Praise for The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatments
“I have been living with my own chronic pain for over three decades and in recovery from pain pills and alcohol for 36 years. I’m also a health care provider working with people suffering with chronic pain and coexisting disorders including addiction since 1984. I have read many books on pain management over the past three decades and I found The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatments to be one of the best I’ve seen in many years effectively covering an extremely challenging topic. It was a great read and I’ve shared it with both patients and colleagues. Overall, I found The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatments to be highly readable and informative.”
– Stephen Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS
Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of A Healing Place – The Estates
Author of Managing Pain and Co-Existing Disorders and Freedom From Suffering: A Journey of Hope
“Very interesting and thought-provoking … a great compendium that people interested in integrative pain management should be aware of.”
– Bob Twillman Ph.D., FAPM
Executive Director Academy of Integrative Pain Management
(formerly the American Academy of Pain Management)
“Contrary to what most people believe, pain meds are not the solution to chronic pain. Find out why and what to do about it in this authoritative work.”
– Christiane Northrup, M.D., OB/GYN physician
Author of Goddesses Never Age: The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality, and Wellbeing, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, and The Wisdom of Menopause
“Exposes how common evaluations and treatments may not be in the best interest of the patient suffering with persistent pain. Institutional bias often favors potentially harmful and expensive interventions whilst ignoring or trivializing those that are essentially safe and may be as or more effective. Ms. Perlin chronicles patients who have been helped and encourages you to investigate alternative treatments so that you too may avoid needless expense and suffering.”
–Norman Marcus, M.D.,
Author of End Back Pain Forever
“Doctors are trained to treat the result and not the cause. Cindy Perlin’s book reveals important and significant information about the many effective treatments for pain other than a pill prescribed by your doctor. I know from my experience as a surgeon that there are many treatments, from emotional to physical, which can heal the cause and relieve the resulting pain. This book is a wonderful resource for those in need of relief from pain. I have also personally experienced energy healing and the effectiveness of hypnosis in my life and work. I know from my experience that what Cindy shares speaks the truth.”
– Bernie Siegel, MD
Author of The Art of Healing and Love, Medicine & Miracles
“Cindy Perlin has written a valuable guide to the understanding and treatment of chronic pain. The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatments is itself a valuable treatment – a marvelous compendium that will improve the well being of anyone facing this very common problem. Perlin speaks in plain language with great authority and wisdom.”
– Larry Dossey, MD
Author of ONE MIND: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters
“The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatments sorts through all strategies, both surgical and non-surgical, for the treatment of people who are in chronic pain. Each section has good quality research to support or refute each treatment modality. The cases presented are real people who had chronic pain relieved with various treatments that may not have been tried for others who have persistent pain. I highly recommend this book to all my chronic pain patients so they can become more informed of the treatment options that are out there for them.”
– John E. Garzione, PT, DPT, DAAPM
Past President Pain Management Special Interest Group
American Physical Therapy Association
Board of Directors American Academy of Pain Management
“The very first question physicians should ask patients is, ‘Are you in pain?’ The next thing they should do is relieve it. The Truth about Chronic Pain Treatments shows how pharmaceuticals do not do the job. More importantly, the book details the benefits of many readily available alternatives to drug treatment. Well referenced and well written. I recommend it.”
– Andrew W. Saul
Author of Doctor Yourself and editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
“A superb book. All patients dealing with pain and all practitioners working with people in pain should read this book. Read this book first before taking pain medications–it may save your life.”
– Erik Peper
President, Biofeedback Foundation of Europe
Author of Make Health Happen and Co-Author of Fighting Cancer
“There are so many treatment options available to us now that this book is a good resource for new patients who don’t know where to start when deciding with their pain care team what they will do to help themselves first.”
