How I Healed My Backpain

I had never had a problem with back pain in my life until 3 years ago when my back gave an unusual twinge as I stepped from my car into my garage. It was not an episode that buckled my knees or threw me to the ground, just a painful twinge that was more than just usual stiffness. I did not know at the time that It was a defining moment, but it proved to be the beginning of 6 months of continuous back pain.

It was between Christmas and New Year's and I had experienced a stressful day at work, taking care of clients whose business matters needed to be cleared up before the end of the year. I felt rushed and emotionally stressed as I left the office later than normal and drove home in the rain in heavy holiday traffic. I had plans to leave the next morning for an overnight New Year's trip to a desert resort 2 hours from my home. I was not aware at that time that accumulated stress often precedes a back pain incident, not a strain or injury and I was piling more stress on myself each moment.

With anxious thoughts pressing upon my mind, I straightened up from my car and walked carefully into the house and took some advil. Then I continued about my business which was packing, and getting organized to leave in the morning. I carried my body stiffly and tried to prevent the pain from getting worse, but had to continue packing for the trip. More advil and a nights sleep, which was intermittently disturbed by back pain, found me in worse shape the next morning. I considered cancelling my trip but didn't want to back out at the last minute on a New Year's date so I hauled my suitcase into the car and began the drive to my destination.

As I drove I could not find a comfortable position for my back. I constantly wiggled and squirmed but the pain was a nagging constant companion.

I was begining to feel very worried, as the pain was not leaving me, and in fact seemed to be gathering intensity. The pain continued to build. Without going into more detail, suffice it to say that I did not go out for New Year's, nor play golf the next day as was scheduled. By morning I had cut into my host's stash of vicoden which helped dull but not erase the pain. I stayed on his sofa for two days straight. I finally was able to sit long enough to drive home. I took a vicoden and drove about 85 miles per hour, just to get the trip over with, half hoping to crash and put myself out of my misery.

In the next 6 months I went to my internist, an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, and a physical therapist to no avail. I returned to work, but was in constant pain. My doctor had given me more vicoden which got me through the nights. I read every thing I could get my hands on about back pain, tried every exercise, and pain reliever and heat patch, and sat in my jacuzzi for hours with the jet on my sore area. Nothing worked for any length of time. It seemed so bafflling because I had done nothing to strain or injure my back. My doctor said that many times that is the case with back pain.

I would actually get panicky thinking that I would have to live with this pain forever. Then a miracle happened!

In June, 6 months after my back pain started, I was at a family barbeque where a relative gave me a book that was the beginning of the end of my back pain. the method sounded unusual but since I had tried everything else, I gratefully took the book, and I promised him I would read it, and did so right away. Within a day or two my back pain almost completely went away, as if by magic. The improvement was more than 90 % and has been ever since, though I have had a few very small flare-ups since, which I have cured by picking up the book and reminding myself of the process.

The book describes a syndrome called TMS. which is a mind/body approach to correcting back pain and many other painful ailments in the body. I have given or recommended this book to many friends and they have had amazing relief from it as well. I am in no way connected to this book or its sale, except that I am putting a link to Amazon for it so you can quickly acquire a copy should you choose to. The title is Healing Back Pain, The Mind-Body Connection by Dr. John E. Sarno and is available at bookstores . It is not an obscure book at all, in fact I believe is a best seller, but I had never run across it before. Living in pain can be helped. I am an example of it. I recommend reading the article on the web-site below which is an interview with Dr. Sarno and his TMS method of healing back pain: www.tms-mindbodymedicine.com/medscape1.htm

Good Luck

Violet