Are you feeling bad, mad, or sad? ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, and just as important is knowing what you are feeling and being able to articulate them. Not knowing is called alexithymia, which means an inability to describe our own emotions. It can also be associated with difficulty with identifying different types of emotions. Critically notContinue reading “Bad, Mad, Sad”
Tag Archives: chronic pain
Podcast: how the brain influences pain and other musings
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. ย
Dietary relief for arthritis & musculoskeletal pain
Thereโs a ton of ideas floating around social media about the best diet for chronic health issues. Some have research to back them up, many donโt. So, when I read this recent paper reviewing the studies that found positive effects of dietary changes on pain intensity in musculoskeletal pain (MSK) I was one happy practitioner!Continue reading “Dietary relief for arthritis & musculoskeletal pain”
Relief with opioid discontinuation
Managing persistent or chronic pain is complex. Frequently there is a lack of objective reason for persistent pain yet it is real, personal and subjective and people with persistent pain are of then desperately seeking effective pain relief. I recently attended an โExplain Painโ course in Cairns (which was lovely and warm), which looks atContinue reading “Relief with opioid discontinuation”
You are what you eat in chronic pain
Over the last decade we have seen a flood of evidence linking a poor diet with chronic health conditions. But what about chronic pain? Until recently the role of diet in relation to chronic pain in most areas has been marginalised particularly when it comes to treatment strategy. However, we are now seeing some directlyContinue reading “You are what you eat in chronic pain”
Holistic Pain Management Podcast 2
This podcast is a follow up to Holistic Pain Management Part 1 and in it Andrew Whitfield-Cook and I discuss some of the treatment strategies that are employed as part of a holistic approach to chronic pain. Holistic Pain Management Part 2 From FxMedicine: “Chronic Pain affects around 15-20% of the population, with huge monetaryContinue reading “Holistic Pain Management Podcast 2”
Negative expectations of pain
It might surprise you (or not!) to know that I was the only nutritionist/naturopath at the recent Australian Pain Society conference. The attendees were largely made up of pain researchers, physiotherapists and psychologists with some GPs thrown in to the mix. The attendees were representative of the biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain and accordingly withinContinue reading “Negative expectations of pain”
Sleep Deprivation & Chronic Pain
In this podcast with Audra Starkey aka The Healthy Shift Worker I talk about how chronic pain is essentially an oversensitive nervous system response. I also discuss how sleep and pain are bio-directional, meaning pain can disturb our sleep and vice versa, along with the correlation between lower back and low vitamin D levels. ThanksContinue reading “Sleep Deprivation & Chronic Pain”