Absolutely Positively Healthy!
New Zealand readers will recognise the origins of the heading for this post – a few years ago, Wellington used that phrase to promote visiting that wild and windy place (don’t worry Wellingtonians, I’ve lived there for a few years – and among the wild and windy days are those gloriously balmy sunny days that … Read more
Pain Blog Carnival!
Every month the best of pain blogging is gathered together and published by How to Cope with Pain. This month is a little different – instead of us sending in posts, the best posts have been selected and included in the carnival. Take a look here for this month’s round-up. In the mix is a … Read more
Pollyanna may have been right
Pollyanna – that relentlessy cheerful optimist from Eleanor Porter’s novel by the same name – may have been right. Pollyanna’s philosophy of life centers on what she calls “The Glad Game”, an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in … Read more
Someone who lives well – with chronic pain
Pete (not his real name) has long-standing pain. He has ankylosing spondylitis involving especially his sacro-iliac joints, and often his intercostals, making it difficult to take a deep breath. He’s in his mid-40′s, and he’s had his diagnosis for just over 20 years. He takes a cocktail of anti-inflammatories, with omeprazole to counter the gastro-intestinal … Read more
Resilience and chronic pain
When you start to work in the field of chronic pain management, it doesn’t take long before your view of the prevalence, and severity, of chronic pain becomes somewhat skewed. Of all the people who have chronic pain, only a small number actually ask for treatment. This could be for many reasons – difficulty accessing … Read more
Bits and bobs from the interweb
Friday, Friday…One of my favourite self-appointed tasks is to skim through the internet finding things that pique my interest for my Friday post. Sometimes it’s a Friday Funny, sometimes it’s a slightly more serious post – and sometimes, it’s completely random. Today it’s random. Celebration of colours is a series of 28 photographs by Poras … Read more
What goes into a pain management plan?
Today’s post is a practical one. The scientific evidence for interdisciplinary pain management using a cognitive behavioural approach is pretty strong now (e.g. Guzman, Esmail, Karjalainen et al. 2001; Guzman, Esmail, Karjalainen et al. 2002; van Geen, Edelaar, Janssen et al. 2007) although the components that make it effective are not yet known. One suggestion … Read more
The walking accident zone…
Luke (not his real name – you know I disguise details to protect confidentiality) is a man in his mid-20′s who is a walking accident zone. He tells me he’s broken ‘every bone’ in his body – and while it’s not exactly true, he has certainly broken a few of them! The reason he came … Read more
If I had back pain, what would I do?
Every day, a whole lot of people develop back pain. I don’t mean the old achey breaky back from doing the garden, I mean mean ole back pain that grabs and holds on and sends stabbing through your butt and down your leg. What would you do if it were you? Depending on the doctor … Read more
On the evidence for decisions about the use of therapeutic interventions
You might have seen a theme emerging this week in my posts – clinical reasoning, evidence-base for treatments, balance between science and art … I came across this rather weighty document today in which Professor Sir Michael David Rawlins presents THE HARVEIAN ORATION Delivered before the Fellows of The Royal College of Physicians of London … Read more
