Search for whole words in MySQL 3.23

Hi all, I'm setting up a database search on a site, where I will essentially be BOOLEAN searching about 6 database fields. Unfortunately, the database I'm using is MySQL version 3.23 (completely out of my control), so I cannot use IN BOOLEAN MODE to simplify the process on my end. I've been able to put together a function that does almost everything that I want, but I'm running into a problem - searching for whole words that may or may not be in the beginning or end of the database field. For example, syntax like this: ...WHERE field LIKE '%searchterm%'... has the limitation that if the search term is 'car', it will also bring back 'scar', 'cartoon', etc. While if the syntax is: ...WHERE field LIKE '% searchterm %'... (with spaces) it misses words that are the first or last words of the field, or words that are at the end of sentences, before commas, etc. I've looked around and haven't been able to find a way to search only for complete words within a block of text. Any help? Thanks in advance, Zeth