Chronic pain = Long Lasting, Persistent Pain Having chronic
pain is different to having short term pain. Because chronic
pain is different, so are we. We are
physiotherapists with special training and experience in working with people with
persistent pain. Chronic
pain
can affect all parts of your life, and can result in you giving up what
is important to you. Our aim is to enable you to live your life to the
full. We
look at you as a whole person. We focus on helping you do what you want
and
need to do. |
Assessment and TreatmentAs chronic pain is complicated and we are working on the 'whole picture',
our appointments
are longer than usual.
We will look at:
• What is contributing to your pain, and what can be done about this.
• Your goals and what is important to you
• How pain is affecting your life – your activities, moods, sleep, sport and work.
• What you are already doing to cope and to help yourself.
• Your flexibility, strength and how you move.
• What treatments you have already tried: what helped and what didn’t.
From
this detailed assessment, we develop a treatment plan fitted to your
needs. You will learn skills which will help you to live better with
your pain, be active in the ways important to you, and become more
independent.
Treatment focus:
• Understanding pain: why you have pain now, why it behaves as it does, how to
make sense of pain.
• Exploring and practicing ways to be active with your pain.
• Using your mind to help you.
• Sleep
• Exercises & stretches –
o to improve strength and fitness
o to increase your ability to function and do what you want to do
o to improve the co-ordination of your muscles to support your body and
allow you to move better
• Dealing with flare ups of pain. |
ExerciseActivity is an important part of life, and of managing pain.
Some people with persistent pain have managed to stay very fit and active and want help to maintain that.
Most
people with chronic pain have reduced what they do because of pain
and given up activities valuable to them. Exercise and building up
activity is necessary to get back to what you want to do.
Movement, strengthening and stretching may also be beneficial in
reducing your pain.
BUT
Many people with persistent pain are worried by exercise. We understand that doing too
much, too early leads to more pain, less sleep, low mood, more rest
and, eventually, to giving up.
We will explore what activities and exercise are important to you, and the ways in which you can engage in them.
We will show you how to start gently,
and build slowly so that you actually GET to where you want to go without flaring
up your pain.
DO IT
SMARTER
Learning
different ways to be active
can also help. These include swapping between activities, using
different positions and timing your activity and breaks. You
may be someone who doesn't need to do more as you already do enough. Do
you pay a high price in pain? Learning techniques to do it smarter can
help.
Hands-On PhysiotherapyMany people with persistent pain find hands-on
physio techniques very painful. Hands-on physiotherapy is often not necessary. Let us know if you have any particular concerns. |
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Hours
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
9:00 am to 5:30 pm
Friday
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
out of hours appointments may be arranged.
________
Appointments
Appointments are around 1 hour in length.
This can be altered depending on your needs
________
We accept
Credit Cards
EFTPOS
Workers Compensation
MAIB
DVA
Medicare (Chronic Disease Management plans)
and
Direct Private Health Insurance payments through
_______
Referral
if
you are under Workers Compensation, MAIB, DVA or a Chronic Disease Management Plan,
a referral from your Medical Practitioner is required .
Otherwise
you do not need a medical referral
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