Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain

by Ronald D. Siegel, Michael Urdang, Douglas R. Johnson

On occasion nearly everyone experiences short-term back pain from sore or strained muscles. But for many who come to treat their back gingerly because they fear further "injury," a cycle of worry and inactivity results; this aggravates existing muscle tightness and leads them to think of themselves as having a "bad back." Even worse is the understandable but usually counterproductive assumption that back pain is caused by "abnormalities"–bulging disks, a damaged spine, and so on. However, these abnormalities are frequently found in those who have absolutely no pain whatsoever. In reality, most backs are strong and resilient, built to support our bodies for a lifetime; truly "bad backs" are rare.

Drawing on their work with patients and studies from major scientific journals and corporations, the authors of Back Sense– all three are former chronic back pain sufferers themselves–developed a revolutionary self-treatment approach targeting the true causes of chronic back pain. It is based on conclusive evidence proving that stress and inactivity are usually the prime offenders, and it allows patients to avoid the restrictions and expense of most other treatments. After showing readers how to rule out the possibility that a rare medical condition is the source of their problem, Back Sense clearly and convincingly explains the actual factors behind chronic back pain and systematically leads readers toward recapturing a life free of back pain.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

My doctors were recommending surgery. I read 12 other books on back pain before picking this one up. It just made sense to me and it was the only book that gave me hope of a normal active life again. I went with it and after a year of pain and fear and several months on worker's comp, the pain was gone. That was 10 years ago! In that time I resumed heavy lifting as a nurse, back packed, travelled the world and gave birth to two babies, the second one a whopping 10.5 lbs, pain-free. It wasn't in my head, the pain was real, the disc was herniated, it still is, but I no longer fear it. In the couple of times that I have felt that familiar twinge of pain since, I haven't been afraid; I know what to do.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by my Doctor. I have also read John Sarno's book on mind-body back pain and found Back Sense to be a much better read. Ronald Siegels tone through-out the book comes from a place of compassion and understanding while giving supporting evidence through reputable resources. (for example, New England Journal of Medican). He also give come concrete ways of dealing and alleviating the pain. I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from neck, back or even TMJ pain.

[Carol Catinari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad to have stumbled onto this book. It was listed in Kaiser Back Help bibliography and I ordered it from local library. It puts a whole new spin on back pain...and is slowly changing my life...

[Stuti Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongly recommended for anyone who has had any back problems or expects them in the future. Also recommended for anyone who is dealing with any chronic ailments which are keeping you from living life to its fullest.

[Cher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very difficult book for me to review. Part of me wants to give it 5 stars for its bold position at looking at back pain in a very unique perspective and taking such a non-invasive approach to healing back pain! But part of me is still very skeptical that ending back pain could be so simple in so many cases and I want to give it one star for over simplifing the issue!

There are adequate warnings in this book to make sure and rule out serious and specific physiological causes of your back pain with your doctor before assuming all back pain is simply due to emotional stress and so I have few concerns that someone would ignore a true and present medical condition but part of me is still skeptical of the statistics given for how infrequently a medical condition causes back pain.

I guess my bottom line is that this book is worth reading and the methodology worth trying before giving up and living with pain forever--what do you have to loose? There is something to be said, after all, for the power of positive thinking. An interesting approach and connection between pain and emotional stress and I can see the benefits of minimizing emotional stress and muscle tension from your daily routine!

[Dave Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by my back doctor, which turns out is no surprise since he was mentioned in the introduction as a primary contributor and inspiration. Dr. John Sarno was also thanked. I recently read two of Sarno's books, which I feel did a better job than Siegel did with Back Sense at explaining the specifics of how tension can cause all sorts of ailments. Start with Sarno, then skim Siegel.

[Allan Pettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulously clear. Inspirational - I intellectually "knew" my backpain was not structural, but I had pretty much bought into the idea it was permanently f***ed.
Now I'm convinced that it's largely been stress based, fear driven, and I can see the path out of that mindset.

[Duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be more about you head than your back.

[Morven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a novel approach, that it's your mind that causes the cycle of pain and you can break it. I was already aware of the relationship between stress and pain, but thought it didn't apply to me because I left a stressful career. What I didn't realize is that my fear of pain, frustration with increasing pain, and so on was my new stressor. This book helped me understand that.

His writing is very convincing, and the techniques he suggested did seem to work -- for a few days. Then I had to fall back on some of my go-to strategies for pain relief, but they were the strategies I use for mild pain -- ice, OTC pain relievers, lidocaine cream, lying on the floor, and so on. I didn't need anything further than that, and that was definitely an improvement. After a few days of low pain, pain flared again, but I was also able to reduce it using similar methods.

So, for me, it hasn't yet been a complete cure, but another good tool in my toolbox. A doctor recommended Back Sense, stating that even though my biggest problem is neck pain, he thought it would help. It did help the intensity of the pain, making it more manageable, so I'm going to continue following his approach.

[Dave Lemen · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of boils down to "deal with it".

[Ssmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely repetitive.

[Eric Satlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful, bringing together ideas from a number of domains - cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation to name two - in order to address a common problem. Why does my back hurt?

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this book is a little poorly organized and repetitive, but other than that it really helped me with my back pain.

[Mary]

recommended by Blue Cross blue Shield. Interesting stress on stress.