Chronic back pain makes life very difficult for those affected by it. It usually prevents sufferers from living life to the full and it is often accompanied by fatigue and a reluctance to try any sort of activity which might exacerbate the problem.

If Dr John Sarno is to be believed, however, back pain can be stopped forever without drugs, without surgery and without exercise.

Sarno puts his faith in the power of the mind to solve the problem and he has written two books on the subject, including his most recent, Healing Back Pain.

Sarno says people "train themselves" to experience back pain and that they get into the habit of babying their back and are afraid to take physical exercise in case it makes things worse.

He also suggests that stress and other psychological factors, such as anger, play a big part in back pain - and that successful people are particularly susceptible to back pain.

Sarno's theories may anger some back-pain sufferers - and make those who are already cynical about treatment even more so - but it's a non-invasive alternative view of how the problem may be solved and it might work for some.

Healing Back Pain is published by Warner Books in paperback.