Injuries Books

This book presents a rather slanted view of mild head impact, and presupposes many things as fact that are not supported by the scientific literature. This is particularly borne out by the chapter on scientific issues that firmly refutes the unusual thinking presented in the other chapters.

This work covers mild TBI as though it were real (which it probably is) in an informative and clinically hepful manner. The 23 chapters cover a very wide range of topics and are consistently excellent (if occasioally quirky). There is nothing else available at all on this topic, so it is easy to say it is the best. It is excellent in design and content.

The reader may be taken by surprise that so many of the chapter authors are "elite" clinical neuropsychologists who have not previously been known to "believe in" mild TBI. They offer a wealth of information, questions and referencs. The text in most chapters is refreshingly free of test bound restrictions on inference or the usual lame rationales for discarding all mild TBI because the majority are OK. The book is a must for working clinicians in neuropsychology, neurology and psychiatry.

Conrad Williams' stories have been slowly making their mark for the past ten years. In Head Injuries is the synthesis of much of the urban paranoia and isolation that pervades his work. He marries blistering prose with moments of genuine terror and an intelligent, understated feeling for character. Reading this was like seeing a film. Subtle, ambiguous and a fine debut for someone who was not yet 30 when it was published, Head Injuries is the first book of many. Well, I hope so anyway.

I normally love reading this kind of novel, but this is the first time I have been seriously let down by the genre. A flimsy excuse for a plot and two-dimensional characterisation is desperately inflated by the half-witted, overbaked prose. Nothing happens! Barely thick enough to prop up a wonky table leg, it wasn't even useful in this area -- although some may find it effective as a seditive -- or an emetic. Dull.

I loved this! What a beautifully written book. I haven't read anything by Conrad Williams before but I will seek out his work from now on. The novel deals with a lurid sexual triangle that is shattered by the arrival of a mysterious woman who leads the main characters on a crippling voyage of discovery. Head Injuries is nightmarish, funny (occasionally!), heartbreaking and thrilling. Why can't every book be like this?

This book does not discuss hamstring or quadricep injuries. These two muscle groups are by the far two of the most important for runners. Because of this I do not recommend this book!

I've went through about 4 books looking for help with my own running injuries, and this one was BY FAR the best. More information, catagorized wonderfully, and very easy to comprehend and apply to yourself. Even though this book has more info in it than injury-related, at least half of the book is based on injury, and I can't recommend THIS section of the book highly enough. A real winner.

This is an excellent reference.

The chapter on preventing injuries is alone worth the price of the book. The authors clearly explain muscle imbalance and its possible effects on runners. There's even a self-test for muscle imbalance and techniques for establishing proper balance.

Many ex-runners probably would have kept it up, if they had read this book. It helps you diagnose and manage injuries yourself and point you to a doctor when you really need one.

I've shown this to several runners, who immediately want their own copy.

I will keep this short. This book had a lot of what I call the "duh" factor. Keep your kids away from sharp objects, and away from hot stoves etc. Things I already had thought of. I had hoped that this book would give me insight on things I had never thought of and new ways to prevent anything from happening to my baby. Luckily I bought it used. Not really worth the $6 I paid for it. If you are completely clueless on how to be careful with your children, then this book is for you. Otherwise, if you have any common sense you don't need it.

After reading this book, I was impressed with the amount of useful information that is included on preventing childhood traumatic injuries. Not only are there personal stories from families (including some who are famous) around the U.S., but there are also practical injury prevention tips from medical experts and appendices that direct the reader to even more resources. It is clear to me that the focus of It Only Takes a Second is to educate the public about protecting our most valuable resource - our children. I applaud the individuals who had the courage to share their personal, and often tragic, stories with us so that we may be better informed. If you have already bought this book for yourself, consider giving one to a friend or relative. It is a must for everyone with children.

At first when I received this book at my baby shower I thought it was an odd choice. After reading it I was so glad I did! It's loaded with useful information that was especially welcome to me, a first time mom. People always say too bad babies don't come with instructions--that may be true, but here are some helpful tips on how to keep them safe! I highly recommend this book if you are a parent or about to be one soon.

Reviewer: robert dorroh (see more about me) from Sonora, CA United States The reader will be distracted by poor writing that includes awkward sentences, punctuation, rash of italics and exclamation points, and an overdose of sentimentality. Williams is a good soul who needs a better editor. Still, she deserves two stars for sincerity and a good effort.

