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Highly recommend this reading as quite often particularly back pain is a mind body issue with some form of stress such as financial or relationship. https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

I haven’t had it quite as bad as you, but I’ve struggled for sure. Someone on HN recommended a book called Healing Back Pain[0] - I found it really helpful. Might be worth picking up a copy.

[0]https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

⬐ robot2051

Thank you for the book! I will definitely check it out!

Someone wrote it in a similar thread, I benefited from it so I want to write it again, for future readers.

I heard about someone (and then more people replied) that read "Healing Back Pain" book by John Sarno [1] and finally got rid of back pain. However strange it sounds, it seems to work. I didn't finish it yet but I already see the benefits.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

I was fortunate enough to have started directly with an emotion-based treatment and the changes from last year to now have been huge. Very incremental and I have no idea when they happened, but I feel so much better now.

> I'm now comfortable suggesting that this approach is overlooked by mainstream medicine to the great detriment of many people suffering chronic illness

If people are interested in this, checkout https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

I had a severe L4/L5 herniated disc. After several months of agonizing pain I was just about ready to get on the surgery schedule with an orthopedic surgeon (Microdiscectomy). I had tried everything -- PT, prescription pain meds, acupuncture, supplements, bed rest.

The same day I saw the surgeon to schedule my surgery, I figured what the heck, I'll try anything before I get my back cut open. I went to a great, well-reviewed chiropractor, who gave me a thorough assessment and promised improvements in the next 2 months, such that I would not need surgery. I was very skeptical, but went along with it. Her adjustments and analysis did end up helping me a lot, and alleviated a lot of the pain coming from the sciatic nerve. But more than anything this bought me some time.

During this time, I read Healing Back Pain by Dr. John Sarno [0]. Many people recommended his work to me, but again, I was skeptical. I had an MRI scan showing very real structural damage to my spine and I truly didn't believe that thinking my way out of the pain would help. I read the book anyway, and I swear, the pain began dissipating. I began to adopt a new mindset -- my back is fine, the pain is arising out of my stress and awareness of the injury, not the injury itself-- and it truly worked. It's been over a year now since reading the book, and I feel leaps and bounds better. I'm back to doing the things I love (cycling, lifting weights, running), and I'm about 90% pain free. I still have some off days and I listen closely to my body when they happen. I stretch a lot, don't sit for hours at a time, and do basic mobility work every day -- these are things I want to be doing anyway, but my disc issue is even more impetus to do them.

If you're seriously considering surgery, do yourself a favor and read this book first. If you're anything like me, you'll be wildly surprised and completely grateful you did.

[0]https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

This article doesn't have one mention of TMS or the work that John Sarno did? That is borderline irresponsible.

Read "Healing Back Pain: The Mind Body Connection" by Jon Sarno.[1]

I lived with chronic knee pain for over 8 years, and would routinely have "carpal tunnel like symptoms" with my wrists.

Literally within a week of reading that book my knee pain was gone, and my wrists have not had any issues since. My personality type is exactly that described in the book, so it might not work for everyone. But boy howdy it worked for me.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

Edit: As it relates to the article - Dr. Sarno attributes most of the pain to your brain and unconscious emotional rage. It sounds kind of quackish, but he lays out excellent explanations of how your brain works against you to cause this chronic pain. I was a skeptical as well (I won't give away spoilers but the treatment plan is HILARIOUSLY simple) but it has really worked for me.

⬐ briancleland

I suffered a crushed vertebra last year and experienced horrendous back pain for many months. Sarno's book almost completely cured me of my pain and stiffness. I don't really understand why it works but it does. I would strongly urge anyone suffering chronic pain to read the Healing Back Pain book. Basic calisthenics and stretching has been very helpful too.

⬐ skimming88

Long time sufferer. Read his work decades ago. Couldn't get the full effect of his methods but agree with it completely. Intensity, recurrence and duration are all lower but can't get rid of it altogether.

⬐ briancleland

If you haven't already, try calisthenics to strengthen the core and regular stretching. I found these made a big difference in addition to the book.

⬐ None

None

⬐ e40

I won't give away spoilers but the treatment plan is HILARIOUSLY simple

Seriously? This isn't a novel or TV show. That statement of yours just makes me think it is a scam.

⬐ skimming88

May or may not work for you, but once understood and accepted, it will help you. If you're a sufferer and skeptical, go to a library and read it in an afternoon, then buy it if it suits you.

⬐ cJ0th

The idea of Dr Sarno is not really in accordance with the scientific literature but it is indeed a very simple method and has worked like a charm for me, too. So I wouldn't say it's a scam. At worst, his method might turns out to be a placebo.

You may want to read up about "tension myositis syndrome" on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Sarno#Tension_myositis...

The Mind Body Approach: Cures back pain, rsi...

