Acupunture

The 7-Day 

Back Pain Cure 

How Thousands of People Got Relief 

Without Doctors, Drugs, or Surgery

The Seven Back-Pain Mistakes 

If you’re reading this book, most likely you—or a loved 

one—is experiencing, or has experienced, back pain. Maybe 

you’ve tried some of the treatments out there but haven’t 

found any lasting relief. At this point, you may be wondering 

why you haven’t had greater success. Through my practice, 

I’ve found that the reasons back-pain sufferers continue to 

suffer are usually because they make one or more of the 

following seven common mistakes. 

Mistake #1: 

Continuing a Treatment That Doesn’t Work 

I’ve talked to a number of back-pain sufferers who have 

amazing stories of how long they tried a particular type of 

treatment before giving it up. Prior to enlisting our help, one 

of our clients actually went through 70 treatments with a 

chiropractor—and experienced no relief at all. 

I know of several other clients who spent a lot of money on 

massage therapists and acupuncturists, only to get temporary 

relief that disappeared within a few days. 

This doesn’t make any sense. If you’re using a back-pain 

solution that doesn’t work or hasn’t worked permanently, it’s 5 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure 

worth trying a different approach. Some treatments work for 

some people, but if a treatment isn’t working for you, that’s 

what’s important. 

Here’s a general rule to follow: Once you’ve gone through 

a three-month period of treatment, if you see no 

improvement, consider making a change. It’s not so much 

that you should have only X amount of treatments, but that 

you should notice steady progress in your pain relief. This 

relief should be of the long-lasting variety—not the kind that 

wears off in a few hours. 

Mistake #2: 

Failing to Solve the Problem the First Time 

Many people experience back pain that lasts a few days and 

then subsides. When the pain disappears, rather than make an 

effort to identify and address the cause of it, they simply 

forget about it. 

Here’s an example: About 10 years ago, my mother had 

her first bout with back pain. She suffered back spasms for a 

few days, then the pain went away and she went on with her 

life. Two years later, it came back—much worse than before. 

It got so bad, she couldn’t work. If she had taken that first 

round of pain more seriously, I doubt she would have had to 

go through the second one. Even if she did, it wouldn’t have 

been nearly as bad and she’d have known exactly what to do 

to get rid of the pain again, but this time much more quickly. 

I understand why this happens. Most people believe that 

when the pain goes away, the problem does, too. This is a 

common misconception that I hope will be corrected as you 

read this book. 

The truth is, even though the pain may ease up for a while, 

if you haven’t figured out what caused it in the first place, 

that cause is still there, lurking, waiting to flare up again. Of 

course, figuring out what causes back pain isn’t always easy. 5 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure 

worth trying a different approach. Some treatments work for 

some people, but if a treatment isn’t working for you, that’s 

what’s important. 

Here’s a general rule to follow: Once you’ve gone through 

a three-month period of treatment, if you see no 

improvement, consider making a change. It’s not so much 

that you should have only X amount of treatments, but that 

you should notice steady progress in your pain relief. This 

relief should be of the long-lasting variety—not the kind that 

wears off in a few hours. 

Mistake #2: 

Failing to Solve the Problem the First Time 

Many people experience back pain that lasts a few days and 

then subsides. When the pain disappears, rather than make an 

effort to identify and address the cause of it, they simply 

forget about it. 

Here’s an example: About 10 years ago, my mother had 

her first bout with back pain. She suffered back spasms for a 

few days, then the pain went away and she went on with her 

life. Two years later, it came back—much worse than before. 

It got so bad, she couldn’t work. If she had taken that first 

round of pain more seriously, I doubt she would have had to 

go through the second one. Even if she did, it wouldn’t have 

been nearly as bad and she’d have known exactly what to do 

to get rid of the pain again, but this time much more quickly. 

I understand why this happens. Most people believe that 

when the pain goes away, the problem does, too. This is a 

common misconception that I hope will be corrected as you 

read this book. 

The truth is, even though the pain may ease up for a while, 

if you haven’t figured out what caused it in the first place, 

that cause is still there, lurking, waiting to flare up again. Of 

course, figuring out what causes back pain isn’t always easy. 

The Seven Back-Pain Mistakes 6 

If you have a fall or some other sudden accident, it’s not 

difficult to figure out why your back hurts. But in nearly all 

cases, the pain is caused by any number of things, things you 

may not have even thought about. You need to investigate 

what unhealthy conditions may be developing in your body 

and, more important, what’s creating those conditions. I like 

to call these “hidden causes,” and you’ll discover them later in this book. 

Mistake #3: 

Thinking You’re Too “Healthy” 

or “Fit” to Have Back Pain 

You may eat right, exercise regularly, and enjoy good 

health, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience back pain. 

