Personally I think Sarno is BS. He's telling people what they want to hear and covering up for the failures of of our medical system.
He basically says that your pain is coming from stress from psychological issues and what you need to do is therapy and Journaling.
I believed this nonsense in regards to my own back pain for a long time. Ironically my pain of 5 years started to subside as I gave up these beliefs although I don't think that was causal.
I had a physical injury to my neck muscles. It turned out what I needed was years of rest and pt to that muscle system. No amount of Journaling is going to fix real injuries
I don't think your story should lead you to conclude that his theories are BS. Like clearly a lot of pain has a physical basis. Sarno's argument was that there is a fair amount of pain that does not have a physical basis, and that once structural causes are eliminated one should consider emotional/mental sources for the pain. The fact that you had pain with a structural basis doesn't really suggest that any of that is untrue.
I'm pretty skeptical of what he says, but there is definitely enough smoke that a fire is possible.
No horse in this race, by the way. I've never had chronic pain, I just think the topic is interesting.
My experience is the exact opposite of yours. I was told for 12 years my back pain was caused by bulging discs, having a spine that has a reduced natural curve and also caused by poor posture. I read Sarno's book and I have been pain free since November last year. I have never gone longer than 2 weeks without severe sciatic or SI joint pain.
Please don't dismiss Sarno's work as BS. It may have not been the right fit for you, but it is for countless other people. Sarno's work is aimed at exactly people who don't have a real biomechanical issue like yourself. It's not a one size fits all, nor is Physiotherapy or surgery.
Also in general, Sarno doesn't reccomend journaling to everyone. A simple mindset change works for most people. Worked for me.
He basically says that your pain is coming from stress from psychological issues and what you need to do is therapy and Journaling.
I believed this nonsense in regards to my own back pain for a long time. Ironically my pain of 5 years started to subside as I gave up these beliefs although I don't think that was causal.
I had a physical injury to my neck muscles. It turned out what I needed was years of rest and pt to that muscle system. No amount of Journaling is going to fix real injuries