We really like this book! The author, Margie Williams, suffered a severe spinal cord injury at the age of 53, just when she was making plans for the rest of her life. She presents a close-up view of what life is like during and after such an incident, including her experience with institutional medicine and insurance companies (for better and for worse), and her determined -- and ultimately successful -- effort to rehabilitate herself and reconstruct her life. Journey To Well is well-written, funny in some parts and heart-rending in others, but completely absorbing throughout. The comprehensive Resource Guide included in the Appendix is itself well worth the price of the book for those dealing with spinal cord injuries as patients or as caregivers.

Everyone's experience with spinal cord injury is different, and this is indeed a subjective view. But the manner in which Margie Williams responded to and grew from her experiences has applications for everyone. We would therefore enthusiastically recommend Journey To Well not only to those who have experienced spinal cord injury, but also to those who have not. The world of those who must live the rest of their lives on wheels is quite different than the "two-legged" world. The more we understand the similarities as well as the differences between the two, the better we will be as individuals and as a caring society.

I am an Occupational Therapist who works with persons with spinal cord injuries. I found this book to be very helpful in describing what it's like to have a SCI from the victim's point of view. Her story doesn't put on a glossy finish, and that's good, because it isn't a fun experience. I have given it to students to read to gain a better perspective on the impact of a SCI on an individual and the family. I would recommend this book if you want to read an account of one person's struggle through hospitalization, rehab and life at home.

There is some of the craftiest writing I have ever read in this book. Sears' editing is perfect, the jumps from reality to psychic episodes are bizarre. It's hard to explain here, but think of writing in 3-D. It's so much more than words on a page. Sears writes with the gritty cop novels, but also conveys a much deeper level. There are threads that run through the book and when you are finished, they weave a beautiful pattern. This sounds like fan rambling, but when you read it you will understand. Once you see the ending, which is a bit predictable, but the way Sears handles it is great so you overlook that, you'll see what I mean. This could easily convert to a movie, but why? The book paints the picture, conveys the meaning between reality and mind perfectly. A must read for all.

Although somewhat different in genre from his first book, this thriller from Richard Sears is a cracker from page 1 to the last. I could not stop turning the pages and the ending took me totally by surprise. It has some of the best writing in any thriller I have ever read, and is well thought out with amazing twists and pace that doesn't let up. This book deserves to go to the number one spot on the bestsellers list.

Worst Sci fi thriller . what a rip-off idea . This one is headed straight for the round file . really a disappointment compared to last effort.

This book (2nd edition) is quite comprehensive and largely covers all issues relating to its title. Personally I found the book very informative and a great guide to the field it is intended to cover. Anyone wanting to learn more about the field of studies it addresses should most definitely have read this book. Clearly the author/s are well versed with the subject matter, as is evident from the interrelated subject matter diversity of the book. Surprisingly, considering the volume, the manner in which it is compiled and written makes for somewhat easy reading.

The New England Journal of Medicine wrote a review of the first edition of this book. Here are a few quotes: "Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries is an ambitious book with multiple objectives aimed at multiple audiences with various levels of background knowledge."

"The author has developed a thoughtful, practical guide for physicians in private practice for ranking the severity of neck and back injuries. He describes a fairly detailed physical examination for head injuries and provides a comprehensive discussion of multiple syndromes after trauma to various parts of the body."

This book is a second edition and about twice the size of the first. It is well researched and authored by a dozen or so health care providers and other experts. Provides useful information to use in the clinical and legal settings.

This book is a good summary of the available literature for biomechanics accident reconstruction. Where the reviewed literature is often used by defense experts, the author takes personal criticism at the defense experts for using this literature in assessing injury potential. This is done quite often to a point where it is rediculous and quite defamatory. It is obvious from this book that the author has aligned himself with the plaintiff side of low speed collision analysis. I would not recommend this book if your looking for literature on this matter which is impartial.

My four-year old daughter loves this book. The illustrations are darling and the simple text appeals to her. She "got" the point of it being about the fear of waiting for the doctor and the pleasantness of being fixed even though the book does not make these points explicitly. I like that the barebones story allows her to embellish. A lovely little book.

As a psychologist providing group therapy for 4-6 year old children I am often looking for books to teach social skills. I was very disatisfied with "Next Please" because it lacked a discussion of how the toys had to wait for the doctor or the importance of patience. The pictures were nice, but each page had the same style of sentence repeating until the end. Even the end did not comment on how great it was that this toy had waited. Unless you want to make the story up as you look at the pictures, this book is definitely not worth the money.

