Product Description

The first book showing how, in easily followed steps, you can treat your own back. Unlike the author's previous book Back In Action, which gives information on the range of treatments available for different back problems, The Back Sufferer's Handbook places emphasis on the contribution the sufferer can make putting the problem right. In language that every back sufferer will find completely understandable, it describes each spinal disorder and what causes the pain. It gives helpful exercises with information about what they will achieve and how frequently they should be done. There is also advice on back pain management, the role of medication, the use of bed rest and how to return to work. This book is essential reading both for the patient confined to bed with acute back pain, and for someone with less severe back problems, but still having to cope with back pain or discomfort on an everyday basis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18549 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Back pain can hit any one of us at any time of our lives for any number of reason ranging from damage to nerves, joints and muscles to the spine itself, with totally curable conditions suffered by 90 per cent of the population. For those people The Back Sufferer's Bible is something of a godsend.

Physiotherapist Sarah Key draws on over 25 years of experience to give a no-nonsense overview of the five stages of spinal breakdown, removing the mystery of back pain and getting down to the nitty-gritty of how to successfully treat your own back.

With straightforward explanations of the different causes of back pain and easy-to-follow programmes to bring relief to even the most chronic pain, Sarah Key's gem of a book gets straight to the point and is a must for sufferers who want the chance to take the health of their backs into their own hands. --Susan Harrison

Review
'Sarah Key's exercises really do work', HRH the Prince of Wales,

From the Author
Understanding back problems is half the cure.
The world over, there is a litany of gibberish about back problems: what they are, what causes them, and how they can be fixed . . if indeed they can be fixed at all.

With that in mind, it seems but a small step for a down-home Auzzie girl like me to have a go at unveiling the mystery of bad backs. And this is what my new book 'The Back Sufferers' Bible' is all about. With nearly thirty years of tinkering around in human spines, I thought it not unreasonable to put forward a new model for the way I see them breaking down.

First of all, I propose the vast bulk of common-or-garden backache is caused by nothing more than a stiff spinal segment. Segments stiffen more readily at the base of the spine because our vertical stature means the bricks at the bottom of the stack take more weight, but they also stiffen because we sit too much. Both factors squelch together the lower spinal segments thereby squeezing fluid from the intervertebral discs (the small pillows between the vertebrae). This makes the bottom of the spinal column more brittle.

I believe this alone is the provenance of most low back troubles. If a segment gets stiff enough, particularly L5 (the lowest spinal vertebra), it is common to get gnawing old backache which steadily becomes more prevalent. But more to the point, spines suffering ever-increasing degrees of brittleness are that much easier to hurt. What starts off as a grumbling backache can steadily worsen as you keep jarring it and ricking it with everything you do. For this reason, it doesn't matter who you are, prince or pauper, olympic athlete or couch potato, usually sooner or later spinal problems will visit you.

What starts off as a benign pre-clinical condition, where you are achey after a long car trip or sleeping in a soft bed, can then keep going (if you are unlucky enough) through five distinct stages of breakdown. These categories are my own proposition and I suggest they correspond to five generic groups of spinal disorder. You, the sufferer, have a unique opportunity of understanding what category you are in, and what might be going on inside your back. You'll see it's easier than you think, although I'm not suggesting that you circumvent your usual back-carer. You will be greatly empowered by having some handle on your own problem, particularly in understanding how it came about in the first place, and you may recognise the familiar symptoms which flag the different milestones as your problem spreads wider.

And finally, there's what you can do about it. There are simple regimes for you to follow which reverse the compression of the spinal base, and then exercises which beef up the strength of your trunk muscles to maintain the vertebral separation already achieved. If you still need manual or manipulative therapy, administered by your physiotherapist, osteopath or chiropractor (which most people do,especially in the early stages), their job is made so much quicker and easier by what you do yourself. It's simple. You'll see.

Customer Reviews

BELIEVE IN THIS BOOK
As I read the "Back Sufferer's Bible" by author Sarah Key, a great number of memories came flooding back to me. The book is of particular interest to me as I was an "end of the line" patient of Sarah Key in Sydney in 1993.

