Pain
The Science of Suffering
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $25.99
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
Pain is one of medicine's greatest mysteries. When farmer John Mitson caught his hand in a baler, he cut off his trapped hand and carried it to a neighbor. "Sheer survival and logic" was how he described it. "And strangely, I didn't feel any pain." How can this be? We're taught that pain is a warning message to be heeded at all costs, yet it can switch off in the most agonizing circumstances or switch on for no apparent reason. Many scientists, philosophers, and laypeople imagine pain to operate like a rigid, simple signaling system, as if a particular injury generates a fixed amount of pain that simply gets transmitted to the brain; yet this mechanistic model is woefully lacking in the face of the surprising facts about what people and animals do and experience when their bodies are damaged.
Patrick Wall looks at these questions and sets his scientific account in a broad context, interweaving it with a wealth of fascinating and sometimes disturbing historical detail, such as famous characters who derived pleasure from pain, the unexpected reactions of injured people, the role of endorphins, and the power of placebo. He covers cures of pain, ranging from drugs and surgery, through relaxation techniques and exercise, to acupuncture, electrical nerve stimulation, and herbalism.
Pain involves our state of mind, our social mores and beliefs, and our personal experiences and expectations. Stepping beyond the famous neurologic gate-control theory for which he is known, Wall shows that pain is a matter of behavior and its manifestation differs among individuals, situations, and cultures. "The way we deal with pain is an expression of individuality."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wall (The Challenge of Pain), a professor of physiology at St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School (London), presents an alternative to the traditional theory of pain. Earlier theorists attributed painful sensations to nerve endings that transmitted a message from the spinal column to the brain. Drawing on the latest neurological research, Wall hypothesizes instead that when nerve endings are stimulated by painful sensations, the message is transmitted, but then, the brain analyzes this data to determine the appropriate motor response. One's response to the stimulus is, in part, based on personal history and expectations. According to Wall, this interconnectedness explains why people experience pain differently, and it also accounts for why a strong belief in the efficacy of a placebo may actually reduce an individual's pain. Although he doesn't examine specific conditions--like cancer and migraines--in as much depth as Frank Vertosick does in Why We Hurt: The National History of Pain (Forecasts, May 29), Wall is a sympathetic and thorough writer: he describes the physiology of the nervous system; he explores, philosophically and scientifically, the history of pain and its treatment; and he suggests some improvements to popular medical approaches to pain management, explaining (in detail) the different ways in which pain can be eased. Postoperative patients, for example, deal with their pain better when they are able to regulate their analgesic medication (because control helps them overcome their feelings of physical helplessness). In this generally thoughtful text, Wall offers his belief in the benefit of narcotic medications for cancer patients in pain. B&w illus.
Customer Reviews
My bible to pain survival in real life
Having my back crushed, head smacked to the point of significant subdural hematoma, ribs broken crushing one lung and multiple vertebrae, I survived. It's been twelve years since that day. That day was followed by months of hospital and in patient rehab at which point I was scurried home to lick my wounds and later return to work with half my back fused and now three inches shorter than the man that previously stood unstoppable looking in the mirror. Nobody forced me to go back to work. It was in my DNA, or at least I thought it to be.
Dr. Wall sheds light on so many personal, societal and inherent physiological issues that plague so many people touched by severe chronic pain.
This book covers everything so pointedly, I cannot point at a single one at the risk of demoting others. I have read and re-read this book at least five times. Each time it both reduces me to tears and empowers me to believe in myself. It has become my bible to my new life fraught with daunting struggles and debilitating pain that each day brings. While I might find myself at the bottom of Sisyphus's hill, I also know that each day brings new hope. I must live it as it may be my last...we all must realize our own immortality.
How rare is a book that makes you feel that each page, each sentence are direct answers to the questions you need answered for your own survival!
Tim Sheets