Chronic pain affects more than 3.6 million Australians and is a leading cause of disability. Up to 68% of people who suffer from chronic pain are of working age, with 40% of those retiring early due to this pain. It is ubiquitous in our current health landscape and is a difficult task to manage without the tools and knowledge in understanding both the mechanisms of action and the symptoms surrounding chronic pain and inflammation, alongside managing your patient’s preconceptions, expectations and results on their pain journey.

Professor Lesley Braun is joined by our four Ambassadors to gain their four modality-specific perspectives on chronic pain and inflammation. In part one Dr. Adrian Lopresti describes the bi-directional relationship between chronic pain and mental health. Emma Sutherland helps us understand the fragility of these patient’s and how to skilfully work with them. Lisa Costa-Bir’s naturopathic perspective brings us back to square one – Tolle causam – where she focuses on understanding the root cause, and Dr. Michelle Woolhouse takes us through the role of inflammation and the markers she uses to when treating patients who are chronically inflamed and in pain.



COVERED IN THIS EPISODE
[00:50] Welcoming the Ambassadors and introducing today’s topic
[03:25] Understanding the purpose and origins of pain
[05:59] Timeframes for resolving acute and chronic pain
[08:08] Neuropathic pain and why it’s different
[09:11] understanding pain from a naturopathic perspective
[10:32] When pain presents in other ways
[13:46] How to talk to the patient who has tried everything but is still in pain
[15:30] Connections between pain perception and mental health
[18:08] Effects of pain on anxiety and lifestyle
[20:49] The role of inflammation in pain
[24:08] pathology and functional testing
[28:40] resolving inflammation vs reducing inflammation
[30:12] Risks associated with untreated pain and inflammation
[32:27] Exploring stigmas of pain and unseen chronic conditions
[36:07] Loneliness is connected to poor health and increased inflammation
[38:12] Reframing our perceptions of pain
[40:44] Thanking the ambassadors and closing remarks

Find today's transcript and show notes here: https://www.fxmedicine.com.au/podcast...

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