Originally published October 24 2008
Jesse Connone Talks About Treating the Symptoms and Fixing the Problem of Back Pain
by Kevin Gianni
(NaturalNews) This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni's Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at (http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com) . In this excerpt, Jesse Connone shares on treating the symptoms of back pain versus fixing the problem.
The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Jesse Connone co-founder of the Healthy Back Institute.
Jesse: Again the first mistake was not dealing with it at the very beginning. The second mistake kind of ties into my last point which is not addressing the underlying cause.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: And that probably is the biggest one. And most people don't know enough about their body and how their body works which is unfortunate. And this is something that I am always working on to try to educate people and also try to change the system. You should learn about your body, especially as a child, and not that basic stuff they teach in health classes now, I think you should know a lot about your body and how it works. And to me it's far more important than learning trigonometry.
Kevin: [laughes]
Jesse: You know it's something that I am not going to use. But I am going to use my body everyday. I am going to have problems as I live my life, I should know how my body works.
Kevin: Yeah!
Jesse: And so that's one kind of problem, is people don't know enough about their body. And so when they go in, they go in with back pain, they go see a doctor or they go and work with a chiropractor or physical therapist. They don't know enough about it. And so they assume that the doctor or chiropractor or therapist is the expert. They listen to just what they have to say which makes sense. But the problem is most chiropractors, doctors or therapists don't talk about this. They don't talk about muscle balances, which is what we call the hidden cause because nobody talks about it. And anybody listening to this, if you have back pain, I challenge you to go to your doctor and ask them about muscle imbalances. Just even ask them what muscle imbalances are. A lot of them can't even answer the question. So that's enough of the problem, their main focus is treating the symptoms.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: You know, and when you treat the symptoms, yes, you may get relief. But you didn't fix the problem. So it's going to come back, it's just a matter of time, so that's mistake number two which is not addressing the underlying cause and just treating the symptoms.
Kevin: How many times have you heard, "I had a back surgery and now I need another one?"
Jesse: I can give you dozens if not hundreds of actual case studies of customers and clients of ours who have multiple back surgeries! And actually I can share with you a really close personal
story of an actual friend of my wife's. She was a career firefighter, injured on a job in a fire. She hurt her back, went in for a surgery because they told her she absolutely has to have surgery. Of course, you listen to the experts because they "know better than you do" so they actually had her get surgery and she came out feeling slightly better but within several days she had a pain in a new place. The pain has subsided a little bit where she had it before but now it had moved, it's new pain, in another spot, so after a couple of months she did therapy and of course it's no surprise that the therapy they did didn't work because their therapy is all about treating the symptoms.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: So long story short, she goes through a series of five surgeries over the course of like eight years. Eight or ten years was the time frame but five surgeries and this last one, she came out and she couldn't feel her leg. And now it's going on two years later and she still can't feel her leg.
Kevin: Her entire leg?
Jesse: I think she has minor feelings up in the high area of her gluts and thigh. But pretty much from the thigh down she can't feel it. And she drags it and she has to use a walking stick basically like a cane.
Kevin: Wow!
Jesse: She is in her forties, I think she is a mom of three. I believe she had three children and yeah, she can't feel her leg. And she still has back pain and so there are tons of stories and I can literally bring up dozens if not hundreds of stories like that from all over the world, people who had surgeries. And actually more and more research is being done in this field about back surgeries and they are not really funny. But it's funny in the sense that you know how the traditional medical community always comes up with some fancy name and so... because back surgery has failed so much, they now have a term for it called failed back surgery syndrome.
Kevin: No kidding.
Jesse: Oh yeah! And actually a couple of studies that I have looked at recently have shown that 60% of the back surgeries fail on an average. 60 percent!
Kevin: Criteria for failure is surgery again or...?
Jesse: Oh yeah! The criteria is that they still have pain afterwards. So 60% of people who go in for back pain come out with the same pain or new pain. And the number is worse on repeat surgeries. I don't know, I don't have information from anybody but I know it's even worse.
Kevin: Wow!
Jesse: For people who had multiple surgeries, actually we just talked about it.
Kevin: What are some of the symptom treatments that are around that don't serve people as well and some of the other things?
Jesse: O.k. Yeah! Why don't we talk a little about some of the common treatments.
Kevin: Great!
Jesse: Why I think they don't work or why they think they can prove it to work. And some of the things that work a little bit better.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: Let's go in order of the way things happen typically for someone who has back pain. Again I shovel snow, I sneeze, I cough or whatever. I hurt my back, I go to a doctor. Almost always the doctor is going to write a prescription first thing. Again, sometimes they are going to refer you and typically they are going to ask you to rest, which research has proven is the worst thing you can do.
