Review
A Day without Pain explores chronic pain as a complex condition with many different layers that affect mind, body, and spirit. 'It can be relentless and poses a very real threat to living a full and vigorous life,' explains Dr. Pohl. He deals with the multiple factors affecting the way we experience pain—including cultural and family traditions, gender and especially mood.
Using compelling case histories Dr. Pohl shows how the 'beast' of chronic pain can take hold and can escalate into the even more debilitating Chronic Pain Syndrome (CPS), which is nearly always inextricably bound to depression, anxiety and fear. These powerful emotions increase pain, but the good news is that treating the depression itself can go a long way toward easing the pain and decreasing suffering.
Dramatic recent discoveries have revealed that the brain, formerly thought to be 'hard-wired' and unchanging, actually can change both physically and functionally. In
A Day without Pain, Dr. Pohl reports on these ongoing scientific investigations into neuroplasticity and their applications to pain control. In Germany, one study at the University of Heidelberg has shown that by altering their behaviors using learned procedures, people can physically change their brains and the way they feel pain.
Dr. Pohl's quarter of a century as an addiction specialist, combined with his hands-on experience with chronic pain patients teaching them drug-free solutions to their agony, and his five-year struggle to recover from his own terrible bout with chronic pain give this book its unique perspective and authenticity. Here are some of the highlights of
A Day without Pain that distinguish it from other pain books and make it a standout in the field:
- The book provides thorough coverage of opioid use in chronic pain management—including Dr. Pohl's expert advice on how to tell when painkillers may be leading to addiction, why opiates sometimes make the pain worse, and how to find effective treatment for prescription medication dependency.
- While many pain books focus on one particular condition, this book covers the characteristics of all chronic pain, regardless of the cause—from arthritis, bursitis, migraine headaches, and cancer pain to angina, emphysema, burn pain, neuropathy and others.
- The author explores the crucial role of emotions in chronic pain—including studies showing that positive emotions decrease physical pain and negative emotions increase it.
- The chapter entitled 'Families Hurt Too' examines the impact one person's chronic pain has on every member of the family—so even the smoothest-functioning family can find itself in chaos with its dynamic inexorably changed.
- Dr. Pohl confronts an aspect of chronic pain that is rarely spoken of: the secondary gains that patients may be getting from their pain in the form of extra attention and sympathy from others or an excuse to escape unpleasant tasks or activities—and shows readers how to break their tie to an identity as a person in pain.
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The book ranges knowledgeably over a wide variety of drug-free treatment modalities—acupuncture, hydrotherapy, music therapy, aromatherapy, oxygen therapy, hypnotherapy, yoga, meditation, exercise, nutrition, biofeedback, chiropractic, and an entire chapter devoted to cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been shown to lessen pain by changing the way a person thinks about pain.
Dr. Pohl's approach to chronic pain, in his practice and in this book is to give patients more control over their lives by encouraging them to take more control over their own pain management.
A Day without Pain makes no empty promises of 'miracle' cures—offering instead a realistic expectation of improved functioning, reduced pain, and more enjoyment of life. Just as the therapies offered at the Las Vegas Recovery Center show patients how to take those crucial first baby steps toward healing, so the information, wisdom, and insights in this book point the way toward that first liberating 'day without pain,' hopefully to be followed by many more days without pain.
(
HealthNewsDigest.com )
About the Author
Mel Pohl, M.D, FASAM is a Board Certified Family Practitioner. He is Vice President of Medical Affairs and the Medical Director of Las Vegas Recovery Center (LVRC), the only private freestanding, medically managed inpatient detoxification and addiction treatment facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dr. Pohl was a major force in developing LVRC's Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program. He is a fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and co-chaired ASAM's Third, Fourth and Fifth National Forums on AIDS and Chemical Dependency. He is the former chairman of ASAM's AIDS Committee and a member of the Symposium Planning Committee. Dr. Pohl is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at University of Nevada School of Medicine. Recently, Dr. Pohl recently was asked by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to consult regarding their initiative on prescription drug abuse. He is a nationally known public speaker and co-author of
The Caregivers Journey: When You Love Someone with AIDS (Hazelden, 1990) and
Staying Sane: When You Care for Someone with Chronic Illness (Health Communications, 1992). Dr. Pohl resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mike Donahue is a retired journalist with nearly 35 years of writing and editing experience. He earned a BA in journalism from Utah State University and taught journalism at Utah State and Oklahoma State University. His work has appeared in numerous national and international publications. He has received many awards for his work, including the William Blakeslee award from the American Heart Association for outstanding scientific reporting. Donahue is the author of fiction and nonfiction books about the west and its inhabitants. Donahue and his wife Linda own and operate Little Meadows horse farm in Overton, Nevada.
