The Chronic Pain Handbook

This book is the third in a series that focuses on teaching those with chronic pain conditions to self-manage their condition by learning the complicated process of partnering with their illness. The most important aspect of self-management with any chronic illness is acceptance and attitude because a cure is almost always unrealistic. Acceptance is the first step on the journey to wellness and helps one learn to stop being a victim to their illness and to enhance the skills necessary to achieve wellness such as effective coping, increasing resilience, and the use of positive psychology interventions. Acceptance involves coming to terms with your illness and accepting it in full followed by adjusting your attitude in the face of chronic symptoms, making you a champion of your condition.It is my belief that many illnesses that have a chronic pain component are the end result of a genetic predisposition combined with an environmental trigger and further exacerbated by our lifestyle. This trigger may come in many forms commonly reported as a trauma; exposure to toxins, bacteria, and viruses; and long-term emotional distress but may also be present from poor lifestyle choices such as a lifetime of poor diet, the lack of exercise, and too much stress--things we can manage ourselves but often fail to do so. There remains a burgeoning interest in how the psychology controls the biology, including our positive affect and our resilience. Ergo, we can't cure chronic illness, so we learn to partner with it.The reality is that with chronic pain conditions, we the patient have to learn to manage our chronic illness to the best of our ability using Western medicine as an adjunct, and this involves the use of positive psychology and complementary and alternative medicine interventions. We stop asking questions we are likely not to find the answers to and we accept that the cure then lies in our ability to champion our wellness and reverse many of our symptoms. This book takes you through the evolution of illness to wellness--from the beginning of dealing with a complicated and disabling force to the many steps of acceptance, coping, nutrition, exercise, loss, the psychology of chronic illness, and finding hope when there is none. Chronic illness does not have to translate into a poor quality of life if you don't let it. Beyond that, the goal is to learn to live life with disease.

The objective of this book is to promote and enable closer co-operation between different health professionals in treating pain, by introducing psychosocially oriented team members to the medical aspects of pain, and medically oriented team members to the psychosocial aspects. The structure of the book completely mirrors this objective. The book has nine parts, arranged according to a balanced plan. Parts I and II deal with theoretical (basic science) approaches to pain, whereby Part I focuses on the medical approaches and Part II on the psychosocial ones. Part III is devoted to pain evaluation and assessment, whereby chapter 9 deals with the medical aspects, chapter 10 with the psychophysiological and psychiatric aspects, and chapter 11 with the psychological psychometric approach, describing different commonly used questionnaires for assessing various aspects of pain. Parts IV to Part VII are devoted to treatment of pain. Part IV focuses on medical treatments, Part V on psychological treatments, Part VI on palliative approaches, and Part VII on complementary approaches (mainly those supported by enough research and evidence). Part VIII focuses on particular pain syndromes, those that are most frequent in the practice of pain, emphasising both medical and psychological aspects in each chapter. Finally, Part IX deals with the practice of treating pain -- in chapter 29 with the facilities and pain centres, namely, the locations where the integration of the described approaches to pain is expected to take place, and in chapter 30 with the problems of the health professional that treats pain.

For: People experiencing pain'The Explain Pain Handbook: Protectometer' is a personal workbook for people experiencing chronic pain. Based on the most up-to-date research, this handbook is a key element in the Explain Pain toolkit. It introduces the 'Protectometer' - a groundbreaking pain treatment tool - that helps you understand your personal pain formula, identify your DIMs (Danger in Me) and SIMs (Safety in Me) and provides six clear strategies for recovery from pain.

There is an unmet need in both acute and chronic care settings for a comprehensive, clinically focused, fast reference on pain management. Written by high-profile, internationally recognized experts in field, Pain Treatment for Acute and Chronic Conditions: A Comprehensive Handbook is one of the first manuals of its kind to provide balanced and comprehensive coverage of pain medicine modalities. The book is structured into sixteen sections with each chapter providing key points for quick reference, followed by a more detailed overview of the topic at hand with extensive tables and figures to illustrate. Beautifully laid out and extensively furnished with both research and experience, this book is a necessary resource in the field of pain medicine.

Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt. SAMUEL JoHNSON, The Rambler, no. 48 (September 1, 1750) Who among us has not experienced the suffering of a patient with chronic disease, who in addition to the vicissitudes of fatigue, anxiety, and frustration, must also deal with the suffering of pain? Who among us has not considered, and then reconsidered, whether a patient's complaints are worthy of a narcotic and thence worried about the social and legal implications of chronic use? Who among us has not refused pain medications to our patients for fear that use was turning into abuse? Finally, who among us would not have liked a clinical guide to a myriad of syndromes, all of which have pain as their common denominator, in the hopes of developing some strategy to prioritize treatment. Our purpose in preparing The Pain Management Handbook is to provide the informa tion needed by clinicians to develop strategies that optimize pain management. It is the goal of the editors and authors that the present handbook, above all else, will be clinically useful. Its aim is to provide practical information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of disorders causing pain, along with tables and graphics to provide the busy practitioner with rapid access to relevant data.

Take control of your life, take control of your pain Chronic pain can be extremely debilitating; however, it does not need to dominate your life. This self-help book is based on highly effective self-help methods developed by specialists and used in community and hospital pain management programmes. Your experience of pain can be greatly reduced by pacing daily activities, reducing stress, learning relaxation techniques and effective ways to cope with depression, anxiety, worry, anger and frustration. This easy-to-follow book sets out: - Why pain can persist when there's no injury or disease present - How to become fitter and pace your activities - Practical ways to improve sleep and relaxation - Tips for returning to work, study and gaining a life you value Overcoming self-help guides use clinically proven techniques to treat long-standing and disabling conditions, both psychological and physical. This book is recommended by the national Reading Well scheme for England delivered by The Reading Agency and the Society of Chief Librarians with funding from Arts Council England and Wellcome.

Clinical Pain Management Pain has many dimensions; biological, psychological and social. All of these warrant attention in clinical management and research. Despite advances in pain management and understanding, chronic pain in particular continues to be a major health concern. Many challenging problems persist in our efforts to understand and manage chronic pain. This revised and updated second edition of Clinical Pain Management: A Practical Guide draws attention to the challenges that exist for people living with chronic pain conditions, for the clinician trying to provide effective management of the patient’s pain, for the scientist seeking to unravel the mechanisms underlying pain, and for society as a whole. This book offers the opportunity for clinicians to improve their knowledge about pain and apply that knowledge for the benefit of their patients. This second edition has built upon the first edition, which was distinctive in its integration of the clinical, psychosocial and basic science topics related to the different types of pain and their management. With up-to-date information throughout the 44 chapters of this second edition, this book provides a valuable resource about pain from a variety of perspectives. Clinical Pain Management: A Practical Guide, Second Edition, will be particularly valuable not only for clinicians to help them assist with their patients experiencing an acute pain or suffering from chronic pain, but also for scientists who wish to gain more insights into these pain conditions and their underlying processes.

* Day-to-day guidance supported by evidence-based practice * Relates use of specific drugs to the treatment of specific types of pain * Quick and accessible source of reference to improve understanding of pain relief options amongst all members of the care team

Offers statistics, both national and state, as well as discussions about prevention, treatment, and outcomes. It includes details on the major causes of chronic pain, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, and other ailments such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, gastrointestinal issues, AIDS, and gallbladder disease. For those providing care and support to individuals with chronic pain, this resource provides easy-to-understand and helpful information and connects readers to many sources of support.

The successful management of chronic pain remains an elusive goal. As more complex diagnostic and intervention procedures become available, patients and clinicians alike have ever-greater expectations of banishing the problem of pain altogether. Unfortunately this hope is rarely fulfilled and the frustration experienced by everyone affected by chronic pain has remained more or less the same over the last two or three decades. Based on over 40 years' of experience and research The Practical Pain Management Handbook is a unique resource specifically designed for therapists involved in running Pain Management Programmes (PMPs). This engaging and effective handbook includes: intensive inpatient and extended outpatient programmes all of which are at least 25 hours in length; interactive materials designed to be used to form the basis of group discussion. Where there is a question in the text the suggested answer material is provided; assignments and tasks that can be used as homework or group session exercises; both standard Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) technologies as both have been found to be valuable in PMPs. The handbook is organised into sections to fit a useful logical sequence but can be adapted to suit your preference.