This period in our lives, which had plenty of joy and wonder, was marred by two things.

One is obvious—COVID restrictions in Melbourne meant that time spent with our new family member was very limited and the new mum’s mental wellbeing took a battering as a result.

The other reason is sadly quite common but not often talked about: birth trauma.

A one-day course presented by Melissa McConaghy explores the latest research into Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders and its implications for treatment and assessment.

Tell us a little bit about this course.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement and can have a significant impact on a patient’s quality of life, mobility, cognition and mood.

The majority of people with Parkinsonism are diagnosed with idiopathic disease and the remainder with other movement disorders.

As a new graduate, Terry Haines stumbled onto a research career in falls prevention that has brought him many awards and accolades. He recently added another award to that cache, becoming a Member of the Order of Australia.

Professor Terry Haines APAM never intended to work in the aged care sector as a new graduate physiotherapist, but fate had other ideas.

‘How we come by our knowledge of another person’s pain is a nice study in communication. It has much in common with the sort of communication attempted by the painter, the poet and the musician—the conveying of moods and feelings.’ (Parkhouse & Holmes 1963)

Thank you for joining us on our journey through the consideration of pain sensitivity in clinical practice. To finish the series, we will endeavour to answer a few questions from readers.

How do we determine whether the sensitivity is a result of true pathology or not?

Chronic low back pain (LBP), defined as lasting for three months or more, is the leading cause of years lived with disability globally, due to both persistent pain and high disability.

There is no recipe for the management of people whose pain sensitivity makes a significant contribution to their presentation.

But that’s okay because this is what makes our job interesting and rewarding.

Exercise prescription is a mainstay of physiotherapy treatment.

Along with other forms of movement, exercise is a large component of guideline-based care for many musculoskeletal conditions because of its positive effects on key patient-reported outcomes (eg, pain and disability) as well as other comorbidities with which people experiencing pain often present.