Why We Hurt The Natural History Of Pain Summary

Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain is written by neurosurgeon, Dr. Frank Vertosick, who transforms the vast subject of pain into an exciting and enlightening discussion that is highly engaging. Dr. Vertosick examines many types of pain including migraines, phantom limb pain, tic douloureux, ruptured discs, rheumatoid arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, angina pains, and cancer. Each chapter presents a clinical case, the different ways in which cultures viewed the disorder and the biology related to the disorder. The clinical cases of each patient give a personal touch and depicts just how these disorders can affect patients not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Dr. Vertosick introduces his response to pain by challenging C.S. Lewis’ statements involving the inseparability of religion and pain and how God intended for the pain of individuals as to create a way in which he was worshiped and looked upon to end suffering. Despite this extreme ideology and consideration for pain being biological in nature, religion cannot be entirely expunged as it was the basis of both the cause and treatment of pain centuries ago. The natural history of pain cannot be completely truthful without all accounts of pain management throughout time. …show more content…
This can be seen within the statement “In the simplest sense, pain protects us from bodily harm. Dangerous things are hurtful things, and pain pushes us if we take excessive risks or push our bodies past their physical limits.” With this information, Dr. Vertosick assigns rationale to each type of pain discussed in each chapter. For example, pain provides an advantage regarding survival within our species. However, this ideology cannot be seen in all cases, as it cannot be applied to situations such as childbirth and menstrual