Mayo Clinic Guide to Pain Relief: How to Manage, Reduce and Control Chronic Pain by Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic Guide to Pain Relief: How to Manage, Reduce and Control Chronic Pain Reviews

• 
  Michael Perkins

  This article from the NYT covers some essential points from the book,
  
  
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/sm...
• 
  Jim Brown

  Start with the last question I usually answer when I review a book/course I have just completed. WHO SHOULD READ THE BOOK OR TAKE THE COURSE?
  
  At first you might think that since YOU have no pain, taking this course is not necessary but the course is NOT entirely just about YOU. As it turns out, the course is not only about a person experiencing chronic pain but also about that person’s support group. Therefore, the course may be for you if you are a family member or friend of someone experiencing chronic pain or if you are the person experiencing the chronic pain.
  
  Dr. Bruce is a Pain Psychologist. To understand why that is important to this course and ultimately you, you must first understand what “chronic pain” is. Chronic pain are pains that typically last more than 3 months meaning you may injure a knee but the pain usually subsides and you resume your daily activities in less than 3 months. There are pains such as back pains, severe headaches, and even continued knee, hip, ankle, shoulder and neck pains that may persist and actually never completely go away. This course addresses chronic pains and what can be done when all other corrective measures have been exhausted.
  
  Why did I take this course? I have had chronic back pain for over 6 years and it has curtailed many of the activities I engaged in prior to the onslaught of the pain in my lower back. I wanted to learn more about chronic pain and what my options were in combating it. If you are in a similar situation, this course is for you. If you are a family member or good friend of someone experiencing chronic pain this course is also for you. My guess is that if you plan to live beyond 60 years old, this course WILL be important for you. I remember the day when I would watch older people struggle with just walking and would wonder how they arrived at such a fate for them. Then I became that “older person” and now I know how they feel.
  
  At times all seems lost. Yes there are people with far worse ailments in their lives than I have in mine but what gets lost in that type of attitude is that the ailments I am experiencing are my ailments and yes they have curtailed a great many of the activities I once performed. Now just walking becomes a problem at times. I tell you this as a form of disclaimer and more importantly to emphasize what someone can learn from this course to help them live a more happier and productive life.
  
  The course sets out a plan to deal with a person��s new normal that includes chronic pain. It emphasizes not only that you establish specific goals it helps you determine what those goals should be. It explains pain, sometimes with terms that completely go over my head but the overall explanation is actually easy to understand in spite of those medical terms. The course lays out various treatment options for chronic pain that are currently available including medications one probably has already taken. Then when all measures seem to have failed, the course lays out a plan to learn to make lifestyle alterations to live that happier and more productive life.
  
  If YOU have chronic pain or if you know of someone else who has chronic pain, this course should be a must take for both of you. For the person with the pain, it will help create that better life. For the other person it will help them understand what the person with the chronic pain is going through and more importantly what that person is thinking and the emotional crisis that may be caused by the chronic pain.
  
  This is a GREAT course. As I said, on occasion it was over my head in regards to the medical terms interspersed throughout the course but the content was not affected by my not being able to recall the various names given to body parts that are affected and controlled by pain. Did it help me? Absolutely. Who should take the course? Anyone with lingering pains or knows of someone with lingering pains that they may be in a position to help. Anyone who plans to live long enough to where physical and mental pain may become a basic part of their life and that would include just about everyone.
  
• 
  Becky And

  This is the Mayo Clinic Program on their approach to their world famous 6 week in Hospital Program that teaches how to manage chronic pain without drugs. As a chronic pain individual for years to not being able to move this holds promise for me as a new way to manage rather than referral after referral and medication
• 
  Magen

  Going into this book, I was concerned it would be too basic for it to be useful for me. I have already read a fair amount on the subject and gone through much treatment. My concern was unwarranted though as this course did a solid job of going beyond very basic descriptions to providing more information. The best lecture was on common pain conditions where Dr. Bruce provided ample detail on central sensitization, which is a condition not yet well discussed. Dr. Bruce's discussion of what pain is and how it works was also well done and better done than I had previously seen. These lectures were carefully thought out and they provided more detail than one could find on the internet.
  
  I was disappointed that there was nearly an entire lecture dedicated to encouraging the reader to go to a pain rehabilitation program like the one at Mayo Clinic. I had no problem with there being some discussion of this as it is helpful information; however, the discussion went on for too long and it felt more like a promotional ad than useful information. I was also disappointed that the last lecture is PT exercises and a relaxation exercise. While these items are useful and I am glad they are included, it felt like we weren't given as much as we could have been since lecture 12 is not a lecture. In other Great Courses, either things like this are incorporated into the lecture in which they are relevant or they are attached at the end as an appendix. I would have prefered one of these options. The most important lecture on how to create one's own pain rehabilitation program did not feel sufficient to truly start and stick to such a program, though I suspect if someone was dedicated enough and used the supplemental written materials, they likely could develop such a program. I, unfortunately, checked this out from the library which did not allow much time to listen to this program and I was thus unable to spend sufficient time relistening to that lecture, going through the exercises, and using the supplemental material. I have mixed feelings about whether it makes sense to purchase this program, though I highly suggest that if one does to purchase the video version for there is much added in the visual lectures. I do however recommend this to pain patients and caregivers, even if it is a refresher, as I suspect there will be something new in this course for most listeners.
• 
  Dan Durrant

  Interesting read, but nothing earth shattering. In a nutshell, for a better life (less pain, less weight, less depression, more enjoyment, more satisfaction, and a longer life), do this:
  Eat less (portion control), eat better (more fruits and veggies, less breads and processed crap), move more (30 minutes a day), and practice any vices in moderation.
  
  Simple, yes. Now, if it were only easy.
• 
  Jackson

  I really like the plans in this book and am going to get it for the Kindle. Allopathic medicine can be good for some things, but soothing chronic pain without dire side effects is better suited to alternative and complementary methods.
• 
  Ginger Essink

  Extremely valuable for managing chronic pain of any kind.