How I cured 14 years of back pain, received from Saga, 2026 01 11

[Colin Howard]

Greetings,

So far, the only regular back problem from which I "suffer" is getting it
off the bed in the morning, by which I mean I enjoy laying in bed and often
have to make a great effort to get up.

After a seemingly trivial accident, Elizabeth was in chronic pain for more
than a decade - until she discovered a solution that really worked.
By Elizabeth Reilly | Published - 8 Jan 2026

I was out for an evening walk with my husband in the glorious
Gloucestershire countryside in summer 2005. As I climbed over a stile - an
action I had performed hundreds of times before - it collapsed under me, and
my right leg skidded off, shearing away to the ground on the far side.

Nothing hurt at the time, but the next morning I couldn't walk. I didn't
know it then but my life, at the age of 55, had changed forever.

I had severe pain in my groin, which persisted despite physiotherapy, dozens
of exercises, ice and heat applied several times a day, and painkillers
seemingly taken by the handful.

After a fortnight, pain also came on in my lower back, where it stayed for
the next 14 years. I had dozens of treatments including steroid injections,
more physio, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage and all kinds of bodywork.
They all worked - for a while. Nothing lasted.

I bought various aids that were supposed to ameliorate symptoms and didn't,
I attended a pain-management course and spent hours on the internet trying
to find answers.

My back pain persisted, though I hadn't injured my back. And - here was
something strange! - as soon as one part of me was 'fixed', pain came on in
other areas such as my left knee, left shoulder and thighs, none of which I
had damaged.

My body also often felt 'tight' all over. I saw more professionals and spent
more money, to no avail. I was depressed and frightened - what on earth was
the matter with me?

Finding a solution

Then, in July 2019, I read a newspaper article about the role of the brain
in pain, and how it can change physically to produce 'central
sensitisation', where the nervous system goes into overdrive and previously
normal sensations generate intense pain.

The author had cured her pain using methods developed by the American doctor
John Sarno, a pioneer of mindbody medicine.

Dr Sarno theorised that back pain was caused by tension and stress. If one
was living with stress, or even had unresolved historical stress,
something - in my case, falling over a stile - could trigger the brain to
develop pain pathways that could then become conditioned in the body. This
really resonated with me, as I'd been living with a good deal of stress at
the time of my fall.

In his book Healing Back Pain, Dr Sarno encouraged readers to think
psychologically to ameliorate their symptoms, rather than about structural
problems such as disc herniation (which can exist in people with no back
pain).

In order to implement what I had learnt, I bought and studied the books of
more recent professionals in mindbody healing. These included:

Chronic Pain: Your Key to Recovery by British physiotherapist Georgie
Oldfield, founder of SIRPA (Stress Illness Recovery Practitioners'
Association);

They Can't Find Anything Wrong! by Dr David Clarke;

Works by Dr Howard Schubiner, Alan Gordon and Dan Buglio.

But perhaps the most significant resource for me was Curable.

From these sources, I learned that the brain is much more neuroplastic than
was earlier thought, and that it is possible to retrain one's neural
pathways to 'unlearn' pain (although it must be stressed that one's pain is
very real and is not 'all in your head').

Elizabeth Reilly

Elizabeth Reilly suffered 14 years of chronic back pain

Moving past pain

Firstly, I learned to journal - to pour out onto paper all my stress and
repressed anger, getting in touch with my inner child - therapy without the
therapist, perhaps.

The Curable app's first prescribed expressive writing exercise was a stress
assessment in which I had to make three lists of possible stressful events
in my life: one from childhood, one from adulthood and one from self-imposed
pressures. Other exercises included expressive writing for past
relationships, for sibling, maternal and paternal relationships and a
'letter' to my childhood self.

It's not easy as it brings up all kinds of uncomfortable emotions, but it's
wonderfully freeing. Writing is important, says Dr David Clarke, because the
more you put your repressed emotions into words, the less they need to go
into the body, and that's what can relieve symptoms.

As an antidote to dealing with difficult emotions, I began to keep a
gratitude diary. My intention - which I did not always live up to - was to
write every evening about three things for which I felt grateful that day.

When gratitude is truly felt, it really does have a brain-calming effect
and has been shown to unlock one's 'inner pharmacy'.

I also learned brain training exercises designed to reprogramme the way the
brain and nervous system respond to pain. These included word swapping, in
which I simply had to switch the word 'pain' for something else. Also, if
instead of saying, "My back really hurts," I said, "My back is less
comfortable than I would like," the brain would be soothed just by saying
the word 'comfortable'.

And then there's the idea of replacing the p-word with something really
stupid like 'bananas', which made me giggle instead of tensing up - and
laughter goes a long way.

I practised visualisations such as imagining an 'off' switch in the brain,
or graded motor imagery, which means imagining performing an activity that
gives you pain - such as getting out of bed - in a safe way, before actually
doing it.

I learned the brain-calming effect of various aphorisms, such as simply
repeating "I am safe" over and over to myself, and I practised mindfulness
meditation, another soothing technique.

The goal of all this work is to retrain and calm the brain so that it no
longer sends pain signals - and it works. Some might be sceptical about
these activities, but I was not. In any case, when you have severe,
persistent pain, you will try anything.

It's not easy, but the great thing is that this work can be done by
oneself - without injections, treatments, exercises or medication. I had to
work at it and had setbacks to overcome.

But I had enough success after three months to know that I was on the right
path, and after many more months, my back pain and other symptoms subsided.
Seven years on, I am now 75 and still pain-free. I walk for miles, do
gardening and play with my grandchildren without giving a thought to the
need to 'protect' my back. Pain has gone and so has the fear of pain.

Back in Charge: How I Healed from Chronic Pain by Elizabeth Reilly
(Troubador, RRP: £12.99)

Chronic pain: what you need to know

by Patsy Westcott

Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists or recurs for longer than
three months. It affects more than 43% of adults in the UK, rising to three
in five (62%) of people aged 75-plus.

It is notoriously difficult to treat. Paracetamol was found in one
review to be no better than a placebo for chronic back pain and arthritis.
Antidepressants have also been found to be ineffective in many cases.

Primary chronic pain, where there is no definite physical source, is
believed by many doctors to be a result of brain cells overreacting to pain
stimuli and over time becoming over-sensitised.

The government's health watchdog NICE (National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence) now advises physical and psychological therapies for
chronic pain.

Colin Howard, living in Southern England, hopes you and your family,
acquaintances and friends are enjoying a peaceful, prosperous and happy
2026.