Next Please is one of my favorite recent children's books. A group of broken toys anxiously await going into the doctor's office to be fixed. The toys sit outside the doctor's office lined up one by one in chairs. As the door opens the toys go in one at a time. Each toy comes out a few minutes later happy and as good as new. This is a wonderful story if you have a little one at home waiting for his or her first visit to the doctor. The illustrations are a marvel to behold.

Preston McClear, author The Boy Under the Bed

Don't bother spending your money. I also met the doctor who wrote this book and he was FAR from anything he sounded like in the book.

In No More Knee Pain, women receive an excellent basic guide to natural prevention and relief of knee pain with a 12-week program geared to understanding the anatomy of the knee, common problems of the knee in women, and what takes a toll on the joints. From eating appropriately for knee health and using nutritional supplements to considering body mechanics, posture correction and preventative knee exercises, osteopathic physician George Kessler covers all the bases.

This book was recommended to me by someone who followed the suggestions for 6 weeks and voila no more knee pain! This book has opened my eyes to a lot of causes behind my knee pain.

The outmoded management of occupational musculoskeletal disorders robs millions of workers of their productivity, their dignity, and their sense of well-being. It engulfs the medical system with desperate patients. It fills disability rolls and tears at the fabric of our economy and social safety net.
The new edition of Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders (3rd edition, 2004) is perhaps the best book ever written on this topic. It describes a scientific revolution in thinking about back pain, arm pain, knee problems, fibromyalgia, and the suffering that accompanies them.
For the physician, this is a hands-on guide to the intricacies of occupational musculoskeletal illnesses-their natural history, their diagnosis and management, and their regulatory and legal implications. For the ailing worker, it is an essential roadmap to coping with these illnesses and to navigating the medical and disability systems
Author Nortin M. Hadler, MD, was recently described in JAMA-the official journal of the American Medical Association-as a "philosopher and consummate physician." He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the scientific evidence and the courage to challenge the thinking that has created the current crisis.
This book is full of new evidence, elegant thought, and writing to match. Read this book. And then, as Hadler suggests, spread the word.

Mark Schoene
Editor, the BackLetter


p.s. Readers may be also be interested in Hadler's other recent book The Last Well Person: How to Stay Well Despite the Healthcare System. It is a guide to preserving a sense of health and well-being in a medical culture that would turn all of us into "ticking disease time bombs." The Last Well Person provides a valuable counterpoint to Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders.

Dr. Hadler has written here a book that is turgid, but not so much with content. Rather, the book is a reliquary for 50 cent words and abstruse sentence structure. Although I purchased the book to augment my diagnosis and treatment of work-related musculoskeletal disease (MSD), I ended up reading passages to challenge my fellow workers to decipher.

Here's an example:
"Seduced by the promise of dramatic diagnosis, of unbridled interventions for cure, and the largesse of wage replacement or more, the American worker has been urged on by surgeons, lawyers, and common practice to confront the contest of causation with escalating vigor." -- page 231

and:

"Medicine has been remiss in focusing on that portion of the experience of morbidity that operates within and under medical purview." -- page 19

In addition, Dr. Hadler seems obsessed with the use of the words "predicament" and "ubiquitous".

Beyond the prose, I have a problem with the book's presentation of subject matter. Rather than a authoritative textbook format with citations, Dr. Hadler meanders through conjecture, anecdotes and fact, citing supporting studies from time to time. Sometimes, the paragraphs tighten into textbook format statements. But, given the brief nature of the discussion, it appears that these paragraphs are written in haste. These paragraphs lack essential physical diagnosis and treatment details.

In summary, this book lacks the crucial information that physicians need to develop good practice skills. Instead, it is filled with flowery conversation written in a Jane Austin-style circumlocution. Unless you are a very un-busy physician, you won't enjoy this book.

Few problems that patients have are more contentious and confusing than the occupational musculoskeletal disorders. As Dr. Hadler documents, conditions like persistent low back pain, neck pain, and arm pain have not yielded to simple mechanical explaniations nor to simple mechanical cures. This book is about why that is. In his passionate, lively, inimitable way, Dr. Hadler examines the physiology, the social psychology, and even the policies that influence these disorders. In the process, he has written a medical textbook unlike any other you will come across. It is part practical guide to the care of the patient with regional musculoskeletal symptoms, part history text, and part polemic. And it could change the way we all think about these common and troubling conditions.