Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Of all the books on back pain, this is the most balanced., 19 May 2001
By A Customer
Dr. Brownstein has provided back pain sufferers with real hope with this book. Of all the books I am familiar with on the subject, this is the most balanced. However, I am no expert, so check with your physician who will advise you whether you should try the exercises. I have suffered from often debiliating sciatica pain for nearly two years now and on incorporating the advice outlined in this book have won the battle against pain. The pain was causing me misery and led me to minor decompressive surgery on two discs last year. I continued to suffer pain and was offered disc removal surgery by my Dr. which I had put off through not wanting or fear. As a last resort I bought five or six books on the subject and found that Dr.Brownstein's book the most balanced and effective. His comments and advice combined with the self-help exercises are invaluable to anyone with back pain. I am almost free from pain now and feel I can get on with life which is not easy anyway, even without back pain! If there is one book you should buy if you or anyone you care for is suffering from back pain, this is it. Although I might sound like a salesman, I don't have anything to do with Dr Brownstein or his publishing company but I know what back pain is like from my own bitter experience and can also now testify to how liberating relief can be. Much better to buy this book than to continue to pay Drs. for fruitless pricey consultations. No pills or medications of any kind and no need to believe in new gods. Dr. Sarno ("The Mindbody Prescription") has provided us with a fascinating and convincing book on how much our mind has to do with back pain but unfortunately has thrown the baby out with the bathwater in his rejection of any other contributary factors - posture, exercises, stress management, attitude adjustment and so on. Dr. Brownstein also recognises the importance of mental factors and indeed devotes a good part of his book to it but also combines the other areas which must not be neglected. The approach is holistic and deserves credit for being so. Buy it. I hope and believe it will help. I think there is also a paperback version which is even cheaper. If it doesn't work for you, all you will have lost is a few dollars. Dr. Brownstein is probaby making a bundle on this book but who cares when pain is relieved?
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Art Brownstein's program works for me!, 28 May 1999
By A Customer
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.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A back pain program that gave me back my life., 1 Jul 1999
By A Customer
This book literally saved my life! For a year and a half I suffered from acute back pain diagnosed as spinal stenosis, and at one point fibromyalgia. I tried everything in an effort to find relief. Conventional medical treatment offered no hope whatever, and acupuncture, reflexology, and herbs helped only slightly. The pain was so unbearable that I actually purchased a gun and was thinking of ending my life. Fortunately, I learned about Dr. Brownstein's book, and a few weeks ago I began on his Back to Life program. Today, I am almost completely pain free, and I have an entirely new lease on life. Only someone who has been through back pain can fully understand and help others who have the same problem. As a former back pain patient, Dr. Brownstein speaks from personal experience. He is a compassionate man who gives his readers the gift of hope. This book is essential reading for everyone who suffers from back pain, and for the doctors who treat them.
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