A nice September day in 2010: A 35 year old squash playing fit me bounding around life happily...casually discussed some painless and bloodless hemorrhoid development with a very senior surgeon (who happened to be a friend of the family)...ended up getting convinced to undergo a "minor" haemorrhoid surgery...
the rest is painful history (or rather "was" very painful history for over five years till I bumped into the book by the king of all kings, Dr. Sarno!).
Soon after my haemorrhoid surgery in September 2010, I felt almost immediate tightness in the anal region, subsequently leading to a painful anal fissure. I also started noticing great weakness and instability in my legs, and soon enough, tremendous tightness in my (previously athletic) lower back, ultimately leading to spasms and then chronic low back, Sacroiliac joint area pain, Illitotibial area pain, buttocks pain, pain near the piriformis, nerve pain near the obturator nerve zone in the groin...to name some of the pain points!
From 2010 till July 2015, my life was in shambles mentally. Like many others, I embarked on an unsuccessful quest to get to the "bottom(!)" of my troubles. Some of my experiences (just some!) are quickly listed below:
A. Many of the Gastros I saw refused to understand the connect between the anal pain and the back pain, gave me many strong creams to insert, sitz baths etc. (Done - no gain)
B. Many of the Orthos I saw had nothing to say but first wanted to see MRIs before even venturing to say a word of comfort! (Done - no gain)
C. Many of the Surgeons I met wanted to cut me open again to do a lateral internal sphincterectomy! (Thankfully, NOT DONE - considered deeply though!)
D. An Acupuncturist I saw put enough needles all over my body for me to develop throbs and pains in other nerves around the body (especially the ankles)! (Done - no gain but some added pain)
E. Many of the physiotherapists I saw were certainly sincere and well meaning. Sincerely went through rounds and rounds of sessions focused on exercises, TENS machines etc. (Done - surely felt a little better and more confident with increased strength and flexibility - but core issues remained steady)
F. Chiropractors and manipulation in general sounded promising but did not give me any relief. (Done - no gain)
G. Neuro specialists made me undergo nerve conduction tests with unclear diagnosis, put me on strong meds which I quickly gave up as they were making me feel terrible. (Done - no gain)
H. Homeopathy seemed promising and I attempted it sincerely. (Done - no gain)
I. The Indian system of Ayurveda seemed holistic and made sense given its emphasis on natural herbal treatment. (Done - felt good overall but no gain in the key pain issues).
J. Stumbled upon Dr. John Sarno's work online...
the rest is happy recent history!
I immediately connected with what Dr. Sarno was saying and felt immediate relief on the first day of journaling. After sitting on tennis balls and various others cushions (many custom designed by me for me unusual issues!), it took me less than a day to remove them from all my chairs (home, cars, office...and a special travel kit for airplanes). My colleagues and family members were so used to seeing my various butt accessories that they immediately noticed their removal from my life.
I completed two back to back eight hour long drives on poor roads without back or butt support tools. When I felt a twinge of pain, I narrated some childish poems I had written about TMS and Dr. Sarno and immediately felt better. For example,
"oh dr. sarno, you are my sunshine,
you make me pain free, when my back acts up,
you'll never know doc, how much you help me,
when you take my pain away"
(sung in the same way as 'you are my sunshine' - silly but worked for me every single time).
It was astonishing. Not just that, I referred the book almost immediately to two friends who reported similar miraculous improvement in their chronic pain condition.
Miraculous...the joy around my own health has returned in my life and I am looking forward to my forties with great enthusiasm.
And the squash game is better than ever...even at 41!
God bless Dr. Sarno.
the rest is painful history (or rather "was" very painful history for over five years till I bumped into the book by the king of all kings, Dr. Sarno!).
Soon after my haemorrhoid surgery in September 2010, I felt almost immediate tightness in the anal region, subsequently leading to a painful anal fissure. I also started noticing great weakness and instability in my legs, and soon enough, tremendous tightness in my (previously athletic) lower back, ultimately leading to spasms and then chronic low back, Sacroiliac joint area pain, Illitotibial area pain, buttocks pain, pain near the piriformis, nerve pain near the obturator nerve zone in the groin...to name some of the pain points!
From 2010 till July 2015, my life was in shambles mentally. Like many others, I embarked on an unsuccessful quest to get to the "bottom(!)" of my troubles. Some of my experiences (just some!) are quickly listed below:
A. Many of the Gastros I saw refused to understand the connect between the anal pain and the back pain, gave me many strong creams to insert, sitz baths etc. (Done - no gain)
B. Many of the Orthos I saw had nothing to say but first wanted to see MRIs before even venturing to say a word of comfort! (Done - no gain)
C. Many of the Surgeons I met wanted to cut me open again to do a lateral internal sphincterectomy! (Thankfully, NOT DONE - considered deeply though!)
D. An Acupuncturist I saw put enough needles all over my body for me to develop throbs and pains in other nerves around the body (especially the ankles)! (Done - no gain but some added pain)
E. Many of the physiotherapists I saw were certainly sincere and well meaning. Sincerely went through rounds and rounds of sessions focused on exercises, TENS machines etc. (Done - surely felt a little better and more confident with increased strength and flexibility - but core issues remained steady)
F. Chiropractors and manipulation in general sounded promising but did not give me any relief. (Done - no gain)
G. Neuro specialists made me undergo nerve conduction tests with unclear diagnosis, put me on strong meds which I quickly gave up as they were making me feel terrible. (Done - no gain)
H. Homeopathy seemed promising and I attempted it sincerely. (Done - no gain)
I. The Indian system of Ayurveda seemed holistic and made sense given its emphasis on natural herbal treatment. (Done - felt good overall but no gain in the key pain issues).
J. Stumbled upon Dr. John Sarno's work online...
the rest is happy recent history!
I immediately connected with what Dr. Sarno was saying and felt immediate relief on the first day of journaling. After sitting on tennis balls and various others cushions (many custom designed by me for me unusual issues!), it took me less than a day to remove them from all my chairs (home, cars, office...and a special travel kit for airplanes). My colleagues and family members were so used to seeing my various butt accessories that they immediately noticed their removal from my life.
I completed two back to back eight hour long drives on poor roads without back or butt support tools. When I felt a twinge of pain, I narrated some childish poems I had written about TMS and Dr. Sarno and immediately felt better. For example,
"oh dr. sarno, you are my sunshine,
you make me pain free, when my back acts up,
you'll never know doc, how much you help me,
when you take my pain away"
(sung in the same way as 'you are my sunshine' - silly but worked for me every single time).
It was astonishing. Not just that, I referred the book almost immediately to two friends who reported similar miraculous improvement in their chronic pain condition.
Miraculous...the joy around my own health has returned in my life and I am looking forward to my forties with great enthusiasm.
And the squash game is better than ever...even at 41!
God bless Dr. Sarno.
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I am a behavioral trainer and sometimes my program participants would ask me if the balls (since I had them covered in nice looking wraps) were some special tools related to behavioral science...come to think of it, they were
