Surgery Books

Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

John E. Sarno

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Backache
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Pain Management

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 360 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Learning to read might be the first emotional problem to overcome 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I was sort of amazed that at least five reviewers here knocked Dr. Sarno's book because they couldn't find a method in the book to follow. For example:

"I read it, and it didn't change a thing. And there is no description of the actual method."

"Sarno's book helped me understand the cause of my back pain, but I was left with no clear steps to take to get rid of the pain."

"Be warned -- there's no actual treatment plan in this book."

"He doesn't tell you how to heal it (as the title suggests), but rather tries to drum into you the idea that you may, indeed, have his syndrome. After which you discover that the only way to heal it is through workshops/videos/personal consultations."

"There's not one thing about his program. I certainly wouldn't have purchased it if I knew this wasn't his actual program, just a sales pitch for it. This was a waste of money."

While other reviewers' critiques consisted of (inaccurately) boiling the method down to something like "If you're in pain, ask yourself what you're angry about and you will be healed."

Well class, if you will kindly turn to page 70 in the book, as the table of contents suggests, here you will find the step-by-step method outlined under the unambiguously titled chapter called, "The treatment of TMS." Here are the steps, edited for brevity, for those of you who missed it, or haven't quite got the hang of learning how to read yet:

© 1991 by John E. Sarno, M.D. Text quoted under fair use copyright law. No infringement is intended.

The treatment program rests on two pillars:

1. The acquisition of knowledge of insight into the nature of the disorder.

2. The ability to act on that knowledge, and thereby change the brain's behavior. So, one must learn all about TMS. What actually causes the pain, and what part of the brain is responsible. Then one reviews the psychology of the disorder. The fact that we all tend to generate anger and anxiety in this culture, and that the more compulsive and perfectionistic of us generate a lot.

3. What one must then do is develop the habit of "thinking psychological, instead of physical." I suggest to patients that when they find themselves being aware of the pain, they must consciously and forcefully shift their attention to something psychological. Perhaps, something they are worried about. A chronic family or financial problem. A recurrent source of irritation. Anything in the psychological realm. That sends a message to the brain that they are no longer deceived by the pain. When that message reaches the depths of the mind - the unconscious - the pain ceases.

4. Talk to your brain. What one is doing is consciously taking charge, instead of feeling the helpless, intimidated victim which is so common in people with this syndrome. The person is asserting himself, telling the brain that he is not going to put up with this state of affairs. And it works. Patients report that they can actually abort an episode of pain by doing this.

5. Resume all physical activity, including the most vigorous. Though it is often difficult, every patient has to work through his or her fear and return to full, normal physical activity. One must do this to liberate oneself from the fear of physical activity, which is often more effective than pain in keeping one's mind focused on the body. That is the purpose of TMS, to keep the mind from attending to emotional things. As Snoopy, the great contemporary philosopher once said, "There's nothing like a little physical pain to keep your mind off your emotional problems." I suggest to patients that they begin the process of resuming physical activity when they experience a significant reduction in pain, and when they are feeling confident about the diagnosis. One has to confront TMS - fight it - or the symptoms will continue. Losing one's fear and resuming normal physical activity is possibly the most important part of the therapeutic process.

6. All forms of physical treatment or therapy must be abandoned. Conceptually, prescribing physical therapy contradicts what we have found to be the only rational way to treat the problem. That is, by teaching and through education, invalidating the process where it begins - in the mind.

7. Review these 12 key thoughts at least once a day:

1. The pain is due to TMS, not to a structural abnormality.
2. The direct reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation.
3. TMS is a harmless condition caused by my repressed emotions.
4. The principal emotion is my repressed anger.
5. TMS exists only to distract my attention from the emotions.
6. Since my back is basically normal, there is nothing to fear.
7. Therefore, physical activity is not dangerous.
8. And I must resume all normal physical activity.
9. I will not be concerned or intimidated by the pain.
10. I will shift my attention from the pain to emotional issues.
11. I intend to be in control, not my unconscious mind.
12. I must think psychological at all times, not physical.

Patients are then urged to give this information an opportunity to "sink in," to be integrated, to be accepted at an unconscious level. Conscious acceptance, though essential as a first step, is not sufficient to reverse the TMS.

Editorial Review:

In "Healing Back Pain", Dr. John E. Sarno details how to overcome back pain without surgery, drugs, or exercise. Based on the latest research into TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome), this renowned doctor and author demonstrates how to relieve back pain caused by stress and other psychological factors. Throughout this invaluable guide, he shares the inspiring success stories of his patients who have virtually cured themselves using his methods, and helps readers understand: -- Why self-motivated and successful people are prone to TMS -- How anxiety and repressed anger trigger muscle spasms -- How people "train themselves" to experience back pain -- How to get relief from back pain within two-to-six weeks -- And more.

