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.…
[some background information on Steer Into The Skid] The Journey May 25th 2020 I have always had a mole in the middle of my back. It’s between my shoulder blades and has been there ever since I, or anyone in my family, can remember. Because of where it is, I…
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,…
An excerpt from Chapter 4 of All In Your Head – "Undiagnosis..."– by Marcus Sedgwick. Click on the cover to learn more. * The full horror of not knowing had started to sink in. I was desperate to find out what was wrong with me, and should proof of this…
An excerpt from Chapter 4 of 50 Years of Hard Road by Nick Charles MBE. I considered my predicament from every angle following my meeting with the fish man. I walked for miles around the crowded streets of London, looking at various shop windows and sniffing hungrily at the different…
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disorder of someone feeling extreme tiredness or fatigue that cannot be explained entirely by an essential medical condition. CFS is also called SEID (systemic exertion intolerance disease) or ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis). This complicated disorder worsens with mental or physical activity but does not go away…
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…
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,…
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…
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…