Your Guide to Coping with Back Pain

Ingrid conHausen was a librarian in New Hamburg, Ontario.

Freelancer and back pain sufferer Fine is the founder and executive vice-president of the Back Association of Canada.

This comprehensive study of back pain is directed to the lay person. Fine takes no sides. She examines all the current treatments offered the back pain sufferer: from acupuncture, chiropractic, chymopapian, and massage through to physiotherapy, psychiatry, and yoga. The pros and cons as well as the appropriateness of these treatments are flawed, but improvement is certainly possible. The importance of specific regular exercises is explained with illustrations.

Although Fine is mercilessly clear-sighted about the negative aspects of various treatments, never glossing over the very real discomforts and side-effects, she is also very positive. There is hope. Some kinds of back pain will diminish as one ages. Much back pain can be managed so that the pain is greatly reduced. Most sufferers can resume normal activities with proper precautions.

The clear black-and-white illustrations provide good graphic support for this text. A comprehensive bibliography is also provided. This is an excellent book for the back pain sufferer. Its value as a reference source is without equal, since it is much more extensive and complete than Hamilton Hall’s excellent The Back Doctor (Macmillan, 1980).