Painful Yarns: Metaphors and Stories to Help Understand the Biology of Pain

I had a car accident eight years ago and suffered from a shoulder needing surgery and I developed chronic pain in my lower back and fibromyalgia. I live my days in chronic pain and hoping that one day I will get some of my life back.The day of my accident my whole life changed my world was turned upside down and nothing has ever been the same. While I was doing rehab at hospital and learning how to deal with chronic pain as a course one of the medical team mentioned this book to a group of people who all suffered pain. I went on to purchase this book as it was not available anywhere else and it was truly eye-opening encouraging to read because for once I didn’t feel so alone and so misunderstood. I finally felt included to some degree. I felt like someone understood where I was coming from and how much my life changing had affected me. This book is a must read for anyone suffering with chronic pain and those who look after people like myself could also learn quite a lot from reading this book, it’s definitely one of my top favourites for chronic pain issues.

Great information and so helpful in alleviating pain. Highly recommend!

As someone in physical therapy waiting to see a surgeon regarding some difficult to diagnose pain symptoms I found this book to be engaging, easy and enjoyable to read, clear, and relatable. Mosley does an excellent job of both capturing the reader’s attention with fascinating stories and then including a clear summary to explain the exact “take home” message of how these stories help us better understand the possible mechanisms behind chronic pain. I would recommend this book to both providers and patients.

Si bien no es tan fácil de descifrar el inglés australiano, me pareció muy bueno (está lleno de modismos). El autor es un connotado y reconocidísimo doctor e investigador y acá cuenta como surgió su interés a través de anécdotas e historias muy entretenidas.

This is one of the great books in the field. As an introduction to the concepts of chronic pain this will be a classic. It is the ideal introduction to the concepts of chronic pain, and is the essential introduction/comp[anion to 'Explain Pain'. And it is funny. And it puts pain the context of everyday life. No abstraction or scholarly analysis this. Yet it doesn't talk down to the reader. Despite Moseley's eminence in the field, he writes with a strong connection to his knowledge and situations we all encounter. Yet, for the professional, his statements can be fully referenced. I use this book all the time as an introduction to the concepts of pain in my professional work.

The way forward in (aspecific chronic) pain rehabilitation: the use of - entertaining! - 'yarns' or metaphors to explain to aspecific chronic pain patients that the pain they're experiencing does NOT signal tissue damage. Even then it takes them months to take this message in, as they have to experience for themselves that it holds true, before they can replace their old cognitive schema - but at least it DOES sink in! Lorimer Moseley is a great speaker at international conferences, a dedicated and caring researcher with over 50 publications in important scientific journals, and the best hope for changing the plight of chronic pain patients worldwide, as I see it (having worked with this population for 10 years now, in Rotterdam and Amsterdam).

Great, useful stories. Only regret is it doesn’t go abut further with how to turn off the faulty electrical system (for example).

Finally after three decades of trying and failing miserably to treat people living with chronic pain, do I now have a way to "get them." (See chapter on the Hino.) Not only did Lorimer Moseley simplify the neuroscience of pain biology, he entertained me to the point of loud gaffaws that woke my husband dozing in the other room! Thanks for the tears of joy and enlightenment. p.s. G.L. Moseley, Ph.D. is just as funny in-person, if you ever get a chance to hear him speak, take it!

I am a chronic pain victim, my body is mis-firing pain messages so reading this book and the Explain Pain book is rewarding. I'm having trouble accepting that the pain is in my head but I'm getting there.The 'Hino' is a great metaphor, and is a great basis for beginning to understand chronic pain.If you are a chronic pain sufferer then this is a great place to start understanding what's wrong and hopefully begin living with your pain

Unfortunately most of the stories you can get online on pain websites. Very small and thin book but stories are good and readable.. maybe getting slightly dated now though sadly. Louis gifford's Aches and Pains book (s) are better reads but more expensive.

I've used this book on 4 patients whose intractable pain led them to consider suicide as a viable and rational option - it helped them all - it didn't solve all the problems but it gave them the patient and me the Doctor a common frame of discussion and it has truly made a difference. One patient will now come in and say " that ruddy snake bite had me up all night" - and we will laugh!The only downside is that I've not been able to face egg sandwiches since.If the author reads this review - Thank you!

I like the use of comparing pain to other things in life to help you understand pain. I found the book very helpful to back up the theories I have to manage my chronic pain. Another good book, if you suffer from Chronic pain, is explain pain by butler and mostly.

Some great lessons in pain that are easy to understand from the therapists point of view as well as the lay persons point of view. I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from pain and anyone attempting to treat painful conditions.And its funny too, not at all what you might expect from such a potentially difficult subject.