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The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering Hardcover – August 17, 2010
Each of us will know physical pain in our lives, but none of us knows when it will come or how long it will stay. Today as much as 10 percent of the population of the United States suffers from chronic pain. It is more widespread, misdiagnosed, and undertreated than any major disease. While recent research has shown that pain produces pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord, many doctors and patients still labor under misguided cultural notions and outdated scientific dogmas that prevent proper treatment, to devastating effect.
In The Pain Chronicles, a singular and deeply humane work, Melanie Thernstrom traces conceptions of pain throughout the ages—from ancient Babylonian pain-banishing spells to modern brain imaging—to reveal the elusive, mysterious nature of pain itself. Interweaving first-person reflections on her own battle with chronic pain, incisive reportage from leading-edge pain clinics and medical research, and insights from a wide range of disciplines—science, history, religion, philosophy, anthropology, literature, and art—Thernstrom shows that when dealing with pain we are neither as advanced as we imagine nor as helpless as we may fear.
Both a personal meditation and an intellectual exploration, The Pain Chronicles illuminates and makes sense of the all-too-human experience of pain—and confronts with extraordinary grace and empathy its peculiar traits, its harrowing effects, and its various antidotes.
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication dateAugust 17, 2010
- Dimensions6.29 x 1.33 x 9.36 inches
- ISBN-100865476810
- ISBN-13978-0865476813
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Editorial Reviews
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Review
“Profound and engrossing, this exploration of pain is a pleasure.” —People
“[The Pain Chronicles] is an expansive, invigorating mix of medical reportage, history, memoir and cultural criticism . . . At other times she is a fiercely knowledgeable science writer, delivering case studies and research findings with a storyteller’s verve . . . But The Pain Chronicles is no mere self-help manual. It’s a sophisticated, elegantly compiled treatise—as wide-ranging, complex and defiant as pain itself.”—Robin Romm, The New York Times Book Review
“An ingenious mix of science, history, investigative journalism, and memoir.” —Alec Solomita, The Boston Globe
“A comprehensive and thoroughly engaging portrait of a force that all of us have experienced, but few of us truly understand.” —Ryan Brown, Salon
“There have been hundreds of books published in the last decades on pain and its management, but none that combine memoir, scholarly research and journalistic reportage in the way Ms. Thernstrom, the author of two previous books, does. A stellar example of literary nonfiction . . . You can become absorbed, as I was, in the fascinating struggle over the use of anesthesia (and, later, opiates) in ‘Pain as History,’ or play voyeur during absorbing clinical vignettes of ‘Pain as Disease’ . . . Melanie Thernstrom is such an engaging and intelligent writer that I remained intrigued with her investigation even as I disagreed with some of her reportorial choices.”—Helen Epstein, The New York Times
“The Pain Chronicles blends cutting edge research, cultural and medical history, and real people’s stories to make sense of the suffering.” —O magazine
“She covers vast swaths of history, culture, religion and science in short, accessible and beautifully sequenced chapters . . . This book offers an illuminating journey toward new vision and possible relief.” —The Oregonian
“Thernstrom’s descriptions . . . give a voice to millions of people whose lives are blackened by something that no one else can see.” —Lucy Odling-Smee, Nature
“An exquisite, meticulous history of medicine’s quest to alleviate pain . . . The personal chronicles lift this accomplished medical history to an astonishing record of courage and endurance . . . In these stories, there is a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and hope for the rest of us.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An intriguing investigation of chronic pain that combines expert opinion, philosophy and history with the author's personal struggle . . . A rich melange of ideas and journalism.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The Pain Chronicles combines Melanie Thernstrom’s talents for both medical journalism and memoir. Whether she is unpacking the cultural history of pain or elucidating scientific studies, her limitless curiosity will engage and enlighten readers. Rarely has a topic of such sadness been made so compulsively readable.” —Arthur W. Frank, author of At the Will of the Body and The Wounded Storyteller
“A book about pain has no right to be so pleasurable to read, but such is the depth of Melanie Thernstrom’s intellect, curiosity, and compassion that The Pain Chronicles is indeed a joy. It’s also a revelation, a fascinating guide through a subject we all know so well but, until now, didn’t know quite how to think about.” —Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics
“In this elegant, beautifully written book, Melanie Thernstrom trains her prodigious intellect on a subject at once utterly universal and deeply, poignantly personal. The Pain Chronicles is that rare hybrid: a meticulously researched and important work that is also a riveting page-turner. This is required reading for anyone who wants to understand an essential aspect of our humanity.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion: A Memoir
“An extraordinary tour of an important but often overlooked world—that of pain. Poignant and beautifully written, Melanie Thernstrom’s book weaves together history, literature, psychology, neuroscience, and a deeply moving personal story to create a marvelously wise and erudite work that can enlighten us all.” —Robert Klitzman, M.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University, and author of When Doctors Become Patients
“After going for a swim one day, Melanie Thernstrom emerged from the water with an ache in her neck and soon found herself plunging down a rabbit hole into the dark Wonderland known as chronic pain. Thernstrom takes us on a personal tour of this world, which has become a second home to her and millions of her fellow sufferers. Her superb book The Pain Chronicles is an essential resource for those similarly afflicted, their loved ones, and, indeed, anyone wanting to know more about the most primitive and powerful of all sensory experiences.” —Frank T. Vertosick, Jr., M.D., FACS, author of Why We Hurt and When the Air Hits Your Brain
“Rarely has a single book so intelligently illuminated a universal human experience. Melding science, literature, religion, memoir, and history, Melanie Thernstrom has created a masterpiece that reveals how we seek diverse dimensions of meaning to transcend suffering.” —Jerome Groopman, M.D., Recanati Professor at Harvard Medical School and author of The Anatomy of Hope and How Doctors Think
“The Pain Chronicles is scholarly, lyrical, and humane, and will give tremendous comfort to those who are in pain and those who hope to understand them.” —Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon
“Melanie Thernstrom conveys, indelibly, that pain is not pressed upon us; it’s in us, it’s intrinsic to our being. I find that insight, and this book, invaluable in helping me understand my pain and the world’s woe.” —David Shields, author of Reality Hunger and The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead
“Chronic pain is the Wild West of medicine. In The Pain Chronicles, Melanie Thernstrom navigates this territory—its history, its evolution, and its always shifting frontiers—with keen intelligence and insight. She shares her own story in order to illuminate a narrative of pain that is becoming more and more a national narrative. Thernstrom never flinches in the face of a subject that is easily overlooked or judged by those for whom it is, ironically, too painful. This is stellar work.” —Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky
About the Author
Melanie Thernstrom is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and the author of The Dead Girl and Halfway Heaven: Diary of a Harvard Murder.
Product details
- Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (August 17, 2010)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0865476810
- ISBN-13 : 978-0865476813
- Item Weight : 1.35 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.29 x 1.33 x 9.36 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #674,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #518 in Sociological Study of Medicine
- #756 in History of Medicine (Books)
- #901 in Pain Management (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Customers find the book informative and helpful for understanding pain. They describe it as an invaluable resource for anyone with chronic pain or those caring for someone with chronic pain. The book is described as a compelling read that is well-written in an entertaining way. Readers appreciate the interesting stories throughout the book, which blend personal experiences and science journalism.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book helpful for understanding pain and its management. They appreciate the author's personal story and her mix of scientific and subjective reporting. The book is described as informative, a must-read for anyone with chronic pain, and especially for family and friends of someone with it. Readers also mention it helps to see how other people cope.
"...There are many patients who have instant and sustained relief...and then the others....Not everyone responds to the same therapy and this is..." Read more
"...It's a great summary of the current research and is also skeptical where skepticism is warranted. It isn't a self-help book. It isn't "uplifting"...." Read more
"While this started out to be a promising book about chronic pain, it ended a little disappointing for me...." Read more
"...Part history, part memoir, part science journalism, it's the sort of book that is easy and compelling to read, while also imparting a great deal of..." Read more
Customers find the book useful and a must-read for health care professionals. They say it provides a comprehensive introduction to pain with solid yet easy-to-understand research. The book offers good value for money and is informative.
"...This is the best book I have read in years! The research and story telling were impressive...." Read more
"I really enjoyed this book. I am thinking of reading it over again, which I almost never do...." Read more
"...part memoir, part science journalism, it's the sort of book that is easy and compelling to read, while also imparting a great deal of information..." Read more
"...what someone who is close to me is going through, and this book was very helpful...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They describe it as an entertaining read about pain research.
"...part science journalism, it's the sort of book that is easy and compelling to read, while also imparting a great deal of information that is useful..." Read more
"...The Pain Chronicles is an extremely well written book about the history of pain and our attempts to treat it...." Read more
"...Although full of practical information, it's as fun and engaging as a fast-paced novel...." Read more
"...all-round introduction to the whole area of pain research, written in an entertaining way." Read more
Customers find the book interesting. They describe it as an unusual nonfiction book that combines personal experiences, journals, and memoirs.
