’s called Tension Myositis Syndrome. Understanding the process is enough to stop it.

Once your brain can’t fool you anymore, it gives up.

If you feel intense back pain, follow these steps.

• First, see your doctor. Some pains have causes that you must treat.
• If doctors can’t locate the cause and only offer scary options like strong medication, injections, or surgery, give the book a try first.
• Read the book. It doesn’t recommend any treatment, diet, or particular practice. It is risk-free.
• If the pain disappears, enjoy.

Don’t forget to take care of whatever your brain was trying to hide from you, er else it’ll try again in the future.

That’s my current focus.