Healing Back Pain Naturally: The Mind Body Program Proven to Work

by Art Brownstein

Book Overview

After suffering from back pain for twenty years, Dr. Art Brownstein shares the cure that worked for him and thousands of others.Back pain is a global epidemic and the number one cause of disability in the US for people under forty-five. Seven out of ten people in the US will suffer serious back pain at some stage in their lives.Sharing his own story of surgery, painkiller dependency, and severe depression, Dr. Brownstein guides you through the recovery...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743424646
• ISBN13: 9780743424646
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

To the author, a great big THANK YOU! I have read dozens of books about back pain, been to physiotherapists and doctors, taken medication and tried numerous exercise programs, and nothing worked. However, thanks to this book, I finally have relief from long-term, chronic back pain.(Herniated disk in lower back.) This book is worth the cover price just for the exercises alone. I have been completing the Phase 1 exercises on a daily basis and already I can put on my socks and pants with ease, bend over to dry my feet when I get out of the shower, easily get in and out of bed without pain, etc. I even sat through a 2-hour workshop today and felt no pain when I stood up. This would have been impossible previously. For example, a couple months ago, I went to a restaurant with friends and when I stood up at the end of the meal, I felt so much pain in my back and hip that I could not stand up straight. Not now! I can stand up straight and I am pain-free. I will admit to having some doubts about the mind-body connection referred to in the book. However, it is all so well presented, that I am willing to consider it. That aside, I think the exercises alone provide so much pain relief that it is still a very valuable book. I am going to buy it to give to a couple people as gifts.

It works

I have two herniated discs and one bulge. Off and on, over the years, some sort of movement will cause one of these guys to throw my back out for a period of weeks or months. If you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about. My wife found this book at the local library. I was sceptical - hey, give me a break, yoga? But I was at the willing-to-try-anything-by-then stage, so I started doing the author's stretching exercises. Within a couple of weeks I was pain free. That was three or four years ago, and my back hasn't gone out since. I do six of his exercises every morning before I shower - takes all of five minutes. Closest thing to a miracle cure I've ever seen. Highly recommended; the author is a hero. - jkw

Brought my life back to me!

There is no escape from back pain EXCEPT for this book! I thought I was doomed for a life of pain and pills. I thought I would never excercise again, play with my kids or just go for an afternoon walk. Dr. Brownstein's methods have saved my life - literally. Anyone who has suffered with the worst back pain knows the depression which comes along with the pain. I would go on campaign for this book if I could - that is how great it is. I have bought a copy for my parents and plan on giving it as gifts to others I know who suffer as well. You will feel your body come back to you, but you have to be faithful in your stretches and excercises, it is so worth it! I wish I could thank Dr. Brownstein personnally, so that is why I have written a review of his book. THANK YOU! BUY THE BOOK, BUY THE BOOK, BUY THE BOOK!

I have my life back!

The words echoed in my ears, "you need three (3) fusions immediately!" To tell the truth, I was so frightened by what the Doctors were telling me, that I began to feel histerical. I had originally gone to the Doctor because of an unrelenting pain that seared down my right leg and exploded into my upper right foot. I also had incredible pain in my hips and lower back. All of this was just an ongoing problem that I had experienced for years but had exhilarated just recently.I did have the MRI done and then the nightmare began. As Dr. Brownstein says, "The medical community has gotton too good at showing us all the ugliness within our bodies." And with that information, they encouraged me into full blown back fusion surgery.Being a Metaphysical Student I just knew that there must be a better solution for me. During that week, a local talkshow host had Dr. Brownstein scheduled to be on the air with him. I learned about this and listened intently.I bought the book - read it - and began the first series of exercises. I told all five Doctors that I didn`t have anything to lose if I did this first, after all, I could always have the surgery.Within one month, I was feeling 40% better,and within another month I was almost 90% better. I`m not saying it was easy as it will be an ongoing process the rest of my life, but I can live a pretty normal life without pain. I walk four miles a day - swim for 35 minutes and stretch and strengthen by back with the exercises. It`s a good life and I thank God that I had the opportunity to fine the book and learn about this alternative before the three fusions.Needless to say I give this book five stars because it has truly given me my life back. THANK YOU Dr. Brownstein!

Art Brownstein's program works for me!

I would give this book 6 stars if I could. The yoga-based exercises Dr. Brownstein describes and illustrates so clearly saved me from the expense, pain, and risk of a lumbar laminectomy to remove a synovial cyst at the right L4/L5 facet joint. I didn't even know I had a back problem until I had an MRI this spring. All my symptoms were in my legs and hips, beginning with intermittent pain and numbness a few years ago, then progressing to fairly severe sciatica last fall. I was not incapacitated, but just moving around for daily activities was at best unpleasant. It was not fun to have severe cramps in my gluteus, along with sharp, shooting pains down the backs of my legs, and numbness in my toes and soles of my feet. I was advised that surgery was the only long-term solution. I attended Dean Ornish's Preventive Medicine Retreat in mid-April, 1999, where I met Dr. Lee Lipsenthal, and asked him if he had any knowledge about lumbar cysts. He strongly recommended Dr. Brownstein's book. Participants in the Retreat were given some instruction in Yoga, but Dr. Lipsenthal said Dr. Brownstein gave many more stretches aimed specifically at relieving back pain by developing better muscular conditioning. I consulted a surgeon on April 20, and scheduled a lumbar laminectomy for May 17. I bought a copy of Healing Back Pain Naturally on April 22, and began practicing the Yoga positions. On May 3, I was still having significant pain. I could not carry a box of newspapers weighing 25 to 30 pounds out to my curb for recycling without stopping to take the weight off my spine. I started doing the stretches twice a day for about 45 minutes each time. The following Sunday, May 9, I carried six 50-pound sacks of salt from my car to my water softener and poured them into the softener - WITH NO PAIN OR DISCOMFORT. I continued the twice-a-day regimen, and decided on May 11 to cancel the laminectomy. As a scientist, I find it difficult to believe that something so simple can have such a profound, immediate effect. But I am almost completely free of symptoms, and those I have left are mild and confined to my right leg. Nothing, including the program recommended in this book, will work for everyone. But if you have back problems, buy a copy, pay careful attention to the disclaimer at the beginning, consult your physician, and, if your physician approves, try Dr. Brownstein's recommendations, including those on diet and stress reduction (the latter are essentially the same as Dean Ornish's program). No other book I have read has so powerfully affected my life.