Kevin: O.k.
Jesse: You don't want the rest because when you rest you allow your body to stiffen up even more, the blood flow decreases and your body has a harder time healing and the muscles get weaker. As you were aware of so they tell you to rest which you don't want to. They give you a drug which is certainly not going to get rid of the problem. Your back pain is a physical problem. It's not in your head and it's just the pain you feel. It's a physical problem. And so while your head, your thoughts, your feelings, and your emotions all affect your pain, they alone are not going to fix the problem. Neither is a drug.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: So you got to deal with the physical aspect of the problem as well. And actually I will say definitely later. That's what happens, you go and you get a prescription, you're told to rest. Maybe they will send you over to physical therapy, maybe they will do x-rays and MRI's but say that they do an x-ray and MRI, it's like if you have a bulging disc. "Let's send you to physical therapy. It's not that bad. It's not that bad, let's send you to physical therapy and see and get rid of the pain that way further rather than have surgery right away". And so you go and you do your six weeks of physical therapy until your insurance runs out. The therapy will include hot packs.
Kevin: Yes.
Jesse: Ice maybe.
Kevin: Yeah!
Jesse: Electrical simulations.
Kevin: Been there. [Laughes]
Jesse: Ultrasound, maybe if you are going to an orthopedic surgeon, since there is no other name for them. Orthopedic surgeons for treating you they give you a Cortizone injection. And again more drugs, you know, anti-inflammatory drugs. Maybe your physical therapist will also do some stretches with you, they will also do some exercise. They will have you do some basic exercises, a sheet of exercises. I think maybe you and I talked about this in the past. Most people will leave from their doctor's office, their therapist's office or maybe their chiropractor's office with the same sheet of exercises.
Kevin: Yep!
Jesse: You know they got the angry cat stretch, which is the 'beneath the chest' stretch, they got sideline your knees thing, your side stretch. Everybody gets the same five, six, seven, eight stretches or exercises on a sheet of paper regardless of their situation. That alone right there should tell you something is wrong.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: Because everybody's situation is different. How can these exercises and stretches be right for you, me and everybody else who has back pain?
Kevin: Sure.
Jesse: And so that's another part of the problem. But really the biggest part of the problem is when you go to that doctor and instead of writing you a prescription, instead of telling you to go home and rest; instead maybe if you are going back multiple times now, maybe because you had a recurring bout of pain, they start to think that you are making it up. And you know that's very common -- much more common than I would ever have imagined.
Kevin: Really?
Jesse: Yeah! Yeah we have probably thousands of people that we work with who had pain and recurring types of pain. They are told by these healthcare professionals maybe it's all in their head.
Kevin: Really!
Jesse: I mean, it's very disturbing and of course the person with the pain who has been living this way for years, is very upset. And then they feel really hopeless. At this point the people who are suppose to really help them out aren't helping them and now they are actually turning them around and making them feel like they made it up.
Kevin: Right!
Jesse: And that's one of the reasons depression is so common in people with back pain and is one of the reasons we spend so much time working with people not just on the physical but on the mental and emotional aspects as well.
Kevin: I think that I really like that approach that Back pain is somewhat emotional as well. I mean can you explain that a little bit.
Jesse: Yeah, actually we have a concept that we call complete healing formula and basically what that is really is a long detailed thing but the quick summary is again back pain is a physical problem. So you got to address the physical. What's going on structurally in your body? Muscle bone, ligaments, joints -- what's happening there. You know that's causing pain. You also have the mental and emotional impact. You know your thoughts, feelings, and emotions affect how you feel physically and how your body can heal.
Kevin: Sure!
Jesse: So lots of studies have shown now people who are negative thinkers and always stressed out let a tiny little thing get to them. They have a much harder time healing and recovering from injury and illness. And not just with back pain, this is with all diseases and illnesses -- cancer strokes, heart attacks, everything.
To read the rest of this transcript as well as access more information by health experts on abundance, optimum health, and longevity just like Jesse Connone, please visit (http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com) .
About the author
Kevin Gianni is a health advocate, author and speaker. He has helped thousands of people in over 85 countries learn how to take control of their health--and keep it. To view his popular internet TV Show "The Renegade Health Show" (and get a free gift!) with commentary on natural health issues, vegan and raw food diets, holistic nutrition and more click here.
His book, "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution," is a step-by-step guide to optimum health for the time and energy-strapped. To find out more about abundance, optimum health and self motivation click here... or you're interested in the vegan and raw food diet and cutting edge holistic nutrition click here. For access to free interviews, downloads and a complete bodyweight exercise archive visit www.LiveAwesome.com.
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