Why We Hurt: The Definitive (400+ Page) Manual for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain
Most chronic pain advice is either (1) overly simplistic, (2) weirdly vague, or (3) a 12-step plan that collapses the second real life shows up…
Why We Hurt and How We Heal is none of that.
Written by Dr. Gregory Fors—a board-certified chiropractic neurologist and clinic owner at the Pain and Brain Healing Center—this is a 400+ page, research-driven, clinically-grounded, “keep-it-on-your-desk” manual for understanding fibromyalgia and chronic pain from the inside out.
It was commissioned by Llewellyn Worldwide (a major publisher)… and it went on to earn something almost unheard of in this category: a prestigious Publishers Weekly “Starred Review”—a distinction reserved for exceptional works… and one received by only a select few Llewellyn authors, including Dr. Fors.
“This compassionate investigation into the multiple factors leading to pain disorders and the conditions associated with them should be required reading for health-care providers, patients with chronic pain and their families.”
— Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
That’s not polite praise. That’s a professional publication basically saying: put this on the “required reading” shelf.
This isn’t “another pain book.” It’s expert authority in print: the kind of guide you buy once… then reference for years.
A Father’s Quest (and the Moment Everything Changed)
Dr. Fors’ authority isn’t just academic—it’s lived. He’s a doctor who had fibromyalgia himself. He knows the brain fog, the unrefreshing sleep, the deep fatigue, the “why does everything hurt?” mystery that doesn’t show up on scans…
But the real turning point wasn’t his own suffering.
It was his daughter.
As a teenager, she became so disabled by fibromyalgia that she had to crawl up the stairs in their home. And if you’re a parent reading that, you already understand the kind of helpless rage that lights in your chest when your kid is hurting and the system shrugs.
That’s where Why We Hurt was born: a father’s quest that turned into a clinical mission.
Dr. Fors went all-in—advanced neurology training, deeper research, and years of hands-on work with chronic pain cases—with one goal: figure out why the body stays stuck in pain… and how to help it get unstuck.
This book is the result of that pursuit… and the outcomes we’ve seen with patients at the Pain and Brain Healing Center.
Expert Authority: Why This Book Hits Different
Dr. Fors doesn’t approach pain like a game of symptom whack-a-mole. As a board-certified chiropractic neurologist, he looks at chronic pain through the lens that actually runs the whole show: the nervous system (plus the metabolic, immune, and inflammatory inputs that keep it fired up).
In Why We Hurt, he lays out—plainly—why standard pain approaches often stall out: they’re aimed at the hurt while ignoring the why.
The framework is rooted in the principles of Functional Medicine: treating the body as a connected system, not a collection of unrelated parts…
So instead of “Where does it hurt?” the better questions become:
- Is the brain stuck in a neuroinflammatory loop?
- Is blood sugar instability turning the volume up on pain?
- Are nutrient deficiencies limiting nerve repair?
- Are toxins, allergens, or gut issues constantly provoking the immune system?
That’s the kind of thinking that turns a pain story into a recovery plan.
The Triangle of Healing: Your “Do This Next” Roadmap (Not Just Theory)
Why We Hurt doesn’t pretend chronic pain has one cause. It lays out the common “drivers” and shows you how they stack… then gives you a practical method Dr. Fors calls the Triangle of Healing:
- Physical Solutions: Step-by-step, self-administered work for myofascial trigger points (yes—actual diagrams and “here’s how” instructions) so you can address muscle knots and referred pain at home.
- Nutritional Foundations: Supplement and healthy diet strategies designed specifically to calm neuroinflammation and support nerve chemistry.
- Detoxification and Environment: A straightforward way to spot environmental triggers—food, air, water, and common household/personal-care exposures—that can keep the immune system provoked and the pain dial stuck on high.
Bottom line: it’s built like a manual, not a motivational poster. You’ll learn how to identify your biggest pain triggers (dietary, lifestyle, stress-related, biochemical)… and what to do about them.
Why This Book Stands Out (and Why It Earned a Publishers Weekly Starred Review)
A lot of health books try to win you over with a tidy plan and a catchy promise. That’s not how Why We Hurt operates…
It’s comprehensive on purpose—because fibromyalgia and chronic pain are complex on purpose.
The Publishers Weekly Starred Review (a prestigious honor reserved for exceptional books) points to exactly why this isn’t a “symptom checklist” kind of resource. The review emphasizes Dr. Fors’ focus on the “constellation of cause and effect” behind chronic pain—how problems often travel in packs… things like allergies, digestive dysfunction, anxiety, and other overlapping drivers that keep the nervous system on high alert.
It also calls out a major difference between this book and most pain titles: an extensive section on self-care, including diagrams and instructions for manipulating NMLs (pain-causing trigger points)—so readers aren’t just told what pain is… they’re shown what to do.
Here’s what the Starred Review highlighted most clearly:
- Bigger-picture root-cause thinking: not just treating symptoms, but tracking the chain reaction that keeps pain looping.
- Clinically useful self-care: practical, step-by-step strategies… including diagrams for NML work.
- Required-reading level value: relevant for providers, patients, and families trying to understand chronic pain without getting lost in jargon.
Readers consistently say the same thing in different ways: “Finally—this explains what’s actually going on… and what to do next.”
Why It May Be the Only Book You’ll Ever Need on Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain
If you’ve been in the chronic pain world for any amount of time, you’ve seen the pattern: a new diagnosis… a new medication… a new specialist… a new “maybe try this”… and somehow your life keeps shrinking.
This is where Why We Hurt earns its reputation as a one-and-done reference. Not because it’s “simple”—because it’s complete.
It brings the full picture together in one place:
- the neurology of why pain becomes chronic…
- the functional medicine model for finding root causes…
- the practical tools you can actually use to lower the pain load…
At the Pain and Brain Healing Center, we see patients every day who have "tried everything." They’ve been to specialists, had the scans, and were told everything is "normal," yet they are still in pain…
Why We Hurt was written for these exact individuals. It addresses the "invisible" drivers of pain, such as:
- Neuroinflammation: When the brain’s immune cells (microglia) become overactive.
- Metabolic Dysfunction: How blood sugar and insulin levels can dictate pain sensitivity.
- Toxic Overload: Why a healthy environment can be non-negotiable for neurological recovery.
How to Access the Book
Whether you are dealing with fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, or unexplained joint pain, this book is an essential resource. It provides the foundational knowledge needed to start a Functional Medicine journey.
You can find Why We Hurt through the following channels:
- Amazon: Search for "Why We Hurt Dr. Gregory Fors" to see the glowing reviews and purchase a copy.
- Our Website: Order directly here: https://painandbrainhealingcenter.com/product/why-we-hurt-and-how-we-heal/
Dr. Fors wrote this book because he knows what it’s like to feel trapped in a body that won’t cooperate. He also knows that healing is possible when you stop chasing symptoms and start addressing the root cause.
Ready to stop guessing and get a real plan?
Call (763) 862-7100 or book your free consultation/intake here: https://painandbrainhealingcenter.com/free-consultation-intake/ … and start addressing the root cause.
Brief for Sunny (Social Media Manager):
- Live Link: [Insert Link to this Blog Post once published]
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- Highlight Dr. Fors' credentials as a board-certified chiropractic neurologist.
- Emphasize the personal story: Dr. Fors had fibro, and his daughter had to crawl up stairs. This book was born from that struggle.
- Clarify that this was a commissioned book by a major publisher (Llewellyn), emphasizing its 400+ pages of authority.
- Focus on the "Triangle of Healing" (Physical, Nutritional, Detox).
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