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/mb_what_is.html

⬐ tudorw

Me too, years of issues with 'Carpal Tunnel', 'RSI', my own research into psychoneuroendocrinology and encountering the Sarno approach changed the way I looked at my situation, sensations from my nerves means I am alive, they are not to be relied on as reliable indicators of 'pain', 'pain' should be reserved for things we can do something about. Unwrapping the psychological foundations as to why I chose to start interpreting these signals as 'pain' is a complex and interesting task that is not 'over', but the progress is meaningful and long lasting. I believe advances in continuous arrays and high resolution fMRI together with a raft of new devices that are looking at change over time will bring a scientific lense to Sarno's work and start to close the loop on the mind body experience we call life :)

⬐ theparanoid

FWIW, it worked for my RSI with semi-crippling pain when typing.

⬐ melling

What did that involve? How did you reduce your stress?

⬐ ta8457348

FWIW, this worked for me.

I had absolutely debilitating pain in a hip joint as if I had a handful of needles loose in there. I had it for several months, I had an MRI, a bone scan, tried physio, acupuncture and what have you with zero effect. At some point got a "procedure" scheduled for some sort of steroid injection directly into the spine column and was prescribed some nasty anti-inflammatory pills to "prep" for the thing (but in the end decided against the whole thing). The only thing that helped _a bit_ were the 600 mg Ibuprofen pills.

In any case, saw this book recommended here on HN, picked it up, read a quarter and realized that it applied. I was under an enormous stress at the time, both on work and personal fronts. On the work side I was running a one-man project with several thousand active daily users. On the personal end we just had a kid and the massive lifestyle change that came with it. A couple of days after realizing that the stress might've been the cause of the pain, the pain disappeared. Just - poof, gone. This was over 10 years ago and it never came back. The end.

⬐ maxxxxx

I read the Sarno book and I didn't get anything out of it. From reading your comment it seems that it may apply to psychosomatic pain but not to pain where there is a physical cause. Is this correct? It kind of makes sense. When I am stressed I am much more susceptible to pain and disease than when I am happy.

⬐ jaggederest

The whole point is that there's no difference between psychosomatic pain and pain where there's a physical cause.

The brain activity that people think of as being "just psychosomatic" is actual, physical changes that causes both direct perception of pain within the brain itself and also changes in the rest of the body that result in peripheral pain.

Stress doesn't just make you imagine you have joint pain, it actually causes it directly in measurable ways. Catecholamines are extremely powerful and if you start cranking them out because you're stressed, everything works worse, which often results in pain, which is of course an additional stressor.

⬐ maxxxxx

I accept that your thoughts can create pain but I think there is also pain that's being caused first by a physical event. Example: someone drilling your tooth.

⬐ jaggederest

Yes, it's by no means a one way gate, I'm just saying that people perceive this incorrect dichotomy between "real" pain and "pain that is just from your brain". There's no such distinction, and all pain is actual physical signalling.

⬐ tudorw

You're right, that's known as nociceptive pain, the other is known as neuropathic pain, here's a nice piece, it's moving on the knowledge that these types of pain, emotional and physical if you like, cause a similar area of the brain to 'light up' (http://www.pnas.org/content/108/15/6270.abstract), and how advances are allowing more fine grain observation of these reactions http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/06/a-pain-detector-for-th...

Although to be a pedant, tooth drilling is apparently not quite nociceptive as it's the nerve being vibrated that causes an intense sensation that's easy to interpret as 'pain', I try and think about fireworks instead...

⬐ adrice727

I had success with the Sarno method as well. My comment from a previous HN discussion [1]:

I started having back issues about five years ago. It got so bad that getting out of bed in the morning was a struggle. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc at L4/L5. I tried chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage therapy to no avail. Then I came across one of Sarno's books. I remembered Howard Stern singing his praises years ago on his show, so I decided to at least give it a shot. I was very skeptical, but within the first twenty pages Sarno had described my situation to a tee. I started following his advice and saw immediate results. I was back to running and doing yoga within a few days and a couple weeks later I was back in the gym doing dead lifts. Aside from an occasional flare up during stressful periods, I haven't had any issues since then.

However, I don't agree with Sarno's view that the mind uses pain as a diversion from psychological or emotional issues. I think it uses to pain as a way to get our attention, to let us know that we need to deal with those underlying issues.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12986759

Anyone suffering from back pain who really wants to recover should read Dr. John Sarno's work. Here's a link to his book: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connectio...

I was skeptical at first, but just reading his book and thinking through what he presented healed my lower back pain.

⬐ peetle

Think of all the physiological responses attributed to nervousness (e.g. before public speaking): muscle tension, raised heart rate, sweating, need to urinate/defecate, insomnia, nausea.

Given that, why are we so convinced that our mind (i.e. our prefrontal cortex, seat of "high level" thinking) _couldn't_ be the cause of persistent inflammatory pain? Do not ideas and stressors persist in our mind, just as pain might?

Sarno's simple thesis is that stress in our daily life could, in fact, be the underlying trigger for inflammatory pain. The mere realization of this, for many people, can resolve chronic pain problems that last years and are resistant to treatments that assume the cause of the issue is structural.

