Dr. Hanscom's Blog Great newsletter and story from Dr. Hanscom

I get a newsletter from David Hanscom, MD - famously the Seattle back surgeon who abandoned his career in order to "spread the word" about healing back pain with mindbody knowledge and techniques. This story is a back-and-forth correspondence he had with someone in Tennessee, and it contains a terrific roadmap/ overview of the process he sees for people who have been considering back surgery. At the end is a link to "Learn More" where you can probably also sign up for his newsletter. I love the opening title he gave it.


It is Becoming Harder to Make a Living as a Surgeon………

When I began my surgical practice in 1986, I was convinced that spine surgery was a definitive solution for pain, and I aggressively offered many patients surgery. I eventually learned much better ways to solve pain; usually without surgery. I never dreamed that even surgical patients could have their pain resolve in the presence of severely pinched nerves. This letter represents a common story.

Asking for a referral

In late March this year I received this email from an educator in the South. I don’t recall how he found me.

Dear Dr. Hanscom,

Is there a doctor or clinic in the Nashville, TN area that you would recommend? I have ordered your book, Back in Control, and look forward to the journey!

Peace, Steve

My response:

Hi Steve,

I do not. However, what I have my patients do, who live a long ways from Seattle is to use my book as a foundation to begin the healing process and the website, www.backincontrol.com as the action plan. I suggest working with your primary care physician regarding sleep and medication management. If you can find a local counselor or biofeedback provider to help with the stress management, it is helpful. Most people that have gotten better have done it on their own by applying these concepts to their own specific situation. Eventually you may join a gym and consider working with a physical therapist. I am working hard on getting these concepts into the public domain and it is gaining traction. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Best regards, David Hanscom

He quickly wrote back:

Thank you for responding Dr. Hanscom. I should receive your book Monday. The surgeon I have seen believes I need neck surgery. The C5-6 & C6-7 levels have very little space from degenerative loss. I currently have neck pain radiating into the left upper extremity to the wrist with numbness in my left thumb. I have muscle spasms in my left arm as well. I’ve been doing PT off and on for about three years with some benefit. But recently the symptoms have gotten worse. I’m 63 years-old, 6′ ‘6″in height and weigh 225 pounds. I played intercollegiate basketball and continued until age 40…took up racquetball until age 55. I am now active hiking and biking. Obviously, I would rather not have surgery!! Looking forward to reading and applying the concepts in your book.

Thank you again! Steve

My reply:

Hi Steve, Great. Feel free to contact me in a few weeks to talk all of this over. Best of luck. David Hanscom

His recent email:

Dr. Hanscom, I finished your book. I have already recommended it to several friends who deal with back pain. I was scheduled to have neck surgery May 12 but canceled. After applying your recommended DOC process (especially the writing and discovering my anger) within a few days the pain went from “cut me open now” to “I can live with this”. If I had to rate my pain, it was a 7-9 and now is a 0-3. It is mainly a discomfort rather than a deep pain. It’s funny…our NHL team is playing for the Stanly Cup. The past several months I would pound on the glass during a game with only my right hand because of the neck and arm pain…I noticed Tuesday night that I was pounding on the glass using both arms… I laughed…maybe because we were winning…but also, “Wow I’m using my left arm now and it doesn’t hurt!”

My wife deals with trigeminal neuralgia. She is reading your book now. It sounds like the principles can be applied to most/all chronic pain.

I am so thankful for what you have shared in your book. Your honesty, vulnerability, and life journey has I’m sure helped those you love and those you treat and now thru your book, those who read it and apply it.

Thank you! Grace & peace, Steve


This sequence transpired over a two-month span. I have heard similar stories from people all over the country, and witnessed many surgical patients in my own practice heal without undergoing the proposed surgery.
READ MORE

 

I was contemplating how well this short article provides a simple-to-follow framework for doing this work while mindfully incorporating the skills of non-TMS practitioners. I realized that Dr Hanscom does this without using the term TMS, or mentioning Dr Sarno - yet I was sure he started out by doing both, but I wondered if my memory was accurate.

We denigrate Dr Google all the time on the forum, for good reason, but there's still plenty of value in being able to find almost anything these days as long as it is properly authoritative. So I turned to Google, and lo and behold, my first hit was this short article that Dr Hanscom wrote in 2017 for Psychology Today - and it's all there:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unlearn-your-pain/201707/john-sarno-md-american-hero%3famp (John Sarno, M.D., An American Hero)