What is Pain?

Pain is a distressing experience associated with actual or perceived tissue damage with sensory, emotional, cognitive and social components. Pain is influenced by a lot more than just body tissue. Pain is felt when special nerves that detect tissue damage, send signals to the brain. These nerves are known as nociceptors. The brain then decides what to do about the pain.

For example, if you touch a hot surface, a message will travel through a reflex arc in the spinal cord and cause an immediate contraction of the muscles. This contraction will pull your hand away from the hot surface. This happens so fast that the message doesn't even reach the brain. However, the pain message will continue to the brain. Once there, it will cause an unpleasant sensation of pain to be felt. How an individual's brain interprets these signals and the efficiency of the communication channel between the nociceptors and the brain dictate how people feel pain.

The brain will also release feel-good chemicals such as dopamine to counter the unpleasant effects of the pain.

Treatment for Pain

Pain is complex and multiple strategies can be implemented to relieve pain, with correct diagnosis being a very important initial step. I apply the following strategies for pain relief and management

  • Correct diagnosis via comprehensive assessment and medical history

  • Collaborative Treatment Plan

  • Depending of the type of pain, some treatment strategies include:

    • Soft tissue therapy, remedial massage, joint mobilisation

    • Acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion

    • Herbal medicine and Nutrition, in some cases can provide pain relief by improving sleep, reducing inflammation, improving digestive function and circulation

    • Posture and work ergonomic recommendations

    • Lifestyle recommendations to self manage pain and avoid triggers

    • Referral to an exercise specialist, physiotherapist or osteopath for co treatment and exercise program

    • Sleep hygiene and strategies to improve sleep

    • Diet and Nutrition therapy with diagnostic testing .

    • Collaboration with your GP, specialist or other health care practitioner for optimal outcomes

Understanding and Managing Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain can have a vast array of causes and so it is important to work out what is causing it and why. Understanding your medical history and completing a comprehensive assessment is essential. Looking at recent imaging and pathology test is also important , so please bring these along if you have them on hand. Recent life changes, stress levels and emotional wellbeing must also be taken into consideration as these factors can greatly effect pain perception. Pain education, will help you to better understand the pain you are experiencing and how to manage it better in the short and long term. Self treatment techniques can also help to prevent pain and manage it it, when it occurs.

Some types of pain may require referral to another practitioner or specialist, or a co-treatment plan, which involves 2-3 practitioners with different expertise.