Why We Hurt: A Complete Physical & Spiritual Guide to Healing Your Chronic Pain

This compassionate investigation into the multiple factors leading to pain disorders and the conditions associated with them should be required reading for health-care providers, patients with chronic pain and their families. According to neurologist Fors, patients with such disorders, from back pain and arthritis to chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, frequently experience allergies, headaches, digestive problems, anxiety and depression, leading many physicians to equate “chronic pain” with “chronic patient” rather than hunt for a constellation of cause and effect. Fors identifies primary culprits: the typical American diet, laden with sugar and saturated fats and low on nutrient-dense whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish; anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS); environmental toxins; and physical and psychological stress. By making positive lifestyle changes, Fors says, even patients who are suffering most severely will decrease their pain enough to then release neuromyofascial lesions (NMLs, or pain-causing trigger points) that have formed in the fascia (connective tissue) that encases muscle tissue and connects muscles to the rest of the body. In an extensive section on self-care, Fors instructs readers on how to manipulate NMLs; subsections with diagrams map trigger-point locations in specific areas of the body. (Dec.)