"...There were lots of interesting stories throughout the book...." Read more
"...Part history, part memoir, part science journalism, it's the sort of book that is easy and compelling to read, while also imparting a great deal of..." Read more
"...The book was fascinating, and very helpful to me as a chronic pain sufferer...." Read more
"Unusual nonfiction book combining personal experience/journals/memoir-ish stuff and serious, solid, yet easy to read research...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2011As a fellowship train pain management specialist in a multidisciplinary practice, I found the book very enlightening. This is the best book I have read in years! The research and story telling were impressive. I think this is a book that every chronic pain patient and physician should read. I have encouraged my partners do so. I read the book in two nights and am reading again. I couldn't put it down. Medicine continues to make great strides in the treatment of chronic pain but there continues to be suffering...great suffering.... often to the point of wanting the end of life.... Moderate doses of opioids often play a part in therapy for many, but besides addiction and diversion which is what most concentrate on, there are other side effects like alteration of sex hormones which can presdispose to variety of problems including osteoporosis, decreased libido,fatigue,weakness, and disruption of menstrual cycle in women to name a few. Additionally, there are other real risks including that of sleep apnea, tolerance, opioid induced hyperalgesia, and accidental overdose resulting in death (with higher doses).(The topic of opioids and appropriate dose is extremely controversial and one will obtain a spectrum of answers from experts).
Fortunately, treatment is not limited to opioids alone. Psychological therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, nerve blocks, surgery, and alternative therapies can play vital roles. I found it absolutely amazing the medical insights that the clinical case scenarios provided. There are many patients who have instant and sustained relief...and then the others....Not everyone responds to the same therapy and this is something that Melanie's book points out. Treatment must be individualized. I can relate this to my own practice. I recall a patient who had pain for more than 20 years and who reportedly tried many injections in the past that did not help. She was told that she was a not surgical candidate. After one set of injections, we didn't hear from her until several years later when the symptoms started to return. There was complete relief for that duration. When I perform the same type of injection in a very similar patient with identical physical and MRI findings, there may be no relief at all.
There are patients who are able to come off pain medications with spinal cord stimulator implants and live normal, active lives but others for whom the therapy is ineffective. It is important to find the specialists who have significant experience and success in managing pain. And even then, it may take time ,to arrive at the optimal treatment regimen. I think it is a huge mistake to give up because one ,two , or even three board certified pain specialists don't think there is hope for significant improvement.
I encourage patients not to give up. It would have been nice,however, if she could have provided more hope to chronic pain suffers in the present. Earlier in my career, I thought that all spine surgeons(both orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons) were similar. Several years ago, I had a patient with severe neck pain. She already had a posterior fusion . We tried injections, spinal cord stimulation and nothing worked. Narcotic medications were the only things helping her and she soon became so tolerant , even this was failing. She expressed that she could not continue to live with the level of pain and and discussed thoughts of ending her life. I was convinced this was structural and sent her to two spine surgeons with the best reputations to correct the structural abnormality. They said there was nothing to do. They thought she was crazy. By this time, the patient was getting desperate, as was her husband who asked me to admit the patient to the hospital for intractable pain. Our nurse practitioner was convinced the patient was deranged and addicted and I started to have similar concerns myself. Finally, I sent her to another surgeon , who performed an operation that improved her symptoms 90 percent.
We are fortunate to live in a time of great discovery.
As I read Melanie's story, I felt such deep grief when she recounted the suffering she had endured and thought about the daily struggles of chronic pain patients.
However, I do believe there is hope and solutions now. I am more optimistic than the author is. I pray that she finds more relief so that she can go rowing or carry a handbag without agonzing distress. I don't think her interventional treatment regimen was optimized. She did not appear to be that interested in pursuing additional injections(esp after the dural puncture from the cervical epidural attempt). I could be wrong... she may be someone who just doesn't respond to nerve blocks and interventional therapy. With individualization of treatments, I think many chronic pain patients will improve...can improve... to a significant degree.
I thank her immensely for the detailed and informative insights she was able to provide.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2010I really enjoyed this book. I am thinking of reading it over again, which I almost never do. It's a great summary of the current research and is also skeptical where skepticism is warranted. It isn't a self-help book. It isn't "uplifting". If it had been, I never would have gotten through the first few pages. One of the worst things you can do for people with chronic pain is promise relief to them and then not deliver.
I have osteoarthritis that is similar to Thernstrom's. Some of the information here is very, very familiar to me, because I have been through a lot of this before. Even so, it is good to hear it from somebody else, because you feel very isolated when you have chronic pain. (My mother has the same kind of arthritis I do -- in our case, it is somewhat hereditary -- and I have learned a great deal from her experience. I don't have as much fear or confusion about the future because I have seen what she has gone through. I have a clearer picture than she did at my age.)
Most of the information in this book was completely new to me.
If you have acute pain, I don't know if this book will make sense to you. (Or if you don't know acute pain from chronic pain.) But if there is someone else in your life who has chronic pain, perhaps this is a good book to help you understand better. For example, you would know not to keep asking that person, every few minutes, whether they are comfortable, or whether they still hurt. This is because if they manage to get distracted from their pain, you don't want to make them think about it again. You should just let them stay distracted for a while.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2011While this started out to be a promising book about chronic pain, it ended a little disappointing for me. I appreciated Thernstrom's research about how chronic pain has been dealt with in the past, present, and hopefully the future. There were lots of interesting stories throughout the book. I was somewhat frustrated with the end of the book, where she focuses on "Mind over matter" so much. I honestly don't have the time in my life to sit and focus away my pain. If I spent that much time focusing on making my pain go away, I wouldn't be able to get anything else done.
