The War on Pain

by Fishman, Scott, M.D.; Berger, Lisa

• ISBN13: 9780060192976
• ISBN10: 0060192976
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-02
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

If you are one of the 45 million Americans suffering from chronic pain, you've most likely seen numerous doctors and tried a wide range of medicines and treatments, only to alleviate your pain. You've probably come to believe that there's nothing to be done and that your chronic pain, is, well, chronic. Now, in a groundbreaking contribution, Dr. Scott Fishman introduces an interdisciplinary pain-management approach that integrates traditional and alternative techniques including pharmcology, neuroscience, experimental precedures and mind-body medicine. For anyone who suffers from chronic pain conditions such as back pain, post-surgical pain, migraines, and arthritis, The War on Pain, with the latest research personal stories of patients, and the wise and compassionate advice of a leading pain expert, is a patient's best defense.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Thomas Moore
Introduction	xi
Part I: The Anatomy of Pain and Suffering: Charting its Pathways Through Mind and Body	1	(122)
Why Pain Hurts: The Anatomy of Ouch	5	(21)
Disconnecting the Pain Alarm: The Dawn of Anesthesia and How It Revolutionized Pain Medicine	26	(25)
The Mysteries of Chronic Pain: When a Pain in the Back Becomes a Life in Pain	51	(17)
When the Pain Alarm Goes Awry: Traumatized Nerves and Damaged Pathways	68	(13)
Decoding the Neuromatrix: How Pain Changes the Brain	81	(19)
The Mind Fights Back: Placebos, Endorphins, and Other Miracles of Consciousness	100	(23)
Part II: Strategies for Healing: the State of the Art in the War on Pain	123	(144)
Normal Nerves, Damaged Tissue: Low Back Pain, Arthritis, Joint Pain, and Other Common Aches	127	(32)
When Nerves Misfire: Diabetic Neuropathy, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Complex Regional Pain	159	(34)
Meeting Headaches Head-on: Tension Headaches, Migraines, and Other Monsters	193	(20)
Therapies That Challenge the Limits of Science: Acupuncture, Trigger Point Injections, Hypnosis, and Behavioral Therapies	213	(24)
Pain at the End of Life: Untangling the Threads of Physical and Psychic Suffering	237	(19)
Toward a World Without Pain: The Promise of the Future	256	(11)
Epilogue: Making Peace with Pain	267	(2)
Appendix A: Major Pain Clinics in the United States	269	(6)
Appendix B: Resources: Web Sites, Associations, Professional Organizations	275	(8)
Appendix C: Glossary of Pain Terms	283	(4)
Acknowledgments	287	(4)
Index	291