Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain

On occasion nearly everyone experiences short-term back pain from sore or strained muscles. But for many who come to treat their back gingerly because they fear further "injury," a cycle of worry and inactivity results; this aggravates existing muscle tightness and leads them to think of themselves as having a "bad back." Even worse is the understandable but usually counterproductive assumption that back pain is caused by "abnormalities"–bulging disks, a damaged spine, and so on. However, these abnormalities are frequently found in those who have absolutely no pain whatsoever. In reality, most backs are strong and resilient, built to support our bodies for a lifetime; truly "bad backs" are rare.

Drawing on their work with patients and studies from major scientific journals and corporations, the authors of Back Sense–all three are former chronic back pain sufferers themselves–developed a revolutionary self-treatment approach targeting the true causes of chronic back pain. It is based on conclusive evidence proving that stress and inactivity are usually the prime offenders, and it allows patients to avoid the restrictions and expense of most other treatments. After showing readers how to rule out the possibility that a rare medical condition is the source of their problem, Back Sense clearly and convincingly explains the actual factors behind chronic back pain and systematically leads readers toward recapturing a life free of back pain.

Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is a licensed clinical psychologist and a member of the clinical faculty of the Harvard Medical School since 1984. In 1988 he was disabled by back pain. His personal experience led him to develop the treatments described in the book. He maintains a private practice specializing in the treatment of chronic pain. Michael H. Urdang is a market research consultant with a background in counseling psychology. His bout with chronic back pain was resolved using the methods in this book. Dr. Douglas R. Johnson is a physician and a board certified specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He is currently the medical director of the inpatient rehabilitation unit at Charlton Memorial Hospital and also maintains a private practice in physiatry.