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The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain

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After several years of back troubles, sometimes with pain lasting several months, I decided to give Sarno's book a try. Folks should know that Sarno is a die-hard Freudian and believes that all pain and most illnesses (including allegies, Reynaud's syndrome, hiatus hernia, hypoglycemia) are induced by the mind, because of the unconscious rage we all hold onto. There is no doubt that there is a strong link between the mind and illness, but I think that Sarno goes way overboard. How would he explain why very young children get arthritis and cancer? How much unconscious rage could a well cared for small child have? The book advocates addressing the stress in your life (a no brainer) as well as the unconscious rage, and suggests relaxation techniques. Sarno also says that back pain sufferers should STOP specific back exercises and stretches, because they only call attention to the back, and he believes that the back does not need any special attention. Read this book if you are looking for an alternative to what you've already read from the conventional medicine side of back care. There is no information in here on how to deal with the pain while you are working on your unconscious rage, and the book is very repetitive. I'd also recommend Healing the Back Natually, and Back Care Basics, a yoga book.

This book and Dr. Sarno have changed my life! Anyone with back pain, or any kind of chronic pain, who wants to live pain-free once and for all should read this book! I had back surgery a year ago, but the pain returned. I planned every part of my day around my back pain, but now, I never even think of it. After spending a fortune at the chiropractor and limiting myself from riding a bike, running, lifting, even slouching comfortably in a chair for the past two years, I am doing it all with no pain. Dr. Sarno's techniques involve no physical exercise. In fact, I predict that this will some day be the most widespread treatment for pain control (probably years from now since the medical field will be slow to accept it). Anyone suffering from reoccurring back pain should feel free to e-mail me about how this book has quickly helped me to be able to live once again!

This is Dr. Sarno's latest and best book so far. He further esplains how emotional stress cause physical symptoms. I recommend all of Dr. Sarno's books to my patients. If you have chronic pain of any type read this book. It is amazing the things that cause the painful disorders that we try to treat with current medicine. I have had several patients fix their lives and watch the pain go away. I highly recommend this book. It should be taught in high school health while our minds are still open enough to grasp the concepts. It would save many people a lifetime of pain.

This book is astounding. I have suffered from sciatic nerve pain for years, and thought I'd never be out of pain. By applying Dr. Sarno's principles, not only did my sciatic nerve pain disappear, but problems I was having with my GI tract disappeared as well. A true life-saver.

This man may very well be a genius. Or a great discoverer, like Christopher Columbus.

While I may have a humorous introduction, take me seriously. I am a skeptic to the nth degree. A cynic, and suspicious of all new theories in the world of science and medicine. But! The truth is, John Sarno is a legend, and an incredibly important hero.

I was in the hospital four times in four years for my chronic back pain. Doctor after doctor spoke to me about potentially slipped discs, nerve damage, sciatica, blah blah blah.

THEN, in 1995 the American Medical Association published a study regarding back pain, which a Doctor at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles mentioned to me. The doctor told me, "Josh, I need to tell you that the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study earlier this year, and I think they're right. Your back pain is severe, but you need to ask yourself why your back pain comes back, treatment after treatment. If us doctors really knew how to treat back pain, we'd have cured you. There is nothing physically wrong with you."

I was shocked.

Then, on the recommendation found in Howard Stern's books, "Private Parts" and "Miss America" (yeah, I know, laugh all you want), I picked up John Sarno's MIND OVER BACK PAIN. I could not believe any of this.

But it's true. I have had NO BACK PAIN IN FIVE YEARS. I'm free. Folks, prior to this, I WAS IN TOTAL CRIPPLING AGONY. Nowadays, when I feel a tinge in my back, I remind myself that it's my body reacting to tension or anger or a similar emotion or other imbalance in my state of mind. And now, the back pain is gone in SECONDS.

Not the best-written, most measured review, but for GOD'S SAKE, IF YOU HAVE BACK PAIN, READ ANYTHING BY JOHN SARNO AND END THE AGONY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE THIS WAY.

If your doctor rejects Sarno in any way, get a second opinion. Any doctor who rejects the mind-body connection Sarno puts forth is AN IDIOT.

One day, probably long after he's gone, John Sarno will be lionized by the medical community.

He should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work in saving folks' sanity and the United States of America from more payouts via workman's comp or lost time at work.

GOD BLESS JOHN SARNO.

I had a terrible case of tennis elbow in the spring of 1999. Two different orthopedists recommended surgery after cortisone, standard rehabilitive therapy and an extended sports rehab program failed to produce lasting results. I have always regarded surgery as a last option, but the pain was so severe I felt I had no choice. I then read about Dr. Sarnos books in U.S. News and World report, and although very skeptical, bought both his Healing Back Pain and The Mindbody Prescription. The main theory sounded ridiculous to me, but I was desperate enough to give it a try, so I read both books cover to cover. How could just realizing act that my tennis elbow was caused by repressed anger cure it? Sarno said its necessary for the concept to sink in to the subconcious for it to be effective, so I spent 30 minutes a day rereading the books and making a list of anything I could possibly be angry about.In about 6 days I had a marked improvement, and within a month I was totaly cured, and that was five months ago. Numerous other minor aches and pains have dissapeared as well.I think Dr. Sarno explains how he reaches his conclusions and the basic concept well. But there is no specific step by step program for the reader to convince his subconcious that repressed rage may be the cause. So I thougt it might be helpfull to a reader for me to say that I did not get instanous results like some people, it took a bit of time and effort for the basic concept to penetrate my subconscious. And I did that by simply reading the books over to cover; making a list of things I might be angry at; and then reading some from the two books each day.I cannot recommend Dr. Sarno's books highly enough, they have saved me a lot of suffering, both now and in the future.

My wife had headaches for over one year. From the moment she woke up to the moment she went to sleep. Life was hellish. Her neurologist said she had a problem with her neck. Her spinal colum was unbalanced and rubbing against a nerve, resulting in the headaches. He recommended we start with physiotherapy (4 months of treatment), them moved on to a chyropractor (4 months), then tried some medicine (with a nasty side effect - serious weight gain, aggressivity). We even tried acupuncture and massotherapy. Although everything worked a bit at the beginning, her headaches didn't go away. A friend who had been cured from serious bach pain said this book might help. I bought the book for my wife the next day. She read it. The first week there was no improvement. The second week she had slightly fewer headaches. The third week she had almost no headaches. The fourth week she was CURED! It is true, my wife does have a problem with her neck. I've seen the X-rays, all the doctors agreed. BUT this was not the root cause of her pain. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

The personal testiomonials throughout the book and amazon helped to add value to the concepts Dr. Sarno suggests. I have realized that the mind is connected with the body through my own experience in martial arts, endurance training and yoga. I was excited to read about it when I first heard of the book. As a physical therapist, exercise physiologist and biomechanist, however, I feel Dr. Sarno has underestimated the effects of muscular deconditioning and physical fitness. Throughout the book he discusses the "mindbody" connection, but it seems to me that he has decided to focus on the "mind" only and thrown out the importance of the "body". I completely agree with the fact that many physiological problems are either caused or manifested by the mind, however, we CANNOT forget about the physical deconditioning that results from pain. This deconditioning makes the body susceptible to real injury that is a result of mechanics - not the mind. Unfortunately, since he is not a physical therapist, exercise physiologist or biomechanist he is unaware of the complete importance of physical strength, lumbar stabilization, and correct ergonomics. Therefore, many people reading this book will think that physical therapy is worthless. Yes, I am prejudice, however, I can back this prejudice with scientific and clinical research & experience. I still believe that many of my patients are suffering from subconscious anger, but unless they can see that with an open mind and willingness to explore their innerself, they will still be in pain. I have referred several patients to read this book with much compassion and sincerity. Still no one has received benefit. At least I know that I can help them physically by educating them on strengthening, body mechanics, body awareness and relaxation. Physical therapy is not a waste. I agree with many of Dr. Sarno's ideas; I only wish he would see the whole picture. The goal should be to educate the public on the mind & body aspects!

Last winter I was stricken with near-crippling lower-back and hip pain, which I initially attributed to a combination of basketball and hours of shoveling heavy snow. For more than a month, getting out of bed each morning was a painful, arduous affair that could take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. As the day wore on I would improve somewhat but was still unable to sit in a chair, let alone exercise, do yoga, or contemplate cross-country skiing or playing hoops. I sought help from doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, physical therapists, and an acupuncturist. While acupuncture was very helpful, my long-term cure came from Dr. John Sarno's book Mind Over Back Pain. In it, Sarno clearly explains how the vast majority of back, neck, and shoulder pain is caused by stress. The pain I felt wasn't imaginary or psychosomatic in the sense that there weren't actually physical symptoms, but the cause of those symptoms (the result of restricted blood flow to my lower-back region) came from not processing my emotions as emotions. My back took the brunt of what my mind wasn't fully able/ready to accept. In The MindBody Prescription Dr. Sarno moves beyond just the back to explain how and why the mind causes pain in any number of places in the body; he applies those insights to help heal other maladies such as allergies, carpal tunnel syndrome, skin problems, and chronic fatigue syndrome. The reason most of these ailments don't respond to drugs and physical manipulations is that these approaches don't address the root cause of the problem: unrecognized emotional turmoil. If you're suffering from an ailment that is difficult to diagnose or not responding finding to conventional, or even alternative cures, read Sarno's book.

He is, as it were, a voice crying in the wilderness, but Dr. Sarno has written an extraordinarily truthful account of psychosomatic back pain - which is almost invariably poorly understood in pop. culture. Upon months of reflection, I am convinced that he has made a major contribution by helping to clarify the modus operandi of the human psyche. After two years of horrendous neck discomfort, I am, finally, approaching a metaphorical clearing in the woods, and the pain is lifting.

The most frequently heard criticism of Sarno, it seems, is that he relies on certain elements of Freudian psychology - namely, the unconscious and conversion symptoms. Regrettably, the mere mention of Freud - who, though surely not correct about everything, was nonetheless on the right track, so to speak, about many things - is enough to frighten and/or to turn away some people. This phenomenon is certainly regrettable, because deprecating Sarno's truthful - I emphasize, truthful - exposition because of his reliance on the psycho-analytical tradition not only prohibits these too hasteful critics from obtaining a better understanding of the psyche but also prolongs their pain.

It is doubtless important to note that Sarno's method is not an over-the-counter remedy and, moreover, that it requires considerable thought on the patient's part. But, the rewards are astounding. While instant, drugstore remedies are rarely more than temporarily effective - and, crucially, often serve to muffle symptoms which, rather than be muffled, should be listened to, as they are the mind's way of communicating important messages - Sarno's treatment lasts a lifetime and is an excellent introduction to psychosomatic medicine and psychodynamics.

I conclude by reiterating my high praise for Dr. Sarno and by restating that his tack does work, if the reader is authentically open to and receptive of what he is trying to say.