More than 20 years ago David Butler started a paradigm shift in how we look at pain with his ground breaking book, Explain Pain.
He challenged the current beliefs on chronic pain and demonstrated how important the brain is with processing and creating pain.
Since then there has been an explosion in pain science research and practitioners.
My Entry to Pain Science
I went to a Neuromobilizatiom course, thinking I was just going to learn about nerve sliders and tensioners. But instead I got a healthy dose of pain science from Adriana Louw.
It was a paradigm shift for me. I now understood the complexities of pain and how many more things can affect it.
Since then, I’ve been to other pain science courses and read a good amount of this content.
Practical Applications
Some advocate trying to teach patients this new pain information.
The overall idea is that if they learn that pain is an alarm system (some alarms are false), and not just an internal signal that correlates with damage, then the threat will decrease and so will their pain
However, whenever I used to try this approach, it would usually ends up feeling like a psychotherapy session to me. And that’s not my expertise.
So instead, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best for the patient to find their own path. This way they can learn it in a way that’s best for them.
I can help guide people and clear things up. But it’s best if the patient takes the initiative to learn about it themselves
I usually point people to the three videos below and give them other resources.
This way people can go as deep or as shallow as they need to. It also lets them find out what works for them.
This way the end game of reducing fear of pain by understanding its complexities is accomplished without me feeling like I’m performing unlicensed psychotherapy.
Three Videos for Pain Science
Caveat
There’s rarely one approach that works perfectly for everyone.
And this is not to say “it’s all in your head”.
Muscles and joints can always be optimised, exercise can have far reaching impacts, manual therapy can do wonders, dry needling causes significant changes, and posture matters.
So instead of it being all neuroplastic pain, it’s often an amalgamation of my different systems and approaches that can improve quality of life and pain.
Which is good, because it gives us many options and areas to improve, instead of depending on just one specific theory.
The take home message is:
Work to understand pain science and how your thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions can affect your pain