(Part 2) Best books about pain management according to redditors
We found 141 Reddit comments discussing the best books about pain management. We ranked the 32 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
He doesn't really go into it in this book. He has another book specifically about it.
Paradoxical Relaxation : The Theory and Practice of Dissolving Anxiety by Accepting It https://www.amazon.com/dp/0972775587/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_stlxCbA5K4GZY
I have tried some of the techniques. It's still not super specific or clear but it's basically the same as other anti anxiety approaches for accepting what is and fighting resistance in the mind like negative self talk, not accepting the present, letting go and surrending to relaxation. The book also goes into how PFD and anxiety are related.
Consider the impact that stress and your emotional state are having on your condition. Read Dr. John Sarno
http://www.amazon.com/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pain/dp/0446675156
http://www.amazon.com/Divided-Mind-Epidemic-Mindbody-Disorders/dp/0060851783
like this?
Note, I'm listening while working, so these won't be by any means all-encompassing.
David Dodick, Director of Headache Program, The Mayo Clinic
It's not your fault.
Repeat.
It is not your fault.
There are numerous (40+) genes that have been tied to it. He calls the heritable condition a hyper-responsive brain (as opposed to hyper-sensitive). It is a combination of biology + environment.
Premonitory/prodrome: Roughly 3/4 of patients (possibly more that don't realize it). It's not in the blood vessel, or the nerves, it begins in the brain. This gives us an interesting window for treatment, especially considering the total time of attack when we consider from start of prodrome to end of postdrome. Take care not to mistake prodromal symptoms with triggers (food cravings/scent are common).
Aura: Spreading electro-chemical event in the surface/cortex of the brain. 2-3mm/minute. Typically starts in occipital cortex, which explains the visual disturbance. Sensory aura possible depending on where that moves. Language, motor, brainstem auras all fall under the category.
Pain/headache phase: Usually begins with mild pain but usually progresses to moderate-severe. This window of progression varies. Nausea usually here, but can land anywhere and run all the way through postdromal phase. Aura can also start after pain begins or come back after pain phase.
Postdrome/hangover: How long before you feel 'back to normal'? If you can't function, you can't function, and that's just as important as being unable to do so because of pain.
Move Against Migraine Foundation
American Migraine Foundation
Headache on the Hill
American Headache Society
Dr. Trupti Gokani, Neurologist & Author, The Mysterious Mind
Interesting to me that she talks about ayurvedic medicine after the comments above. :)
The number of nerves in the nervous system vs the enteric nervous system is about even- when you include the rest of the GI, there are more. You can cut the connection b/w gut and brain and both will continue to function.
Migraine physiology in the gut: Liver (detox- cleanses, breaks down toxins, etc) and gallbladder (breaks down fats) are often overburdened in the effort to break down an excess of food, fats, bad fats, bad emotions. Toxins build up. If you don't have enough bile to buffer your stomach acid. Too much food, too much toxin, not enough bile to buffer the acid. About 50% of migraine patients have some sort of reflux system.
Gastroparesis starts w/the gut being unable to keep up. Then... we don't have enough enzymes to break down the food.
If we're not managing the stressors (food, overall stress, etc), the pain will get worse and the gut will get involved. When it turns off, you may be ok in that moment, w/o lifestyle changes to strengthen the system (as Eastern medicine tells us), the pain will come back.
So... her focus is on addressing the underlying causes that stress the system.
You need a healthy gut. Good poop! Regular poop (yoga and ayurveda are ALL ABOUT THE POOP!). Without help (coffee, laxative). Lack of gas, bloat, constipation, diarrhea. Are you having symptoms? Are you able to have an appetite/hunger signal?
GABA - a neurotransmitter believed to play a role in migraine and affects the gut bacteria. If we eat while stressed, the vagus nerve will kick us into fight or flight and move blood away from the digestive system. Gaba is the inhibitory neurotrx that is released in rest & digest mode. Your gut bacteria like to snack on gaba. Nomz. And it's manufactured by the bacteria in the gut, consumed by bacteria in the gut, and its mfr is triggered by the vagus nerve.
