ENCORE: Uncovering Psychological Roadblocks to Healing Back Pain, Part 1

Dr. John Sarno revolutionized medicine’s approach to back pain with his book, "The Divided Mind," in the 1980s. His thesis is that conventional therapies like surgery are over-utilized and don’t get to the root of the problem which is TMS—tension myoneural syndrome. Dr. Sarno died in 2017, but his disciple Dr. Ira Rashbaum carries on his work at NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation. The method pioneered by Sarno eschews even physical therapy, chiropractic and acupuncture, and instead focuses on uncovering psychological roadblocks to recovery. Dr. Rashbaum explains how stress literally robs aching muscles of oxygen and nutrients essential for pain resolution. Dr. Sarno was beloved by patients—including many celebrities—but reviled by many of his colleagues because he challenged medical orthodoxy which invariably treats pain as the consequence of fixable structural abnormalities. Followers of Dr. Sarno like Dr. Rashbaum argue that structural changes are normal, and not always the culprit lesions that trigger pain. Dr. Rashbaum reveals that the Sarno method works to alleviate many common syndromes, including headaches, TMJ, tinnitus, and IBS.