Dr. Hanscom's Blog The Power of Love – Anthony

Anthony was a patient who I saw just a couple of times in his early 20’s. He was experiencing low back pain that was significantly impacting his quality of life. His MRI scan showed some mild degeneration at L4-5 and was not a problem that responds to surgery. Here is his perspective:

Anthony’s story



I saw Dr. Hanscom after dealing with 3 years of chronic back pain and exhausting what I thought were all my non-surgical options. I had a bulging disc that was pinching a nerve and causing the left side of my body to tighten up. As a pianist and teacher this affected me quite a bit and at this point I was starting to feel quite depressed. I figured if the lesion was removed than the pain would go with it. I was somewhat surprised when he advised against surgery. I was even more surprised when he basically told me the pain was all in my head. Coming from someone who made his living doing surgeries, I appreciated his honesty and knew he was coming from a sincere place. I didn’t really want to hear that my pain was psychosomatic; but I took what he said to heart. He also gave me a copy of his unfinished book and other reading material.

Four Years Later



I just received this letter from him last week.

Hello Dr. Hanscom,

I recently saw an article on NaturalNews.com about your work and felt compelled to write you.

I saw you a few years ago a couple of times. I was a young man with chronic low back pain and a somewhat hopeless attitude. You gave me a copy of your book and I read it. It made a lot of sense to me, but required a lot of reflection of my life, which was difficult. I wanted to let you know that something dramatic happened to me a few months after seeing you that changed my outlook on pain. I was given an opportunity to care for a newborn little girl with my girlfriend (now wife). The love that I had/have for this little girl completely changed how I view the world and my place in it. It also forced me to reflect on my childhood and deal with some things that needed to be dealt with. A few months after caring for this child my back pain started to decrease; a few months later the chronic pain was gone.

I really believe you are on to something and hope you continue your work. I also want to thank you as the timing of seeing you and the events in my life were almost serendipitous.

I left a nice comment for you on the NaturalNews site.

Thanks again,

Anthony

Anthony’s synopsis

What changed? It wasn’t the lesion; it was simply my attitude. In particular, much more love. I am glad I had the opportunity to see a doctor that gave me some clinical affirmation to what I experienced first hand. I believe the subject should be explored more, and wish Dr. Hanscom all the best.

It is about connection



It is not possible to solve chronic pain until you can let go of anger. It is not a psychological issue. The neurological pathways of pain and anger are intertwined. It is only by truly letting go of the past through forgiveness, and connecting with the best part of who you are (love), will you be able to heal and move on.

I really appreciated his letter. It is inspiring for me to hear his story.

 

I enjoyed this exchange of posts and how love brought healing to Anthony's back pain.
He thought back on his boyhood and it led him to relief from the anger he felt about his early years.

Thanks for sharing this, David.

Just thinking about the people I love and who love me makes me feel great. There is then no room for anger.

 

I read this earlier today, and it resonated. Then when I was walking my two golden retrievers this evening, it occurred to me the love I have and receive from them unconditionally. Then it hit me that during two really difficult times in my life, the actual process of daily walking my dogs has been a saving grace in my life in various ways. Not only do I feel love for and from them, I also receive such a mental and physical gift from the act of walking them and being outdoors. Just a thought!

 

Hello Dr. Hanscom,

I'm so happy for your patient Andrew. I wish him continued good health and a wonderful pain-free life with his family.

That idea about the anger and pain pathways being intertwined blew me away. Up until this point I had always considered forgiveness to be more of a spiritual concept (e.g we forgive because it feels good and somehow we get rewarded with more peace, less pain). To see it as having a biological component and such a direct relationship to pain brings my motivation to forgive to a whole new level!

Thank you for that!