I often find myself having to help people manage a pain or dysfunction that has plagued them for some time.
WE LEARN FROM HISTORY
The first way I can be helpful is to LISTEN TO THEIR STORY. This becomes important because only in this way can we realize what the cause of the disorder is and above all I can understand how much the problem is important for the person and in which areas of his life it affects making them difficult: for example if due to pain on the arm a lady is no longer able to take her grandchildren in her arms.
LET’S PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER
Listening to the person’s own story and having clear their past and the problems they have had or that sometimes still have, we can notice some connections that may not be immediately correlated with the pain in progress, but which to improve it in the long term it will be imperative to deal with. It often happens to me that in the history of back pain there is also a sprain or operation in the knee or ankle that, despite many years have passed, are still felt; in these cases playing tennis with a knee that still gives a lot of discomfort can bring compensation to the level of the back during the rapid movements typical of this sport. The affected joint will be important to take into consideration in order to allow the person to solve his or her problems in a more lasting way.
WE DEVELOP A STRATEGY
Once the origin and cause of the disorder have been understood, together with the patient, the most correct strategy is sought to solve this problem together. Personalized therapeutic paths are proposed and, when necessary, the lifestyle changes necessary to ensure that the disorder improves quickly and the benefit is lasting. I am convinced that patient awareness is essential to be able to achieve our goal together.
Education of pain mechanisms
Today we are experiencing an epidemic of chronic pain against which drugs are increasingly showing their ineffectiveness. However, we have at our disposal simple but extremely effective educational tools, aimed at enhancing the natural self-treatment systems that everyone has at their disposal.
Knowledge is power. The most advanced science of pain has been made accessible and understandable to all.
Patients will be made available the most recent acquisitions on tissues, nerves, the brain and on the effects of stress on pain and movement.
Explaining modern neuroscience to patients is an evidence based strategy (medicine based on scientific evidence) capable of modifying behaviors related to stress and pain.
Explaining pain is a two-way process – pain presentations, metaphors and stories, seen from the patient’s perspective, require reasoned analysis and are crucial for understanding the mechanisms that maintain or exacerbate pain.
We have accumulated more knowledge about pain in the past 10 years than in the previous thousands of years, and we are increasingly able to answer questions about “why does it hurt so?” and “what can I do about it?”.
This knowledge applies to both young and old people, from low back pain to hemiplegia, from generalized pain to more complex situations such as phantom limb and algodystrophies.
Decades of research and clinical experience have now been synthesized into another step forward in the Explain Pain revolution – the Protectometer.
It is a manual for the patient, which allows the person and their therapist to trace a path of their pain experience, understand the many factors that influence it, and develop a therapeutic education and a tailored treatment program.
It’s a therapy that works – there are no side effects, it’s available 24/7, allows for continuous improvement, and can be shared with others. We are living in an amazing time for neuroscience, but even those who suffer must participate!