NO NEED TO LIVE WITH BACK PAIN

No Need to Live with Back Pain

It’s not only what we lift and how we lift it that can cause pain, as we who are healing or have already healed by following Dr. Sarno’s theory of T&MS. It’s because of repressed emotions… anger, anxiety, being a worrier or perfectionist, being overly conscientious, having low self-esteem, and other psychological problems we have not learned to recognize and deal with.

Back pain is a common complaint today where it was hardly talked about even half a century ago. The pace of modern life has brought with it lots of emotional stresses that cause back pain. There seems to be more to do every day than there ever was before. And many people “multi-task,” doing two or more things at once in order to keep up with what they have on their daily schedule, at work or at home.

At the same time, there is little doubt that the pressure of modern life is likely to keep on increasing rather than falling away and allowing us to relax in the way that we would probably all like to.

Because life is becoming ever more frantic and stressful, there can be little doubt that the stresses and strains on your body are also increasing on a daily basis. It is little surprise that so many people are plagued with constant niggles, aches and pains. Indeed, some unfortunate people are forced to suffer their pain in silence, trying to live a life that is as normal as possible.

Of course, because most people do not find themselves in this situation, they probably give very little thought or perhaps no thought at all to the pummeling that their body takes daily. That is likely to continue until some kind of body pain hits, and from that point on, pain becomes a very real and important consideration in their life.

For me it came a year ago when I lifted a case of 36 cans of beer into my shopping cart at a supermarket. I literally saw stars. I suffered with the pain for several weeks, not going to my doctor because I knew he would just give me some painkiller and I try to avoid any such temporary relief. Or he would have suggested I get X-rays and cat scans to see if I needed an operation. I stay away from doctors who want to cut into me. Two of them did, a few years ago, and the operations were both unnecessary.

So I emailed a friend in Hawaii who is a nurse and asked what she recommended for back pain and she said “Read Dr. John Sarno’s book, Healing Back Pain.” I did, and learned about most of our pain not being caused by lifting something heavy or a sports injury but by one or more repressed emotions.

I spent some months learning what they are, through journaling about my life from the earliest days I can remember, up to the present, and discovered I had enough to fill a book. Maybe not the size of War and Peace, but a book nonetheless. Most of my repressed emotions came from preteen and teen years in a family life with more than its share of drinking, gambling, bills, debt, near poverty, and divorce.

Yes, we’re living in a hectic world at a stressful time, and it is estimated that between 50 million and 80 million US citizens suffer from chronic pain (defined as a pain that has lasted for more than six months), and that this costs over $100 billion in social costs every year.

Back pain is one of the most common reasons for people visiting their doctor or medical practitioner. As many as four out of every five people in the world will have to consult a medical professional at some point in their lives with a back pain problem.
For those who have never suffered back pain, it is possible that they can sympathize with those who are regular sufferers, but it is unlikely that they can truly appreciate the amount of pain and suffering that back pain brings.

Only a fellow back pain sufferer can truly sympathize and empathize with other sufferers who have been stricken with a similar problem to theirs. It is also relevant to note that the incidence of chronic back pain

What is back pain?

Stating the obvious, back pain is a pain or discomfort that you feel in your back, with the most common form being pain or discomfort in the lower back area. Most importantly, it is an indication that there is something wrong with your back, usually something that is related to musculoskeletal problems.

The problem for some people that suffer back pain is that they never give it a moment’s thought most of the time, because during those periods of their life they are not in pain. However, as soon as the pain hits, it is a pain that they will feel almost irrespective of what they are doing. If they are walking or standing, they will be in pain, but even if they are sitting down in a favorite chair or lying down, the chances are that they will still feel the pain.

For anyone who is lucky enough to suffer back pain only intermittently, they will forget how much difficulty they were previously suffering after the pain has gone away again. The complaint of lower back pain is one of the most common medical complaints known, and yet, because there are many possible causes, it can also be one of the most frustrating and difficult problems for both patients and their medical attendants to deal with.

