Continued from previous post... All is not lost, however. There is an emerging body of literature that suggests that we can change the way people understand their pain. We can reconceptualize pain in a way that makes clear the distinction between tissue damage, nociception and pain. The bulk of the work in this area is guided by a model that … [Read more...]
Teaching people about pain – why do we keep beating around the bush pt 2
April 4, 2013 by 84 Comments
Teaching people about pain – why do we keep beating around the bush
April 2, 2013 by 12 Comments
A frank approach to interpersonal communication brings with it some challenges, but having to dig oneself out of a hole, created by strategically avoiding the truth, is not one of them. This frank approach is well suited to science – the scientific process requires us to pursue and report the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We … [Read more...]
Classification based cognitive functional therapy for back pain
March 27, 2013 by 2 Comments
This story of a 28 year old man with disabling low back pain illustrates the CB-CFT intervention trialled in the RCT in Bergen, Norway. ‘Eight years ago I had a lifting injury at work. It was terrible pain, I was worried so I went to the doctor who ordered a scan. The doctor said I had a back of a 70 year old. He said I couldn’t surf again and … [Read more...]
Is GDR effective in the treatment of chronic neck pain?
March 21, 2013 by 4 Comments
It was in 2005 that I came up with the idea of a “gaze direction recognition" (GDR) task as a possible treatment for chronic neck pain. At that time some of the rehabilitation patients visiting my rehabilitation department had suffered from neck pain for a long time because of cervical strain or previous cervical spine surgery. In those days, … [Read more...]
A Painful Yarn part one
March 5, 2013 by 4 Comments
I was riding my bike on my normal route to work. Then it happened, like a blink. A jeep that was not supposed to be there was there, coming at me. No time to change course or apply brakes, just brace for impact.I was headed west bound on a two lane road. Entering a light controlled intersection on a green light. A Jeep Cherokee in the … [Read more...]
Should we turn away people with CRPS?
February 26, 2013 by 20 Comments
Two foods I love eating regularly (and that’s probably not a good thing for the latter) are tuna and ice cream. Thankfully, I have a firm grasp of the concept that some things just weren’t made for mixing.You might think this is a funny way to start a blog post on CRPS… but I promise you the Adelaide heat hasn’t fried my brain. I … [Read more...]
Central Hypersensitivity in Chronic Shoulder Pain
February 19, 2013 by 31 Comments
Subacromial impingement syndrome is a common cause of shoulder pain that has multiple causes (subacromial bursitis to rotator cuff tendinopathy and full-thickness rotator cuff tears). Unfortunately, for almost half of people afflicted with this syndrome, medical treatment is not successful and they will continue to have shoulder pain 2 years … [Read more...]
Tales of Tactile Trickery
January 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
While reading Oliver Sacks’ new book ‘Hallucinations’ one would expect to encounter stories of visual, auditory, and perhaps olfactory misperceptions. What caught my attention however, were the stories of tactile hallucinations. One can perhaps feel reasonably safe when hallucinations are just images dancing in your field of vision, but … [Read more...]
What about people who do function WITH chronic pain?
January 8, 2013 by 13 Comments
Well, what about those? Most researchers would suggest there aren't many of them. A quick review on PubMed will only give you a few useful hits, however it is estimated that about 70% of all people suffering from chronic nonspecific musculoskeletal pain manage to stay functioning at work. In actual fact this may in many cases be for the better, … [Read more...]
Self-management for low back pain
January 3, 2013 by 6 Comments
I have had an interest in low back pain since the early stages of my career as a physiotherapist. My relatives, friends and patients complained about this condition and its recurrence even after receiving treatment. At that time, I was intent on finding a “cure” for this condition. I often browsed the literature to find the causes and possible … [Read more...]
Good news for chronic nerve pain sufferers…but it could have been better
December 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This post is a republishing of a recent article in The Conversation by Michael Vagg:The announcement on Friday last week that pregabalin (Lyrica) made it onto the Pharmacutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a huge relief for sufferers of chronic nerve pain.It also means that the true cost of providing appropriate care to chronic pain … [Read more...]
It worked before but now it doesn’t? Graded Motor Imagery in Clinical Practice
October 16, 2012 by 4 Comments
While pain may be a universal experience, one experience that can often plague and frustrate everyone is that time when something works one moment but then all of a sudden doesn’t work the next. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing this you’ll find that it applies to many things in life whether it be the temperamental office … [Read more...]
Field Research
September 28, 2012 by 2 Comments
At the recent World Congress on Pain, there were enough exhibition stands to keep even the most mischievous amused. One of the most mischievous is Sarah Haag. Here she gives an account of the first of her investigations.....On day 2 of the biannual IASP conference in Milan, I decided to try out the latest and greatest in headache management … [Read more...]
Challenge the Uncomfortable Silence
August 23, 2012 by 6 Comments
Every patient you see is likely to have a pelvis. Roughly 1/4 of women will have had some pelvic pain in the course of sport, childbirth, sex or urinating. Men are harder to pin down for exact numbers as it gets poorly diagnosed along with back pain and prostate problems but they have pelvic pain as well. Jane Bowering did a great job … [Read more...]
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