Aside from that, I'm glad I read the book, and I know the issue of chronic pain is extremely frustrating for anyone who lives with it. This book was a great step in the direction of trying to understand pain and how we manage and deal with it. There are no magic answers to the question of how to live with chronic pain, but this book does uncover some ideas of how to live with pain and live a somewhat ordinary life.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2010Most people with chronic pain are on a long journey to find a cure or even some relief, such as Melanie Thernstrom, a journalist and author, who has had chronic pain for over 10 years. After she was given a magazine article writing assignment about pain, she decided to take it a step further and expand her investigations into a book. Part history, part memoir, part science journalism, it's the sort of book that is easy and compelling to read, while also imparting a great deal of information that is useful for pain sufferers. There is no magic potion inside (other than perhaps physical therapy), in fact we learn pain is highly complex and not well understood and everyone is different. I read it mainly for hard facts, any information that might help in my own case, and I did learn a lot - the book is much cheaper and probably more informative than most pain doctor visits. I think anyone in chronic pain will learn something, it's wide ranging and offers jumping off points for further research and action.
Top reviews from other countries
Dr. PattReviewed in Canada on May 10, 20145.0 out of 5 stars A very important book about pain
I keep recommending this book to everyone--my doctors, my patients, my family, and my friends. It should be an "Important Book". It is a tremendous accomplishment.
Pain is nearly universal, though so subjective that each of us feels alone with it. There is no pain thermometer we can point to and say to another, "See, that's how high it is." There is no easy, one-to-one association between pain and injury. We can function by ignoring a pain for hours, only to have it break in to our consciousness with devastating impact simply because we have tired or our loved one has looked at us with impatience instead of sympathy. It's mysterious, and even more so when it refuses to go away.
This is an excellent book about Chronic Pain, and it is overdue. Thernstrom is a masterful wordsmith and story-teller who has done her research. I am bowled over by the breadth and the depth of this book. From the molecular changes that form the basis of neuroplasticity (the capacity of the nervous system to remodel itself throughout life) to religious traditions of submitting oneself to pain in order to commune with God, Thernstrom is on a quest to develop a compassionate understanding of chronic pain that makes sense and gives hope in the 21st century. Each chapter is fascinating. She takes us to 15th century torture chambers, acupunture rooms, medical microbiology labs, traditional consult rooms and the doctor-patient relationship. She writes clearly about the complexity of opiod use. She writes about the very personal journey of finding that a supposedly pain-filled life has room, after all, for beauty.
If you are looking for a clear, simple book to tell you how to get rid of chronic pain, you won't find that here. Thernstrom is, thankfully, too honest to produce another one of those. Hence, her book is the one I didn't throw up against the wall. When she leaves us scratching our heads with indecision and confusion, it is because the "answers" that we have right now to offer Chronic Pain patients are indeed inadequate. Maybe they always will be.
Maybe there is better treatment around the corner in the form of something that will speak directly to the brain's capacity to re-create its circuits and sensitivities. Or maybe chronic pain is a path that some of us will always have to walk, either apologizing and blaming ourselves in a culture that rejects what can't be "fixed" or discovering a deeper capacity for compassion, gratitude, and love among the imperfect ones.
Either way, this is the book that should be on the shelf of every intelligent person who works with or lives with Chronic Pain. It will not lie to you or insult your intelligence, I promise. It is hopeful without false promises, the research is meticulous, the writing is superb.
K. J. ButeReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 20135.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book
This is one of the best books I have read for a long time. It is full of facts and research but written in such a way one cannot put it down. It explores the idea that chronic pain (not acute pain!) is sometimes due to faulty neuronal circuits in the brain and that they can be positively influenced and to some extent corrected. It provides hope and purpose to enable one to master the pain rather than be enslaved by it. Quite fascinating!
R. LeonardoReviewed in Canada on July 5, 20185.0 out of 5 stars An intelligent examination of a very important topic.
This is the second time I'm reading this book. First go at it was about 6-7 years ago shortly after the onset of chronic pain in our home. Now after all these years it is further enlightening and confirms a great deal of our experiences.
For anyone, I recommend this as an excellent text to understanding pain, our human physiology, physiology, as well as our emotional perspectives of suffering through the ages.
An intelligent examination of a very important topic.
Kate DonovanReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 20155.0 out of 5 stars A very valuable read
I had given my original copy to my daughter as I am sure she too would find it fascinating. This replacement copy is fine. A very interesting and challenging book for anyone who has chronic pain. A must to read.


