Graded exposure in the real world
Well, not exactly the real world – yet – just the clinic. A man I’m working with is very worried about his back. Some years ago he had a discectomy and his surgeon told him he needed to be ‘very careful’ with his back – and so he has. No bending, twisting, lifting for this … Read more
Exposure in vivo for kinesiophobia
Sometimes, even with the best practice, treatment doesn’t go the way you expect it to. Graded exposure, using a phobia treatment model, can be one of those amazingly quick methods – or it can be a long-haul challenge. This paper by Flink, Boersma and Linton, just published in European Journal of Pain identifies one of … Read more
Friday Funnies!
It’s Friday here in Christchurch – only a few more jobs to do and then it’s gin and tonic time! I could not resist this – so my apologies to anyone who groans as a result. It’s not my fault I was raised with one of the world’s worst punsters… And I know, this is … Read more
On being both a scientist and a human
In some circles there is a slightly strange belief that it is not possible to both be a scientist and be empathic, warm and value the ‘human touch’. I beg to disagree, and in this post I hope to put forward some of my thoughts about how these two ‘ways of being’ are not mutually … Read more
Drawing pain
The pain drawing has to be one of the more ubiquitous assessment tools around. There are many versions of outlines of naked bodies on which a person can scribble, colour, and write to indicate to treatment providers exactly where they feel their pain, and to a certain extent, some of the sensory features of that … Read more
Information is to behaviour change as spaghetti is to a brick
I’m a great fan of books like ‘Explain Pain’. This delightful publication by David Butler and Lorimer Moseley gives accurate information about pain, particularly chronic pain, in an accessible format for both patients and clinicians, and I’ve used it often with people I’m seeing. I’m also a fan of helping people to understand what we … Read more
Who drops out of CBT for chronic pain?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone we saw was ready for self management and committed to putting everything in place? Wouldn’t it be even better if we could tell who was and who wasn’t going to drop out? Then we could focus treatment on people who were ready for treatment, and help those who are … Read more
Friday Funnies
SuperTherapist is having a bit of a lie down with a cold compress, the weekend can’t come soon enough! For a guide to interpreting what she’s really saying, look no further: We need I want It’s your decision The correct decision should be obvious by now Do what you want You’ll pay for this later … Read more
Exercise questions
If there is one finding that has remained pretty solid over the past 10 – 15 years, it’s the one that says being active is a good thing for managing chronic pain. I’m not sure how many papers I’ve read where ‘exercise’ and some form of cognitive behavioural approach have been found to produce improvements … Read more
