Stabbed in the Back: Confronting Back Pain in an Overtreated Society - Hardcover

M.D., Nortin M. Hadler

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807833487 ISBN 13: 9780807833483

Publisher: University North Carolina Pr, 2009

Synopsis

This title presents the story of a common and contrived disease. Nortin Hadler knows backaches. For more than three decades as a physician and medical researcher, he has studied the experience of low back pain in people who are otherwise healthy. Dr. Hadler terms the low back pain that everyone suffers at one time or another 'regional back pain'. In this book, he addresses the history and treatment of the ailment with the healthy skepticism that has become his trademark, taking the 'Hadlerian' approach to backaches and the backache treatment industry in order to separate the helpful from the hype. Basing his critique on an analysis of the most current medical literature as well as his clinical experience, Dr. Hadler argues that regional back pain is overly medicalized by doctors, surgeons, and alternative therapists who purvey various treatment regimens. Furthermore, he observes, the design of workers' compensation, disability insurance, and other 'health' schemes actually thwarts getting well. For the past half century, says Dr. Hadler, back pain and back pain - related disability have exacted a huge toll, in terms of pain, suffering, and financial cost. ""Stabbed in the Back"" addresses this issue at multiple levels: as a human predicament, a profound social problem, a medical question, and a vexing public-policy challenge. Ultimately, Dr. Hadler's insights illustrate how the state of the science can and should inform the art and practice of medicine as well as public policy. ""Stabbed in the Back"" will arm any reader with the insights necessary to make informed decisions when confronting the next episode of low back pain.

About this title

About the Author

Nortin M. Hadler, M.D., M.A.C.P., M.A.C.R., F.A.C.O.E.M., is professor of medicine and microbiology/immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attending rheumatologist at UNC Hospitals. He is author of several books, including Stabbed in the Back: Confronting Back Pain in an Overtreated Society and Rethinking Aging: Growing Old and Living Well in an Overtreated Society.

From the Inside Flap

For more than three decades as a physician and medical researcher, Nortin Hadler has studied the experience of low back pain in people who are otherwise healthy. With the healthy skepticism that has become his trademark, he takes the "Hadlerian" approach to backaches and the backache treatment industry, arguing that regional back pain is overly medicalized by doctors, surgeons, and alternative therapists and that the design of workers' compensation, disability insurance, and other "health" schemes actually thwarts getting well.

Edition details

• Publisher: University North Carolina Pr
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807833487
• ISBN 13: 9780807833483
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224