The Solution for a Pain-Free Life

The Solution for a Pain-Free Life

The solution for a pain-free life is based on two essential
rules. First, you must focus on the cause of the pain, not just
the symptoms. Second, you must do some investigating to
determine the cause, realizing it will very likely consist of
more than one element in your life. When these two rules are
broken, you get recurring back pain
Long-term relief comes from concentrating on the source
of the pain. However, if you’re experiencing debilitating pain
right now that prevents you from adopting the recommended
strategies coming up, I’ll give you a few temporary pain relief
techniques that can get you feeling well enough to implement
the more permanent solutions

Rule #1: Focus on the Cause, Not Just the Symptom

To enjoy a pain-free life, you have to see pain/symptom
management for what it really is—temporary. When fixing
major catastrophic traumas, medical doctors are quite
successful. For example, if you break a bone and it’s not able
to heal properly on its own, the surgeons can use screws to get
the pieces of bone back in place so they can heal

,But back pain isn’t like a broken bone and, in most cases
it isn’t a trauma, either. The causes aren’t so obvious, the
usefulness of medical testing is less conclusive, and the
medical treatment track record is mediocre at best (as you
likely know firsthand)
Consequently, most treatment approaches focus primarily
on short-term pain relief—rather than delving into the
underlying causes of the pain. For example, doctors diagnose
the problem as a herniated disc, sciatica, muscle strain, etc
and prescribe a solution. Rarely are these questions asked:
“What caused the sciatic nerve to flare up in the first place?”
or “What caused the disc to rupture anyway?” In the case of
back pain, such questions absolutely must be asked—and
answered—if you are to live a pain-free life.
Unfortunately, doctors rarely entertain these questions_
which is a major reason why so many people suffer from
recurring back pain. If you want to eliminate your back pain
once and for all, you have to ask—and answer—the question
of the cause(s


Rule #2: Go “Upstream” to Find the
Original Cause of Your Pain

To find the underlying cause of your back pain, you have
to start with the symptom—pain—and work your way
“upstream.” When you do, you’ll discover that all
back pain starts from issues with excesses, deficiencies, and
stagnations in your mind, body, and diet. A disruption in the
delicate balance of these things is the underlying cause of all
back pain. When you have too much of something in your
life, too little of something, or blood circulation or qi (energy
flow) that’s too slow, you disrupt your body’s ability to exist
pain free
,The key is to define precisely what you have too much of
what you have too little of, and what is causing circulation
that’s too slow. When you’re able to isolate these imbalances,
you’ve discovered the secret to getting rid of your pain
permanently. Also, it’s important to note that this process
works for all health ailments, not just back pain.
This process of isolating the underlying problem does take
some investigation. It’s the most challenging part of getting
better. Once you’ve actually figured it out, in most cases it’s
quite easy to solve—with the majority of people experiencing
significant or complete pain relief within seven days or less.
However, the investigative part can sometimes take longer,
especially if your back pain comes from several layers of
causes.
In the chapters remaining in this section of the book, we’ll
cover the major treatment approaches that work. I’ll explain
under what conditions the approaches are useful, what
limitations they have, and why they work. In the last section
of the book (on action plans), I’ll recommend specific
approaches—which treatments to use and in which order,
based on your particular situation

Beware of the “No More Pain” Temptation

Many back-pain sufferers are tempted to stop the process
of solving their back-pain problems the second the pain stops.
This is a powerful temptation! However, just because the pain
stops doesn’t mean the problem is gone.
I’ve worked with many back-pain sufferers over the years,
and I’ve found that they fall into two categories: the
“thoroughs” and the “just enoughs.” The “thoroughs” figure
out what’s causing their pain and solve it once and for all.
The “just enoughs” also figure it out, but then do just enough
to take the edge off. But—and this is the critical difference—
these people are now so attuned to what’s causing the
problem, they can detect the warning signs before a fullblown
backache happens. When they do get a warning, they

use the treatment approaches you’re about to learn in the next
few chapters to once again take the edge off
In an ideal world, it would be my hope that everyone
would focus on getting rid of his or her pain once and for all
It does take a little more time to do, but it’s so worth it
However, I’m also realistic. People have busy lives. For
some, just being able to control back pain like a thermostat
knowing precisely when it’s getting worse and how to dial
back the factors that lead to severe pain—is good enough.
I point out these two approaches so that you can make a
realistic and informed choice for yourself.

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