Read complete books and articles on: Chronic Pain

Pain - unpleasant or hurtful sensation resulting from stimulation of nerve endings. The stimulus is carried by nerve fibers to the spinal cord and then to the brain, where the nerve impulse is interpreted as pain. The excessive stimulation of nerve endings during pain is attributed to tissue damage, and in this sense pain has protective value, serving as a danger signal of disease and often facilitating diagnosis. Unlike other sensory experiences, e.g., response to touch or cold, pain may be modified by sedatives and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or, if unusually severe, by opioid narcotics. Recently, patient-controlled analgesic techniques have been introduced, in which patients have the option of injecting small quantities of narcotic type analgesics to control their own pain. Microprocessor-controlled injections may be made through intravenous catheters, or through a catheter into the epidural (covering of the spinal cord) area. If such treatments do not suffice and if the cause of the pain cannot be removed or treated, severing a nerve in the pain pathway may bring relief.

Pain is occasionally felt not only at the site of stimulation but in other parts of the body supplied by nerves in the same sensory path; for example, the pain of angina pectoris or coronary thrombosis may extend to the left arm. This phenomenon is known as referred pain. Subjective or hysterical pain originates in the sensory centers of the brain without stimulation of the nerves at the site of the pain.

Progress has been made in the management of chronic pain and in the education of patients and physicians in such techniques as biofeedback, acupuncture, and meditation and the appropriate use of narcotics and other medications. Using advanced medical-imaging technology, researchers have now located multiple pain centers in the cerebral cortex of the brain, offering promise of possible improvements in measuring and managing pain.

See F. T. Vertosick, Jr., Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain (2000).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Chronic Pain

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Treating Chronic Pain: The Healing Partnership » Read Now
by Aleene M. Friedman. 295 pgs.

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...Treating Chronic Pain The Healing Partnership Treating Chronic Pain The Healing Partnership...Data Friedman, Aleene M. Treating chronic pain : the healing partnership...
2.

Handbook of Pain Syndromes: Biopsychosocial Perspectives » Read Now
by Andrew R. Block, Edwin F. Kremer, Ephrem Fernandez. 692 pgs.

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...indexes. ISBN 0-8058-2680-7 alk. paper 1. Chronic pain--Psychological aspects. 2. Chronic pain--Social aspects. I. Block , Andrew. II. Kremer...Considerations 1...
3.

You Don't Need a Hysterectomy: New and Effective Ways of Avoiding Major Surgery ("Chronic Pain States" begins on p. 231) » Read Now
by Ivan K. Strausz. 345 pgs.

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When this outstanding medical guide was published in 1993, nearly 600,000 women a year were advised to undergo expensive and potentially risky hysterectomies. Though the issue has garnered much press since, the rate of needless and avoidable hysterectomies has not dropped off significantly...
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When this outstanding medical guide was published in 1993, nearly 600,000 women a year were advised to undergo expensive and potentially risky hysterectomies. Though the issue has garnered much press since, the rate of needless and avoidable hysterectomies has not dropped off significantly. Furthermore, 1 woman in 15 (or nearly 10 million) still suffers chronic pelvic pain and gets bad or incomplete advice on how to treat it.
Hailed by Library Journal as "one of the best women's health books", You Don't Need a Hysterectomy provides authoritative, compassionate advice on the new and effective ways to treat chronic pelvic pain and related gynecological symptoms without radical surgery. Totally revised and updated with up-to-the minute information, You Don't Need a Hysterectomy is an invaluable resource for women.
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4.

Soothing and Stress (Chap. 10 "Soothing and Chronic Pain") » Read Now
by Michael Lewis, Douglas Ramsay. 324 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

...193 10 Soothing and Chronic Pain 195 11 Getting...Acute stress enhances while chronic stress suppresses cell-mediated...1997 . "Pain responsiveness and chronic pain: A...
5.

The Anthropology of Medicine: From Culture to Method (Chap. 12 "Narratives of Chronic Pain") » Read Now
by Lola C. Romanucci-Ross, Daniel E. Moerman, Laurence R. Tancredi. 400 pgs.

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This long-awaited revision of what has now become the classic text in medical anthropology contains a wealth of new material on subjects as diverse as aging, creativity, and ideology. Originally cited in American Anthropologist as "must reading for all medical anthropologists, physicians, advanced...
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This long-awaited revision of what has now become the classic text in medical anthropology contains a wealth of new material on subjects as diverse as aging, creativity, and ideology. Originally cited in American Anthropologist as "must reading for all medical anthropologists, physicians, advanced medical anthropology students and advanced medical students," this new edition should prove twice as valuable. It is both a comprehensive introduction to the rapidly growing field of medical anthropology and a state-of-the-art reference work. The authors bring new perspectives to our understanding of both Western and non-Western medicine, from the biochemical and physiological aspects of health care in preindustrialized cultures to cultural and ideological factors inherent in past and present Western medical care. New chapters focus on ethnobotany, placebo and pain, shamanism, and psychiatry.
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6.

Advances in Personality Assessment, Vol. 7 (Chap. 7 "Assessment of Anxiety, Depression, and Anger in Chronic Pain Patients: Conceptual and Methodological Issues") » Read Now
by Charles D. Spielberger, James N. Butcher. 244 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

...Anxiety, Depression, and Anger in Chronic Pain Patients: Conceptual and Methodological...Depression and Anxiety in Chronic Pain Patients 161 Anger in Chronic Pain 163 Use...
7.

