’m proud to say that the magazine you hold in your hands is the first issue of the new and improved Pain Resource (formerly Pain Solutions). When I joined Kimberly Brock, Pain Resource’s president and founder, in February 2009 to start work on what
would become our Fall 2009 issue, I knew that we had a steep mountain to climb. For start- ers, the economy definitely wasn’t a favorable one for launching a new magazine. But with a team that includes our supremely talented art director, James Lung, and two skilled and devoted managing editors, Lisa Davis and Rachel Dowd, as well as writers, photographers, illustrators, interns and a researcher and copyeditor—all of whom believed in this magazine from the start—we have managed to grow and improve. This is an important milestone for us, but we also know that like each of you, who deal
with daily challenges, the climb isn’t over. It’s just getting started, in fact. We have big plans for Pain Resource, including a new website with exclusive content and tools for our readers; e-books on pain conditions; and more issues of Pain Resource each year, including special- topic issues. And online editors Lisa Davis and Mary Beth Sammons are continuing to grow our community at painresource.com (if you haven’t joined yet, be sure to stop by). We’re excited for the future of Pain Resource and all it will do to help those who live with
chronic and acute pain, but we can’t go higher without your help: Tell us what you would like to see in the pages of Pain Resource, or on our website. What would help you live life to the fullest? How can we help you achieve better health? We’re all ears! For now, I hope you’ll spend some time with this issue, in which Amy Brayfield shares a
five-point plan for living better with arthritis, and Jackie Stenson investigates the troubling question of why so many Americans aren’t getting adequate treatment for their pain. Best- selling author Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., offers delicious ways to eat to counteract inflam- mation, the root cause of many chronic conditions, and Stacey Colino has help for breaking the pain-depression cycle. If you’re looking for a little more peace, check out Cary Barbor’s story on the benefits of spirituality and how it can help with your pain management. And if you’re looking for encouragement, our cover features Kristen Milligan, our founder
Kimberly Brock’s twin sister who was diagnosed with a rare liver cancer in 2003 and was given six months to live. Milligan beat those odds and became the inspiration for creating Pain Resource. “Watching my twin sister in pain was made worse when I couldn’t find any informa- tion to assist me in helping her,” says Brock. “When I learned that there was new pain research available, and people didn’t have to go without this information, I couldn’t walk away from an opportunity that I knew could substantially change the lives of those who live with acute and chronic pain.”