Customer Reviews

A Day Without Pain

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As director of Las Vegas' leading inpatient and addiction treatment facility, Pohl had a professional investment in learning about dealing with pain without creating drug dependence. And as a man with a five-year history of back pain, he had a personal investment as well. Put it all together, and you have a medical professional who, as a director of the Betty Ford Center has attested, "`walks the walk' and `talks the talk' of a drug-free approach to chronic pain management."

The book opens with a discussion of the many faces of pain before moving into a truly moving story of one boy's encounter with a washing machine wringer in the `50s and the lifetime of chronic pain it engendered. From there we move into a discussion of the multiple factors that affect our experience of pain and what it means in our lives.

Pohl does not condemn the use of drugs for pain management. It's sometimes necessary, he says, but not always effective. The book offers an in-depth discussion of drug dependence before moving on to delve into other possibilities for learning to manage pain, including mindfulness, distraction, stretching, yoga, Pilates, reiki, acupuncture, chi kung, physical therapy and attitude adjustment. The point is that while pain may never completely disappear, it can be managed through natural approaches and brought into alignment with a happy, productive life style.

My primary criticism of this book is that the title offers no clue that the book advocates a holistic approach to chronic pain management. A subtitle would have solved that problem.

An insightful view of a difficult problem with some new twists on previously published materials. Adding a chemical dependency perspective to chronic pain management (utilizing 12 step approaches and spirituality) make a lot of sense and deepens comittment for patients.

Well written, compelling, comprehensive, thorough, telling and anyone who's ever felt pain needs to read this book!!

Creative and useful approach for dealing with chronic pain. Anyone in recovery with pain should put this on the must read list.