It Doesn't Have to Hurt: Your Smart Guide to a Pain-Free Life

Transform your everyday life by reducing and eliminating chronic pain with the latest science-backed pain relief techniques and expert practical advice from America's bestselling doctor and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta.

Are you one of the 52 million people who experience chronic pain in your day-to-day life? In It Doesn't Have to Hurt, Sanjay Gupta makes the empowering argument that there are effective options for relief that you can start practicing today to greatly reduce your chances of suffering pain tomorrow.

The significance of reducing and even eliminating pain cannot be overstated. Gupta shows how pain carries an enormous amount of physical, social, and emotional baggage, which is, in part, why it has been so hard to treat, and too often ignored. It can also present in infinite ways. Yet both patients and practitioners labor under the mistaken idea that most pain problems can be fixed with a drug or procedure. It turns out we have tremendous agency in choosing how we'll respond. The brain "creates" pain, but it also has the capacity to reduce or even eliminate it. There is more evidence than ever about the benefits of sleep, diet and nutrition, mindfulness-based pain management (MBPM), myofascial and other hands-on treatments, as well as yoga, specialized psychotherapies, and even social "prescriptions"--prompting more doctors than ever to focus on these solutions.

Gupta runs the gamut of conventional and complementary approaches, including the technique known as Mobilization Exercise Analgesia Treatment, foam rolling, acupuncture, trigger point injections, and vital "prehabilitation" before any operation. He shares how to make sense of all those over-the-counter pills, patches, and pain products, as well as drugs advertised on television or prescribed by your doctors. He covers psychedelics, supplements, and CBD. And he highlights insights from some of the nation's leading pain scientists and specialists, plus stories of challenge and triumph over pain by those with lived experience.

Gupta sorts through them all with his pain-smart guide to a pain-smart life.

With expert guidance and a wealth of science-backed strategies, It Doesn't Have to Hurt is your ultimate resource for reclaiming your life from chronic pain and unlocking a future of lasting relief--starting today.

Author: Sanjay Gupta
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 09/02/2025
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.21lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.91d
ISBN: 9781668014479

About the Author
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is CNN's Emmy Award-winning chief medical correspondent and the host of the acclaimed podcast Chasing Life (formerly Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction), America's go-to resource for expert advice on how to stay healthy and safe. The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings, and Keep Sharp, Dr. Gupta lives in Atlanta, where he works as an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine.