I suffer from the beast that is ATN and I started the pain management course, 3 weeks, at the pain managment clinic at my local hospital. Have any of you tried such a course ?
I have to try and keep an open mind when going into the course but its hard to imagine how much of an effect it will have on it as most of you know how powerful the infliction can be.
The idea behind the course is a holistic approach so they have physio, psych's, nutritionist, nurses, occupational therapist,... etc. What they are saying that pay is not only pain at the area of locality but also there is a neurological component to pain. For example people who loose a limb who still have pain from that limb even though it isnt there... Or some one who has such intense pain in a limb that they ask for it to be amputated and the pain doesnt go away even though the limb is gone. This shows that we develop neural pathways from that the pain that get used when they shouldnt be used. Part of the course will be to try and teach the brain that is now ok to do some more things...
There is also a large exercise component to the course and i must admist after the 1 hour of stretching from yesterday catered directly for me I did feel some improvement in mood. We dont notice but we slouch, we protect ourselves by pulling in, and this all can lead to you developing areas of tightness in the muscles surrounding our trigeminal nerve and can inherently increase the pain...
Its only been one day but i think the team is very professional and has got me thinking that I may be able to improve my situation. Certainly not cure my ATN but maybe make things better.
Its not specified for ATN ... its a Pain management course, I should specify... but the staff are aware if my issues and there is a lot of one on one time and they cater it individually. In my group there are 6 people one of who suffers from facial pain, similar to mine. Another with athritis, one with a shoulder that fell asleep after she fell... one with 24/7 migraines and the other has issues in his back ... the other half of the class (6 people do different things to us and are all back injuries).
The course is at my local hopsital in brisbane, australia elaine... but pain management courses are all over the world.
Thanks for everyones responses :D We can only keep trying new things ... cant we
I'd like to hear more Luke! The slouching discussion seems like it would be very interest to explore further as it has both mental and physical aspects.
1st week over ! I've found that the course is a compliment of 2 things... 1 educating you about the body and pain... 2 getting your body moving
The mentality used to be rest and recovery to heal.. But the new way of things is that you need to get the body moving and going for it to repair... if you sit around all day you will find that muscles wont get used and can deteriorate for example... and this can be a downward spiral throughout your body. The stretching and exercise program ive been placed on is something that i will continue for months and a may not notice changes for weeks im told...
Below i have scanned my timetable so that you may see what im doing.. there are lectures each day, about 3 or so and gym and floor exercises, also hydrotherapy. for example lectures on posture, body mechanics, pain management .. Its a lot of hard work but has been great to go through this with other people at the clinic and the staff are fantastic... :-) im very hopeful i can improve my situation
End of week 2 for me and im feeling a lot more confident in what im capable of and generally more engaged in my life. You come home exhausted each day but the benefits from this course have been immeasurable. Obviously it hasnt been a cure for ATN but it has given me hope and given me the tools to manage my pain so that I can get back into life. Its a lot of hard work but the good things are hard work !
I recommend a course like this to anyone with chronic pain. Im now setting goals and trying a lot harder to engage in life around me.
I am so excited for you Luke! I can feel the positive energy jumping out of your words on the page. I am sure you may experience a 'cooling off' period after the course is complete but if you do - come back to these posts and remind yourself how positive you felt. Jump back on the wagon and get going again!
Luke gives us all a good message: "ENGAGE IN LIFE AROUND ME". Somedays that's next to impossible to do, but I guess we should give it shot once in a while!
Im so glad i wrote down here what my expectations were before i started as i just re-read them and I can now see how much ive changed in such a short period of time.
The course has helped me in so many ways. Improvements include; posture, attitude, understanding of pain, I have a daily stretching program, an exercise program, a trigger point therapy plan, understanding of diets impact, knowledge of the limbic system, clearer head, pain decrease of 5% so far, goals, my walk is more upright... and these are just the ones off the top of my head...
Its amazing how many things impact our pain and sitting at home will not improve your situation, it will only make it worse (in most cases). Ive seen improvement in all 6 of my fellow enrollees from loss of neck head ache to improved movement in a shoulder joint. Everyone was more social and had a lot more hope for the future at the end of the 3 weeks and realised today was the first day of the rest of their lives. We had a mix of ages from 16-65 so dont be discouraged by age or gender if you are considering a course like this.
Thanks for posting this, I'll be looking forward to future updates. I'm glad to read that it's improved your sense of well-being, have you noticed any patterns in terms of reduction of the specific ATN pain itself; or is this philosophy more about how to better deal with the pain that exists?
Either way, I'm going to use your experiences to help shape my approach, so again, thanks so much for sharing.
@ wrigley- I'd say i've had about a 5% reduction in my ATN pain but as you know with this pain it is hard to tell. The philosophy involved is such that you adopt strategies into your lifestyle so that you end up with less flare ups. Look into something called "the gate pain theory" and "the limbic system" to start you off. But ive also incorporated "mindfulness" and "progressive muscle relaxation" methods which are two relaxation techniques you can do at home. these are techniques intended to be done at times when your pain isnt intense or at its worst, rather at times when it is mid-low.
@crystal- Thanks ! I will keep it up, Some of the group and I have exchanged details are messaging one another to motivate one another :-)
@kwebster- Hi :-) I actually found out such a program through my neurologist. He is actually the neuro that sees you once a week whilst you are at the clinic, and yes mine was at a private hospital and covered by health insurance so the whole course was free $$ for me. BUT I remember being urged to do such a course from G.P. Doctors in the past and had never had the opportunity.
So you could ask your GP, your neurologist or at the hospitals :-) hope you find one
For those of you who wont make it a pain management course, I think its extremely beneficial even if you were to do these stretches each day... This is 1 of 4 pages of stretches I have. This one focuses on muscles surrounding our trigeminal and it will make you feel so much better... :) There is also Stability exercises... and mid to lower body exercises .. but this page is probably the most important for us ... !!!
