Holistic Pain Management - Part 1

In this podcast I discuss the origins and assessment of chronic pain with Andrew Whitfield-Cook. It was important for me to get across that chronic pain persists for reasons beyond peripheral input. While that may be part of the issue, or even the origin, the reason chronic pain persists is about a myriad of factors including central nervous system input, neuro-inflammation, attention, beliefs, emotions, lack of human connection to name a few. This podcast discusses some of these factors.

Read on for the transcript, Part 1.

Covered in this episode:

What is the societal burden of pain, Contributors to pain mismanagement, How should pain be assessed, What actually is pain, Theories of pain, Factors influencing pain perception, Why medical care misses the mark, Holistic approaches to care.

Podcast - how pain influences the brain

In this podcast with Daniel Roytas I talk about pain management from a holistic perspective and consider the importance of a biopsychosocial approach to pain. We also talk about how the brain plays a major role in pain perception.

A holistic approach to chronic pain

An article in the Australian Pain Newsletter by pain specialist Dr Chris Hayes (2016) really stood out to me recently as it emphasises the necessity for a holistic approach to the management of chronic non-cancer pain. The biopsychosocial model is widely accepted as the predominant framework for understanding the experience of chronic pain and its negative consequences, and is supported by a large body of research. The model takes a broad and holistic view of the factors that contribute to chronic pain and the interaction of biological (genetic, biochemical, trauma), psychological (mood, behaviour) and social factors (familial, medical, work place etc) and was developed to counter the biomedical model, which suggests that disease is the result of only biological factors.