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Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain, 2nd Edition Paperback – November 18, 2016

by Dr. David Hanscom (Author)

116 customer reviews

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If you are suffering from chronic pain, or know someone who is, Back in Control could change your life.

Dr. David Hanscom, a spine surgeon and fellow sufferer, shares with you what finally pulled him out of the abyss of chronic pain after 15 years―without surgery or addictive medications.

Instead, his approach to treatment focuses on an aspect of chronic pain that the medical world has largely overlooked: you must calm your nervous system in order to get better.

More than any other book about pain, Back in Control reveals how to quiet a turbocharged central nervous system, relieve the anxiety and depression that often accompany chronic pain, and make a full recovery.

Back in Control offers a self-directed healing approach that has evolved from Dr. Hanscom’s personal experience, as well what he has learned from successfully treating hundreds of patients. The book:

Provides a proven solution to end chronic pain – Dr. Hanscom’s treatment model has helped hundreds of patients move from managing pain to becoming pain free.
Doesn’t require surgery or meds – The approach presented in Back in Control helps you eliminate chronic pain without the risk of surgery or side effects of medications.
Puts you in control – Back in Control provides tools for eliminating pain that you can use on your own or as part of an ongoing treatment plan, to take back control of your care and your life.
Applies to any type of chronic pain – The principles in Back in Control apply to any chronic pain condition, for example back pain, neck pain, hip pain, joint pain, fibromyalgia and sciatica, to name a few.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Hanscom, MD is an orthopedic spine surgeon who has been performing complex spine surgery since 1986. Much of his practice has been helping patients out of a deep hole caused by multiple failed spine surgeries. He spent the first eight years of his practice focusing on surgical solutions and noticed that surgery alone was rarely successful in accomplishing its goal. He successfully resolved his own chronic pain in 2003 after suffering for 15 years. He began to share his experience with his patients, and by helping his patients address all aspects of chronic pain, including physical conditioning and the central nervous system, he has witnessed many patients become pain free.

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Vertus Press; 2nd ed. edition (November 18, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0988272997
ISBN-13: 978-0988272996
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 116 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12 in Back Pain
- #22 in Musculoskeletal Diseases (Books)
- #40 in Pain Management (Books)

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Thomas Purtzer

I purchased this amazing book and read it in 2 days

December 23, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I was a neurosurgeon and did a lot of spine surgery for 20 years and then managed chronic pain and managed opiate addiction with Suboxone; I found Suboxone to be a safe and effective pain relieving medication. I did this for about 12 years. I say these things to qualify myself and add strength to my opinion about Back In Control by Dr. Hanscom. I have read hundreds of chronic pain books and thousands of scientific articles. I also have have disabling chronic pain fro severe peripheral neuropathy of unknown cause.
I purchased this amazing book and read it in 2 days. I can say without reservation that this is the best chronic pain book that I have ever read and recommend that every person with chronic pain get this book and read it repeatedly. Dr. Hanscom advises all of us to become our own healers. Some of the chapter that explain what chronic pain is will be challenging to read but the therapeutic chapters are well organized and make a lot of sense. I advocated all of my patients to learn pain reduction techniques but did not have the insight to institute my treatment plans in such an easy to do format. I started the expressive writing about a week ago and can report good results! I'm very excited about this book and plan to incorporate all of it in my life. My hope is to cure myself of my chronic pain!
Thank you Dr. Hanscom for your valuable contribution to all the legions of people with chronic pain.

