® Back Pain Remedies For Dummies by Michael S. Sinel, M.D. and William W. Deardorff, Ph.D. Back Pain Remedies For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646- 8700. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4447, or e-mail [email protected] Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572- 4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 99-62838 ISBN: 0-7645-5132-9 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 3B/RV/QW/QT/IN About the Authors Michael Sinel, M.D. is a nationally renowned back pain expert. He received his medical degree from State University of New York Downstate and then completed a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center. After serving as Director of Outpatient Physical Medicine at Cedar Sinai Medical Center, he became board-certified in both physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain management. Dr. Sinel is a co-founder of California Orthopedics and Rehabilitation (COR), a prestigious multi-specialty medical group in Beverly Hills, California. He is also an assistant clinical professor at UCLA Medical Center and attending physician with the UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center. He lectures regularly to various medical and lay audiences and is actively involved in clinical research of spinal disorders. As a specialist in nonsurgical approaches to spinal problems and pain management, Dr. Sinel has made numerous national radio and television appearances and has been quoted in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Reader’s Digest. William W. Deardorff, Ph.D., ABPP received his doctorate in clinical psychology with a special emphasis in health from Washington State University after completing an internship at the University of Washington Medical School. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Deardorff is board-certified in clinical health psychology and specializes in the evaluation and treatment of psychological issues related to medical problems. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Past-President of the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology. Dr. Deardorff is in practice with California Orthopedic and Rehabilitation group in Beverly Hills, California. As an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, he is active in teaching and research. Dr. Deardorff has published extensively in the area of health psychology. His previous patient guidebook, Preparing for Surgery: A Mind-Body Approach to Enhance Healing and Recovery won the Small Press Book Award in Health in 1998. He has made numerous national radio and television appearances, and has been quoted in a variety of general publications. Dedication Michael Sinel: To my wife, for her never-ending love and commitment. To all those who suffer from back pain, and all those who help. William Deardorff: To my wife Janine (“not Jeanine”) for her support, patience and putting up with my never-ending “projects.” To my sons Paul (“Mr. P”) and James (“Squeaks”) for their constant encouragement in the form of the regular retort, “How many pages to go, Daddy?” Acknowledgments Michael Sinel: I want to thank my wife and my parents for their support and encouragement. I want to thank my first mentor, John Sarno, M.D., who taught me the strength of the mind-body connection, and my present and forever mentor and friend, Ted Goldstein, M.D., who remains the premier “spine doctor” in my eyes. Finally, I would like to thank my patients who will always be my true teachers. William Deardorff: Aside from my family, I want to thank my close friends for their consistent support throughout the past year: Jeff and Kimberly Steinbach, Brian and Nicoli Tucker, Rick and Joanne Wilson, Ron and Gerri Day, and “Uncle” Dr. Allan F. Chino. I would also like to extend special thanks to Dr. Theodore (“Teddy”) Goldstein for his friendship, support, and professional practice style. I want to thank Brian Kramer, our project editor, for keeping me on track and on time, as well as immersing me in the ... For Dummies style. Also, thanks to Tami Booth, our executive editor, for being an excellent problem- solver and for taking the time to be sure that this book gets to the people that need it the most, the back pain sufferer. From both authors: We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the many experts who made invaluable contributions to this book, insuring that the information presented is “cutting edge”. First, special acknowledgments are given to the following who made major contributions to specific chapters: to Theodore Goldstein, M.D., for his contribution to the surgery chapter, to Jay Triano, D.C., Ph.D., for his contribution to the chiropractic chapter, and to Larry Payne, Ph.D. for his contribution to the yoga chapter. We would also like to thank the following for their contributions to various parts of the book (listed in alphabetical order): Aaron Filler, M.D.; Mary Jo Ford, M.D.; Stephen Hochschuler, M.D.; Patrick Johnson, M.D.; Fred Lerner, DC, Ph.D.; Joshua Prager, M.D.; John Reeves, II, Ph.D.; Risa Sheppard; Stephen Sideroff, Ph.D.; Steven Waldman, M.D. Lastly, we would like to thank our technical reviewers Anthony Cole, M.D. and John Reeves, II, Ph.D. for ensuring the accuracy of our information and strengthening the presentation of the material overall.