Author: Andrew S. Kirschner, D.O.
ISBN: 13:978-0-7624-2403-0

The following review was contributed by: Kathryn Atwood: Click Here To View More Of Kathryn's   Reviews

When you read the opening sentence of Andrew Kirschner's book -- "I hate
self-help books" -  you realize that "Back Together" is going to be a different
type of "self-help" book.   How so?   For one thing, it puts pain right where it
usually happens: in a relationship.  Kirschner holds that physical pain in one
marriage partner affects both partners profoundly and therefore both should try
to be part of the solution.  Hence the subtitle: "Hands-On Healing for Couples."

Another difference is in Kirschner's approach.  He comes across like the person
he is: a very knowledgeable, accessible doctor who has a long history of success
stories under his belt but who makes no magical claims and doesn't demand
dramatic lifestyle changes.  The medicine he practices is Osteopathy, which
deals with physical problems from the outside.  (In a fascinating explanation as
to why Kirschner decided to study Osteopathy, he tells how his grandfather was
falsely diagnosed with arthritis by a regular doctor and how soon afterwards, an
Osteopathic doctor could tell from a five-minute back massage that there was
something wrong with his pancreas. There was: he died of pancreatic cancer a few
months later).

"Back Together" doesn't claim to help you diagnose internal disease and doesn't
actually even claim to make your life completely pain-free,  but it has some
very insightful and practical things to say (and to do) about moderate-to-severe
muscular pain.

The book is divided into two sections called "The Talk" and "The Walk." The
first section explains what could be considered difficult physiological
information in an always-conversational tone, making all its information
perfectly understandable.

The "Walk" section contains some simple but very effective muscle manipulations
that have had proven results.  This reviewer suffers from lower back pain and
while this pain hasn't completely evaporated since I started reading/utilizing
"Back Together," I can testify that the "Basic Prone Lumbar Release" is an
extremely effective pain management tool for my situation.  (I admit it: my
keyboard isn't ideally placed and so I do most of my writing in a deadly,
slightly hunched-over position, a big no-no listed as the number four reason for
back pain in Kirschner's "Top Ten" list).

While reading "Back Together" obviously cannot have the same effect as a visit
to Dr. Kirschner's office, his book, at once thoroughly knowledgeable and
completely approachable, is an absolute must-read for anyone who suffers from
muscular-related pain..