TAKE CONTROL OF PAIN

Some people with chronic pain get overwhelmed by it and give up many of the activities that had given their life meaning. Others keep fighting a battle they continually lose, a never-ending cycle of excessive activity that causes pain to flare up followed by lots of rest and recovery, and getting demoralised by these recurrent defeats. This inspired the creation of this special huge Reader's Digest handbook. The authors have scrutinised countless studies and interviewed dozens of pain management experts to find the approaches that have given millions of people the strategies to do the things they once loved again. You will learn for example how your attitude towards pain can substantially relieve not only the hurt but also the suffering, how even short term use of combinations of drugs such as non-prescription ibuprofen and an anti-depressant can bring improved pain relief and how a low-level electrical charge can reset nerves that are still sending pain signals long after the initial injury has healed. And you may be surprised how much the little things you do for yourself from applying ice, soaking in Epsom salts, listening to your favourite music, laughing, eating chocolate, having a cup of tea or doing laps at the pool can reduce your pain and boost your energy. The experts cover six steps to taking charge of aches and pains and sidestepping your pain triggers before looking in more detail at back, neck and shoulders, cancer pain, face and mouth pain, gastrointestinal, head, joint, leg and foot, nerve, pelvic, skin pains, carpal tunnel syndrome, hand osteoarthritis, TMD, and helping you manage your pain with a self-care contract, pain diary, exercise record, medication and management log and stress diary. Mix and match to find a formula that suits you. A final section looks at exercises with step-by-step photographic sequences for specific parts of the body. 352 huge pages, packed with colour illus. and nice design and layout and published by the trusted Reader's Digest Association (Australia).