3 Years of Back Pain. Now 1 Year Pain-free

2017 I was traveling for work. This was a great opportunity for me professionally, but came with a lot of responsibility. I was in my mid-20s and just came off a major physical transformation, dropping 40 LBs of fat in the last year due to diet & exercise. I considered myself to be healthy. On the 4 hour drive there, I noticed some lower back pain and thought it to be the result of sitting too long in the car, I didn't think too much of it at first. On the drive back home 2 weeks later, the pain was still there. I decided to go see a doctor - This was the beginning of my 3 year journey to self-discovery. Each doctor I visited (probably 12-15 total) seemed to have a different answer, one said I wasn't aligned properly, another said scoliosis, a PT said it stemmed from my glutes. We tried everything under the sun (other than surgery thankfully) - sleeping in a different posture, standing up more at work, less exercise, weekly massages, dry needles, you name it. Yet, nothing seemed to work. If anything, things got worse. The pain consumed my waking hours. I was at a point of giving up in 2019, thinking that I would have to live this way for the rest of my life. I didn't know how I would be able to function, it was so frightening and a feeling of helplessness fell over me. I don't know how I would continue my job, relationships, or anything else for that matter. One day, I reluctantly decided to visit a chiropractor that worked at a local gym. I explained my entire story to him, trying to pinpoint every detail, expecting to get a typical diagnosis. After he listened and inspected my areas of pain, checking off all the boxes, he told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me, and that I should read a guy name Dr. John Sarno. Hearing the words "there's nothing wrong with you" was a moment of both shock, comfort, and anger. How could this be the case after all my troubles? I immediately went out and bought Healing Back Pain - The Mind Body Connection. In the first few pages, I felt like Sarno was talking to me. I spent the majority of my time after reading on TMS & hearing other stories, from this website included. The more I read, the more it made sense to me. The more it made sense to me, the more I believed. The more I believed, the more the pain subsided. I'm happy to report that I am now 29, completely pain-free for over a year. I have a healthy professional and personal life, am in the best shape of my life, attending the gym 2-3 times a week and playing basketball or tennis weekly, and couldn't be more proud of the journey this has taken me through. Thank you Dr. Sarno & Thank you Dr. Hess for referring me to Sarno!

 

Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end. Congratulations and keep the spirit alive. God speed!

 

Good to Great! I am happy about your achievement.

 

@mmalmgren: Thanks for posting your story! I can't tell you how encouraging it is to hear success stories. May I ask, how long was the period from the time you first starting reading Sarno till the time you were largely pain-free? And did you cold-turkey stop doing all other kind of interventions (e.g. PT), medication, etc. (assuming you were doing those things), or was it more like a gradual reduction? I'm struggling particularly with stopping vs cutting back on pain meds. Thanks in advance.

 

@mmalmgren , I volunteered to collect stories for the Thank you, Dr. Sarno! site. Dr. Sarno, unfortunately, passed away and will not see your post, but his family and many chronic pain sufferers would appreciate and benefit from reading your post. Would be great if you could PM me with the text (200-300 words) and photo (optional but desirable) and I will post it on the site. Thanks in advance!