2 new inputs

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/aug/18/good-posture-doesnt-prevent-back-pain-and-bad-posture-doesnt-cause-it (‘Good’ posture doesn’t prevent back pain, and ‘bad’ posture doesn’t cause it | Peter O'Sullivan, Leon Straker and Nic Saraceni for The Conversation)

https://sebastianrushworth.com/2022/07/26/is-meditation-effective-for-chronic-back-pain/ (Is meditation effective for chronic back pain?)

 

Great info! Thank you for posting!

 

I had persistent low back pain from 1967 until 1991 (the latter year, not coincidentally, was when Dr. Sarno published Healing Back Pain, and I read it and applied it). During that period, I regularly used a back cushion for needed (so I thought) support when I sat in a chair. Of course, the cushion never worked. Neither did the stand up desk I got. Neither did the back and abdominal muscle strengthening exercises I was prescribed. Neither did the back injections. I have not had a single backache since 1991. Once it became clear to me that backaches were in my past, I would celebrate my TMS success by deliberately slouching when I sat in a chair. I still slouch, not to celebrate but because I find it is the most comfortable way to sit.

Dr. Schubiner has an overarching view of the different-strokes-for-different-folks phenomenon regarding PPD treatment that makes a lot of sense to me. He says that to recover from PPD, a person needs four things: an explanation of what is wrong, a technique to fix it, hope and optimism about recovering, and an expert whom the person trusts. It is the expert who provides the explanation of what is wrong and the technique to fix it and who induces the person to be hopeful and optimistic about recovering. Unless the person trusts that the expert knows what he or she is talking about, the explanation of what is wrong and the technique to fix it won’t ring true, and the person will not have the necessary hope and optimism. Because recovery from PPD ultimately comes down to trust, Schubiner acknowledges that even body-focused explanations and techniques--like Feldenkrais, chiropractic, acupuncture, and physical therapy--can work for patients with PPD if they trust that their practitioner knows what he or she talking about, but Schubiner thinks those patients would do better if they understood and accepted brain-focused explanations and techniques.

 

I was always surprised to hear that people think slouching gives back pain. I've been a habitual sloucher since childhood and have never had back pain.
I'm trying now to stop my slouching-- not because of pain -- because now I feel like I'm starting to look like a "little old lady!"

This is such a great explanation. I've seen it so many times for me. When a kindly doctor in his or her white coat and all their experience explains everything and then puts a friendly hand on your shoulder and says, "you're going to be fine." Suddenly everything lifts.

I had that experience after a horrid virus in the beginning of December 2019/January 2020 (right prior to COVID). I was starting to get better from the main part of the virus after 3 weeks but then I felt absolutely horrid and couldn't shake it. It got so bad that my appetite was completely gone. I had to force myself just to get in about 300 calories a day. I was exhausted. Worried about sinus infection and many other things. Toward the end of January I went to an ENT. He was an older man (retired shortly thereafter) and for whatever reason he instilled confidence. He checked everything out. Explained things clearly. Answered my many questions even when I repeated them to confirm "So you are sure that.....?" Toward the end he said, "I think you FEEL worse than you ARE." That changed everything. He wasn't minimizing that I felt like shit. But he was letting me know that there was no (dangerous) reason why.
On the way home from that visit we stopped at the food trucks. I was able to eat a bit for the first time in a long time. And then over the next few days I got better and better. It still took several months to get back to 100% and it's likely I was having real residual viral effects but they no longer dominated me. It was exactly has Dr. Schubiner describes in Duggit's post.