Heather Tick - Holistic Pain Relief: Dr. Ticks Breakthrough Strategies to Manage and Eliminate Pain

Praise for Holistic Pain Relief

Thank heaven for Dr. Ticks Holistic Pain Relief. As a physician who has practiced and taught emergency medicine for over thirty years, I frequently encounter people in pain, both acute and chronic, and have often been stymied as to how to help until now. Dr. Ticks thorough and humane approach to the evaluation and unique comprehensive management of pain is truly a breakthrough. It should be read and embraced by all practitioners of the healing arts.

Peter W. Rugg, MD, FACEP, past chair, department of emergency medicine, UMass Memorial HealthAlliance Hospital

Very well done and a pleasure to read, Holistic Pain Relief is a truly helpful example of a self-help book, packed with much more information than the average of the genre.

John D. Loeser, MD, professor of neurosurgery, University of Washington, and former president, International Association for the Study of Pain

Dr. Heather Tick has provided a valuable resource for the many people suffering from acute and chronic pain and for all of us who desire a whole person approach to optimal well-being as well as for those health care practitioners interested in a more complete understanding of the use of complementary and alternative medicine or integrative medicine in the context of pain. Her humanism, optimism, and profound commitment to improving the lives of pain sufferers and those under profound stress speak from every page.

Eric B. Schoomaker, MD, PhD, Lieutenant General, US Army (retired), former Army Surgeon General, and Audrey N. Schoomaker, RN, BSN, E-RYT 500, yoga therapist

This is a rare book on pain that is comprehensive and accessible yet scientifically grounded. The book is uniquely comprehensible and reassuring to the reader. Dr. Tick is remarkable in her ability to identify what is important and practical and to translate that information for the public.

Ping Ho, MA, MPH, founding director, Arts and Healing Initiative, UCLA

An expert in both conventional and holistic medicine, Dr. Tick offers multiple options for dealing with chronic pain, including medication, nutrition, exercises, acupuncture, chiropractic techniques, and intramuscular stimulation. She offers hope to the millions who suffer from chronic pain.

James E. Dalen, MD, MPH, ScD (Hon), dean emeritus and professor emeritus of medicine and public health, University of Arizona, and executive director, Weil Foundation

Dr. Heather Tick has masterfully presented a wealth of information and a philosophy with which to understand pain and its management. Genuinely holistic in examining all facets of pain and setting them in useful context, her book is a model of clarity and plain good sense. Holistic Pain Relief offers wise perspectives and smart solutions for navigating the labyrinth of twenty-first-century pain treatments.

Nora Shulman, principal flute, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and adjunct associate professor of music, University of Toronto

In Holistic Pain Relief, Dr. Heather Tick provides an important and very useful book on how to deal with chronic pain. As an integrative physician who has helped thousands of patients with her individualized, compassionate, and effective approaches to the treatment of pain, Dr. Tick shares her passion and her expertise. In clear language, she outlines what pain is and the various treatment options that should be considered, from dietary modifications to mind-body approaches to a range of direct physical interventions. This book is a must-read for all who suffer from chronic pain and those who wish to help them.

Aviad Haramati, PhD, professor of physiology, Georgetown University

Pain is meant to protect us and is a necessary part of our lives; the key is to make it into labor pains of self-birth. When you describe your pain and eliminate whatever else in your life fits the words you use, the curse becomes a blessing, and that process can eliminate the pain. Using integrative and mind-body therapies is the key, and Heather Ticks book can guide and coach you to heal your life and free your body of the pain. The experience will be well worth the effort because of the new person you create through the experience of your labor pains.

Bernie Siegel, MD, author of The Art of Healing

Copyright 2013 by Heather Tick, MD

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken.

Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tick, Heather, date.

Holistic pain relief : Dr. Ticks breakthrough strategies to manage and eliminate pain / Heather Tick, MD.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60868-206-5 (pbk.) ISBN 978-1-60868-207-2 (ebook)

1. PainAlternative treatmentPopular works. 2. PainTreatmentPopular works. 3. Holistic medicine. I. Title.

RB127.T53 2013

616'.0472dc23

2013028452

First printing, November 2013

ISBN 978-1-60868-206-5

Printed in the USA on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my children, Noah, Emma, and Seth:

I admire your commitment and ideals, your grace, courage, and joyfulness.

You have brought love and beauty into my life.

With gratitude for your unwavering support.

CONTENTS

The merest schoolgirl when she falls in love has Shakespeare or Keats to speak her mind for her, but let a sufferer try to describe a pain in his head to a doctor and language at once runs dry.

VIRGINIA WOOLF, On Being Ill

F or me, questions about pain and its treatment started during my first year of medical school at the University of Toronto. One day I noticed that I was experiencing a strange, nagging pain in my right shoulder. Like most of us who suddenly realize that Pain, the Intruder, has arrived on our doorstep, I fully expected it to go away on its own.

It was there the next day, and the day after. Although I tried to ignore it, that was impossible when I lifted my arm to reach overhead. Id be jolted back to the reality that this pain wasnt going anywhere by itself. Instead, the pain was growing sharper, and if I maneuvered something heavy overhead, it felt even worse.

Over the course of three weeks, putting my arm behind me to pull on a sweater or coat became harder and harder, but I kept doing it to stretch the muscles and not lose the function. For the life of me, I couldnt remember what Id done to cause this, so I continued to hope it would go away as silently as it had come.