Mind Over Back Pain=?!
 

There is a book a read by a dr. John Sarno called Mind Over Back Pain. It is interesting --and was of the concept that back pain is your tension showing up.....actually some of the book made sense and the scarry thing is-WHAT IF THIS GUY IS RIGHT??!!! I have been told to have a 3 level surgery for a compressed spinal cord in my neck--looks bad by the MRI...but I'm NOT in a lot of pain---no constant pain---and I'v had a really bad, tense, depressing year.....so just maybe it's in my head?????!!! Read book-got it from public library and its a quick read.

life is a beach and then you quack
 

i once got advice that when asked how you are think of how your inner person is. mine is tested and strong. i tell them i am fine so long as i can do this without crying. on some level it is true, and they don't want to hear my pain levels anyway. i think its ok to cry sometimes if you can get it over with quick, and that it can improve the mind brain thing by releasing tension. my big issue with crying is the sinuses get so messed up that it can shoot my pain up tenfold if it goes on too long. it is but one example of a psych consult potentially reducing pain. but not if the shrink is a quack.

i have peeked at my chart surrepticiously several times. i see things like "somatic", "low pain threshold", "obese", etc. i also see inaccuracies where they repeat what i say incorrectly. a patient chart is a can of worms.

the worst thing i ever saw on my chart occurred during strength testing after PT. the nurse explained that the machine could tell if i was faking being weak. i asked her what the machine said and she said the results were valid and i was not cheating on the test. at the time my dominant hand was weaker than the other one. later on the same doc trotted out reports that said the opposite. doc was probably on the insurance company's illegal bribe list as far as i am concerned. i would almost rather have a stupid one than a corrupt one but i have been faced off by both kinds.

victoria - to the bride, congrats. danno - i am glad you are no worse. i am there too.