Having been a personal trainer for many years, I’ve seen a lot 

of people in excellent shape who suddenly find themselves 

with lower-back trouble. The reality is that people who 

exercise frequently are just as likely—if not more so—to 

develop back pain. Certain groups of athletes—including 

runners, cyclists, swimmers, dancers, gymnasts, and 

bodybuilders—are prime candidates for back problems. 

Cyclists, for example, spend hours in a hunched 

position—a position that’s not natural for the body to 

maintain over long periods of time. This causes a number of 

problems, as you’ll discover shortly. In addition, the constant 

repetitive motion of peddling a bicycle overworks one set of 

muscles while underworking another. These imbalanced 

behaviors are very common in many people, and frequently 

they create conditions in the body that lead to back pain. 

The same thing can happen to nonathletes. Even if you 

don’t do any of the above-mentioned activities, your workout 

program can create problems if you’re concentrating too 

heavily on certain areas of your body—making the pain 

worse—while neglecting others. Being fit doesn’t necessarily 7 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure 

mean that your body is well-balanced or devoid of other 

causes that could lead to back pain. 

Mistake #4: 

Treating Only the Symptoms 

The majority of the treatments people receive—including 

cortisone shots, anti-inflammatory drugs, ultrasound, 

electrical stimulation, and the like—address only the 

symptoms of pain. You must understand that pain is merely a 

signal that something is wrong. Even if you get rid of the 

pain, the problem is still going to be there. 

Here’s an illustration: Suppose the oil light comes on in 

your car. You could put a piece of duct tape over the light, 

which would eliminate the aggravation, but it won’t solve the 

problem. Your engine is still going to need attention. And 

unless you do something about it, it’s only a matter of time 

before it will break down. 

It’s the same with pain. You’re hurting because your body 

is suffering some sort of stress or strain. If you don’t address 

it, you’ll continue on with your “oil light” lit, so to speak, 

until something breaks down. Unfortunately, such a 

breakdown is usually very painful. 

Mistake #5: 

Not Understanding That Back Pain Is a Process 

Most of the time, back pain, neck pain, and sciatica take 

weeks, months, or even years to develop. Usually, you’re not 

aware of a problem until something starts to hurt. But rarely 

is back pain the result of a one-time incident. Barring an 

injury like a car accident, back pain typically doesn’t happen 

overnight. And even if a fall or an accident did trigger pain for 

you, the fact is that before the event you likely had several 

 7 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure 

mean that your body is well-balanced or devoid of other 

causes that could lead to back pain. 

Mistake #4: 

Treating Only the Symptoms 

The majority of the treatments people receive—including 

cortisone shots, anti-inflammatory drugs, ultrasound, 

electrical stimulation, and the like—address only the 

symptoms of pain. You must understand that pain is merely a 

signal that something is wrong. Even if you get rid of the 

pain, the problem is still going to be there. 

Here’s an illustration: Suppose the oil light comes on in 

your car. You could put a piece of duct tape over the light, 

which would eliminate the aggravation, but it won’t solve the 

problem. Your engine is still going to need attention. And 

unless you do something about it, it’s only a matter of time 

before it will break down. 

It’s the same with pain. You’re hurting because your body 

is suffering some sort of stress or strain. If you don’t address 

it, you’ll continue on with your “oil light” lit, so to speak, 

until something breaks down. Unfortunately, such a 

breakdown is usually very painful. 

Mistake #5: 

Not Understanding That Back Pain Is a Process 

Most of the time, back pain, neck pain, and sciatica take 

weeks, months, or even years to develop. Usually, you’re not 

aware of a problem until something starts to hurt. But rarely 

is back pain the result of a one-time incident. Barring an 

injury like a car accident, back pain typically doesn’t happen 

overnight. And even if a fall or an accident did trigger pain for 

you, the fact is that before the event you likely had several 

The Seven Back-Pain Mistakes 8 

 “hidden causes” placing unnecessary strain on your body. 

Consider this example. Many of us sit for hours a day, 

especially if we’re required to work at a computer or be in the 

driver’s seat of a car or truck. The body wasn’t made to sit 

that long. (That’s why we’re seeing so many cases of back pain 

now as compared to several decades ago.) 

Sitting puts extra pressure on the spine. It also shortens the 

muscles in the front of our hips and the backs of our legs 

while weakening others, like the ones in the rear end and the 

abdomen. To make matters worse, most of us adopt poor 

posture when we’re sitting. The shoulders round, the head 

juts forward, and the back curves like a “C.” When we stand 

up again, we feel that tightness in the backs of our legs and in 

our hips, and most of us retain that stooped posture even 

when in the upright position. 

Imagine that the front end of your car is out of alignment, 

which causes the tires to wear unevenly. This also can happen 

to your muscles. Doing one thing over and over (such as 

sitting with bad posture) can throw the body out of its proper 

alignment, forcing it to adapt and work at strange angles. 

