Managing Pain Before It Manages You

by Margaret A. Caudill, Herbert Benson (Foreword)

Imagine finding a way to spend less time in doctors’ offices, and to decrease the discomfort, depression, and anxiety associated with chronic pain. Managing Pain Before It Manages You offers just that--a program to help you reduce your pain and learn coping skills to get your life back. Developed over the author’s many years of working with chronic pain sufferers, this program has been proven effective. Program participants report that they have been able to take control of their pain and cut their doctor visits by more than one third! Straightforward and compassionate, this hands-on guide provides detailed information plus step-by-step techniques, activities, and worksheets (perforated for easy removal and photocopying). Dr. Margaret Caudill helps

*Understand the causes of chronic pain
*Recognize what increases and decreases your pain symptoms
*Reduce your pain and emotional distress
*Learn effective problem solving
*Make informed decisions about medications and nutritional therapies
*Incorporate relaxation, meditation, and gentle exercise into your daily routine
*Communicate effectively about your pain
*Set realistic goals

New to the Third Edition
Thoroughly revised and updated, the third edition includes the latest information on medications and other clinically proven treatment strategies, expanded coverage of specific pain disorders, and a new appendix featuring Internet resources. Plus, readers can download free MP3 audio files of three of the guided relaxation exercises in the book (one hour total).

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Self-Help Book of Merit

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Disability, Mental Health, Medicine

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[DeeReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reference: An enlightening book on how to live with chronic pain...

[Christine Mikel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a chronic pain program and I found the exercises and the stories to be helpful. Not everything pertained to me, but there definitely was something for a wide range of patients to glean information from. I have a feeling that I'll be referring to it for the rest of my life.

[Majel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caudill put together an excellent CBT treatment plan for managing chronic pain. She provides clinical examples and talks to the reader like she would a patient. She provides evidence-based information about types of chronic pain, the process of chronic pain, medication, and treatment--a very good psychoeducational component. It involves goal-setting, daily pain diaries to learn about the patterns of pain, thoughts, and feelings. It provides concrete physical, emotional, and problem-solving coping skills, and relapse planning. I highly recommend it to anyone who has chronic pain. I really enjoyed it, it has definitely help me manage my chronic hip pain and made me more happy.

[Holly Mcentee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was used for a 14 week class led by a pain psychologist for learning coping skills to live with chronic pain. I learned a LOT of valuable tools and skills in the class, and while not everything in the book applied to me and my situation I did find the book very helpful. I can't imagine I would have gotten as much benefit from it without the support class, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out.

[Kit · Rating 1 out of 5]

KINDLE USERS BEWARE

I have no idea whether or not this.book is worthwhile. Unlike any other of the several thousand books I've read on Kindle, it opens with impossibly small print, the size of which can't be changed

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sure that this book will be helpful to some people, but it was not what I needed.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read. Written for the person with chronic pain. Great pain-management program. Useful companion tools available online.

[Zhuo Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical and learned a lot, but definitely need practice.

[Howard Wynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m going to recommend this book to all of my chronic pain patients.

[Jim Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

WARNING: I purchased the Kindle version of this book and then was advised by my Kindle Paperwhite it was NOT compatible with my Kindle reader. After spending time on the phone with AMAZON, we discovered that the book contains a lot of color and there IS not compatible with a Black & White Kindle Reader. It CAN be read on my smart phone, tablet and desktop computer.

I have only read about 25 percent of the book. It became quite obvious to me that it was way too technical for my needs as someone suffering from chronic pain. It is a well written book but just too technical for me to gain any in sight or help. The constant referral to medications given the actual names of the medication is hard to apply to help me with my chronic pain. Yes there is some great information but you have to weed through a lot of very technical details to get to the meat of the subject. A physician would no doubt consider this a great book to read. In my opinion, it was be a time consuming endeavor by a non-medical person such as I am for it to have much value. I stopped reading it about 25% into the book.

I don't like writing negative reviews and this one is actually NOT negative. I am simply stating that the material provided in the book is simply over my head.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ch 3
muscle relaxation when thoughts are distressing
walking w/2 steps per breath

Ch 4
uptime: time it takes for pain to increase 2 points
downtime: time to return to baseline

Ch 6
downward arrow: what's so bad about x, what am I afraid of > if that happens, what's so bad about that? > etc

Ch 9
categories of coping skills: physically focused, emotion focused, problem focused (problem-solving)

[heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, one of the best books about chronic pain and its psychological and philosophical impact. It is pitched at an accessible but not condescending level. I didn't do any of the workbook exercises, but reading it was therapeutic and most self-help books make me want to puke or just make me feel disheartened because they don't comfort me.

[Jaclyn]

Offers interesting facts and suggestions without belittling reader or undermining the reader's intelligence.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're in pain, this is a must-read.

[Dodie Reed]

This is an excellent book for those that are trying to find relief from any kind of chronic pain. I go back to it again and again for reviews of various types.

[Patricia]

Another component of a four-pronged approach to help me cope with living in chronic pain.

[Jenny Cox]

So far, it's very readable. Has lots of useful information that everyday people can use to better understand and control chronic pain.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book.i want to own it the only thing that would make it perfect is if it was a two part book...the information in one and a workbook...thanks for writing this....

[Lucy Burnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a lot of treatment options as well as a recommendation to living a healthy lifestyle. I'm making adjustments to the way I live because of this book!

[Jodi Sousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

offers a mind/body path to dealing with chronic pain.

[Christopher Prosser]

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