Aches and pains article and Sarno.

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Austin and Jordan,

Thanks for the insightful videos about dealing with pain. Following these episodes I went back to read Austin’s article “Aches and Pains”. As I did more research on the issue of chronic pain I stumbled on the work of Dr. Sarno (John E. Sarno - Wikipedia). He seems to have been the leader in treating chronic pain. However, I noticed that Austin article doesn’t reference his work. Is that because you don’t think his approach is valid? In other words what do you think of Sarno’s approach to curing on chronic pain?

Personally, I got rid of my chronic (recurring) back pain by educating myself on chronic pain. Your writing and videos were a great starting point. It took some additional research to get there, and I thought Sarno’s insights resolved the issue for me. I can’t help to think that a more direct reference to Sarno’s work might help other people get there quicker. Or maybe the process of research is necessary for the cure, or the research process get’s you ready for Sarno’s conclusions.

2

I’m aware of his work, but haven’t read it specifically. From what I understand, some of his approach is valid, but a significant proportion of it is outdated as well. I didn’t cite his work because I relied on more recent work that best reflects current understanding.

And yes, there is evidence that pain education can result in improvement in chronic pain. I’m glad you’re doing better.