100 TRILLION bacteria in your gut. 10x more bacteria than human cells.
Why isn't there research on this? It's complicated. The gut is complicated. Your'd think your neuro crazy if they asked you about poop. The enteric nervous system (the small intestine has 100 million neurons- as many as in the spine) - it's a powerful system and one we should be paying attention to. It may be doing more to signal well being in certain circumstances. We're becoming more aware and beginning to pay attention (95% of serotonin is produced in the gut) - there's now a field of science- neurogastroenterology- looking at the gut & brain. Most docs aren't trained in this, so studies haven't yet been done.
How can this (ayurvedic medicine) help? Understand your gut type so you can use ayurvedic medicine - digestive enzymes, food, ancient herbals, tea, so you can dose it based on your gut flora, symptoms, headache, etc. She's doing it in her practice but would like to see the studies done, as well as studies regarding how your emotions impact your digestion. Her book does get into research re: the 3 dosha types. She discusses the dosha types, headache types, and what you can do for them.
Go to bed by 10. Make lunch your biggest meal. Make sure you're setting up time to sit and be aware every day- even just 2 minutes to be quiet and mindful.
Food as medicine. Spices (usually cooling- cilantro, cumin, fennel). Supplements/nutrients (magnesium, CoQ10, B2). Start the day with a warm beverage.
Medications that impact gut health: NSAIDs and steroids damage the microbiome- the bugs and the prostaglandin layer (the place your bugs call home). For triptans she recommends non-oral delivery.
The Mysterious Mind: How to Use Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science to Heal Your Headaches and Reclaim Your Health
Trupti Gokani, MD
Deepak Chopra – Ayurvedic
Triggers session:
18% accuracy in determining triggers
only 2 of hundreds had greater than 75% accuracy
The profile used to be menstruation, neck pain, stress, etc.
In the study referenced, what they found that NO ONE IN THE STUDY had the average trigger profile. Many had derivatives and combinations, but no one checked all the boxes for the 'average'. Even those of us that have been at it for years aren't very good at this.
My takeaway - looking at a common list and assuming you should cut them all out is probably a LOT of unneeded pain.
We have a bias for making positive associations vs. negative. If nothing happens, we don't remember the dozens of times we've been exposed to a 'trigger' and have been just fine. Just the one when we were.
One person's potential triggers are another's potential protectors (alcohol, coffee, travel all examples).
'Risk factors' encompass both triggers and protectors in his context. Other things are termed 'no association' factors.
Migraine severity modifiers! These have nothing to do w/whether you will get a migraine, but do have an impact on whether it will be more or less severe.
He also discusses the Curelator app, which has the benefit of some pretty well tested algorithms behind it to help with flagging triggers, protectors, and no association. They are testing the algorithms for the severity modifiers and hope to have that out soon. It's 3 months of tracking to get the maps, and the app, if you don't have a neuro in the coupon program, is $50. Most of us wouldn't drop $50 on any number of other things regarding our migraines, so while it's expensive for an app, if it were, say, a computer program, etc., the expectation would be different (and the program would be harder to use). I've contacted my doc already and if they're not participating in the program I'll be buying the app.
Curelator.com
RTI International
Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Curelator Facebook Page
So sorry. It sounds like you are talking about osteo-arthritis.(There are over 200 different types of arthritis..) If it's any consolation, I've had RA for 12 years now, and still have a life worth living. It has abated somewhat over the last few years, contrary to all expectations.
-You might try a shot of organic apple cider vinegar every morning. The taste makes the toenails curl up, but it did wonders at balancing my pH and mitigating the flares.
This has mostly been for her. For you...you need support too. Your 'life's rug' has been pulled out from under you, as well. It is going to take a lot of love, generosity and commitment to stay this path with a disabled person. I recommend a men's group of some kind, a spiritual path, and permission for you to live your life fully inside of this (wherever you need to get it from..).
Feel free to PM me anytime for support or advice. Be strong, and good luck.
