Understanding Chronic Pain

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This is a personal narrative, a record of my passage among victims of chronic pain and the discoveries that have come from those encounters. I write for physicians, nurses, therapists, and caregivers, but mostly, I write for you who suffer the disease.

I know you very well, perhaps as well as anybody in the world. I have listened to your stories with patience and attention, and I have been greatly rewarded. You have trusted me with the deep recesses of your thoughts and fears, and the memories of the dreadful experiences that are so often the origin of chronic pain.

I have treated thousands of you and I believe I have some understanding of your illness. I offer a series of essays about people like you who suffer chronic pain. From their case histories, I derive certain conclusions. Some conclusions are bold and imaginative. Some are disturbing and frightful. Not all of them will apply to you, but some certainly will. My wish is that you gain greater understanding of your illness, for only understanding it will you conquer it.

— Robert T. Cochran Jr., M.D.

Table of Contents

1. Failure to Recover
2. What is Chronic Pain?
3. Identifiers and Risk Factors
4. Mind-Soul Disease
5. Drugs for Pain
6. Memory
7. Triavil
8. The Painful Brain
9. Sexual Abuse
10. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
11. Kindling
12. Substance Abuse
13. Bipolarity
14. Chronic Fatigue
15. Migraine
16. Neurogenic Inflammation
17. Attention Deficit Disorder
18. Summing Up

Endorsements

Keith W. Hagan, M.D.

"Robert Louis Stevenson writes in Treasure Island, 'We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we can find in our travels is an honest friend.' In his approach to chronic pain, Dr. Cochran brings honesty and understanding. His book invites readers to open doors which have long been shut, both to those who treat pain and those who suffer it."

Keith W. Hagan, M.D.
Urologist

H. Clay Newsome III, M.D.

"Understanding Chronic Pain should be required reading for primary care physicians like myself who often encounter chronic pain patients and who are frustrated with their management. Dr. Cochran's book clearly shows the way to approach such patients in a positive and hopeful manner."

H. Clay Newsome III, M.D.
Gynecologist

Robert D. Riedel, M.D.

"An interesting and informative text. . . . Although written for those who suffer chronic pain, it should be required reading for all physicians. Were the medical community to develop an appreciation for the concepts so well presented by Dr. Cochran, the lives of painful patients would be greatly improved."

Robert D. Riedel, M.D.
Anesthesiologist

J. Thomas John Jr., M.D.

"Understanding Chronic Pain is a superb book by a very gifted physician. Dr. Cochran's expertise has been invaluable to many long-suffering patients. His insights into chronic pain represent an important advance in the understanding of a very destructive illness."

J. Thomas John Jr., M.D.
Rheumatologist

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