The Miracle Ball Method: Relieve Your Pain, Reshape Your Body, Reduce Your Stress [2 Miracle Balls Included]

Elaine Petrone

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $6.96

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> Injuries & Rehabilitation

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 143 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Take two-they're small. And they perform miracles. Suffering a career-ending, potentially crippling injury to her back and right leg, a young dancer named Elaine Petrone tried everyone from orthopedists to yogis to turn her pain and prognosis around. Nothing worked-until she healed herself through a unique program of therapy and exercise based around the use of two small, squishy balls. From there she turned her passion into a mission that is helping the thousands of people who visit her classes conquer pain, stress, and injury.

Now, for relief for sufferers everywhere, comes The Miracle Ball Method, a healing kit containing two miracle balls and a fully illustrated book, all packaged together in an attention-getting clear plastic cylinder. The work itself is simple. Take a sore back: By resting your aching back on the grapefruit-sized balls and letting your body sink into them, you're unworking the muscles that hurt. Pain and tension drain out of the body. Petrone shows how proper breathing (which she demonstrates) works in conjunction with a range of unexercises that call for placing the balls under the back, head, knees, hip, elbow-wherever there's pain-and then resting, rolling, or rotating on them. She points out that relief can come in surprising ways: Lower back pain may be helped by placing the ball under your neck, or a bad knee might be helped by hip work. It's arevolutionary program of relief, from head to toe.

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance

Atul Gawande

Amazon Price: $21.86 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 7 to 12 days By: Macmillan Audio Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $2.55

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The struggle to perform well is universal: each one of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. In his new book, Atul Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable.

Gawande’s gripping stories take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to delivery rooms in Boston, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He examines the ethical dilemmas of doctors’ participation in lethal injections, the influence of money on modern medicine, and the astoundingly contentious history of hand-washing. Offering a searingly honest first-hand account of work in a field where mistakes are both unavoidable and unthinkable, Better provides rare insight into the elements of success that illuminates every area of human endeavor.

Physiology: Board Review Series

Linda S Costanzo

List Price: $32.95 By: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Amazon Marketplace: 70 new & used starting at $2.75

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Subjects -> Medicine -> Basic Science -> Pathophysiology
Subjects -> Medicine -> Basic Science -> Physiology
Subjects -> Medicine -> Education & Training -> Test Preparation & Review

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Best title in the series! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I think this is the best BRS there is. I used this book for course exam prep as well as board review. It is a great tool to highlight important concepts, and it explains things in a simple and effective way with the right amount of information.

Vital 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is an amazing tool for my Medical School Physiology class, it will be a vital piece of my USMLE study regimen.

Good review 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The book had a lot of concepts that really helped with my learning of physio throughout the course and later with prepping for the physio shelf exam. My only beef with the content was with the impertinent discussions of molecular similarities between some hormones, but overall, I was pretty satisfied with the book.

Editorial Review:

ere's a concise, yet thorough text that covers basic physiology and its relation to clinical medicine. Organised by organ system, this reference features a systematic step-by-step approach to the integrative mechanisms responsible for homeostasis. Readers will have easy access to the key physiological principles necessary for classroom study and review for the USMLE exam

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

Atul Gawande

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 156 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great book on surgery 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Atul Gawande gratefully takes the reader to the back of the OR, a place open for a few, yet intriguing for many. Dr. Gawande is extremely frank and poignant, as he describes actual cases from his own surgical practice. He admits that cutting someone open for the first time is hell, praises surgery which gives chance to obese people, wonders about doctor's intuition, and remains human in every case.

As always, Atul Gawande is not just writing about medicine; this book reaches far beyond the realm of the operating room. He touches on the most complicated ethical questions of medicine and society as a whole. Gawande speaks of mistakes and our imperfect judgment; tackling the questions of good doctors gone bad along with malpractice claims and punishments. He makes the case for autopsy as a means of learning. He admits that medical students must practice on cadavers or animals in order to cut people open; all ethical questions are answered by means of vivid examples.

For instance, in the 1980s the death rate from a particular surgery would be about 10%. When the new surgical treatment of heart pathology arose, surgeons started trying the novice. At that training period, the rate of children death from this particular intervention increased to 25% of cases. Sounds horrible? Yes, but after surgeons learned, the rate fell down to just a couple percent. Was it worth it? Sure, granted the number of lives saved in the long run. Never, granted now many kids died just due to surgeons' learning. Would any doctor let anyone practice on his own kid? Never. At the same time, learning is a necessary part of medical progress.

