Attention management for chronic pain
Deliberately using imagery, attention diversion and mindfulness to cope with pain is not something new. It’s great though, to find that it has some very positive results when studied in a formal clinical research setting. Elomaa, Williams and Kalso use a fairly straightforward research design to examine the effects, in a clinical population, of systematic … Read more
Occupational Therapists in New Zealand – Survey and a prize!
A collegue of mine, Blair Cross, is conducting a survey on beliefs and attitudes about back pain in occupational therapists. Here is his introduction to the survey: Invitation to Complete an OT Internet Survey BE IN TO WIN!! ‘The Back Pain Revolution’ – a textbook by G. Waddell ($220) Dear fellow OT’s I have developed … Read more
Musing about activity levels
Last week I spent a little time looking at activity regulation, and especially looking at over-activity or persistence, rather than the usual under-activity or avoidance pattern. I was reading an in press paper by Hans Heneweer, Luc Vanhees and Susan Picavet, looking at a proposed ‘U-shaped’ relationship between activity and the development of low back … Read more
New Zealand Colonial Architecture
I love it! A cob cottage built sometime in the 1880′s or maybe earlier… This is south-west of Gore, and I don’t know how old it is, but it’s great example of the cob cottage, built from stone and earth in a simple and timeless design. I think it would have been warm, but not … Read more
NZ Pain Society Conference
This year’s conference is in Rotorua in July. Take a look at these speakers! There is Professor Michael Chester Director of the National Refractory Angina Centre, Consultant Cardiologist Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust. Professor of Rehabilitation and Preventive Health Education, Liverpool Hope University. Lorimer Moseley, knownfor his work on motor imagery in … Read more
Pain cures from history
Grabbed from the internet over the past couple of days…some things have not changed. Humans seem to have a fascination with magnets, colours, electricity and traction. First up, the Faradic Electrifier – apply the electrodes to the painful part, press a button and – hey presto! an electric shock. Not exactly sure what that did … Read more
Grand Rounds – medical/health blog carnival
While I’m on a roll and linking to good carnivals, grand rounds has been published for a long time now – it’s a roundup of fabulous posts of a medical or health-related nature. It’s often hosted at different sites, so to keep up with it I find I need to remember to go to the … Read more
Pain blog carnival is up!
This month’s pain blog carnival is up now. Go here to read some of the internet’s finest blog posts on managing pain, hosted by How to Cope with Pain every month. If you’re unfamiliar with what a ‘carnival’ is, it’s where several (read: many) blog authors link to a single site to post on a … Read more
Activity levels – a ‘budgeting’ approach
Unlike most of my posts, this one doesn’t have specific research to back it up. I guess this reflects the lack of research in the area of applied pain management! After discussing activity levels, especially over-doing activity, I thought it might be helpful to review some of the ways I’ve worked with people to develop … Read more