Here's a success story from one of the creators of EtherPad (acquired by Google) on his recovery from wrist pain (diagnosed as RSI) from reading Dr. Sarno's book:

http://www.rsipain.com/success-story-severe-forearm-pain.php

⬐ _delirium

Wait, the process of thinking through the book's contents itself healed the pain?

⬐ sillysaurus3

This Amazon review is too perfect:

After months of intense low back pain, I was recommended this book. I read it and thought it made sense. I know our mind is powerful and stress can cause dis-ease. I completely jumped into his program spite the intense pain I endured. After 6 weeks I did not experience any shift in my pain. And, the pain intensified to the point that sometimes I couldn't even stand. I decided to seek medical help. What I found out was that my L5-S1 disc was collapsed and the (almost) bone on bone rubbing was why I was experiencing so much pain.

I wonder why it's at 4.5 stars.

⬐ fredley

Having read the book, and done the course, the very first thing it tells you to do is visit a doctor to rule out any physical cause for your symptoms. This person it seems skipped that step.

⬐ tudorw

Most pain treatment in the hands of professionals would seek to establish there is no mechanical aspect to the pain, go and see a doctor first, then read books.

⬐ arkitaip

Fakespot's score is a decent indicator of the quality of product reviews over at Amazon: http://fakespot.com/product/healing-back-pain-the-mind-body-...

⬐ tcbawo

I think that the premise is that it is possible for some people to reduce pain symptoms by reducing inflammation caused by stress. I can't imagine this advice would solve everyone's pain issues, but it might help people who would otherwise become dependent on pain medication or endure unnecessary surgery.

⬐ tmbsundar

You need to read the book and his work to understand that bit.

It's not just reading the book. "Reading the book" makes you understand the way the brain works and can induce and "help" sustain "real pain" in places you think it to be. He also makes it clear that the advice "it's all in your mind" is just not going to help and only an insult to the sufferer.

If I understand correctly, he does not exclude physical examinations and advises to go through scans to determine anything serious and attend immediately. For the rest, he outlines the process by which, your brain can trick you into "induce real pain" and sustain real pain.

Any kind of relaxation or - a) reading the book = understanding the process b) relaxation/ meditation which takes away your concentration away c) letting out your aggression on some contact sports etc., can help.

⬐ tudorw

Here's some words on Neuropathic pain, as opposed to nociceptive pain which is what you would feel if someone stuck a fork in your leg, the next day, when I remind you of the fork incident, and you wince, that's an example of neuropathic pain, the same area of the brain lights up either way.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806...

⬐ maxxxxx

Just curious: What did you learn from that book? I read through it halfways and gave up because I couldn't make sense of it.

⬐ insertnickname

Another Sarno cure checking in. Debilitating "RSI" in wrists/arms and back pain. I tried everything (lots of rest, ergonomic keyboards, cold compresses, NSAIDs, physical therapy), but nothing I did seemed to make any difference. Eventually, after two years of arm pain and half a year of back pain, I read Sarno's book "The Mindbody Prescription". I was very skeptical, but I was desperate. Within a couple of days I felt better, even better after a week, then a month. That was two and a half years ago. Today I have no back pain and I can type all day pain free.

Occasionally I get flare ups where I'll feel a little discomfort in my arms, but reminding me of the lessons within Sarno's books makes it go away within a day at most, and ever since I read Sarno I have never felt that I was in too much pain to work on a computer.

I don't know if Sarno got everything right, but typing this comment without pain proves to me that he is on to something.

Don't suffer for years like I did! If you are interested, I would recommend watching this 20/20 segment with Dr. Sarno: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsR4wydiIBI (13m35s). If you search for "RSI" on Hacker News, there are some great threads in which Sarno's theory is discussed.

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_myositis_syndrome

Did you read any of Dr. Sarno's other two books? I'm wondering how they compare.

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connection...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Divided-Mind-Epidemic-Disorders/dp...

Besides challenging the mind over matter, this work also challenges the idea of what to believe and pursue when scientific evidence is relatively lacking.

⬐ kdamken

I have not - once the pain subsided I decided to take a break from all the medical reading and research for a while. Still, I'd definitely be interested in checking those out when I have a bit more free time.

I haven't used it myself but I've heard great things and it closely matches your request: "Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection" by Dr. John E. Sarno (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0446557684)

I read his book (http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connection...) expecting to have a similar reaction. While he doesn't make the strongest scientific case, you are not doing his proposition justice. It's more about people who injure themselves maintaining unconscious tension in areas which leads to stiffness and pain well after the physiological healing has finished, because they fear re-injury.

I found some of his advice helpful insofar as it suggests that mindfulness meditation can help ease tension-induced back pain (which I have found to be true for me) and that there is a mental component in overcoming the fear of re-injury and allowing yourself to resume your full range of motion without subconsciously tensing up.

As someone who struggles with anxiety from time to time, I can even believe his statement that he's referred some patients to therapy before attempting to treat their back pain.