The Everyday Pain Guide: Your go-to Guide When Pain First Strikes is a very large and informative book with the aim of providing advice and support for those times when you can't be seen straight away by a medical professional.
The book offers action plans that are easy to follow and offers support and guidance to recognise the need to access it as soon as pain strikes.
Written by an evidence based chiropractic physician, it explores and guides the user through different types of pain and offers steps to help get you back mobile and back into a stage of healing.
There is a lot of information in this book, and not all may be relevant to everyone, but it does seem easy to navigate to areas you need when you need them.

My thanks to NetGalley and Return to Health Press for an advance copy to read and review.

I doubt many people read health information for fun; usually readers are looking for help for themselves or loved ones. I’ve read plenty for both reasons. What I look for, first, is the author’s credentials. Tik-tok fame is all fine but I want to have confidence that the writer knows something (actually, a lot) about the subject and can demonstrate evidence of real scientific support for their advice, and not just number of likes. I also look for clarity in presentation. Are the facts explained so that anyone outside of the health professions can understand without rereading several times? And, finally, are the therapeutic suggestions made actually do-able for most ´ordinary’ people or do they require large investments in expensive supplements, pharmaceuticals, equipment, and time?

I was very pleased to see that this book checks all the boxes. This is the second volume in a three part series on pain management, all written by Liou who is a certified chiropractor. She is both an acknowledged expert in the pain management field and consequently a careful observer of innumerable instances of pain, how it affects the body and mind and consequently the lives of sufferers on every level. Pain management, she acknowledges, is not a one size fits all’ approach because pain itself is not experienced in the same way by everyone. It’s obviously impossible to list every type of pain and suggest tenable treatments, but she does a commendable job of classifying the causes and symptoms of those that are (sadly) familiar to most.

Liou’s tone is thoughtful and compassionate. She writes in a manner that, while information-packed, nonetheless avoids jargon and any hint of a supercilious ‘I’m the expert here’ tone. Numbers and instructional lists convey what readers need to know, and are readable and helpful. Cartoons by illustrator Sandy Johnson, deliver often complex scientific material in easily accessible, even humorous, ways. The section on ´body mechanics’ employs photos of real people as they go through healing exercises, which are each discussed in terms of position, action and focus. I’m sure, given how this volume impressed me, that it’s worthwhile to have read, or to now read, her preceding book, but this one does stand on its own effectively.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of Fix the Fire Damage and for the opportunity to review.

Thanks to NetGalley and author Liou for this free copy of "Fix the Fire Damage: The Everyday Pain Guide."

With a subtitle "your go-go guide when pain first strikes," I definitely wanted to read this and found it incredibly helpful in so many ways. As someone with osteoarthitis and small fiber neuropathy and many visits to physical therapists, this book gave me tons of practical, easy-to-visualize and easy-to-remember steps to take when pain starts.

I took notes while reading, so I'm going to just share some of those with you:

- Early intervention to start the pain healing process
- Use of easy-to-understand and visual analogies such as the house and the control system
- Don't push through pain without understanding it as the pain signals in the Central Nervous System can become confused
- Teaches us how to resume activities carefully to start healing
- LOVE the pictures of the stretching exercises!
- LOVE the bullets with the exercises!
- LOVE the If/Then scenarios for pain!
- Tips for how to use resistance bands and anchor in a doorway!
- Position, Action, and Focus for each exercise!
- LOVE Focus tips as I'm not always sure what I should be trying to do during a stretching movement
- LOVE that Body Chemistry Release actions are customizable and easy to personalize and implement
- LOVE the potty training routine!
- LOVE the Stress and Fear postures!

This is one of the best reference guides for stretching that I've seen and will be one of my go-to resources for managing pain when it strikes!

This is a fantastic tome that categorizes and breaks down different types of pains and ways to help alleviate them. This book is incredibly helpful, don't let its massive size dissuade you from reading it. There is something for everyone within its pages.

“Fix the Fire Damage” by Ya-Ling J. Liou is a beautifully written and deeply introspective book that left a lasting impression on me. It’s the kind of story that quietly unravels layers of pain, healing, and resilience in a way that feels both raw and poetic.

Liou’s voice is tender yet powerful, and her observations about trauma, identity, and rebuilding are incredibly relatable. This wasn’t a fast-paced read, and it wasn’t meant to be, but the emotional depth kept me engaged from start to finish. It felt personal, thoughtful, and incredibly grounded.

The only reason this isn’t a full five stars is that I wanted just a little more closure at the end. Still, I absolutely recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this moving ARC.

This guide was so informative and helpful! I tend to panic at the first signs of pain or something going wrong and the book gave me some peace about a lot of the things in my life. It has helpful tidbits they I will use in the future. Very well done!!

This is a very long book, 600 pages, but I do not think it needs to be read cover to cover to be useful. I think there were sections that focused on different areas of pain and strategies to combat that. Those areas can be dipped into and/or revisited as they are relevant. For example I have neck and shoulder pain so that section resonated more with me than the part about hip pain. However, I would keep these as a resource to revisit if needed.

The discussion about inflammation and the many different triggers and action plans to eliminate those triggers was very informative. These triggers include food as well as fragrances and other environmental triggers.

Though I think the book is good I do wish it maybe was less wordy. Sometimes that can detract people from reading and the very useful information is lost. So less words and more pictures with color would have made this more accessible to the average reader who needs the info.

Liou's focus on the critical early stages of pain management could genuinely prevent minor issues from becoming chronic problems. The comprehensive visual approach with over 100 illustrations suggests this is more reference manual than inspirational read, which could be exactly what readers need during pain crises.

I'm at somewhat of a loss as to how to review this accurately. Understandably, based on a book of 600 plus pages, I can't supply detailed strategies like it does. So, I'll settle for saying that while admittedly I didn't read each and every section, I found the basic foundation of the book well done. As the author notes, pain has been a part of their own life, so their involvement in ways to alleviate it are personal. Personal stories of others are also shared, reminding those suffering that you aren't alone.

While I won't share details, I will note a few of the things I particularly liked about the book. I liked that the author seemed a real person, not a reserved, distant voice who neither understands nor has the time to help you sort out a solution. There are photos illustrating suggested strategies, something that reminded me of the handouts I received when doing physical therapy for a bad arm break. There are also cartoon-like graphics used to help illustrate points, frequently with some humor. One real plus is the inclusion of how to retrain your muscles and body, not just solve the problem and go on with life as if it never happened. More, much more, of course, but didn't drift into difficult to follow strategies, either.

Bottom line, although a lot to take in, for those suffering pain, this might be a helpful tool. As the author notes, the key is to take action soon rather than later. The longer you wait, the more likelihood of chronic pain developing, in other words. While I'm not sure I've done this book justice, thanks to #ReturnToHealthPress - #IBPA for this early share of a book that may prove invaluable to many.