I could not walk more than five minutes without having to sit down. Some nights I barely slept because I couldn’t find a position that would lessen the pain.

I went to two doctors: a neurosurgeon and an orthopedist. Both back specialists. They admitted surgery was not “guaranteed” to solve my problem, but they recommended it. I decided to put it off until I did some serious physical therapy.

I talked to a few therapists and read a few books. Then I developed my own program. (I’ll show you that program in another blog.) It was based on the theory that my pain was caused by a lack of oxygen in my bones and surrounding tissues… and that was caused by “muscle tension syndrome.” (See “Kennedy and his back pain,” below.)

The idea was that if I could attain certain levels of flexibility, the blood (which carries the oxygen) would get where it needs to. If and when I achieved those levels and still had pain, I’d get the operation.

I gave myself four specific goals. By the time I reached 75% of those goals, my back pain was gone. And today, so long as I maintain that flexibility, I have no pain.

I am proud to be the publisher of Independent Healing, the best natural health newsletter I’ve ever read. It covered back pain, in detail, in the current (September 2017) issue. Here are some excerpts: