I Defied Doctors and Cured My Chronic Pain With This Simple Trick

• EXPLORE FURTHER: I reclaimed my life following years of enduring constant discomfort...and it wasn’t because of medication.

Just at the age of 19, Nicole Sachs received news that she would likely require a wheelchair by the time she turned 40, making it impossible for her to travel or bear children.

Sachs had been grappling with severe lower back pain for many years and was informed by her physician that this issue stemmed from spondylolisthesis, a spinal condition characterised by a vertebra slipping out of alignment.

The doctors maintained that her discomfort was linked to her long-term spine issue, suggesting that spinal fusion surgery might be her most viable choice, though they did not assure it would completely eliminate her pain forever.

However, before she proceeded with her plans, she stumbled upon the concept of mind-body practices, and suddenly everything made sense: her discomfort did not originate from a physical ailment but rather from suppressed traumas and emotions.

Now, 30 years later not only is she pain-free, she’s a globe-trotting mother of three, defying the limitations once imposed on her.

In her book, Mind Your Body , Sachs, a social worker, reveals how she bridged the gap between traditional Western medicine and a radical new understanding of chronic pain Her mind required healing, not her spine.

Her journey challenges everything she thought she knew about pain.

Sachs writes it all started with a life-altering realization: doctors don’t always have all the answers. Now, she’s sharing the science behind the breakthrough that saved her, believing it could help millions trapped in unending pain.

Pain can be all in your head, but not in the way you think.

For thousands of years, ancient healers believed the mind and body were inextricably linked – that grief could weaken the heart, stress could turn the stomach, and emotional trauma could manifest as physical pain.

In the 17th century, the emergence of Western medicine triggered a significant change in how individuals understand discomfort and disease, viewing the physical body and mental state as distinct entities to be addressed separately.

This has led to countless physicians informing their patients that all tests have returned normal results and suggesting that their discomfort is purely psychological, thereby seeming dismissive.

That's precisely how Sachs felt.

By focusing on the link between the mind and body, she was able to lessen her discomfort and became driven to explore how the brain contributes to persistent pain.

She earned qualifications in psychology and clinical social work, refining her method by combining psychotherapy with the principles of mind-body science.

Sachs stated: 'When you comprehend how a fight-or-flight-driven nervous system conveys messages of distress aimed at steering us away from the perceived "threats" responsible for our torment, the development of many long-term ailments becomes clearer... Through years of experience, I've found that this is essential for rewiring your thought processes.'

By lending an ear to her inner child and unresolved trauma, her suffering started to fade away.

In the field of mind-body medicine, terms like 'chronic condition' and 'chronic pain' encompass a broad spectrum of persistent health concerns, including autoimmune flare-ups, pain symptoms, gastrointestinal issues, dermatological disorders, and psychological stress such as anxiety.

Sachs dealt with severe back pain for years and was in and out of doctors’ offices, trying prescription painkillers and medications.

Your brain is hardwired to save you from danger, but when trapped in endless ‘fight-or-flight’ mode, it can turn emotional pain into chronic illness.

Stress floods your body with cortisol and adrenaline, preparing you to flee a predator or attempt to fight them off.

How JournalSpeak Works

Set a Timer

• You journal for about 20 minutes. No filters, no worrying about spelling or grammar — just raw, honest expression.

Pick a Topic

• Select an issue that sets off your emotions. This might be from recently or even an older recollection, such as:

• Fear about the future

• Frustration towards a relative

• Disappointment regarding an earlier choice

• Grief or loss

• Bodily discomforts that are troubling you

Write Unfiltered

• Get everything out — the chaotic, furious, small-minded, fearful, illogical aspects of yourself that you wouldn’t dare express verbally. Sachs refers to this as lending an outlet to your "inner child" or unconscious emotions that you've been taught to stifle.

Burn or Delete It

• You never need to read through your writing again. Actually, Sachs suggests getting rid of it since the aim isn't reflection but release.

Proceed with a Meditation or Self-Compassion Exercise

• Following your journaling session, allocate a short period for calming your nervous system—this could be done via deep breathing exercises, a brief meditation, or listening to relaxing music. It helps communicate with your brain that it’s okay to process and release emotions.

In mind-body medicine, pain isn't random — it's the nervous system’s way of distracting from repressed emotions like rage or heartbreak by converting them into physical symptoms.

The fix, Sachs says, is to stop fighting one’s feelings.

She herself dealt with deep loneliness, rage and injustices as a child.

As an adult, this triggered physical pain and she learned through mind-body science that her back pain was a response to that.

Through addressing hidden feelings, individuals may 'deactivate' their body's natural warning mechanism, halting discomfort in its path.

Part of her routine involved developing JournalSpeak – an uncensored journaling technique designed to unleash pent-up feelings.

JournalSpeak advises individuals to pick a subject that evokes strong emotions within them and then write continuously about it for 20 minutes, not concerning themselves with spelling or grammatical accuracy.

Once finished, the individual may choose to incinerate, throw away, or erase the written content since the aim is to cleanse rather than reflect.

Following the writing, Sachs guides individuals to engage in meditation or perform grounding breathwork techniques.

She penned: 'Once those rude, unimaginable realities are uncovered and properly addressed, the nervous system ceases to respond by entering defense mode and transmitting pain signals.'

Researchers have long grappled with the notion that persistent pain might be linked to emotional distress, potentially serving as a reaction to it.

A 2012 study published in the journal Techniques in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management concluded that chronic pain and emotional trauma are physiologically intertwined.

Researchers found 35 percent of chronic pain patients meet the criteria of a PTSD diagnosis.

Both conditions trigger hyperarousal in the amygdala and flood the body with stress hormones like cortisol.

In 2022, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, posited in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews that repressed anger rewires the brain, activating the amygdala and flipping the ‘pain switch’ on to cause conditions like fibromyalgia and unexplained back pain.

Pent-up rage, they found, disrupts key brain regions, turning emotional stress into physical pain. Unprocessed trauma and anger keep that pain switch turned on and continuously weaken the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotions, decision-making, and pain signals.

Sachs argues that the brain has the ability to understand that challenging emotions do not actually pose a threat, thereby decreasing unwarranted pain signals, and subsequently alleviating excess distress. Techniques such as JournalSpeak and mindfulness aid in readjusting the nervous system, showing that stress doesn’t necessitate a painful survival reaction.

Read more