Many years ago, a woman walked into my office and asked me to help her with her back pain.
I examined her and then, based on the exam, treated her using osteopathic manipulation. She came a few times and then disappeared.
When this happens I wonder what happened.
Did they recover or maybe just decided to explore new ways for help or maybe…..?
Well, this particular patient did return after sometime. I don’t know why she came back but she mentioned when I asked how she was doing that among other things she had no more back pain. None.
This intrigued me and I asked her to let me know what she had done to be free of the pain.
I heard about this doctor in NYC named John Sarno. He was famous for a particular lecture explaining his approach and how to use it to be pain free.
I got on a train, went to the lecture and emerged pain free. I have never had any pain since then.
I found this unbelievable but decided, I need to check this out. Who knows, maybe I can learn something to help my patients.
John Sarno, MD, wrote five books on his work. I bought one and read it. It seemed interesting enough.
His basic premise is that the brain creates and can maintain pain. We are speaking of psychosomatic or brain generated pain.
Often doctors will examine a patient who complains of pain. Depending on the cause of the pain, a specific treatment may be used. Some patients receive medications, others surgery and still others injections, PT or other therapies.
What Sarno, who headed a pain clinic at NYU in the Rusk Rehabilitation Institute in NYC found is that there was a fairly large group of patients who, despite regular treatment, never were pain free.
He figured that they must have a cause of pain that the doctors could not identify.
This is psychosomatic pain.
{to be continued}
