Pain Education

Pain education can assist people to understand how and why pain occurs and the specific factors that influence their pain levels. This can assist people in gaining a sense of control over their lives and reduced perception of disability.                                                                                                                                                                               

We promote an active approach to pain management, incorporating a graduated approach to increasing movement and cognitive strategies to minimise flare ups and maximise participation in daily life activities. Most participants notice an increase in function and decrease in overall pain levels as they learn to use active pain management strategies.

We provide our Pain Education programs individually, with 1:1 meetings with one of our Injury Management Consultants. Our consultants keep up to date with the latest research, and utilise resources such as ‘Explain Pain’ and ‘Protectometer’ in addition to a range of video and multimedia resources with clients.

For additional information on some of the resources we commonly use, see our Pain Education resources.

Sessions are tailored to the individual, however generally include information on:

• The purpose and function of pain – pain as the brain’s response to perceived threat;
• DIMs and SIMs – Danger signals and Safety signals – how to identify them and utilise this to reduce pain to a manageable level
• Sleep – particularly the relationship between poor sleep and increased pain, and practical strategies to improve sleep patterns;
• Stress – the impact of increased stress on a person’s experience of pain, and a variety of strategies to reduce stress;
• Healthy lifestyle – the importance of healthy diet and exercise;
• Neuroplasticity and retraining the brain.