Why Back Pain is So Hard to Treat

Low back pain is an epidemic in the U.S. and more than 80% of people worldwide will suffer from low back pain some time during their lives. Widespread suffering from back pain is a new problem; never before in history has there been mention of millions of people suffering from the same pain syndrome. Western medicine would have us all believing that our discs are the problem, but the proof is lacking.

Our bodies are designed to heal without chronic pain, and our backs are no exception. Several studies of people with no symptoms have shown that spinal abnormalities, such as herniated discs and stenosis of the spinal canal are not in themselves indicative of pain. Many patients, being told that their herniated discs are the source of their pain, opt for surgery as a last resort. Failed back surgeries are common; surgery on herniated discs does not necessarily eliminate the pain and many patients find that they are still in pain, sometimes much worse pain, after surgery.

The problem goes all the way back to the diagnosis - most doctors believe that low back pain is caused by herniated discs, pinched nerves, or other physical problems, however, nothing could be farther from the truth. One doctor proved that 88% of back pain patients can quickly and easily heal themselves using their minds alone. Dr. John Sarno, a back specialist, discovered that most chronic back pain is caused not by physical injuries or malformations, but instead, by repressed emotions.

Healing from back pain, then, becomes a matter of understanding how our mind affects our level of pain and learning to change learned and conditional behaviors that cause a negative emotional state. The emotions that contribute to chronic pain tend to hide in the unconscious and are not readily accessible to us. The patient represses socially unacceptable emotions, such as anxiety, anger, and resentment in an attempt to protect them from addressing the emotional pain that they would otherwise cause. The unconscious, in an attempt to distract the patient from the painful emotions, creates instead physical pain. These conditions frequently have what appears to be a physical cause associated with them, but this is just a convenient 'place' for the mind to store the pain.

Recovering from chronic pain with caused by emotions requires the patient to accept that their pain is most likely caused by repressed emotions and to work to change the conditioned habit of avoiding reinjuring themselves. Additionally, patients must reduce their stress and understand the source of the repressed emotions so that they can cure themselves of the physical pain. The good news is that the prognosis for healing is extremely good for patients with chronic low back pain - almost 90% of patients recover completely and no longer suffer from pain.