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GOOGLE the word “pain” and more than 190 million results appear, now try describing “pain” to a friend or colleague. Communicating your ache, throb, spasm or soreness can often be challenge, not only to you but also to your listener.
Pain has millions of descriptive words, but many struggle to convey their individual predicament. This is especially true for chronic pain, or that which lasts for three months or more.
National Pain Week, which begins on Monday, July 23, gives voice to the millions of Australians living with some form of pain. Organised by Chronic Pain Australia, the week aims to represent the one-in-five Australians living with chronic pain.
Michelle Chan from Port Stephens Osteopathy said that chronic pain is something that a lot of people live with but aren’t dealing with well. Michelle has 13 years experience in osteopathy and said that the key to managing pain is to have a multi-discipline approach.
“You can’t just rely on medicine for pain relief, it’s about overall health, well-being and recovery, along with being fit and as active as possible,” she said.
Michelle said that working closely with doctors and other health professionals including physiotherapists and psychologists allows them to provide an individual and holistic approach to pain management rather than attempting a quick fix.
“Self management is an important thing people need to be aware of, you can do a lot yourself. By understanding your pain and the surrounding issues then as a collective group we can help discover the best ways to deal with the pain including physical and mental approaches,” she said.
When focusing on osteopathy it differs to other health practices in that it looks at a full body approach including muscles, joints, bones and other key aspects. Michelle said osteopathy can usually help people in more ways than one.
“With pain there is always individual cases and everyone responds differently to treatment. We focus on overall health and lifestyle, and encourage patients to take more control with a positive outlook to work at their pain management and relief,” she said. With Port Stephens and the surrounding area having a significantly older demographic, chronic pain and its management is a large issue locally.
Executive Director of Chronic Pain Australia, Benjamin Graham, agreed that the multi-disciplined approach to pain management, especially chronic pain, was the best method. “Any decision taken that affects people living with pain must be done in partnership with people in pain,” he said.
For more information, visit http://www.nationalpainweek.org.au/ or www.painaustralia.org.au.