Those questions dominate the book; Gawande ponders at the patient's right to choose, reminds us that doctors are human and prone to mistakes, reveals mysteries of complications, which are usually open only during the M&M - Mortality and Morbidity Conference behind the closed door. Gawande is not afraid to open the doors. Moreover, he is confident that openness is the only way to reduce the complications.

I almost wanted to say the book is too idealistic, except it's written by a person whose profession is to think realistically. Great book!

Editorial Review:

In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel’s edge. Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is—uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.

Confessions

Saint Augustine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine relates his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of power at the imperial court in Milan, his struggle against the domination of his sexual nature, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother Monica had taught him during his childhood.
Now, Henry Chadwick, an eminent scholar of early Christianity, has given us the first new English translation in thirty years of this classic spiritual journey. Chadwick renders the details of Augustine's conversion in clear, modern English. We witness the future saint's fascination with astrology and with the Manichees, and then follow him through scepticism and disillusion with pagan myths until he finally reaches Christian faith. There are brilliant philosophical musings about Platonism and the nature of God, and touching portraits of Augustine's beloved mother, of St. Ambrose of Milan, and of other early Christians like Victorinus, who gave up a distinguished career as a rhetorician to adopt the orthodox faith. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, yet his work contains many references and allusions that are easily understood only with background information about the ancient social and intellectual setting. To make The Confessions accessible to contemporary readers, Chadwick provides the most complete and informative notes of any recent translation, and includes an introduction to establish the context.
The religious and philosophical value of The Confessions is unquestionable--now modern readers will have easier access to St. Augustine's deeply personal meditations. Chadwick's lucid translation and helpful introduction clear the way for a new experience of this classic.

Gifted Hands

Ben Carson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 129 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Inspirational, Uplifting a testament to what GOD can do! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent read for young adults onward. Interwoven in all of Dr. Carson's stories is a testament to what GOD can do. Dr. Carson was child by societal standards was not supposed to succeed. He was raised in a single parent home with a mother who battled mental illness yet he overcame struggles by focusing on what he could do as opposed to what he couldn't do. This book will truly inspire you to be the very best in your God led profession. Awesome!!!

Interesting 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is not well written--it's irritating how the order of happenings is jumbled, particularly concerning Dr. Carson's earlier life--but it's an interesting read about a fascinating person and his work. For those who think Dr. Carson comes across as arrogant--I think anyone who does what he does has to have a certain amount of arrogance!

Editorial Review:

The surgeon who has successfully separated thirty Siamese twins who had little hope of survival describes his own inspiring life story, recounting his rise from inner-city kid to renowned surgeon. Reprint.

Surgical Recall (Recall Series)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Best Recall Book - Use it to prep for pimping 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Surgery is a difficult rotation in terms of content and time commitment. Therefore, it's best to study to maximize your time. This book will prepare you for surviving rounds and those pimp sessions while you are retracting. The book is well organized by topic and great to quickly review before discussing/encountering a particular patient. The book saved me several times during a long surgery. However, of note, to survive the shelf exam and osce, you will need a textbook as well. Good choices to supplement this book would be Essentials of General Surgery or First Aid for the Surgery Clerkship.

Editorial Review:

Thoroughly updated for its Fifth Edition, this reference for third and fourth year medical students on surgical clerkships enables quick study in a rapid-fire Q&A format. A perfect fit for a lab coat pocket, this book is commonly used as a quick review prior to surgical rounds as well as for board review. Purchasers of this edition will get both the print book and access to MP3 audio files of the entire text. All Q&A material will also be posted online in the form of electronic flashcards for self-quizzing.

War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq: A Series of Cases, 2003-2007 (Textbooks of Military Medicine)

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq, with a foreword by Bob Woodruff, describes the management of nearly 100 cases of acute comat trauma, conducted in the forward austere operative environment of war in the 21st century.  Presented with vivid surgical photos, the cases encompass the spectrum of trauma that characterizes war today, as well as the medical interventions constantly evolving to treat these wounds.

With the most recent cases report from cobat hospitals within months of publication, this book presents emerging medical-surgical practice in real time.  The authors discuss in detail an array of topics including:
*  Damage control surgery
* Aggressive management of compartment syndrome
* New directions in the management of head injuries
* Use of tourniquets,
* Decision analysis in the approach to vascular repairs and
* Soft-tissue coverage of wounds.

War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq provides all medical professionals with insight into the extraordinary technical, clinical, and ethical challenges of their deployed colleagues.

Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems, Single Volume (Medical-Surgical Nursing)

List Price: $103.00 By: Mosby Amazon Marketplace: 166 new & used starting at $3.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This book contains solid, research-based content presented in a concise, readable, and consistent format. Special features highlight the content that is most relevant and challenging for today's nursing students, including patient teaching, community and home care, gerontology, cultural and ethnic considerations, collaborative care, nutrition, and critical thinking. Nursing management content is discussed in a unique levels-of-care approach, with separate headings for Health Promotion, Acute Intervention, and Ambulatory and Home Care. More than just a textbook, it is a comprehensive resource with the essential information that students need to prepare for lectures, classroom activities, examinations, clinical assignments, and comprehensive care of patients.

• All content is written and reviewed by leading experts in the field to ensure that information is comprehensive, current, and clinically accurate.
• Extensive gerontologic content identifies age-related changes for each body system and alerts the nurse to differences often encountered in older patients.
• Attractive four-color design and over 1,300 full-color illustrations enhance learning by presenting disease processes and related anatomy and physiology more clearly.
• More than 70 comprehensive nursing care plans are thoroughly updated to incorporate current NANDA diagnoses, defining characteristics, expected outcomes, specific nursing interventions with rationales, evaluation criteria, and collaborative problems.
• Ethical Dilemmas boxes promote critical thinking for timely and sensitive issues that nursing students will face in practicetopics such as informed consent, patient adherence, guardianship, confidentiality, and sterilization.
• More than 70 Patient and Family Teaching Guides provide students with critical information to include in teaching patients about care of conditions and stress points for educating family members when they will be helping to care for the patient.
• Critical Thinking Exercises at the end of each nursing management chapter include Case Studies with Critical Thinking Questions to help students apply information presented and promote critical thinking. Also included are Nursing Research Issues questions to highlight current topics for research and encourage further study.
• Collaborative Management headings and Collaborative Care tables emphasize the importance of total patient care in todays health care settings and provide a clear understanding of each providers role in managing disorders.
• Multiple-choice Review Questions at the end of each chapter test students mastery of the content and correspond with learning objectives in the chapter openers.
• Nutritional Therapy tables summarize nutritional interventions and promote healthy lifestyles in patients with various conditions.
• Gerontologic Differences in Assessment and Effects of Aging tables present information about older adults special needs for nursing care.
• Nursing Research boxes apply research to clinical practice and cover such timely topics such as pain medication adherence, ethnic influences on cancer screening, family-centered focus in lung transplant care, health promotion for women with multiple sclerosis, and caring for battered women in the emergency department.
• Emergency Management tables outline the treatment of health problems most likely to create medical emergencies.
• Common Assessment Abnormalities tables alert the nurse to typically encountered abnormalities.
• Nursing Assessment tables summarize the subjective and objective data for which the nursing student assesses.
• Health History tables present key assessment questions to summarize important assessment parameters.
• Diagnostic Studies tables highlight important information relevant to diagnostic studies.
• Drug Therapy tables pull out medication information in a format that provides easy student reference
• Learning Objectives at the beginning of each chapter help students identify key content

• New chapter on Culturally Competent Care discusses cultural variations affecting health care and key nursing implications to help prepare nurses to interact with the increasingly diverse patient populations entrusted to nursing care.
• New chapter on End-of-Life Care discusses the physical and psychosocial manifestations at the end of life, related legal and ethical issues, palliative care, and the special needs of caregivers.
• New chapter on Nursing Management: Alzheimers Disease and Dementia covers Alzheimers disease and other causes of dementia.
• Evidence-Based Practice boxes discuss non-nursing or interdisciplinary research topics.
• Genetics in Clinical Practice boxes cover timely topics such as genetic testing, Alzheimers disease, sickle cell anemia, and genetics-related ethics issues.
• Complementary and Alternative Therapies boxes summarize what nurses need to know about topics such as various herbal remedies, acupuncture, and biofeedback.
• The accompanying CD-ROM has been expanded and includes: case studies, disorder overviews, interactive learning activities, NCLEX-style review questions, and a comprehensive glossary.
• Selected nursing care plans incorporating NIC (Nursing Interventions Classification) and NOC (Nursing Outcomes Classification) show how NIC and NOC are used in clinical practice.
• Included on the Evolve website are the concept map creator program and sample concept maps to familiarize students these clinical tools which are used by increasing numbers of nursing instructors.
• Chapter 9: Pain has been completely updated and rewritten.
• New chapter on Nursing Management: Musculoskeletal Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery covers sprains, strains, fractures, joint surgery, and other related conditions.
• The Genetics and Altered Immune Responses chapter includes expanded content on genetics and immunosuppressant therapy for transplant patients.
• Key Terms are listed in chapter openers (with page numbers) and bolded where defined in the text narrative.
• The Addictive Behaviors chapter features a more holistic approach and contains expanded content on tobacco abuse and smoking cessation.
• New color photos throughout feature ethnic and cultural diversity.