Before I was diagnosed by a colon and rectal specialist as having Levator Ani Syndrome I had about three weeks of agony. I thought I had the world's worst case of hemorrhoids at first because most of the pain was localized there. I would flare up for four hours a day, like clockwork (from 9am-1pm, give or take an hour) and I was moderately sore for the rest of the day and night. During flareup hours I couldn't sit (I have a desk job), much less concentrate on work. I soldiered through the first few days of it but had to call in from work or try to work from home if I was feeling up to it. I have a 30+ minute commute to the office and the whole drive I was shifting in my seat, punching the steering wheel, shouting. While home I would spend much of the day lying down, punching the floor, or pacing around the house in a cold sweat. I tried Epsom Salts sitz baths, stretching exercises, herbal teas, meditation, taichi, pain meds but nothing got rid of the pain until my specialist put me on Elavil, a tricyclic antidepressant. Two days after I started taking it I was fully functional again. I still had constant tightness, difficulty pooping, and discomfort but, man, the agonizing pain was gone.
So, Elavil was a game changer for me. Another was going to a physical therapist specializing in male pelvic floor disorder. She got me feeling really close to normal, I mean, some days no tightness or discomfort at all. She recommended a book called Pelvic Pain: The Ultimate Cock Block, which has some good exercises and thinking-outside-of-the-box insight.
No problem. Similar techniques can be used in the hips and shoulders. Additionally, cryoablation (cold), pulsed RF, and chemodenervation (destruction with alcohol or phenol) can be used to ablate nerves, especially in patients with pericranial neuralgias, meralgia paresthetica, and various points along the sympathetic chain. If you're into it, Waldman's Interventional Pain Management (http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Interventional-Pain-Management-DVD/dp/1416099948) contains a lot of great info.
We don't even know of many potential side effects. I highly recommend everyone reads the book "A Nation In Pain" by Judy Foreman
Foreman goes into great detail about just how difficult it is to study effects of marijuana using modern science. The studies we have are all from 60's and 70's, when biomedical science wasn't in it's best shape. Nowadays, any experiments are tightly controlled by the DEA, very few human trials are approved, so scientists must use animal models, which are less than accurate to say the least.
I personally have no interest in MJ, I've tried it and I don't like it. But I understand the relative harmlessness of it to grown ups as well as the medicinal benefits in both children and adults. The reasons why it's illegal are absolutely ridiculous, and it scares me that so many people know about the latest memes as opposed to the massive lies that have been told to the citizens and governments of the modern developed world.
BTW I found this book very good for working out which moves to do once you've got a proper diagnosis of your particular back problem from a specialist. It can get a bit technical but, but it's well worth it: https://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Keys-Back-Sufferers-Bible/dp/0091814944
Have you ever had to make any difficult life-or-death calls? If so, have you ever regretted or second-guessed any of those decisions?
Also, I read Perspectives on Pain a few years ago and found it very interesting. Any other reading recommendations on the topic? (Note that my background in psychology and medicine is minimal.)
I don't know much about low back pain. But Kit Laughlin has written a book on solving back pain. My library has a copy, maybe yours does too. It has a chapter on assessment and the rest of the book is stretches.
If the outsides of your hips are tight then you might find foam rolling the area will help.
Pilates instructor here, not sure I can offer any serious advice without seeing you in-person. From what you've said, I wouldn't be surprised to see a kyphosis and a slight scoliosis and getting you pain-free would involve focusing more on your hips/core and breathing technique to get permanent pain-free results. Consider a lesson at a Clinical/Classical Pilates studio (avoid the cheaper mat classes offered in gyms and the like).
This book might interest you, it's by a Pilates teacher with hypermobility : Hypermobility Without Tears: Moving Pain-Free with Hypermobility and EDS by Jeannie Di Bon
When you feel stressed, try practicing lateral (Pilates) breathing. Long, gentle exhales will relax the Parasympathetic nervous system, taking your mind out of Fight or Flight mode and lessening pain sensations. Here's a link to a Pilates breathing Playlist, you might like to practice some of the other Pilates exercises on her channel.