I had "been through the mill" since 1965, when a builing site accident, at age 20, fractured a number of my lumber vertebrae. I recovered and was back at work within a few months, but my back was never to be the same again and steadily declined and eventually, having no other options, underwent my first spinal operation in 1988 to remove bulging discs which were, according to the neurosurgeon, responsible for my numb and wasted left leg and severe pain. The operation did not help in any way. My condition deteriorated further and eventually, in 1991, I had a second operation to remove fragments of a remaining disc, and later, in 1992, a third operation to remove the adhesions and other products causing vertebral canal stenosis, as a result of the first operation

I had undertaken three failed spinal operations, had a leg and foot that hardly worked, was partly incontinent and my "best friend" was a steel-reinforced, heavy duty surgical corset that I believed was saving my life. I was told that I could no longer work as a builder and was never to lift or bend. I was "assured" that the majority of disc removal cases, such as mine, would eventually require a stabilizing spinal fusion. At the time I had a young family to support and felt completely "lost"

I was very fortunate to hear of Sarah Key's unorthodox back treatment regime and made an appointment to see her

My initial consultation with Sarah Key in 1993 was unforgettable. I was confronted by a bright young woman who spoke, not of "degeneration", but of "regeneration"

For somebody who had only ever heard repeated negativity from all other practitioners for years and years, ("your discs are worn out"..."dont do heavy work"..."dont lift"..."never, ever bend"..."dont take your back-brace corset off"..."take time off".."prolonged bed rest will fix everything"..."you need a spinal fusion"), it was wonderful to be swept away by this straight-talking, super-positive Sarah Key

Every single word which Sarah Key said, on that day, was so positive, so reassuring, and made so much sense. I will never forget the feelings of elation that I had on the way home in the train.

From 1993 until 2004 I did the daily exercise and backblock routine which
Sarah Key had set for me and was able to work full-time as a builder, and was able to undertake really heavy physical work. Builder mates would often say, in disbelief, "how on earth can you do that?...your back is "stuffed". I always lifted the "Sarah Key way", with a rounded back and tightened abdominal muscles and felt totally indestructible, despite having three failed spinal operations to remove discs and spinal canal debris from 1988 to 1992

I suffered a very severe financial setback in 2004, involving a large property affected by a newly-enacted Threatened Species environmental legislation. The Court action, with its never-ending delays and massive legal expenses took its toll. I lost interest in everything in my life, including my "faithful" exercises.

Around two years later, my back problems began to return with vengeance. I was unable to sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time because of pain, and felt so old and stiff and full of misery. I really did not believe that any exercise could help me because, at age 61, I believed that my body and spinal regenerative capability were "worn out"... but I was wrong...very wrong.

As I read my new Back Sufferer's Bible, I found that it gave me the ability to motivate myself again. This book is able to deliver its information in such an informal and positive way that you can't help but be swept away by a feeling of optimism similar to that which you experience in a "face to face" consultation with Sarah Key

I gingerly began the exercises again the following day and could notice a definite improvement within weeks. At this time, six months have elapsed and I have almost fully regained my health and fitness

The true "lifeline" contained within the Back Sufferer's Bible, especially for those, like myself, suffering from back problems associated with disc removal, is the marvellously detailed section on the human body's potential for the regeneration of the intervertebral discs utilising production of the spine's moisture-attracting agent, "Proteoglycans"

I believe that Sarah Key is the sole practitioner, on this planet, who is prepared to "leap off" the comfort zone of mainstream practitioner thinking and talk of the "repair and regeneration of discs".

The Back Sufferer's Bible contains line drawing "figures" which are really brilliant. They bring to life the individual components of the various stages on spinal movement. By including only the structures in the drawings which relate to the relevant text, it is quite easy to visualise the role that the pieces play in assisting or restricting various movements. The detailed background information for the range of exercises makes it easy to set realistic goals. Whether you're young or old, whether you're needing a "treatment tool" or "insurance" against back problems this book will give you the confidence and understanding to "do it on your own". The book makes so much sense that I cannot understand how such a disparity of opinion exists within the realm of the various back practitioners.

Sarah Key gave me 12 long years of vigorous, productive worklife, in 1993, at a time when I critically needed it, while the others had no solutions.

Read this book!...Believe in it!...Do the exercises diligently!...and reap the rewards

Back to a normal life
This book pretty much changed my life. I had lots of back problems, including slipped disk, torn muscle, etc. I went to see chiropractors, physiotherapists and osteopaths. While they all helped a lot, this book allowed me to read and try out the exercises in my own time, with good, clear advice and descriptions. It was also cheaper than the private sessions! The opening section of how the back/abs work is excellent, and each exercise is very well explained. Over a period of time (few weeks), I could feel a marked improvement in my back (more movement, less stiffness), which has continuously improved. I'm not sure about the idea that just working the internal abs will strengthen them all (working internal oblique will also work external oblique), but my posture is better, and I now have a normal, active life.

Thank you so much!

Interesting and useful
Having had a "bad back" on and off for years, a recent very bad patch made me think it was time to find out what might be causing it, and if there was anything I could do about it. I found this book very informative (and was quite relieved to get to a section with symptoms I definitely didn't have!). I have been doing the exercises described for a few weeks now and feel a substantial (and hopefully permanent) improvement. I like to understand what exercises are supposed to achieve and how - this book has explained both aspects.
It is similar in approach to Dr Richard Ferber's "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems", combining theory with practical and practised expertise.