chronic pain

Leave a comment Posted on Pain Management

A Chronic Pain Personal Bill of Rights – which of these do you agree with and what would you add?

As I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog I’ve been working in healthcare information is some form or another for over a decade now.

In my days as a opinion researcher with people in pain a theme regularly came up in interviews of how many people felt – both powerless and overwhelmed by chronic pain.

So I was very interested when one of my readers sent me this infographic which offers some ideas for “A Chronic Pain Personal Bill of Rights”.

I must admit that while I agree with the sentiments of the infographic I have to say I don’t really see how it could be described as a Bill of Rights. No mention of access to decent pain management for instance.

But really that is just me.

What do you think of it? And what would you add to a “Chronic Pain Personal Bill of Rights”? Please do share you thoughts in the comments section below.

Many thanks in advance.


Click on the image for the full version!

A chronic Pain Personal Bill of Rights

From Visually.

Leave a comment Posted on Pain Management, Patient Talk

Women and Pain – please can you help the University of Oklahoma with a very short survey.


University of Oklahoma - Pain Research

University of Oklahoma – Pain Research

Do you suffer from chronic pain? How has your pain affected you and your relationships?

Would you like to share your experiences with others? If you are a female between the ages of 18 and 64 and have experienced at least three months of intractable pain, please participate in the survey below to add your voice to the growing body of literature on chronic pain in women. After completing the survey, please share this link with others who suffer from chronic pain.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ChronicPainInWomen

We have been asked by Dr Jessica Brody to help her find women to take part in a survey she is running on chronic pain. If you have not already done so please do consider taking part!

Brody says “I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center/ Oklahoma City VA. I got my Ph.D. In Counseling Psychology from the University of Oklahoma in December of 2015 and my research interests are related to women’s health and relationships. My dissertation looked at predictors of distress in the experience of infertility. ”

If you do know of anyone who might wish to take part please to share this page with them.

Thanks very much in advance.


1 Comment Posted on Cardiovascular disease, Patient Talk, Research

10 Tips for a Healthy Heart. Check them out and you can help prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) this World Heart Day.


Tips for reducing the risk of heart disease!

Tips for reducing the risk of heart disease!

As I sat down to work today I had a look over the BBC’s health news to see what the issues of teh day might be. The main headline was “Heart disease warnings ‘missed‘” . I’d also forgotten that today is World Heart Day.

Delving further into the article I discovered that the British Heart Foundation had recently organised some survey research and they discovered, to their horror, that 90% of people think that there must be symptoms associated with that “silent killer” high blood pressure.

So I thought it would be a good opportunity to share with you British Heart Foundation’s tips for a healthy heart and to prevent coronary heart disease.

a) Give up smoking. You can find some ideas to help you pack in smoking here.
b) Get your general health road tested by your doctor.
c) Maintain a healthy weight. Read our weight loss tips and blog posts here.
d) Keep active. Pretty hard for many of us but much more for people with chronic pain. You might find this guide to exercise for people with pain useful.
e) Lower your salt consumption. Both in and out of the home.
f) Eat your 5-a-day. Do you?
g) Cut the saturated fat. Find out more about diet and health here.
h) Always read the food labels. You would be amazed at the salt and sugar in processed foods.
i) Cut down on the amount of alcohol you drink. How much do you drink?
j) Watch your portion sizes. Make sure you eat less.

Do you have any tips for our readers? If you do please do feel free to share below in the comments boxes.

Thanks in advance.

Leave a comment Posted on Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Pain Management, Patient Talk, Research

Do you suffer from chronic pain? Take part in a survey for the University of Colorado and you could be entered in a draw and win $50


University of Colorado Denver

University of Colorado Denver

The University of Colorado Denver is running some interesting research with people who suffer from various types of chronic pain including fibromyalgia.  Jessica Payne-Murphy, who is running the survey, has written a short post outlining the scope of the study!

Payne-Murphy writes “You are invited to take part in a research study: Acceptance-Based Factors in Chronic Pain: A Comparison Between Fibromyalgia and Low Back Pain Patients in an Internet Support Group Sample (COMIRB No: 13-3263). This study is being led by Jessica Payne-Murphy, M.A. at the University of Colorado Denver.

The study involves answering a series of online questionnaires designed to increase understanding of chronic pain. We are inviting participants (age 18 and older) who have been and are currently managing low back pain or fibromyalgia for at least 3 months to complete an online survey. It is anticipated that this survey will take approximately 30-45 minutes of your time to complete.

If you choose to participate in the study, you will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of up to ten $50 Amazon.com or Amazon.eu gift cards.

In addition, we request that you forward/share the survey link to other individuals with chronic low back pain or fibromyalgia who may wish to participate in this study so that they may have the opportunity to assist us in gathering information about chronic pain and online support groups.”

Please click on the following link if you are interested in learning more about the research study:

https://redcap.ucdenver.edu/surveys/?s=GCZEdEQBgd

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Payne-Murphy at at https://www.facebook.com/UCDChronicPainResearchStudy?ref=hl

Or use the comments boxes below to ask her any questions.


Leave a comment Posted on Pain Management, Patient Talk

Back Pain – Find out about the McKenzie Method® as a treatment for people with Back Pain.


Pain

Pain

A few weeks ago I was interested to discover a treatment for back and neck pain called the McKenzie Method ®.  The treatment, developed by a physical therapist from New Zealand called Robin McKenzie, is also known as Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) ®.

The method is of particular interest to me because it looks to self-help techniques as a treatment as opposed to more traditional interventions.    But that is only part of MDT.  It is an overall system of assessment, classification and treatment (and prevention) for various different types of pain.  These include back pain, neck pain and leg joint pain.

From my reading of the method the objective is not to treat pain in localised areas but rather to treat the pain in the core back structure.

You can read up more about the exercise regime here http://www.mckenziemdt.org/approach.cfm?section=int.

That being said, as a picture is worth a thousand words, this video may also be of use http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKoJfjTL098

The technique is becoming more popular so we were wondering if you had used it.  It would be great if you could share your experiences of the McKenzie Method ®.   You may wish to think in terms of the following questions?

a)    Where was your pain and what was its cause?

b)  Did you try any treatments before the McKenzie Method ®?  How successful were they?

c)    How did you hear about the McKenzie Method ®?

d)  Tell us a bit more about the treatment process.  How effective was it?

e)   Overall how beneficial to you was the method?

Please feel free to use the comments box below to contribute any links and share your experiences.

Thanks in advance.