"Miracle of all miracles! As soon as I identified my feelings, my back pain went away. I had no pain. None."

Larissa Kaye Batten (LLbeara@aol.com) writes "Soul Food," a weekly column for SpiritSite.com.

Larissa is a prolific writer whose work has been featured in several publications.

News Flash: Stock prices on Back Pain rose today, following recent reports that Americans remain dedicated to staying in pain. According to the Society of Back Pain Neurotics, four out of five Americans reported a chronic need to obsess about their back pain.

This reporter was secretary of said Society until she discovered a little, life-changer of a book called Healing Back Pain by Dr. John Sarno. She was quickly fired from the Society board after challenging the concept of indefinite pain on which the Society is founded.

Let me ask you a question. How many Americans do you know who suffer from chronic back pain? Do you know anyone who doesn’t experience some form of pain? Me neither.

Is it possible our society is too invested in its back, neck, and other pains to consider an alternative? Have we become too familiar with pain to contemplate the possibilities of pain-free living?

Perhaps most importantly, are we suffering from a royal pain in our backs that is no more than an indicator of our society at large?

Let me tell you something. Dr. Sarno’s book changed my life. Not only did it change my life, but it questioned the very foundation of my existence at the time.

Dr. Sarno’s book challenged me to reconsider everything every doctor and friend had ever told me. Dr. Sarno didn’t buy into my herniated disc, my multiple MRIs, my neck collar, my bed rest, my anxiety, my many doctors, my physical therapy, or my massages.

What Dr. Sarno did is suggest to me that maybe my herniated disc was no more than a simple and painless manifestation of the aging process, and that my supposed back pain was a mere distraction from issues I needed to address.

Look at your life, Dr. Sarno suggested. Were you troubled by anything in your life at the time of onset of back pain? Could the back pain merely be a distraction from the real problem at hand?

But you don’t understand, Dr. Sarno. I really was in pain. I couldn’t move my neck. My husband had to pick me up off the floor after I crumpled down onto it in severe pain. It felt as though someone had stabbed me in the back. I was so nauseous that I couldn’t even imagine what affliction I had acquired. I couldn’t do any more chores around the house. I couldn’t drive. My life was at a complete stop. Don’t you see, Dr. Sarno? I’m not making this up!

Dr. Sarno gave me some suggestions. He wanted me to ask myself – every time I felt the pain – if I was angry, sad, scared, or who knows what else.

Miracle of all miracles! As soon as I identified my feelings, my back pain went away. I had no pain. None. Dr. Sarno’s book suggested that I didn’t need physical therapy. Or a neck collar. He said I could exercise, and should go back to my life. I did.

And guess what? Me, with my herniated disc that cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars and countless hours of anxiety and seeking answers, recovered immediately! Just like that.

Dr. Sarno taught me in that little book of his that I didn’t need my back pain. I didn’t need the distraction. I could have a beautiful life again if I wanted to.

Hmmm. Why then are so many Americans still suffering from back and neck pain?

Here’s my theory. We remain distracted. We would rather cry in agony over our back pain than face our ills at hand.

America is the land of freedom of expression. Only so many of us don’t have the foggiest idea how to express our feelings. So we turn to our backs!

Do you think the doctors, hospitals, drug makers, medical technicians, and chiropractors want us to heal without them? I don’t know. I suspect they have a lot invested in their professions, don’t you?

And we have a lot invested in our suffering. Don’t you think?

Let me take Sarno’s ideas one step farther.

If back pain is a distraction from our individual pains, I wonder if back pain is our society’s distraction from our societal ills.

Sarno challenges the individual to give up his or her back pain to face the underlying cause and get on with life.

I challenge Americans to face our societal ills and get on with the changes we need to make in our country. Minus a heckuva lot of back pain!

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