Back Sense:
A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain
Ronald D. Siegel, Michael H. Urdang, & Douglas R. Johnson
Broadway Books
For five million Americans at any given time, chronic back pain is a nightmarish disability that interferes with every aspect of their lives. While it has usually been attributed to damaged disks or other structures of the spine, evidence points to a cycle of psychological stress, muscle tension, and fear-based avoidance of activity as the true cause for the vast majority of sufferers.
Back Sense presents a step-by-step self-treatment program for chronic back pain which integrates recent advances in medical and psychological research with mindfulness practice. The program draws upon cognitive, psychodynamic, and behavioral techniques along with mindfulness-based exercises to help patients interrupt the cycles that maintain the condition.
Medical Experts Respond to Back Sense
“I highly recommend this wonderful book to everyone with back pain. The first of my patients who read it got out of bed and off narcotics for the first time in months. We’re both thrilled.”
— Christiane Northrup, M.D., author, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
“Back Sense is a well-researched, well-written, and approachable book on a subject that occupies enormous amounts of time, effort, and money in the health care system: chronic back pain. The book explains important new discoveries in the physiologic and psychologic aspects of back pain, and is particularly lucid and eloquent in explaining mind-body relationships as they pertain to this area of clinical practice. The book outlines treatment regimens that can return large numbers of people to happier, more productive, and more satisfying lives. I can testify to its efficacy, both as a patient and a practitioner: this approach works. Every practitioner who sees patients with chronic back pain should have this in their library.”
— David K. Urion, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
“At last! Back Sense is the first book, available to the public, that a person with chronic back pain could pick up and use to cure themselves. Back Sense gives a logical, reasonable and alternative view of how back pain problems develop, what maintains them, and how an individual can break the fear/anxiety cycle that creates so much suffering.
Back Sense brings radical new developments in back pain treatment to a general audience in a user-friendly format. It integrates the newest finding in the medical literature with up to date psychological treatment methods. This book will help people to discover for themselves the way to break the cycle of chronic back pain.”
— Dr. Deborah M. Hulihan, former Director of Behavioral Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Readers Respond to Back Sense
“I’d like to tell the world about Back Sense! It is indeed good news for people who suffer from chronic back pain. Having tried surgery and almost every alternative treatment for over 40 years to rid myself of chronic, incapacitating back pain, I’m now enjoying unrestricted physical activities. Pain free.”
— D.L., Rumford, Rhode Island
“Thank you so much for your inspiring book, which I read cover-to-cover twice over the weekend. Twice, because at the first reading, I was actually crying with relief through much of it! Finally, finally someone understands the misery, frustration and feelings of hopelessness I’ve had for the past 6 months…. I feel as though I’ve already regained the most elusive of my ‘lost activities’ —real hope. Not hope tinged with fear and doubt like I’ve had before, but genuine hope and a belief that I’m going to be all right!”
— M.R., Milton Keynes, England
“I was a skeptic. I could not believe that changing the way I thought about my pain could help me conquer the crippling spasms that had wracked my life for nearly 20 years. I had tried special exercises, surgical consults, CAT scans, and powerful medications…. I am now free of spasms, and no longer worry about my back. I urge you to read this book.”
— R.L., Needham, Massachusetts
“When it seemed that nobody had any answers for me, I found them in this book…. The book was easy to read and very simply laid out…. The authors are able to provide reasons for the pain and ways to work to reduce the pain and ‘get your life back’…. I am back to running on a regular basis, …last night we played tennis for the second time in a couple of weeks, and on Sunday I rode 25 miles, all with no ill effects!!”
— J.M., North Carolina
“The pain started when I was in graduate school. I thought that the long hours of sitting in class, reading and studying was damaging my ‘weak’ back. After reading this book, I started to realize how much stress was a major factor in my back pain…. After finishing Back Sense, I have stopped stressing about every twinge, tight muscle or pain in my back—and the pain has been much less and less frequent! I now enjoy my gym activities and play time with my children, knowing that my back is strong and healthy…. Anyone searching for relief from back pain should read this book.”
— J.L., Worcester, Massachusetts
Download Charts and Exercises from Back Sense
Readers have asked for online copies of the charts and exercises in the Back Sense program to complete during their rehabilitation. You can download them here in pdf format:
