Day 1 Day 1

Hi all,

I've been experiencing neck and upper back pain for the past 4 years. The neck pain is most intense in my levator scapulae, especially on the left side. My upper back pain is between my shoulder blades, right next to my spine. The pain is always there, but it varies from a 2/10 to a 6/10. It gets worse the more time I spend time sitting at a desk or standing up, which makes it hard to do my job or help out with my 9 month old son.

I've met with 4 different physiotherapists, and tried acupuncture, chiropractic, NUCCA, trigger point massage, cortisone injections, EMDR psychotherapy, prolotherapy, and trigger point lidocaine injections. None of it has worked, at least not long term. At one point I convinced myself that the pain would go away if I lost a bunch of weight, so I starved myself for a few months and lost 40 lb. It didn't help at all.

I first encountered the mind body connection idea by stumbling on Alan Gordon's work. From there, I read Dr. John Sarno's Healing Back Pain book. I finished reading the book a few days ago, and I feel better than I have in years. The pain and stiffness is still there, but it is much reduced. If I notice that my neck or back is starting to burn and ache, I just say to myself "How can sitting in a chair cause damage to my spine? It can't." Once I repeat that to myself a few times, the pain usually stops building up.

I'm not entirely convinced that there is nothing structurally wrong with my spine or the muscles of my neck and back, but I can't deny that reading Dr. Sarno's book has been more helpful than anything else I've tried. I'm hopeful that this will turn out to be the cure I've been looking for, even if I am still a bit skeptical.