There’s a moment in the Lord of the Rings, where Frodo and Sam are walking in the rocky terrain of the Misty Mountains trying to head towards Mordor. Sam speaks about the familiarity of the terrain and Frodo, jaded, responds with, “That’s because we’ve been here before, we’re going in circles” Eventually, it is Golum, [...]
There’s a deeper philosophical perspective within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Clinicians can familiarize themselves with the strategies and techniques within ACT and use them as everyday clinical tools. Defusion, Acceptance, Values and Commitment sit on either side of the ACT Hexaflex within a clear delineation (see figure 1)and so these techniques could be seen [...]
"Your doctor has asked me to write a report on why there's been so little progress" Those words must be dreaded by every person that lives with pain. It must be hugely invalidating for someone who has been through so much in an attempt to try and understand, resolve or "get on top of" their [...]
“It’s important that you pace your activity, this is to minimize the risk of your pain increasing. Once you identify how long you can spend at a task before your pain increases, you will eventually be able to increase your time doing the task.” Pacing Activity pacing (AP) is a term widely used to describe [...]
Anyone who reads my blogs will know that I like to venture off the beaten track and explore how transferable knowledge between areas of interest or other specialties relate can be implemented into our understanding of persistent pain. I’ve blogged a few times about exercise dosage here, here and here and I thought I would [...]
A common experience for people living with pain is the enigmatic behavior of pain. People feel a lack of control due to the unpredictability, intensity or severity of pain. This can significantly affect a person’s ability to achieve a desired outcome, such as playing with their kids, being able to vacuum, being able to work, [...]
The situation is real, a worldwide pandemic, and as we currently stand the chance of a vaccine for Covid-19 may be 12 to 18 months away. Currently, the recommendations from the World Health Organization to help reduce the spread and ‘flatten the curve’ include: Wash your hands frequently Maintain Social distancing Avoid touching, eyes, [...]
I’ve been sifting through the concussion and whiplash evidence for a good 4-5 months now and quite frankly it is complex. I understand the challenges the evidence demonstrates in determining the diagnostic nuances between each. For example, there are many symptoms that overlap between concussion and whiplash (Elkin, Elliott, & Siegmund, 2016; Rebbeck, Evans, & [...]
People in pain often describe how much their pain hurts, often displaying its level of intensity through facial expression and tone of voice. The word 'intensity' is defined as 'the quality of being intense' Another definition refers to intensity as: 'extreme depth of feeling' Quality refers to the words to describe the characteristics and feeling [...]
I’ve just spent the last two days in Auckland CBD at the bi-annual Brainstorm conference. A conference specifically focused on all things concussion. So, I thought I would give a quick rundown of my highlights. I think the biggest thing that confirmed my thinking was the huge parallels between pain management and persistent post concussion syndrome [...]
