‘The Way Out’ by Alan Gordon (Book Review)

‘The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach To Healing Chronic Pain’ by Alan Gordon with Alan Ziv is a book for those who suffer from chronic pain. In this book, Alan Gordon explains how the brain processes pain and how to break the pain-fear cycle.

We learn about Alan’s chronic pain history and how he began this journey to learn more about the fear-pain cycle. With stories of other people’s experiences and how they managed their pain, it’s easy to relate to. Alan lays out simply what is going on in your brain and body when the pain hits. Not only does he give actionable steps to managing chronic pain, he shows you that you are not alone in this.

What I found fascinating was how the brain is interpreting the pain. It made me realize that with pain, there is a lot of fear that is playing a part in the experiences. With his book, I could acknowledge that my chronic pain is very fear-based.

It's a fear-pain cycle that keeps on feeding into each other. After reading Alan's book, I was able to learn how to recognize the thinking that I was doing that caused the fear-pain cycle to occur. If you have felt helpless with chronic pain, this author shows you to hold on to hope. There is a way out.

What I enjoy about this book is that Alan Gordon does not use fancy scientific terminology to explain what is going on in your brain and your body. He introduces the concept of neuroplasticity, but that is relatable and understandable. He goes into very simply explains the mind-body connection to fighting back agains chronic pain.

One of the biggest takeaways from the book is how to embrace a different perspective on chronic pain.

Alan explains his way of managing chronic pain as a process. With a clever nod to the Wizard of Oz, the book includes many “Aha” moments of understanding. Alan Gordon introduces concepts through movies and everyday situations.

Overall, it has been refreshing to read a book that takes on a significant problem like chronic pain and makes it less scary.

I have suffered from chronic back pain for over 15 years, and I have read many books. This is the first book that gave me hope. No longer did I feel alone and helpless. With understanding what was going on in my body and brain, it took away the control that fear had over me.

Alan Gordan teaches "Somatic Tracking," which is taping into your pain safely. Allow the sensations to be experienced, get curious about your feelings, and then pull back. It's a fascinating idea that you should read about if you are looking for holistic ways to approach your chronic pain.

This book is worth checking out. Alan Gordon’s holistic approach gives you back the power and independency you feel like you have lost.

Alan does address the Opiod crisis and how doctor's over prescribe drugs. There does need to be more people like Alan Gordan to show doctors that there is away without drugs to help people with Chronic Pain.

‘The Way Out: A Revolutionary Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain’ is a refreshing way to take on managing chronic pain. It is an easy, fast read. If you enjoy listening to books, it is also on Audible, where Alan is the narrator. That is how I first read the book and got it on Kindle for note-taking.

The title lives up to what he is saying: there is a way out with chronic pain.

This was originally posted on Medium.