Tell us a bit about the relationship between complex neck pain disorders and head pain, including headaches.

Neck disorders may be considered complex for many reasons.

For example, neck pain may be considered complex due to its persistence, its apparent resistance to management and its widespread nature, which may involve spread to the upper limbs or the experience of headache.

The challenge is that there are many headache forms and not all are amenable to management through treatment of the neck, even if they are accompanied by neck pain.

Therefore, determining the underlying cause of a patient’s neck pain, upper quadrant pain and/or headache, and its most likely beneficial management plan, requires astute clinical reasoning.

Clinical reasoning is a collaborative problem-solving interaction between clinician and patient.

It is informed by extensive theoretical knowledge and advanced practical and technical clinical skills, synthesising and interpreting information gained from the patient and the literature in an evidence-based practice framework.

Why is it important to ‘draw a link between the patient’s movement behaviours and their reported symptoms’?

A particular challenge in the management of neck pain is the early identification of key functional deficits, movement impairments and psychological and social factors that potentially contribute to the patient’s disorder.

These can often be addressed with patient-centred advice and education, lifestyle changes and modifications, exercise and manual therapy.

With regard to exercise, the key to successful exercise prescription is to provide specific but simple exercise that is manageable, convenient for the patient and adequately progressed.

Commonly, we prescribe exercise programs that are not specific enough and are not adequately progressed to meet the patient’s individual needs.

Additionally, programs often contain too many exercises, which can aggravate symptoms and compromise adherence and therefore success.

Why is neck and head pain a particular area of interest for you?

I have been a physiotherapist for nearly 30 years and have specialised in neck pain disorders for the past 20 years.

Shaun O'Leary's course focuses on the relationship between complex neck pain disorders and head pain. 

I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with many experts in neck pain and have thus found this the focus of my work.

In this field, I have co-authored two mainstream texts, distributed widely internationally and adapted to five languages, and published nearly 100 research articles.

I have taught over 50 clinical workshops worldwide.

What are the key areas of advanced knowledge participants are likely to take away with them? And who would most benefit from attending your course?

This course is strongly influenced by my extensive experience as a researcher and teacher (musculoskeletal physiotherapy and clinical anatomy) and my clinical experiences as an APA Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2008).

I have also recently completed a Senior Fellowship in Higher Education with a subspecialty in clinical education, which has greatly assisted my teaching of clinical reasoning development.

This course will advance participants’ clinical reasoning as well as technical and practical skills in the management of neck and head pain disorders.

It will encourage an enhanced understanding of the unique characteristics of the neck in states of health and impairment that underpins a systematic approach to assessment and management.

This includes idiopathic neck pain and whiplash and addresses the approach to common symptoms accompanying neck pain such as headache, jaw pain and dizziness.

The course is relevant to all levels of physiotherapy experience.

Shaun O’Leary will present ‘Integrated solutions for neck and head pain’ on 13–14 November in Kent Town, South Australia. Click here for more information and to register.

>> Shaun O’Leary, FACP, is an Associate Professor in Physiotherapy between the University of Queensland and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.