In the 18 months since it began, Paediatric Pain Care SA has been working to change children’s lived experiences of pain through a gold standard model of care. 

Pain sensitivity management isn’t easy but it’s important to get it right.

The approach a physiotherapist takes to managing pain sensitivity has a significant impact on their patient’s understanding of their own condition and on the effectiveness of any treatments prescribed.

1. Physical activity is beneficial with or without cardiovascular disease

Physical activity confers significant health benefits.

Parts 2 and 3 of this series focused on the assessment of pain sensitivity. Once the assessment is complete, we need to consider the findings.

Here we discuss the whole-person perspective, followed by making sense of pain features.

We then present a simple method for prioritising pain sensitivity in treatment planning.

The problem of low back pain

Low back pain is the leading cause of disability burden in Australia (GBD 2015 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators 2016), costing the Australian health system $4.8 billion annually (Arthritis and Osteoporosis Victoria 2013).

As discussed in the April issue of InMotion, the APA is partnering with academic institutions on research projects that advance knowledge in the field of physiotherapy and contribute to the evidence base underpinning our advocacy efforts.

This month we will look at three more research project partnerships.

In Part 2 of this series, we looked at the patient interview through a pain sensitivity lens. This process helps determine whether pain sensitivity is less or more likely to be a priority for the physical examination. Now we arrive at the examination itself.

In Part 1 of this series we agreed that pain sensitivity is an important consideration for all physiotherapists in clinical practice.

Pain sensitivity may alter a person’s response to treatment, can help patients make sense of their own conditions, could be used for subgrouping people and might provide insight into a patient’s prognosis.

Ten years ago, it was almost unheard of for patients recently diagnosed with lung cancer to take part in exercise programs prior to or after surgery.

Melissa McConaghy was in the middle of teaching a course in London when her phone began beeping madly.

While trying to continue with the instruction, a mildly distracted Melissa apologised to course participants and quickly checked, thinking it could be about her children.