If you've been suffering from back pain for months or years, the good news is that back pain can be treated without pills or surgery. Thousands of people, me included, have gotten rid of back pain through believing in TMS. Thanks to Dr. Sarno and his books, Steve Ozanich’s The Great Pain Deception, Dr. Scott Brady’s Pain Free for Life,” and others who have become pain free through believing in TMS causing the pain.

This web site, TMSWiki.org/forum offers several free courses in becoming pain free through TMS techniques such as Dr. Alan Gordon’s TMS Recovery Program. To learn more, join us in a free hour-long call-in discussion Thursday at 8 pm Eastern time for Chapter 9 of Steve Ozanich’s book. There’s a post on it in this web site.

Good luck with ridding yourself of your back pain. It can be done without drugs or surgery, through TMS healing techniques you can read about in the books mentioned and from postings on this web site.

 

This is a great post, and a great post Title. I hope people read and understand this, good job Walt! You're doing great.

Although I'm sure Alan Gordon likes you calling him a doctor, it's probably making his insurance premiums go up with just the notion. I keep getting people who call me Dr. Ozanich. I wish they would stop, they're making my mom complain more to me about why I didn't become a doctor.

During round one of the PR surge the show hosts kept calling me Dr. Ozanich. So I called the PR group to tell them to make sure the shows know that I'm not a medical doctor, and don't claim to be one. They assured me they told everyone, and they showed me what they had been publicizing me as. They had been promoting me as a laymen, a regular Joe with a cool story. But to make certain the shows understood, they began to double up on their emphasis that I was not an MD. On the very next show the host introduced me as "Dr. Steven Ozanich." I told the host, "I'm not a physician, I'm just a guy with a book." The host said, "Oh, sorry Dr. Ozanich, I thought you were a doctor." He then called me Dr. three more times.I could hear the co-host giggling. Habits are hard to break. Pain is a habit.

So I told the PR firm again. So they began to re-emphasize to the shows that I was not a physician. For the next 9 shows in a row, the radio hosts called me Dr. Ozanich. I just gave up and accepted the dubious title.

When people make up their minds that you are something, then you are that to them. I took it as a badge of honor that my work made them think I was trained in medicine and psychology. But the truth is, I learned everything I know by fire. You cannot teach people what I've learned, it must be experienced. People want me to teach them how to not be angry, and how to forgive a family member, and how to have faith. I cannot do that. Healing and learning come from within. It is not something one person can teach another, except by example.

Having said that, the word "doctor" means, "to teach."

Steven Ray Ozanich, PhD (post hole digger).

 

Steve, I know how you feel about being misidentified as a doctor.

My last name, Oleksy, is Ukrainian, but Olesky is a Polish name,
and people often call me Olesky. When I was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune
for seven years, most of my bylines were Walter Olesky because so many of the
men in the paper's pressroom were Polish. I had to have the copy desk editors
change it, especially on front page bylines. I expect my name to be misspelled on
my tombstone.

I too thought Alan Gordon is a doctor, so I will be sure to correct that.

I have a thing about calling anyone but a medical doctor or dentist "doctor.
I think it's unfair for academics with PhD's to call themselves doctor.
When I went to work for the Chicago Tribune, Colonel Robert R McCormick
was still alive and active on the paper and one of his cardinal rules to reporters
was that they only identify a medical doctor or dentist "doctor."

I had a favorite aunt who had a PhD in English and didn't call herself doctor,
but she said that for a big commencement event she would don her cap and gown
and march up an auditorium aisle at the University of Illinois in Chicago and
at a certain time in the parade, everyone with a PhD would move the tassel on
their mortarboard cap from one side to the other which signified they had a
doctorate degree. Such ego trips!

I'm glad you pointed out that "doctor" means "to teach."
The media has yet to understand that, but then the media has a lot yet to
understand. It wasn't what it was when I was a reporter in the 1970s and 1980s.

We had integrity back then. Now it's a job that pays well, like pro athletes and coaches
today. Money can't buy integrity or self-respect, but so many people today don't care.