Pain Management

Chronic pain is exactly that, chronic. There is no "magic bullet" that will cure it. Doctors have learned that a collaborative approach between physicians and specialists using multiple approaches to manage chronic pain is most effective. As awareness grows among the medical community about the causes and effects of pain, a wider effort is under way to educate both patients and primary care physicians-who represent the front line in pain treatment-about its effective management. This book looks at the disease process known as chronic pain. Through stories that describe our struggles with pain, readers will learn how pain manifests in the body, what happens in specific pain conditions, and why the multidisciplinary approach to pain management is best. Persistence is part of human nature. Despite the physical limitations, mental strain and a medical system less than well-equipped to serve them, people with pain continue to hope, and to advocate for themselves and others, as they strive to recapture vitality in their lives.