I (Jeremy) originally wrote a blog called “My Personal Experience Healing Back Pain” on a different site over 10 years ago and only a couple of months after I experienced a somewhat miraculous healing experience with my problematic lower back. I updated my story about six years ago on a different site and I have gotten a lot of positive feedback over the years. I am happy to report that my results have remained consistent for over ten years now and I am again celebrating. I decided this was also the perfect excuse to launch a new website and to update and re-share my story again.
MY STORY – THE SHORT VERSION
I randomly decided to play golf today. Like I usually do, I decided to carry my bag on my back today even though a riding cart was included in the price and even though I have one of those push carts that I left at home and even though I did a 3.5-hour mountain hike yesterday. Considering where I was with my back years ago, I will never take for granted a completely pain-free walk around a beautiful course like this or any of the other ones I have been playing for years now. I felt a sense of gratitude with every single step I took. With that said, it also saddens me to see how few others are celebrating this type of achievement these days.
I battled various forms and degrees of chronic pain for years. I have been diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease in my spine, pinched nerves, plantar fasciitis in my foot, a displaced bone segment in my shoulder from a broken bone that did not heal correctly and that rubs on other bone/nerves, a displaced bone segment in my foot that didn’t heal correctly and that rubs against other bone/nerves, and what I was told was significant neck damage due to a head-on car accident. I was told in no uncertain terms that my conditions were not curable, but that by working the rest of my life with physical therapy, strengthening and treatment, I could at least manage them to some degree and possibly avoid major surgery. I spent the better part of a year working with a chiropractor, strengthening my core, stretching my muscles, changing my office ergonomics, and getting regular treatments and yet my condition was only deteriorating.
Flash forward a few years and I discovered the work of Dr. John E Sarno and I read the book Healing Back Pain, The Mind Body Connection. Within about 3-6 months I was able to eliminate every one of these painful symptoms from the most minor tendon stiffness to the most debilitating back spasms. I have remained pain-free for a period of over ten years. The only thing I did was read and learn. Yes, you heard me correctly and no, I am not selling you anything. What I learned was that my pain was not being caused by the physical condition that I and my doctor were associating it with. What me, and a great majority of others, suffering chronic and even severe pain are experiencing is muscle and tendon soreness surrounding the perceived injury but not the injury. I understand that my personal experience and results are completely anecdotal, but I can also assure you that they are far from uncommon.
If you are interested in hearing my story read on. If you are starting to get angry about the basic premise, or if my personal experience is threatening your livelihood, please click elsewhere.
WHERE I AM NOW AND WHY I AM SHARING
As I sit in beautiful Palm Springs, California I am reminded almost every day about the affect chronic pain is having on the world I live in even if not on me personally. Although I am spending the winter in an incredibly warm, beautiful place, not a single day goes by that I do not hear a sad story about a sore back or neck or knee or hip or elbow or foot or face or sciatic nerve. I spend zero time in my life researching random medical conditions that I don’t have and yet I can speak intelligently about all kinds of conditions such as sciatica, fibromyalgia, and spinal stenosis. In some cases, I even know what medications are typically prescribed just from listening to others around me and watching TV!
Sometimes just getting paired up randomly with somebody on the golf course ends up being a deep and intricate five-hour lecture on the spine. My playing partners and pain professors can describe every disc in their back by number and by which one has this or that defect or which has been fused or needs to be.
Today, I was partnered with both a bad back guy and a bad hip guy, and I got to hear several times about how nice it must be to still be young and able to walk and carry my bag on my back. I just smile and say “Yep, it sure is.” I do have to wonder how many of these same guys were forgoing paid golf carts and hoofing it on a long tough course in their 40’s, but I never mention my back or Sarno or anything else accept that I like to walk when I play.
There is too much stigma around mind body medicine and my story just makes people angry most of the time. On the other hand, I can tell you with 100% certainty that there is zero stigma associated with talking about how you are playing golf 3 months after hip replacement surgery. Even when you are hobbling and still in pain the entire round. In fact, it is the opposite of a stigma. Most are quite happy and proud to share their story, and unlike me, they have a legitimate excuse for their bad golf game.
Even if I don’t leave the house, I can just log onto Facebook for all I can read about chronic pain. Television these days is also a billboard for medical problems. Some horrific stories of pain are followed by stories of limited success from everything from “frequency infused” stickers to major surgery. But unfortunately, none of these stories seems to end with how a person has remained 100% pain free. Just more pain, more remedies, more medication, more addiction, and more ways for people to make money.
Yes, as middle-aged person wintering in Palm Springs, California, I do spend more time around retirees and older people than most my age. But regardless of where you live I would bet that quite a few people reading this can relate. And regardless, more and more of these stories are coming from people in the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. Just do a little test. See how long you can go without someone mentioning a chronic pain condition that they are battling. Not a recent injury but a chronic condition that has been going on for months and years. Unless you are living in a bubble it won’t be a long wait, and it is not a small portion of the population that is affected.
Although today is a 10 year milestone of personal success, it is also yet another milestone of disappointment and frustration as well. I have been living a miracle and sharing my story for years now in various forms and formats and yet few take me seriously or even consider that a similar cure could be possible for their chronic pain condition. For some, hearing my story can be frustrating or even angering. But for quite a few others, I now know, my story has been of help. At the end of the day, all I can do is to keep sharing my story and hope someone new is in the right place to hear the information and become curious the way I was years ago.
If you intrigued about my healing experience check out my next blog update that includes full details about my TMS chronic pain healing story!