150 people found this helpful

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John D

This book is an amazing - must read for anyone in pain

April 28, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I heard about this book from a PBS broadcast one morning - and was so impressed that I bought the Kindle version that morning. I have had back issues all of my life - since I was a teen, but was able to keep it under control with visits to the chiropractor - then learning yoga (which pretty much kept me pain free for many years). But I re-injured my low back about five years ago - and there seemed to be nothing that would work to make it better. I was limited to lifting no more than 15 pounds - and then only with a back brace. My had pain continued to get worse instead of better, and I was literally a week away from interviewing a back surgeon when this book came to me - from that point on - my life changed for the better. I read the first 50 pages in a couple hours, and started doing the 10 second meditations - within 36 hours my back pain went from a constant 7 down to a 3. A week later, I was half way through the book - and my pain went down to a 1 - and it has stayed there since - but now I can tell that there is deeper healing taking place. Obviously the book is working for me.

I own a wellness center - and although I do not particularly practice in the field of back care (other than yoga), I have numerous clientele with back issues - some with chronic pain. I began recommending they read this book immediately - not only to people with back pain - but to those with any kind of pain issues. Most of them - those who opted to try even the simplest of exercises (primarily the 10 second meditations and the writing exercises) all are doing better. It worked so well I decided to stock the book in my center - and sell at least 3 copies a week.

I have started a small discussion group based on this book for people in pain - and one of the thing we all have noticed is this. There seems to be a level of healing that takes place by just understanding the pathways of pain - as Dr Hanscom discusses at length in the book. In simpler words - our consensus has been that there is more to the healing that people are experiencing than just the exercises in the book. There is a higher level of healing that takes place from just hearing that there is hope for anyone in pain; moreover hearing that message from someone who is an expert in the field - such as Dr Hanscom. You can call it mind-over-matter, but I can tell you, whatever you want to call it - it works... and it has real healing power.

A few suggestions for the readers of this review who have back pain - I have also found the following to be very helpful in supplementing this wonderful work that Dr Hanscom has produced.
1. In the book he only glosses over yoga as a form of treatment - but talks extensively about physical therapy. I have spent 15 years teaching a back care specific yoga, originated by Gary Kraftsow, Watsonville, CA - Gary has been facilitating back care yoga for 30 or more years - and has helped thousands in chronic back pain (myself included). His yoga really helps back issues of all types - and his videos are available on Amazon. I highly recommend them - and they are a practice one can do at home at no cost (once you buy the video of course) - and saves spending hours and major dollars with physical therapists.
2. Dr Hanscom is not a big fan of Pain medications - and does not recommend them for long term use. I tend to agree, as I have several clients with opiate addictions - and it's not a pretty picture. What most people may not know, is that there are natural alternatives to pain meds that are very effective - and inexpensive. Kratom red tea being one of them. These teas have been around for a very long time - but it takes a little digging to find them - but with that said, their popularity is growing very rapidly - mainly because they are amazing at providing non-addictive, non-medical pain relief (try Googling Kratom Tea recipes - there are a couple of very helpful sites) . I have one client with very serious back pain (from two failed surgeries), he was on several Percocet pain pills a day, and he was at a point where he was getting no pain relief from them. He started the Kratom tea - and within a week he was off of the Percocet, and his pain levels were down to a two. I call that progress.

In conclusion I would just like to thank you Dr Hanscom for producing this amazing work - and also for helping me ans many others find a pathway to healing - and freedom from pain.

38 people found this helpful

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NYC, Palm Beach, Bedford

If you have psychosomatic illness or conversion disorder this should be your Bible

