The Painful Truth

The new science of why we hurt and how we can heal

Monty Lyman

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A medical and philosophical journey through the experience of pain, used as a prism to marvel at biology and psychology and what it means to be human.

What causes the placebo effect? What is phantom limb pain? Why do we experience pain, even after we've healed?

We're currently experiencing a Renaissance in pain science. In recent years our understanding of pain has altered so radically it's fair to say that everything we thought we knew about pain is wrong. As Dr Monty Lyman reveals, we misunderstand pain - with harmful consequences. Exploring cutting-edge research and encompassing phantom aches to persistent pain, and interviews with survivors of torture as well as those who have never felt pain, Dr Lyman not only provides hope for reducing and managing pain but takes us to a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. This is the untold story of pain - our most elusive feeling.

Published: 1 July 2021
ISBN: 9781473555341
Imprint: Transworld Digital
Format: EBook
Pages: 304

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About the author

Monty Lyman

Dr Monty Lyman travelled the globe to research The Remarkable Life of the Skin, including Africa, South Asia and Australasia. He studied at the universities of Oxford, Birmingham and Imperial College London. He has worked in a world-leading dermatology laboratory, been the national head of undergraduate and junior doctor dermatology in the UK, has won several national prizes in dermatology and medical writing and has given many talks at national conferences. In 2017 he won the Wilfred Thesiger Travel Writing Award for his report on a dermatological research trip to Tanzania.He lives in Oxford, England.

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Praise for The Painful Truth

Monty Lyman is a superb storyteller... I loved this book so much.
Rachel Clarke, bestselling author of DEAR LIFE

A remarkable book that explores the boundaries and the meaning of pain - and how conventional understanding and treatment are failing us.
Sunday Times

An accessible and well-written book... [Dr Lyman] takes us into the world of pain: its weirdness, its growing pervasiveness and how it's been misunderstood for centuries.
Mail on Sunday