Attitudes toward and Knowledge of Chronic Pain: A Survey of Medical Social Workers, in Health and Social Work » Read Now
by Jackie D. Sieppert. 9 pgs.

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...Attitudes toward and knowledge of chronic pain: a survey of medical social workers...by Jackie D. Sieppert Chronic pain inflicts a staggering, though often...and Steiner...
8.

The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition (Discussion of chronic pain begins on p. 57) » Read Now
by Arthur Kleinman. 263 pgs.

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...my research with patients with chronic pain and other chronic illnesses in...enormous success. When chest pain is reduced to chronic coronary artery disease...
9.

A Deconstructive Turn in Chronic Pain Treatment: A Redefined Role for Social Work, in Health and Social Work » Read Now
by Judy E. MacDonald. 8 pgs.

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...A DECONSTRUCTIVE TURN IN CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENT: A Redefined Role for...by Judy E. MacDonald Chronic pain treatment programs in North America...conceptualization based on...
10.

Self-Report Differentiation of Anxiety and Depression in Chronic Pain, in Journal of Personality Assessment » Read Now
by David V. Nelson, Diane M. Novy. 16 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

...Differentiation of Anxiety and Depression in Chronic Pain David V. Nelson and Diane...and depression in patients with chronic pain was investigated. The...
11.

Understanding Chronic Pain » Read Now
by Angela J. Koestler Ph. D., Ann Myers M. D. 163 pgs.

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Two medical experts offer a handbook for people coping with chronic pain and suffering and for those who seek to understand and support them. 19 illustrations.
12.

Under the Medical Gaze: Facts and Fictions of Chronic Pain » Read Now
by Susan Greenhalgh. 371 pgs.

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"This is an extraordinary book--riveting story, concise scholarship, experimental ethnography--and it is beautifully told. Greenhalgh makes a cogent and powerful analysis of the sociopolitical sources of pain through feminist, cultural, and political understandings of the nature of medical science...
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"This is an extraordinary book--riveting story, concise scholarship, experimental ethnography--and it is beautifully told. Greenhalgh makes a cogent and powerful analysis of the sociopolitical sources of pain through feminist, cultural, and political understandings of the nature of medical science and medical practice in the United States."--Sharon Kaufman, author of "The Healer's Tale
"Far above a simple telling of an illness, Greenhalgh takes the experience as a way to view gendered relations in medical care, the seduction of science for the physician and the patient, and the creation of facts and selves in the treatment of pain. She sets a new standard for the practice of autoethnography."--Virginia Olesen, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco
"A compellingly told story that advances our understanding of the meaning of chronic illness, particularly for women. This work adds a new dimensionto the genre of illness narratives."--Susan DiGiacomo, Series Editor, "Theory and Practice in Medical Anthropology and International Health
"A very useful and very well written book. . . . It states the issues in the culture of biomedicine field effectively and makes them relevant."--Arthur Kleinman, author of "Writing at the Margin: Discourse between Anthropology and Medicine
"A deeply troubling, meticulous account about the chasm between medical orthodoxy and the subjective experience of chronic illness. This courageous book is essential reading for physicians and the public at large."--Margaret Lock, author of "Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America
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13.

Pain: Psychological Perspectives (Chap. 8 "Assessment of Chronic Pain Sufferers") and (Chap. 10 "Psychological Interventions and Chronic Pain") » Read Now
by Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Kenneth D. Craig. 377 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

The recent focus on pain research has led to a dramatic advances in the psychological processes that represent and control pain, including the synthesis of sensations, feelings, and thoughts underlying pain behavior and the ontogenetic, socialization and contextual determinants of pain. This...
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The recent focus on pain research has led to a dramatic advances in the psychological processes that represent and control pain, including the synthesis of sensations, feelings, and thoughts underlying pain behavior and the ontogenetic, socialization and contextual determinants of pain. This invaluable new resource presents a state-of-the-art account of the psychology of pain from leading researchers. It features contributions from clinical, social, and biopsychological perspectives, the latest theories of pain, as well as basic processes and applied issues. The book opens with an introduction to the history of pain theory and the epidemiology of pain. It then explores theoretical work, including the gate control theory/neuromatrix model, as well as biopsychosocial, cognitive/behavioral, and psychodynamic perspectives. Issues, such as the link between psychophysiological processes and consciousness and the communication of pain are examined. Pain over the life span, including child and adult pain, pain in the elderly, and ethno-cultural and individual differences are the focus of the next three chapters. The final sections of Pain: Psychological Perspectives address current clinical issues: pain assessment and acute and chronic pain interventions; the unavailability of psychological interventions for chronic pain in a number of settings, the use of self-report, and issues related to the implementation of certain biomedical interventions; and the latest ethical standards and the theories on which these standards are based. Intended for practitioners, researchers, and students involved with the study of pain in fields, such as clinical and health psychology, this new book will also appeal to professionals in related areas, such as physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists. Pain: Psychological Perspectives is ideal for advanced courses on the psychology of pain, pain management, and related courses that address this topic in detail.
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14.

Presurgical Psychological Screening in Chronic Pain Syndromes: A Guide for the Behavioral Health Practitioner » Read Now
by Andrew R. Block. 177 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library