Explain Pain Spiral-bound – September 25, 2013

A little over a year ago, I was in a motorcycle accident. A month ago, I was diagnosed with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. This book helped me understand what pain really was.Pain was preventing me from living my life. As a writer, it kept me from writing my novels because my wrist and shoulder couldn't tolerate being on a computer for more than an hour at a time. But Explain Pain, helped me to understand what was going on with my body. Knowing that the pain wasn't a signal that I was reinjuring the area helped. There were also suggestions as to how to work up to doing things you liked to do, such as taking walks, writing, and how to conquer your pain. The biggest lesson, pushing through the pain is NOT the right strategy.The medical terminology and concepts were dumbed down for a layman like me. There were plenty of pictures to help explain the concepts being described as well as detailed examples. There wasn't a concept I read I didn't understand by the end of the chapter.If you have chronic pain, this is the book for you. Acute pain is different; it's generally due to an injury. But chronic pain is debilitating and understanding it is the path to finding solutions. I highly recommend this book to people, like me, who are suffering. In fact, it was my physical therapist who'd recommended it to me. In other words, the medical community approves! It's a fabulous resource.* Full disclosure, I read my PT's copy and I liked it so well, there were so many great suggestions, concepts, and ideas I wanted my own copy. So I ordered one from Amazon so I could use it as a reference.

I suffer from CRPS. I now understand what's happening to me and how to change it. I had no idea how complex, yet simple, my condition is and how I can systematically improve my prognosis. I' m currently reading and following the Graded Motor Imagery Handbook and making progress. I got the e-version of Explain Pain on my Kindle. The only problem I had is that I couldn't enlarge the font like I can with all other books. The font was very small and hard to read. I'd recommend getting the physical book.

This is a fantastic book to help people understand the terribly complex subject of chronic pain. I hate that the Kindle version prompted such poor ratings, because the actual content of the book is excellent. I have the print version. Refer to reviews of the original version, most of which are 5-star ratings. As a psychologist treating chronic pain, and training soon-to-be psychologists, I'm always looking to deepen my understanding of pain processes, and strategies for self management. This book is incredibly helpful. In addition to increasing my own knowledge, this book also provides great examples for explaining the subject to others. Since it does not go into too much intimidating biological detail, it's digestible by a wide range of educational backgrounds. I love that for such a serious and challenging subject, the authors manage to include ample humor to make it an entertaining read, as well as informative. If you're leery of the price, search for videos of the authors presenting this material on the Web - watching a couple presentations (well, in truth, more than a couple...I became a little obsessed one Friday night...that's just HOW impressed I was!) inspired me to go ahead and make the purchase. And now that I've read it, I've asked my facility to order copies for my trainees each year. So, maybe avoid the Kindle version for now, but you can't go wrong with the book itself!

I wish I could have given this no stars. Even though the contents of the book may be good, the font is wayyy to small snd it can't be enlarged. To me it looks like a copy and not an actual book.All books bought to send to your Kindle ,you are able to enlarge font size. But not this on. Even if you use a magnifying glass you have trouble seeing. And I were spectacles. This should be checked into seriously especially since the book is so helpful and enlightening to persons living with chronic pain.

I am so grateful for this book! By just reading it and understanding the biology of pain, my pain levels decreased dramatically! I will continue to implement the healing strategies found in the book and fully expect to continue my healing journey.

The 'product description' clearly states that Kindle Fire 8 (KF8) is most suitable for reading this mobipocket formatted eBook.Well, I have a Kindle Fire 8 tablet (KF8), and no, this eBook is still unacceptable. I have tried everything including the little weird magnification. It's useless! I will struggle through reading this book. (Sharpie pen in the photo for clarity)It's probably a good book...>>>UPDATE: It's a great book for anyone, not just for those in chronic pain. Although the print is small I was able to read on my Chromebook with reading glasses. Though, I can't help but think about why the eBook has not been fixed.Anyway, over the years I've come to realize that some people have a very difficult time with understanding abstract ideas, the indirect, and the intangible. Pain falls into the category of direct and indirect. Clearly, it is understood that if you cut your finger and feel the pain of the cut and you can see the cut, the pain is from the cut, directly. However, the indirect pain from 'something' and the cause can be more difficult to interpret. The author does a great job explaining an idea that is not easily understood.

This book is very well written for people who aren't natural chemists nor physicians. What I love about it is that it very easily translates physiology into common language, which is then very easy for me to communicate to patients. Really appreciate the simplifying of pain mechanisms here. I recommend it to my chronic pain patients often. Great pictures too. Easy to read.