Managing Pain Before It Manages You

Join the hundreds of thousands of readers who have found help and hope for getting their lives back from chronic pain in this empowering workbook. Top pain specialist and physician Margaret A. Caudill spells out 10 steps that can radically change the way you feel--both physically and emotionally. Dr. Caudill provides state-of-the-art information about the causes and treatment of pain and guides you to:
*Identify what increases and decreases your symptoms.*Reduce your pain and emotional distress.*Make informed decisions about medications and nutritional therapies.*Benefit from relaxation (including audio downloads), meditation, and gentle exercise.*Communicate effectively about your pain.*Learn essential skills for coping and problem solving.*Use worksheets to help set and meet doable personal goals.
The fully updated fourth edition incorporates important advances in pain management and mind–body medicine. It features new content on mindfulness; a "Quick Skill" section in each chapter with simple exercises that can have an immediate impact; updated supplementary reading and resources, including smartphone apps; and more. At the companion website, you can access the audio tracks and download and print additional copies of the worksheets.

Margaret A. Caudill, MD, PhD, MPH, is a board-certified internist and a Diplomate of Pain Medicine. For more than 30 years, Dr. Caudill has worked to improve the lives of people with chronic illness through medical treatments that address both mind and body. She has researched and written extensively on mind-body medicine and lectures internationally on the biopsychosocial treatment of pain. She is Instructor of Anesthesiology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center's Pain Management Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School.

- Foreword, Herbert Benson
- Preface
- Before You Begin: How This Book Can Help You
1. Beginning to Take Control of Your Pain
2. Understanding Pain
3. The Mind–Body Connection
4. The Body–Mind Connection
5. The Power of the Mind
6. Adopting Healthy Attitudes
7. Nutrition and Pain
8. Effective Communication
9. Effective Problem Solving
10. The End of the Beginning
Appendix A. Common Chronic Pain Conditions
Appendix B. Complementary Alternative Medicine
Appendix C. Working Comfortably at a Computer, Nancy L. Josephson
Appendix D. Managing Osteoarthritis Pain with Medicines: A Review of the Research for Adults
Appendix E. Electronic Resources
Appendix F. Worksheets and Other Materials
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
List of Audio Tracks
 
Audio downloads:
Ocean Sounds (19:57)
Safe Place (21:47)
Pain Control (21:21)