Today we continue our focus on National Pain Week. Prue Butler, Physiotherapist at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and member of our Statewide Persistent Pain Management Clinical Network explains a little more about persistent pain management in Queensland.
- What do the persistent pain clinics offer?
There are six persistent pain clinics associated with Queensland Health: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, the Professor Tess Crammond Pain Clinic, Townsville Hospital, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital. Persistent Pain Management Services provide support, education and multidisciplinary therapy for those with persistent pain, with the ultimate goal of patient self-management. They are interested in understanding a patient's pain and how it works, and are specialists in sorting out pain that may have been unexplained for some time.
- What healthcare specialties work in a pain clinic and how can they help my patient?
Who a patient sees depends largely on their pain experience and what their needs are. Our current understanding of pain is that it has many causes and often the cause isn't a particular 'part' of the body. Pain is the response your brain has when it feels you need to protect your body. What works for one person for pain may not work for another. The professionals that may work with a pain patient include:
- occupational therapists assist with pacing, managing/preventing flare ups of pain, returning to work and leisure activities and equipment needs
- doctors assist with medical interventions if required
- pharmacists work to optimise medications
- physiotherapists work out ways to move with less pain
- psychologists help patients to understand how thoughts and feelings may be contributing to the pain experience.
- What kind of patients should attend a pain clinic?
Generally people who have had pain lasting for more than three months where the original injury or surgical site seems to have healed but is still painful and affecting a person's ability to enjoy life. There may be a waiting period before an appointment at a Persistent Pain Clinic becomes available. Patients should maintain regular contact with their GP as they should be the constant health professional throughout the pain journey.
For more information on persistent pain in Queensland, visit the network's website.
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