A Boomer's Guide to Chronic Pain

This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaway

First I have to disclose that I do not have chronic pain; instead I have a debilitating muscle weakness. To find helpful material, I have turned to books on pain relief. Dr. Michael J. Kaye has written this book for his patients born from 1946 to the early 60s that experience chronic, ongoing pain and how they can cope with the daily activities of life. I felt that he wrote this book for me.

His advice is practical and it works. One chapter is devoted to education and how a patient can learn about his condition while being wary of the scams out there. Stress, diet, physical and mental activity, financial matters and making changes in the home to make it safer and more accommodating show more are covered in detail in further chapters. Dr. Kaye is always clear that each patient needs to talk with his medical team before making any of these changes, including exercise and dietary supplements. And to help in various ways, he has provided a link to his two websites where he has many materials of use to his readers. I found the exercise demonstration videos to be extremely helpful and well done so I am using them in my own program. However be aware that these are commercial websites.

The book is written in an easy to understand style. If a point is extremely important, it is boxed so it stands out. Tips are in gray boxes, making it easy to go back and refer to important concepts. In addition to his website noted above, Dr. Kaye has also provided many online resources for his readers on various subjects from medical sites to brain exercises. There is also a list of organizations that can provide information and help in managing your condition. The only weak point is the lack of a standardized bibliographic format for his print sources. He gives only title and author with no other information and the list is not in alphabetical order, either by title or by author. If there is a system to the list, I haven’t been able to discover it. The date of publication gives an idea of the currency of the material and the publisher name would aid in locating the item; however both are missing.

If you have chronic pain or another illness preventing activities of daily life no matter your age, pick up A boomer’s guide to chronic pain. It will help you manage the pain or infirmity and get on with living life to the fullest. show less

Good resource for those with pain from various causes. It also has healthier eating choices. I would recommend this especially for somebody with back pain.