A review of The Pain Book: Finding hope when it hurts by Philip Siddall, Rebecca McCabe and Robin Murray. Published in Australia by HammondPress.

I have only praise for this book. It is positive, hopeful, sensitive and compassionate, while remaining realistic. I also found the book to be very well structured and clear. It is a good length; there is enough detail while remaining concise. Most importantly, it is incredibly helpful in its content.

This book is broken into two parts, starting with incredibly helpful explanations about pain and how it affects us, followed by how to find hope and manage life well in the face of pain. By the end of this book the reader has been brought to a point where they might feel they can not only survive with pain, but thrive. Many have gone before, and many are on the same journey, so the reader feels empowered to join in that journey and find their own enjoyment, purpose and meaning in life, and enjoy a reduction in their pain and the control it has had in their life. From personal experience, utilising similar guidance last year, I can say that this is not fiction!

The three most significant points raised for me were:

1. A changed perspective and a healthier body are incredibly important.

This book makes the reader feel that others have experienced what they have, that the authors understand, and that there are positive things they can do to change their life. There is hope.

I read a book with a similar approach last year that changed my perspective on my experience, took away a significant amount of the fear and self recrimination that came with the pain, especially a flare-up, and I found the exercises and stretches that I incorporated into my life (similar to the ones in this book) incredibly helpful. I hadn’t considered how important whole body stretching could be, and found that doing these in the morning (after a walk or warm shower) made such a difference to how I felt throughout the day. I still do it most mornings. So simple, but so significant.

The pain certainly hasn’t gone away completely, it is still there, although it has lessened, but importantly, it has less control over my life. I have become more enlightened as to what is really going on in my body (and what is not), stronger, less tense in my muscles, less afraid and more hopeful. As a result, my life is more enjoyable again. This book will do the same for others, I am sure.

2. Clear explanations lead to better understanding and a reduction in fear.

The clear explanations in the first part of this book (chapters 1-4) are very valuable and helpful. Often, understanding something reduces the fear of it. This book certainly explains pain very well in chapter 1 and 2. Not only of the different choices that are out there medically, but also about the central sensitisation that occurs and how chronic pain works, including the part played by the brain and mind. My personal favourite however, is chapter 3. I could not have explained the experience of pain better myself. It perfectly explains what it is like. There is something truly healing about reading explanations written by someone else that describes your experience. You feel no longer alone. You feel that someone understands. These chapters, and the book as a whole, display the wealth of experience of the authors.

3. Acceptance does not mean giving up on hope.

Acceptance was hard for me as is described in the first few pages of the chapter on gratitude. I think the authors explained and handled this issue excellently. Additionally, the chapters on Courage, and Hope were wonderful. Christians may notice the discernibly biblical themes in these, and yet they are applied in a way so as to be accessible to all (of any faith, or no particular faith).

If I was going to make any suggestion for any future revisions of this book, it might be to incorporate the stretches and some of the exercises in the main body of the book, rather than the appendix. Alternatively, to at least refer to those suggested stretches and exercises a couple more times in the body of the text. If other people are anything like me, they might briefly glance over an appendix, and think, yes perhaps I’ll come back to that later. However, for me, incorporating a set of whole body stretches and strengthening daily/weekly in my life, has made such a significant difference, that I think more emphasis and practical suggestions for incorporating these should be considered.

Kathryn has an honours degree in biological science, but realised that a career path in research was unsustainable due to a wrist and arm injury in the final semester of her degree. She has since studied at SMBC and completed a pastoral education course, and is now a Pastoral Care Worker for Uniting Care Ageing in Western Sydney. She has lived with chronic pain for over eight years.