After a long period of operating this way, certain muscles, 

tendons, ligaments, and joints wear down, while others that 

are barely used become stiff and weak. The end result of this 

long process is often a condition like back pain, but it also can 

manifest itself as many other conditions, such as foot pain, 

knee pain, hip pain, shoulder problems, carpal tunnel 

syndrome, and dozens of others. 

Unfortunately, X-rays, MRIs, and CAT scans don’t reveal 

much of the uneven wear and tear we’re talking about here, so 

many people are unaware of what has caused their pain. Even 

after undergoing treatment that may give them some relief, 

they have failed to address the underlying causes, setting them 

up to likely have to deal with this problem for a very long 

time. 

 9 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure 

Mistake #6: 

Believing There Are No More Options Left 

After suffering back pain for a while, and trying various 

treatments, you may tell yourself that surgery is the only 

option left or—even worse—that you’ll just have to learn to 

live with the pain. 

If you’ve experienced little success, you may 

understandably feel tired of trying. My “message of hope,” so 

to speak, is that pain is not your problem. Determining what 

is causing the pain is the problem. When you can get to the 

underlying, often hidden cause of your back pain, it becomes 

much easier to treat successfully. 

Most practitioners try to get rid of back pain without ever 

really trying to figure out what’s causing it. For example, two 

people can experience the exact same level and location of 

back pain, but for wildly different reasons. 

Let’s say you’ve tried physical therapy, but it didn’t work 

for you. It’s not that physical therapy doesn’t work; the 

problem is that the therapist didn’t have you doing the right 

combination of things to address the specific causes of your 

pain. Remember: Pain isn’t the problem. It’s just a message 

that you have a problem. 

Forget about treatments that try to make the message go 

away. Until you’ve attempted to figure out what’s causing the 

pain, you haven’t come close to exhausting your treatment 

options. In fact, I’m willing to bet that there are several 

treatments you likely have not tried (maybe never even heard 

of) and I’ll tell you about these later in this book. 

Mistake #7: 

Failing to Take Control 

Many back-pain sufferers look to others to make them 

well. The problem with this is that no one cares more about 9 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure 

Mistake #6: 

Believing There Are No More Options Left 

After suffering back pain for a while, and trying various 

treatments, you may tell yourself that surgery is the only 

option left or—even worse—that you’ll just have to learn to 

live with the pain. 

If you’ve experienced little success, you may 

understandably feel tired of trying. My “message of hope,” so 

to speak, is that pain is not your problem. Determining what 

is causing the pain is the problem. When you can get to the 

underlying, often hidden cause of your back pain, it becomes 

much easier to treat successfully. 

Most practitioners try to get rid of back pain without ever 

really trying to figure out what’s causing it. For example, two 

people can experience the exact same level and location of 

back pain, but for wildly different reasons. 

Let’s say you’ve tried physical therapy, but it didn’t work 

for you. It’s not that physical therapy doesn’t work; the 

problem is that the therapist didn’t have you doing the right 

combination of things to address the specific causes of your 

pain. Remember: Pain isn’t the problem. It’s just a message 

that you have a problem. 

Forget about treatments that try to make the message go 

away. Until you’ve attempted to figure out what’s causing the 

pain, you haven’t come close to exhausting your treatment 

options. In fact, I’m willing to bet that there are several 

treatments you likely have not tried (maybe never even heard 

of) and I’ll tell you about these later in this book. 

Mistake #7: 

Failing to Take Control 

Many back-pain sufferers look to others to make them 

well. The problem with this is that no one cares more about 

The Seven Back-Pain Mistakes 10 

your body and health than you do, and in the end, you have 

to take the steps necessary to allow and assist your body to 

heal. 

A medical doctor looks at back pain as a muscular 

problem. Prescribe the right drugs, he believes, and the 

problem goes away. 

The surgeon sees it as a disc or vertebrae problem—a 

bulging disc is putting pressure on a nerve. She thinks that by 

cutting away the problem, it will go away. 

The acupuncturist feels that back pain is related to poor 

circulation within the body. By using acupuncture treatments, 

he encourages better circulation and believes that it will 

stimulate the body’s natural self-healing powers to kick in. 

The chiropractor sees back pain as a misalignment of the 

spinal column. She thinks that by manipulating the spinal 

column into alignment, she will fix the problem. 

These treatment approaches are all partially right. 

The challenge with back pain is that the cause is different 

for each person—and often involves a combination of factors. 

Because no back pain practitioner is well-versed in all these 

areas—nor overly knowledgeable about matching conditions 

with treatments—nobody other than you will ever consider 

the “big picture,” or holistic aspect, of what’s causing your 

pain. 

This is why I found relief only when I took charge of my 

own care. I certainly called on others when appropriate, but I 

was personally responsible and determined to get rid of the 

problem once and for all. 

I encourage you to adopt the same attitude. As you read 

the chapters that follow, you’ll come to understand what’s 

going on with your body and learn how to finally get the 

lasting relief you’ve been looking for. 

Let’s get started!