Dr. David Hanscom on The Dr. Oz Show Thurs 12/5

Forest

Forest

Beloved Grand Eagle
I'm very excited to share with you all that Dr. David Hanscom, a back surgeon who overcame TMS himself and who takes a mind-body approach with his patients, will be on The Dr. Oz Show on FOX this Thursday (December 5th) at 3pm ET! It is terrific that there is this opportunity to present a mind-body approach to back surgery (and from a successful back surgeon, no less) to such a large audience.

Here's a link for more information: http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/new-breakthrough-no-pill-pain-fighters

Dr. Hanscom also has a blog that is fed into our Practitioner's Corner subforum. There's some great discussion on some of these threads, including posts by Herbie and quert about lessons learned from "The Cup Song" .
 
The idea of a mindbody physician going on the Dr. Oz show seems to have gotten people pretty excited on Facebook. Practitioners seem excited about it as well, so I thought people might want to learn more about him. In the following series of videos, Dr. Hanscom describes his ideas for healing. Feel free to pick and choose and only click on the ones you are most interested in. (You can see the title at the top of each video.)

I haven't watched the videos for a while and if I remember correctly, he thought considerably more "physically" than I do, but I figure that everyone is welcome to their own opinions.

 
He's still too structural in his thinking. They have real trouble giving up their medical training, I suppose it's like asking a giraffe to give up its neck. It's their identity. Do you know how I know? He's told people they had disc problems, but they wouldn't listen to him, and they healed with TMS-healing. Two sufferers contacted me last summer and I sent them to a TMS doc. They're fine now, no surgeries.

But--like the movie "What About Bob?"...Baby Steps Bob... It's at least something, a start to shifting a false paradigm. I would think he would give Dr. Sarno all credit on Oz? Anyone wanna bet on that bet?

Steve
 
I would think he would give Dr. Sarno all credit on Oz? Anyone wanna bet on that bet? Steve
Click to expand...

I didn't catch the last minute or two because of an Amber Alert that came up on my TV (what timing). I don't think he did credit Dr. Sarno.
 
In his book, Hanscome clearly healed from his own pain with Dr. Sarno's courageous body of work, but he never gave him credit on Oz. He even called it mindbody syndrome for some reason instead of TMS. But that's to be expected. The worst part is the whacky explanation he invented for back pain. The audience looked confused. It was so out there that The Examiner wouldn't print it.

But at least it happened. Someone finally had the courage to say something else. And at least Oz allowed it to occur. So kudos. At least someone is saying something other than the structural. He said 90% of back pain didn't need operated on, that's a good start. The TMS physicians, led by the good doctor have said that it's abut 99%, or so.

When you look at Samantha's synopsis of the show, she doesn't even mention Hanscome's segment, but she mentioned all the others. My guess is due to his wild explanation for nerves and pain: BSB.
http://www.examiner.com/article/dr-oz-reveals-no-pill-pain-killers-for-treating-back-and-joint-pain

Steve
 
Keep in mind that by the time something airs, it's been considerably edited. So mebbe...just mebbe...he DID give credit?

But yeah, "Baby steps, Bob!" (That's a line frequently used in my house. :) )
 
Tis true Northstar, but his first words should be of thanks to who helped him from suffering. It try in every interview to tell people that it was Dr. Sarno who changed my life forever.

But that's a personal choice we all make. Judge not, lest ye be hit on the head with a hammer, by a judge.
 
I like the Drs writings but I agree with Steve on how he should have mentioned TMS which he did in a way with the mindbody but thats a different story with a different name- Remember Schubiner and he mentioned how folks weren't healing with just the mindfulness- they had to know the tms knowledge too.

TMS which has been proven by Dr. Sarno and Dr. Schubiner and many others is very different than only mind body work, thats all im saying.

Although It could be Steve that the DR. is getting in a little Step at a time before he blows the lid off and tells everyone the sarno cure, time will tell. Im sure he already gets most his results this way ya know.
 
Steve, it sounds as though Dr Hanscom wants to have it both ways - the structural and the psychological at the same time - because, as you suggest, he's invested a lot of time and money in his professional education and practice as a back surgeon. If you saw this in a TMS patient, you would tell them to abandon the structural and think psychological to achieve full healing. But he is moving along the path toward full acceptance of the TMS diagnosis; Dr Hanscom just hasn't reached the same point that Dr Sarno did when he decided to start "going clean" without the added support of the physical therapists he used to use in conjuction with his talk therapy. I do know a woman who had a malignant tumor surgically removed from her upper spine recently, and that really, really hurt like heck. So, there still is room for a spinal surgeon to practice his craft in that kind of situation. But from what I've seen both in others and myself at least 90% of lower lumbar pain and sciatica is psychological in orgin. Someone has just been under too much stress, either self-imposed or external, for just too long and then they start going TMS symptomatic when it all gets to be too much. That's a lot more typical scenario than a tumor on the spine, I'd opine.

After watching the videos Forest posted, I also came to conclusion that perhaps Dr Hanscom's patients are getting better because he is performing a psychotherapeutic role by listening to them, being a real human being, instead of a medical mechanic. That might be the real reason for their cures: An empathetic authority figure who sympathizes with them and their emotional situation.

Here's Doctor Hanscom's book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Back-Control-surgeons-roadmap-chronic/dp/0988272903/?tag=drozfans-20

Have to take a glance at what sort of customer reviews it gets. Sometimes those are quite revealing.
 
Last edited:
I too watched all the clips. (Thanks, Forest!) His reference to good posture and PT gave me pause as well. I'm really, REALLY glad I've read Sarno's and Steve's book because those simple little comments he says still triggers the ole "Oh yeah, I need to be careful and fill-in-the-blank-with-medical/physical-intervention". NO, no, NO! (And the fact that I still had that knee jerk response suggests to me there is still doubt lingering in my mind, especially given the persistence of some of my symptoms.

I read some stuff on his website too and saw some of those thoughts echoed there as well. Perhaps for some people, it's just another pathway to total freedom.

One thing I do like about his journaling suggestions, which I am going to implement, is to destroy the pages right after you've written them. While I try to be as candid as possible, I still write with an inner censor given my concern that a curious family member would find mom's frank musings. It's worth giving it a try for a few weeks, me thinks.
 
Personally, I credit Dr. Hanscom's book for my dramatic improvement. I did get a lot of help and the initial realization from Dr. Sarno's books, but I needed more. While reading Dr. Hanscom's book was when I really began to heal. I think it is because I don't believe that in all or even in most cases, it is an all or nothing proposition between the mental and the physical. This is because, carried to the extreme, TMS'ers would be immortal. We will all get sick and die someday. I think people who have "recovered" from TMS need to remember that. I think most often there are elements of both. It was this realization that really got me on the road to healing. I actually think, and I think that Dr. Sarno may have thought so also, that TMS is often protective against more serious disease, like cancer, because it channels the mental difficulties into a more harmless avenue, like back pain. That is why I am in no hurry to get rid of my TMS pain. I regard it as an extremely valuable unconscious communication that I need to explore, which I will only be motivated to so if I experience pain. So my healing is much more about getting to KNOW and really EXPERIENCE my pain than getting rid of it. I think this is why somatic experiencing and EFT have helped me so much. So for me, dealing with my TMS is all about the quality and not about the quantity of my life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top