is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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I want you to seek out pain.
I was reading The Challenge of Pain (a medical text, prepping for a class I'm teaching in the fall) in the beauty salon in Hanalei, Kaua�i, Hawai�i, as my sister, brother-in-law�s sister, and I all got manicure/pedicures in anticipation of the wedding, when my sister�s new sister-in-law (aka my brother-in-law�s sister, and no, there is no shorter way of saying that. I have no direct legal or familial relation to her, culturally speaking) looked over at me and said, �what are you reading?�. I showed her and said it was a book about the science of pain. She grimaced and I laughed and said it was my summer beach reading. That was only the first time she probably thought I was a freak.)
I mention this pain-thing mostly to recommend The Challenge of Pain as summer beach reading. Parts are boring, parts are too scientific for me, but in general it is a good read, and interesting, and, I think, important to read for all of us who occasionally end up injured or in pain for unexplained reasons or sitting in a doctor�s office trying to understand what is being said to us. All kinds of things in the history of my experiences with pain and/or doctors were clarified by reading the book. Like why doctors sometimes prescribe anti-depressants for chronic pains. (It isn�t because they think you�re crazy (though they might think that, too), it�s because pain that isn�t caused by a direct injury is complex, and anti-depressants modify brain chemicals such that reactions to pain that might otherwise be difficult to adjust can be adjusted.) Or why it is important to take aspirin right away or put ice on something right away. (Not just to stop pain or cut down on bruising, but to send the right message to the brain so that it doesn�t get all fired up for long-term pain. If you�re a doctor or a scientist I�m sure you�re laughing at my description of gate-control theory. That�s fine with me.)
I appreciated how the authors (Melzack and Wall) admitted all the things that doctors just don�t know about pain, especially chronic pain. (Did you know that 90% of headache and lower back pain have no identifiable physiological cause?)
The book also has sections on various pain therapies, including how the different drugs work, why hurting your arm takes your mind off your sprained ankle, and how psychological aspects really do matter when it comes to experience of pain and pain treatment, and not just in a �you�re a crazy hypochondriac� or �it�s psycho-somatic� kind of way. Past experience, anxiety, anticipation, and culture make a difference. And if that is true, what you read in this book can make a difference too (because it becomes part of your past experience, and modifies what you anticipate, perhaps even lessens your anxiety, dude).
However, if you take this book to the beach, you might want to bring a back-up because it might not hold your attention for the whole day. I have a history of recommending books people call BORING. And this isn�t even one I�m recommending because it�s fascinating, but rather only because it�s useful (and occasionally very interesting).
2:10 p.m. - July 16, 2006
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