August 22, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

For people suffering pain caused by conversion disorder this protocol will work wonders. It will likely cure them of their pain because conversion disorder is pain caused by psychological factors which is what this book addresses. The problem however is that This doctor makes the outrageous claim that essentially all pain conditions in the body are sourced in the mind. This is a profoundly disrespectful to the disabled and terminally ill. human beings suffering spinal cord injury, crps and other terminal illness will read these pages and become likely disgusted with their own minds and bodies when they adopt his protocol and still experience disabling pain. I urge the author to consider the population of people whose bodies are sending constant pain signals to the brain. I want him to lovingly see all these people who are confined to wheelchairs and daring to journal their way to perfect health he imagines which will never be a reality for them because of the nature of their injuries which essentially are fresh every day, every moment as their condition is not rooted in the brains emotional centers and memory centers but rather in the body itself. Instead the author I assume in his guilt over causing post laminectomy syndrome or Causalgia in his own patient populations ( he is a neurosurgeon) grapples with guilt and seeks to represent these people as suffering psychological problems and not physical damage. Sadly about 40% of spinal surgeries result in intractable chronic pain because nerves don't often heal well which are cut during surgery. Even small micro vessels and peripheral nerves can be damaged during surgery. 13% of all surgeries result in Causalgia according to the NIH... something no surgeon wants anyone to know. The Surgeon does a very noble thing by asking the population of people suffering back pain to first ask their body's to heal. This is a precious loving noble thing especially weighted by the fact that he is a neurosurgeon. But to then obnoxiously pronounce essentially that most human beings who suffer chronic pain of the spine are essentially dealing with conversion disorder is mocking those disabled by physical pain. Pain rooted in physical problems impacting the peripheral nervous system cannot be fixed by journaling their way to health and a pain-free existence. It most certainly take the emotional edge off the pain but not remove the active pain generator in the body. This book got me personally very excited that my spinal cord injury and crps would stop being painful until I realized that this book is only meant for people not suffering real injury of the body. I must mention that the steps he mentions in assessing your pain source are important to take to try to define the nature of the pain signal. Pain initiates either in the body or the brain. Hanscom does not seem to understand this sufficiently. He also doesn't seem to appreciate the nature of the sympathetic system, the peripheral nervous system and diseases and injuries to these systems which can cause active pain generators that no amount of journaling will help undermine and cull. Human beings suffering pain from active pain generators in the body will likely read this book, become very excited that their pain will be gone and then when their pain does not go away they will feel deeply disgusted with themselves because their pain does not go away and hanscom still blames the patient for their pain. This author has been active in other forums framing all patients with chronic pain which are not solved through reading his book as being lazy, unwilling to make lifestyle change and suffering mental disorder. He recently sent emails to book readers framing patients in pain who commit suicide are lazy and angry. This sense that human beings ought to feel shame over their pain is deeply counterproductive toward human health. For these reasons I do not recommend this book in this form be included in the body of self-help literature and I caution individuals reading this who may have incurable or inoperable terminal problems like CRPS which he feels is conversion disorder. The tone of the book often in fact falls into a kind of angry dispatch which at times the author admits is a problem he has. This anger can spill over to the reader resulting in self- reproach. He undermines the power of positive thinking which is the very core of building new neural networks which can help patients suffering acute chronic pain conditions of the body.
PRO:
1- for people whose chronic pain is sourced in the brain (essential PTSD) there are valid tremendous strategies for help to follow. I think a lot of people suffering pain are not aware that their pain is actually caused by mental trauma and taking these steps will definitely either rule this out or confirm it.
2- builds on Joe Sarno's work and the relaxation response.
3- well-researched
4- defines some great strategies to help deal with painful thoughts
5- the author opened up and leveraged his personal battle with mental illness (OCD and depression) to discover ways which conversion disorder patients could leverage.

CONS
1- author assumes almost all back and neck pain and crps is conversion disorder
2- author chastises people who are active in pain online communities and calls this a risk factor for chronic pain
3- author says positive thinking does not work
4- blames pain patients who do not become pain-free after adopting his strategies
5- insulting to the terminally ill and permanently disabled.
6- angry tone in certain points in the book

I suggest a rewrite to edit this for people who are not suffering undiagnosed conversion disorder.
I suggest readers consider a much more loving little book on pain "you, pain free" which is shorter and more sweet and includes basically the same action items. That author who is also a doctor also has a great website where you can help fix your own trigger points. Both books are geared toward people who don't know they are suffering conversion disorder but for those who have real legit active pain generators, 'you, pain fee" is a much more agreeable and less offensive read.

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