– Barby Ingle, President
International Pain Foundation
“A comprehensive, impeccably researched debut handbook that focuses on alternative treatments for chronic pain . . . Her primary concern is for the estimated 116 million Americans affected by chronic pain…The book starts by discussing some well-known treatment options—opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and pain injections—but quickly branches into less-obvious territory. In comparison to pharmaceuticals, the author says, mind/body treatments are safe, cheap, and effective. Yet promising alternatives that might mitigate back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, and post-traumatic stress disorder—such as massage, nutrition, herbs, exercise, acupuncture, energy healing, laser therapy, and even marijuana—are barely on the radars of doctors or insurance companies…Perlin includes an invaluable section called ‘Research Results’ after describing each treatment type, providing details of relevant evidence-based studies that suggest health benefits. She also addresses potential side effects and gives helpful statistics and case studies … to show the range of experiences that people have had. The book concludes on a daring note, proposing a Pain Treatment Parity Act that would require insurers to cover all credible pain treatments equally, not just pharmaceuticals. … its all-embracing approach makes it suitable for laymen and health care providers alike.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“As a physical therapist, I’m always looking to expand my knowledge base in an effort to better serve my patients. Over the years, my thinking has greatly changed. I used to believe that pain was largely due to biomechanical dysfunctions, and that I could help “fix” things with the skills I learned in school. Now, I recognize just how complex the human mind and body are in regards to the pain people suffer. I know now that there are many potential paths towards ridding oneself from pain. Cindy’s well referenced and researched book covers this theme in great detail. When I heard Ms. Perlin interviewed recently on WFAN radio in New York, I immediately ordered her book and am very thankful that I did. I learned so many interesting facts about the way the current western healthcare system operates in regards to treating folks in pain. I also learned about the myriad alternative approaches that are available to people who are not finding relief though traditional treatments. Cindy did a great job presenting the facts side-by-side with anecdotes of real life case histories. Her own two personal pain stories, each treated differently and successfully via separate methods, highlights the fact that pain management is definitely NOT one-size-fits-all. With our country in the midst of an opioid epidemic, the timing of Ms. Perlin’s book couldn’t be better. People have to know that there ARE viable alternatives to treating their pain, and that there is HOPE. Cindy’s book will be a tremendous help for so many people who are suffering from chronic pain.”
– James Horn
Owner/Director at Chelsea Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation
Amazon.com review
““This is an excellent and honest book to help those who suffer with chronic pain. The book begins with an evidence-based, analytical framework and then examines fourteen different categories of treatment (with all the varying sub treatments assessed). All the plusses and minuses are explored. The author is honest and does not put her thumb on the scale, because you will need to use all the information to pursue your own unique plan of treatment.
The author is motivated by her own suffering with pain but she writes as the professional that she is. In other words, her personal story is used only to illustrate concepts to help the reader…the book is not one of those narcissistic “my journey” books that always seemed to make the Oprah audience clap like trained seals. The author respects you, the reader, and helps you with great empathy and insight on each page.
I won’t spoil the book for you but I must say that I had no idea what Rolfing was until I read those most beneficial few pages.
Another huge a-ha was that the manufacturer of OxyContin made over 10 billion dollars in profit just in 2010 (most recent data) from the annual sale of the drug. Amazing. And think of how much harm this “hillbilly heroin” has caused.
First-rate tool to help those who suffer with pain. If you care about someone in pain, including yourself, this is a MUST.””
– David J. Spellman Esq.
Amazon.com review
“The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatments is a very thoroughly researched, informative and thoughtful perspective on pain, its consequences as well as non-mainstream solutions. Even though I’ve been practicing for almost 20 years and considered myself to have a rather expansive base of knowledge on this subject, I learned a great deal from The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatment. It is also very useful to have a definitive resource to reference for those patients that don’t respond to the treatments we provide in our office. I have taken excerpts of different parts of it to use in my staff meetings, to educate our lay staff about some of the principles behind what we do and why we strive to keep people away from drugs and surgery whenever possible.
The Truth About Chronic Pain Treatment book really is a great complement to any alternative practitioner, and it should be required reading in any profession/medical school curriculum.”
–Sheryl Drake-Traudt, Chirpractor
Albany Chiropractic & Physical Therapy
