Quack! Facebook Back Treatments

For the past couple of weeks, this ad for the Peninsula Disc and Nerve Center has been showing up on my Facebook site:

http://peninsuladiscandnerve.com/lb-disc-pain-relief-2/ (Low Back and Disc Pain Treatment | Peninsula Disc and Nerve Center)

That is the San Francisco Peninsula they're talking about by the way.

If you read down, you'll see that treatment for a number of structural spinal abnormalities can be broken down under three categories:

• Traction (does anyone but these guys do this anymore?). They call it "Non-surgical spinal decompression therapy" and claim that it helps healing. Sure! How?
  
• Class 4 Deep Tissue Laser Therapy, which they claim increases circulation to the 'injured' areas of your spine. Looks like a laser wand that brings heat to the painful area to me. Probably increases blood flow and O2 to the area.
  
• Advanced Spinal Rehabilitation Therapy. Looks like plain old PT to me.

Their whole treatment regime looks very much like a combination of traction, heat stimulation with a laser wand, followed by a specialized physical therapy program all based on the assumption that sciatica and LBP are caused by structural damage (or injury) in the lower lumbar region. How is this new treatment any different than the standard traction, ice and stim, physical therapy routine that's been prescribed for decades and which usually has no more than a temporary effect most likely due to the placebo response?

Just goes to show how desperate some lower back pain sufferers must be that they succumb to this glitzy marketing strategy! Talk about peddling nonsense for big bucks!

 

Hi, Bruce. You seem to enjoy Facebook, but I do not like to spend any time at all on social media. I don't care where people have lunch or what rock concerts they go to. I also think postings on Facebook can be very misleading. That back pain marketing stuff on Facebook can be as bad as the pain killer commercials on television. I find deep breathing, total belief in TMS and meditation the most help in healing and staying well.


Meditation is a time-honored way of relaxing the mind and relieving anxiety, mental stress, headaches, and even physical pain. There are many ways to practice meditation, but many consider the most successful to be a technique called the Relaxation Response (RR).


It is a wonderful way to practice TMS Mindbody Healing because it changes harmful thinking in the subconscious mind which Dr. John Sarno says causes pain in many people.

It is done 20 minutes once or twice a day, before a meal and works best if not practiced within two hours after a meal. I do it in bed before arising in the morning and again in bed before falling sleep. Often, I only do it 5 or 10 minutes and it works to calm me and put me to sleep.


The RR, practiced daily for a few minutes has a profound positive effect on the subconscious mind, relieving or curing everything from inflammation and pain to headaches, stomach problems, insomnia, high blood pressure, to even aiding in recovery from cancer.


RR is like Tanscendental Meditation which is taught by TM specialists who charge hundreds or thousands of dollars. But the RR is free and you can do it yourself.


It is do

Just sit in a chair (or lie in bed in the morning or at bedtime), close your eyes, don’t listen to any music, and try to avoid outside noises. Let your mind think of a word such as "One " which has no real meaning or association. Or say a calming word such as “Peace,” or add the faith or spiritual element by saying a favorite religious word. Breathe in through the nose, hold the breath for a few seconds, then say the word when you exhale.


Say the word silently over and over. At the end of the 10 to 20 minutes, picture and feel yourself as you were when you felt your best, and in a place where you felt that way.


When distracting thoughts arise during the RR, as they will, just tell yourslf, “Oh, well,” and go back to repeating your chosen word. Transcendental Meditation teachers will charge hundreds of dollars to give practitioners a word, but the word you choose yourself in the RR works just as well.


There are several free videos on Youtube about the Relaxation Response. I especially recommend these two by Dr. Benson:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCsFuoFRp8

 

Whether the Peninsula Disc and Nerve Center ad appears on FB or in the San Francisco Chronicle or the NY Times, it still sounds like a scam attempting to lure desperate people in pain into paying big bucks for ineffective therapies.

The PPD/TMS Peer Network is also on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/ppdtms/ (PPD / TMS Peer Network (TMS Wiki))