Despite the media hype of books that promise to “banish your pain,” the reality is that chronic pain is just about impossible to extinguish, whether in “five simple steps,” “four quick weeks,” or whatever the latest tantalizing promises are. The truth, as you probably know if you have been experiencing chronic pain, is that the goals of controlling, managing and living a satisfying life with pain are much more realistic. As both a person who lives with chronic pain and a medical writer, I have come across a useful website with a realistic, helpful approach to chronic pain. Full disclosure: I have written some articles for this site, in consultation with several reputable medical professionals. In so doing, I have come to respect both the source of the information and the approach of the site. I have also learned a great deal.
The site is painAction.com, and here are some of the articles I wrote, although I recommend reading any others on topics that are of interest! The site covers back pain, migraine pain and cancer pain, and includes articles, lessons and interactive tools. The focus is on developing skills in self-management, gathering knowledge, medication safety, working with health care professionals, communication and emotional coping. Given my interest in integrative medicine, I am also pleased to report that there is information on alternative/complementary modalities to manage chronic pain.
3 Comments
June 12, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Thanks for pointing us to this resource. I think what’s on the site is useful. I hope they move into other types of pain (e.g. neuropathic pain).
June 27, 2009 at 2:18 am
Hi Roanne, I have just read your article on Holistic methods of pain management (http://painaction.com/members/article.aspx?id=392) thanks for this, the advice to consulting your doctor when using herbal and alternative medicines is something that I would also like to stress. I will now go seek some Craniosacral Therapy as this looks very interesting. Thanks, and good luck to you and all having to manage Chronic pain.
September 8, 2009 at 1:46 am
Roanne, thanks for the advice- it is really helpful and easy to understand- just what I needed.