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MY APPROACH

I will coach you to understand and manage your recovery.

 

At the first consultation, I help you by:

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  1. Working out if I can help you and if you can work with me.

  2. Listening to you, you have the answers, I help you work them out.

  3. Using a scientific evidenced-based approach to assess the physical tissue-based, psychological and social factors and causes in your pain.

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This is called a bio psycho social approach and those 3 factors are involved in varying degrees in all pain.

At follow up consultations, I help you by:

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1. Implementing your management plan until you achieve your goals.

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Image by Alexander Redl

TREATMENT STRATEGIES

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  1. Educating you on your diagnosis, its causes and prognosis; and the plan to fix it. I will help you to understand why you have pain and all the factors that contribute to it. This is important in putting in charge of the problem so that you can proceed with your plan realistically, positively and confidently.

  2. Educating you on how pain works. It can be important for you to learn the science of how pain works, and the changes that occur when pain goes on for a long time, and why these changes happen. Again, this is to put you in control and to understand on how to get yourself better.

  3. “Hands-on” treatment. This can include massage of key muscles and also specific techniques on joints. There is clinical and research evidence to support the use of these techniques in acute pain and for certain conditions, however it’s effect is often temporary. So therefore, if I use these techniques it will be to make you more comfortable to do the more important parts of your plan which includes getting moving, resuming normal activity and practising your specific exercises.

  4. Advising you on how to go back to normal life activities e.g. work, housework, exercise, hobbies. Advising you on what and how much you can do and how to review and progress it. Very often, you can resume activities sooner than you would have expected.

  5. Advising you on your habits that can help with your pain or injury e.g. taking breaks and moving with office work, managing strenuous work and house jobs, warm-up before  and recovery practices after sport/exercise.

  6. Movement and task/skill re-learning. If your pain is aggravated by a specific activity or range of activities, and I have assessed that your movement patterns are an issue, then I will teach you a program that is specific to you. This program will be unique to your pain, confidence, fitness, strength and skill levels. This can include simple movements and positions, and specific tasks or skills e.g. sitting, getting up from a chair, standing, bending, lifting, working on a laptop/desktop computer, any specific work or sport/exercise task. These exercises will be specific to your goals, and I will show you how to use them during your normal daily activities. This will make movement less painful and give you confidence to do the “all important” getting back to normal activity as soon as is safely possible. This will really make you feel in charge and in control.

  7. A progressive program of strengthening, flexibility, co-ordination and balance exercises targeted to your specific problem/injury. 

  8. Working and communicating with other health professionals, family members or relevant people if it is required for you to get the best outcome. Your consent will be needed if this is required.

  9. Addressing key lifestyle factors that impact pain and recovery  

a. sleep habits.

b. stress management and mental health.

c. healthy eating and weight loss. 

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These can be crucial issues, and here, with your consent, I may have to work with your GP and any other existing health professionals that you may be already working with, or you may need to a referral to an appropriate health professional.

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