Conquering Pain: How to Overcome the Discomfort of Arthritis, Backache, Migraine, Heart Disease, Childbirth, Period Pain and Many Other Common Conditions

Ingrid conHausen was a librarian in New Hamburg, Ontario.

Lipton, retired Director of the Centre for Pain Relief at Walton Hospital in Liverpool, has written a book on pain for the Prentice-Hall Positive Health Guide series. This sturdy paperback is organized into 12 chapters, each illustrated with black-and-white and colour photos as well as charts and line drawings. The text is in two columns, but darker type sets off each short section so that the reader is never faced with a single page of dense prose.

Various drug therapies, hypnosis, acupuncture, relaxation techniques, and exercises are discussed briefly. The author limits himself to the common conditions mentioned in the subtitle. Cancer is not discussed, though the good doctor assures us that “the pain of cancer is most easily treated”! The emphasis is on self-help throughout. The tone of the work is British and masculine, but always reassuringly optimistic. The straightforward style, with a minimum of technical language, makes it accessible to a wide range of readers. The “useful addresses” list includes British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand as well as South African sources.

The chapter on pain-relieving drugs is extremely useful: it lists the major types of drugs, outlines their effects and uses, and charts their UK, US, Australian and Canadian generic and trade names. A lucid and useful source of information for the layperson.