ABSTRACT
These ancient treatments for pain invasive therapies, drug therapies, non-invasive therapies and systematic palliative care all remain as methods of addressing pain in human civilizations in our time. Moreover, it has led patients to avoid pain reducing therapies: a study of breast cancer patients showed that the second most prevalent reason for not pursuing the pain relief of opioids was patients fear of addiction. Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique for relieving pain, curing disease, and promoting general health. This chapter has surveyed areas and specifics of the treatment of pain with the aim, in large part, to demonstrate that the strategies of care also help us understand the nature of pain altogether, its combination of physiological-sensory events and psychological-perceptual experiences. The range of treatments examined here from surgery to hospice care demonstrates this constant combination, even as the emphasis of focus changes from the physiological facts of pain to its perceptual experience.
