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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
The Opioid Bank. It seems we are facing another global crisis!
August 14, 2012 by 14 Comments
Opioids. We all know what they are and that there are a lot of them going around, but it wasn’t until I was asked to write this blog on the information overloading review by Manchikanti and friends (2010) that I realised quite the extent. And to tell you the truth, it’s painfully scary!In a nutshell, well over half of the review pumped out … [Read more...]
What can a patient’s pain tell us about contributing mechanisms?
July 26, 2012 by 15 Comments
Ever put down a copy of Explain Pain, or some other highly valuable text, and asked 'So how do I integrate all this stuff when I assess a patient and plan treatment?' You might have felt exasperated after reading yet another article on pain mechanisms, or central sensitisation, or cortical reorganisation, and said to yourself 'yes but how do I … [Read more...]
Extinction is the Path to the Light Side of the Force
July 12, 2012 by 5 Comments
A Learning Theory Perspective on Pain-related Fear in Chronic Pain Every saga has a sequel – well in the previous blog post on learning and pain-related fear in chronic pain, I explained how pain-related fear can be acquired through associative learning, that is, the systematic pairing of a neutral movement (conditioned stimulus = CS) with a … [Read more...]
Fear is the Path to the Dark Side
July 10, 2012 by 3 Comments
A Learning Theory Perspective on Pain-related Fear in Chronic Pain There is no doubt that there is heaps of wisdom in the Star Wars saga. For example, Master Yoda said once: “Fear is the path to the dark side”. When it comes to chronic pain, and in particular how acute pain might turn into chronic pain, Yoda’s quote is spot on! … [Read more...]
Fluid Ink
June 27, 2012 by 12 Comments
Genesis: To cut a very long story short, Smudj was born from a very dark period in my life. So dark that not a pin prick of light could be seen. I was on the knife edge of suicidal, wanting to be sliced into oblivion.Close to a year before Smudj smeared its way on my page, my body had developed an autoimmune syndrome called Fibromyalgia. It … [Read more...]
Windows into pain. Part II
April 13, 2012 by 19 Comments
It has been about a month since I wrote a post reflecting on this pain I have in my shoulder. I must say I was overwhelmed by the many offers of diagnostic and treatment advice - it left me both chuffed and a little apprehensive about revisiting it.To start, let me say that my shoulder is less painful than it was. I have been a very good … [Read more...]
Windows into pain
March 9, 2012 by 28 Comments
I have a painful shoulder. It has been hurting since mid-December. I can recall no incident - just woke up one morning with severe pain on pretty much any movement. Now, I am not looking for diagnoses, nor in fact sympathy. What I would like to do instead is to run you through some interesting reflections I have had.i) I wake up in the night a … [Read more...]
Pain is sexist. Sex Hormones and Anxiety Modulate Brain Responses to Painful Stimuli
December 2, 2011 by 4 Comments
Serge Marchand, Ph.D. and Isabelle Gaumond, Ph.D. Women and men are different in many ways; some of these differences are obvious and some not so intuitive. For example, pain is sexist. The burning question is who between men and woman is more tolerant to pain? For most people, it seems clear that women are more tolerant or at least they … [Read more...]
Is chronic pain a disease in its own right?
November 18, 2011 by 54 Comments
I recently received an email from Vanessa Milne who is doing Post Graduate Studies in Pain Science at University of Sydney with the who’s who of Australian pain stuff - Nicholas, Cousins, Siddall, Keast.... an impressive line up that. Anyway, Professor Michael Cousins is leading the way in an impressive and ambitious attempt to put pain on … [Read more...]
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