Stop Back Pain Forever — Without Pills, Surgery, or Endless PT

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Issue #10: September 15, 2025

🧠 Your Back Pain Might Be All in Your Head (And That’s Great News)

What if I told you that most chronic back pain has nothing to do with your back?

That the MRI showing your “herniated disc” might be completely irrelevant to your pain? That people with identical spinal damage can be either pain-free or bedridden?

Here’s the truth that will make orthopedic surgeons uncomfortable: your brain, not your spine, is likely writing your pain story.

💰 The $100 Billion Back Pain Scam

The numbers are staggering:

• 80% of Americans will experience back pain in their lifetime

• Over $100 billion spent annually on back pain treatment

• Lumbar fusion surgeries increased 267% between 2002-2014

• Over 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries performed on Medicare recipients in just 2 years, costing $2 billion

Yet pain rates keep climbing. If surgery and structural fixes worked, wouldn’t we be getting better results?

🔬 The Science: Why Your MRI Lies

Here’s what researchers discovered when they scanned pain-free people:

Study after study shows:

• 64% of people with NO back pain have disc abnormalities on MRI

• 38% have herniated discs but feel nothing

• Spinal “abnormalities” increase with age whether you have pain or not

Translation: Your bulging disc isn’t necessarily causing your pain. The femur, your body’s largest bone, heals in 6 weeks. So why can back pain last for years?

⚡ My Journey: From Background Noise to Life-Destroying Pain

Back pain wasn’t new to me — I’d had it on and off since my teenage years. It’d flare up, sometimes dull, sometimes sharp, usually for no obvious reason. It seemed like background noise…until it wasn’t.

Four years ago, in the middle of a deadlift, I felt a tweak. I jumped into PT, but things only got worse. The burning pain ripped through my hamstring like molten lava. I lost motor function in my left leg and the ability to lift my heel. Every simple movement became a curse and I couldn’t walk a block without limping.

This wasn’t like breaking an arm; this was life-destroying. You’re trapped, and the pain becomes your world.

A few days later I got an MRI…

The MRI revealed an L5-S1 disc extrusion, the worst form of herniation. The disc gel was pressing on my nerve. The warning? Surgery loomed if there wasn’t improvement in 90 days. My identity, my routine, my life — all under threat.

👥  Friend #1: The Wake-Up Call

Then a friend shared his story: three herniated discs, chronic pain, but no surgery. By embracing Dr Sarno’s mind-body approach, he healed himself completely.

The planted seed: What if my brain, not my spine, was writing my pain story?

📖 Enter Dr. Sarno

So I read Healing Back Pain. These ideas flipped my world:

• Pain is real, but often not always structural

• MRIs often reveal abnormalities even in pain-free people

• Chronic pain can stem from Tension Myoneural Syndrome (TMS), where the brain uses pain to distract from repressed emotions

Radical, but freeing: my back wasn’t broken, my brain was overprotecting me.

👥  Friend #2: The Surgical Reality Check

Years later, another friend pursued surgery for a bulging disc. The result? Back on crutches, unable to walk without help, even being lifted by his dad. And the pain? Worse than pre-surgery levels.

Now, he’s steering towards Sarno’s path. A vivid reminder that surgery often misses the mark, and that hope can still come from inside the mind.

🌟 Sarno: The Steve Jobs of Pain Management

Dr. Sarno was ahead of his time, a renegade savior branded by many as the “Steve Jobs of pain management.” He dared to question the status quo that equated pain with brokenness.

Yet thousands are misdiagnosed. Many surgeries do not address the real issue, and often worsen it. The structure of our bodies is more resilient than we think; the brain more powerful than we admit. Recognizing this can spare years of suffering.

Of course, you need to rule out serious structural issues like cancer or infection. But when it comes to discs — herniations, bulges, or degenerative changes — the pain almost never comes from the structure itself.

❤️ Taking Control: The Mind-Body Shift

My breakthrough came when I realized: this wasn’t a damaged back, it was TMS. My spine was fine. The real issue? A tiny oxygen deficit in muscles and nerves triggered by the subconscious mind due to repressed emotions.

I had to stop thinking physically. Instead, I leaned into the psychological.

I made a bold choice: to get moving. No more fear. Lifting. Running. Bending. Living. Pain would flare, and that was okay. It wasn’t a signal of harm, but of healing. Step by step, my confidence returned. I’ve been back pain free ever since.

🔧 The Protocol: How to Break Free

• Read Healing Back Pain by Dr. Sarno

• Stop focusing on structural “fixes” (posture, ergonomics, etc)

• Resume all normal activities gradually, despite initial pain flares

• Address emotional stressors through journaling or therapy

• Remember, pain flares during healing are normal, not dangerous

🧩 Why It Matters

Back pain isn’t just a physical ailment. It’s emotional, psychological, and deeply personal. And most importantly, if the brain can create pain, it can stop pain.

🧠 The Big Picture

• Chronic back pain isn’t always structural

• MRIs often show harmless abnormalities found in pain-free people

• TMS is a harmless brain-generated pain, a distraction from emotions

• The real culprit? Mild oxygen deprivation in muscles and nerves

• Healing starts when we face the emotional side and stop fearing our own bodies

Until next week. Stay vital.

-Jordan Slotopolsky

📚 Sources

• Jensen MC, et al. NEJM, 1994 (MRI findings in asymptomatic subjects)

• Sarno JE. Healing Back Pain. Warner Books, 1991

• Chou R, et al. Ann Intern Med, 2007 (imaging guidelines)

• Brinjikji W, et al. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol, 2015 (systematic review of imaging findings)

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