Rethinking Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a significant problem for many Mandurah residents, and can interrupt your ability to do the things you enjoy. In general terms, chronic pain can be defined as pain that has been present for longer than 3-months. Thankfully, over the past decade, research in the field of pain science has helped us to understand more about chronic pain, and how we can more effectively treat it. Chronic pain is a lot more complex than previously thought, and although we have been good in the past at treating the physical components to pain, the neurological and brain components to chronic pain have not been as well addressed.

What we have learnt about chronic pain is that after a long period of being in pain, our pain system can become over-protective and hypersensitive. This means that we can continue to feel pain signals (perhaps with certain movements), even after the physical component causing the pain has long since resolved. This may explain why some people suffering from chronic pain have normal x-ray/scan results!

So what can we do about it? Well, one of the simplest, and most effective ways to help chronic pain is to better understand what is happening. The short video above titled ‘Tame the Beast’ really helps to explain it well.

There is no single effective treatment for chronic pain, but what we do know, is that people get better with a combination of different types of treatment. This generally includes hands-on manual therapies, exercise and education on pain. Book an appointment with us for more information.