Heal the Pain, Comfort the Spirit : The Hows and Whys of Modern Pain Treatment

Specialists estimate that as many as 60 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and approximately 20 percent of the population in most developed countries reports having chronic pain. According to one study, chronic back pain alone afflicts more than four million Americans, and nearly 50 percent of these are disabled by it. Pain is the most frequent cause of disability in the United States, with as many as 50 million Americans on short- or long-term disability leave from work at any one time. As these figures suggest, chronic pain is extremely difficult to treat successfully--it is a complex and baffling phenomenon, poorly understood even in the medical centers devoted to its diagnosis and treatment. In __Heal the Pain, Comfort the Spirit Dorene__ O'Hara, an anesthesiologist with extensive training in pain management and clinical pharmacology, explores treatment techniques developed over many years of studying, treating, and lecturing on chronic pain. She also examines the important contributions made by other clinical professionals and by practitioners of alternative medicine. Combining a general survey of the forms of pain therapy with suggestions for how patients can find the most appropriate treatment plan for themselves, __Heal the Pain, Comfort the Spirit__ provides needed answers for pain sufferers as well as practitioners.

Specialists estimate that as many as 60 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and approximately 20 percent of the population in most developed countries reports having chronic pain. According to one study, chronic back pain alone afflicts more than four million Americans, and nearly 50 percent of these are disabled by it. Pain is the most frequent cause of disability in the United States, with as many as 50 million Americans on short- or long-term disability leave from work at any one time. As these figures suggest, chronic pain is extremely difficult to treat successfully—it is a complex and baffling phenomenon, poorly understood even in the medical centers devoted to its diagnosis and treatment.

In Heal the Pain, Comfort the Spirit Dorene O'Hara, an anesthesiologist with extensive training in pain management and clinical pharmacology, explores treatment techniques developed over many years of studying, treating, and lecturing on chronic pain. She also examines the important contributions made by other clinical professionals and by practitioners of alternative medicine.

Combining a general survey of the forms of pain therapy with suggestions for how patients can find the most appropriate treatment plan for themselves, Heal the Pain, Comfort the Spirit provides needed answers for pain sufferers as well as practitioners.

Contents Introduction: The Problem Chapter 1. How We Think About Pain Chapter 2. The Treatment of Pain: History and Analysis Chapter 3. Pain as Self-Defense: Biological Models Chapter 4. The Vicious Circle: Biological Models of Chronic Pain Chapter 5. Pain Complaints: Making the Diagnosis Chapter 6. Just Make It Go Away: Pharmacologic Treatments for Acute and Chronic Pain Chapter 7. "It Hurts So Good": Physical Methods for Treating Pain Chapter 8. Stress, Psychology, and Pain in the Bodymind Chapter 9. Integrative Medicine: Expanding the Horizons for Pain Relief Chapter 10. Putting It All Together: What to Do if You Have a Pain Complaint Sources Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments