* A physiotherapy colleague of mine was doing some cross-country running in a local forest. He was running alone but had his new dog with him. He tripped on a branch and fell badly. Immediately, he felt pain in his ankle and knew he had injured himself, but fortunately, the…
Category: Chronic Pain
Knee Pain Management
An excerpt from: What is this Pain ‘Volume Dial’? Years ago, my brother had a massive red ghetto blaster radio. The radio was quite a simple device; it just had an on/off switch and a volume dial. At times, my brother turned the radio up so loud the radio shook.…
What is CRPS?
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a disorder that causes pain, skin colour alterations and other sensations on specific parts of your body, often the arms, legs, hands and feet. CRPS symptoms may significantly influence the functionality of the afflicted limb, sleep, routine tasks and mental well-being. According to experts,…
Chronic Pain Management
An excerpt from Master Your Chronic Pain: A Practical Guide by Dr Nicola Sherlock Turning Up and Down the Pain Volume Dial Scientists can be heard saying that ‘our nervous system is plastic’, by which they mean that it can adapt and change. This ‘neuroplasticity’ is illustrated when a person…
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic or Persistent Pain Chronic and persistent pain are both medical terms, and they essentially mean the same thing. When I started my career, chronic pain was the term that was most commonly used by clinicians to describe pain that went on for a long period of time. More recently,…
Chronic Pain and Depression
Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and harder to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden.C. S. Lewis A book on pain management would not be complete without a chapter on mood management. Most of my patients have told…
Fibromyalgia Pain Management
The Homemaker Let’s use Michelle’s experience as an example. Since she developed her pain, some of Michelle’s rules had become very problematic for her – they no longer added value to her life. Michelle had a rule that her home must be clean and tidy at all times. She also…