Fibromyalgia: an overview
I didn’t intend to get into a theme this week, but this paper arrived in my inbox this morning, and given both the prevalence of fibromyalgia, and the often ‘fuzzy’ management that can be provided, I thought it might be worthwhile taking a look at it. The paper itself is a pre-print, but has been … Read more
Blog posts I love
I’m loving Pain for Philosophers blop – and this post made so much sense to me… hope it does to you! On confusing ‘amelioration’ with ‘obliteration’. Does it ring true to you? ..and red-heads – yes, they’re sensitive souls: they DO need more analgesia! Psychology of Pain has a piece on fibromyalgia: the search for … Read more
Fibromyalgia: Time for the rheumatologists to hand over?
The American College of Rheumatologists developed diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia in 1990, the culmination of many years of debate and disparagement of the existence of this pain problem. At the time, it was thought that it was a rheumatic complaint due to the presence of body pain and soft tissue tenderness, so the diagnosis and … Read more
Friday funnies: When women get together
After having had a very productive morning with two other therapists, having coffee, laughing, telling stories and planning a workshop, I thought I’d search the internet for some takes from other people on the theme of When Women Get Together… enjoy and have a great weekend! First up: When women get together outside the kitchen … Read more
What does ‘Pain Medicine’ mean to readers of HealthSkills?
What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘Pain Medicine” Medical treatment of pain 47% Pain reduction 19% Management of pain within a biopsychosocial model 14% Study about pain and pain management 7% Anything to do with the study of pain and health 5% Other (see below) 7% Other Answer: morphine; beating someone into … Read more
Meaning-focused coping – looking for the good things in dark times
I’ve been reading about ways to increase resilience and help people develop strengths to cope with pain, and came across this blog post on Positive Psychology News where Kathryn Britton reviews several papers by Susan Folkman and others who look at ways of coping. I’ve posted before on the Lazarus and Folkman model of coping … Read more
National Punctuation Day – September 24
If you are not sure how to use a comma, apostrophe, semi colon, dash – today is the day to celebrate and learn. Today is National Punctuation Day – for more information go here Do NOT go here to learn HOW – go here to learn how NOT and close your eyes when looking below
Chronic pain after surgery
Surgery is supposed to hurt. Well maybe not ‘supposed’ to, but most people expect some pain after surgery – as one doctor said to me, it’s really ‘planned trauma’. The problem for some people is that the pain doesn’t settle afterwards – and up to 50% of people undergoing surgery can fail to recover fully, … Read more
