The Pain-Free Mindset: 7 Steps to Taking Control and Overcoming Chronic Pain

I heard Dr Ravindran on a Radio 4 programme whose focus was a young woman he had treated who was in severe chronic pain. I was very impressed with his determined approach and when I looked on the internet I found he had written this book which I bought. The book turned to to be equally impressive and eye-opening. My daughter who is 28 has had chronic pain for 12 years due to Kienbock's Disease and she was keen to find an alternative to medication and surgeries (she has had two surgeries for pain relief, both of which made the pain significantly worse). This book offers a life line with a fresh approach to pain and gives the power back to the patient along with hope which is a wonderful thing. If you have chronic pain you have nothing to lose by reading this book and everything to gain. It is not a quick fix and requires persistence but it is worth the effort. By the way, my daughter subsequently had a consultation with Dr Ravindran and he highlighted 3 strategies for her. She came out feeling uplifted about her future.

My Dr recommended this book to me to help manage my chronic pain, his advice was so spot on & the book has been a game changer. It has given me confidence in understanding my condition & making choices to really help my body recover. The book is well written with lots of case studies to help see theory put into practice. It's not full of Dr talk, or condescending in any way. I'm so very grateful for the recommendation & advice gained from the book. Whilst I'm still not 100% better I am definitely in a healthier positive mindset, which is helping my recovery.

Certainly a book worth reading for anyone like me who has to make do with painkillers to combat long term aches and pain in joints and muscles.

As Medical Director of the Blackberry Clinic Group, I am confronted on a daily basis by patients in chronic musculoskeletal pain. The Pain-Free Mindset written by my colleague, Dr Deepak Ravindran, is the encapsulation of two decades of his experience in the field of chronic pain. It resonates with my experience in the complexities of pain which is a subjective experience, unique to the beholder. As physicians, we try to extract the biopsychosocial features responsible for creating obstacles to recovery. However, the best person to extract this information is the patient themselves. By reading this book, one can appreciate the benefits but also the shortcomings of traditional treatments allowing exploration of the integrated approach enabling each patient to evaluate the importance of each aspect of the pain-free MINDSET. This acronym is for Medication, Interventions, Neuroscience, Drugs, Sleep, Exercise and Therapies for mind and body. One of the overriding characteristics of a patient in chronic pain is that of anxiety as a result of not understanding the reason for their predicament. This can be a factor maintaining the painful experience itself. If Dr Ravindran’s book can alleviate that anxiety by his articulate and concise explanation of the pain experience then this book will be the true first step to recovery. I have already started recommending this book to patients and colleagues.

Great book. Very interesting to read with a good explanation to help you get a different perspective of your pain.

I found this book quite hard going because of medical terminology. I think the ideas behind it are sound but it wasn’t really for me unfortunately

This book presents an unique and novel approach of understanding the complexities of chronic pain management. For decades, pain management has always been about medical interventions, whether that be drugs or surgeries in some shape or form. Dr Ravindran brings his enormous experience in pain management to the fore when he presents his novel approach, an approach which doesn’t leave chronic pain sufferers at the mercy of addictive drugs and surgeries. This is not to say that drugs and invasive interventions don’t have a role to play in chronic pain management, but to emphasise the multi-faceted approach giving patients a wide array of choices and lifestyle measures that would not only make them less dependent on drugs but also help them achieve a life independent of pain. This first title from Dr Ravindran will be an eye opener for chronic pain patients and their treating doctors alike.

We have bought 5 copies of this book and only have 1 at our physio clinic. This is because we keep giving them out to our clients that need it more than us. Each client that has been open to the information given in this book has returned with a decrease in their overall pain. From just reading the book. As they say, 'The proof is in the pudding'. It has a wealth of easily digestible information for both the person who is suffering with long term pain and the medical professional. Would recommend to anyone in the medical field or those suffering with chronic pain to get, read and reread.

Life changing. The advice itself is what we have heard time and time again- eat healthy, exercise, sleep, manage stress, etc. But the life changing part is understanding the “why”. I have a whole new respect for why I should do these things, and a whole new understanding on the underlying contributors to my chronic pain. I feel very hopeful reading this book and am grateful to the author.

I am a retired addictions counselor, who happens to have both osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. In addition, my spouse is on disability, initially for ulner nerve pain, which has now spread to many sites in his body. Neither my husband or I choose to take opioids of any kind. Both of us need to take as few NSAIDS as possible, for other health concerns. I have worked with many, many other pain sufferers in my professional life, and in my recovery. This is the best patient-oriented book on pain I have read, written by a leading pain specialist for the National Health Service in England. Yes, some of the information is gathered from elsewhere, but some of the research information is very cutting edge. I know that, because I read several hours worth of medical journals a week, searching for clues on how to manage my fibromyalgia. I'd also like to keep my spouse from wanting to die from pain. The charts in the book are very clear and would help anyone with decisions over surgery and other interventions, meds to take and not take, alternative adjunct therapies to seek out or not. So much information here, clearly presented, and realistic. The only thing I don't like about this book is the title--it gives the false impression that this is just one more book saying you can overcome all pain with positive thinking or other mental gambits. That's not the approach this author recommends, not at all. Read the book in spite of its title, and buy another copy for your doctor. Something in here will be helpful, I assure you.

Dr Ravindran's thorough and thoughtful approach to pain is brought together in this book in a practical way that will help any person in pain to apply the latest practices themselves. As a pain management practitioner myself, I have referred back to it several times and recommended it to my own patients. I look forward to future offerings from this caring and skillful specialist!

OK so far.