Incomplete Nature (2012) is a bold attempt at a naturalistic account of sentience, emotion, pain, values and meaning - phenomena that are generally not easy to get a handle on in the natural sciences. Deacon is carefully and sensibly trying to build a bridge between physics, biology, the social sciences, and philosophy. The book has been generally greeted with acclaim by the philosophical community and marks a profound shift in thinking that in magnitude has been compared to the shift followed upon the works of Darwin and Einstein. I have for 10-15 years been interested in making sense of pain and suffering and my own role in navigating this muddy landscape together with my patients. Pain … [Read more...] about Adam Bjerre – Incomplete nature – 30DoS #21
Exhibiting Pain: Interpretations of creative representations of life with persistent physical pain
The contents of this post were originally distributed by our friends at ISCHP If you are interested in how an invisible condition can be made visible through creativity, please visit one of the Exhibiting Pain Galleries. In this PhD project, creative representations of living with long-term physical pain are being exhibited to share the creators' experience of their condition. Please see the sites for further information and for the exhibitions: WordPress Blog site, where comments can be given via a Visitor Feedback Form. Or on our Facebook page. Further information about the research can be found on the exhibition sites but you are also welcome to contact me … [Read more...] about Exhibiting Pain: Interpretations of creative representations of life with persistent physical pain
Half the pain, half the gain
The subject of pain features quite a lot in these blogposts (see here, or here, for example). Not because the members of the CPN are particularly expert in matters pertaining to pain, or because its of any more clinical interest than, say, cerebral palsy. Pain is interesting, I think, partly because it's become such a popular subject in the profession, and members of the CPN are prone to asking questions like 'why this, why now?' In recent weeks a few social media feeds have explored, once again, how we might better understand pain, and improve on our assessment and treatment techniques. I've been struck by how almost all of these conversations are prefaced on the idea that pain is … [Read more...] about Half the pain, half the gain
More on the measurement of pain
Neil Maltby's excellent blogpost yesterday (Algorithm is going to get you) was a refreshing reminder of some of the odd things we do in the name of science-based physiotherapy. Neil's post was about how we look for pseudo-scientific measurement of things that otherwise can't (and shouldn't) be measured. I've blogged about this before (see here, for example), and complained bitterly about our lack of sophistication when it comes to subjective phenomena like breathlessness, pain, loss (of functional ability), etc., that are the bread-and-butter of everyday life for working physiotherapists. No-one ever wakes up in the morning with a bad headache and says "Wow, I've got a really bad … [Read more...] about More on the measurement of pain
Translating pain (reblog)
This blogpost was published recently on noijam.com and I thought it might be interesting to point people to it. Seamus Barker is a physiotherapist who also completed a BA in Social Theory and Literature. Seamus uses critical theory and continental philosophy in his work and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Sydney's Centre for Values, Ethics, and the Law in Medicine. Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at a conference at Monash University in Australia, convened in partnership with Warwick University in the UK, entitled Translating Pain: an International Forum on Text, Language and Suffering. One of the central questions asked by the conference was whether … [Read more...] about Translating pain (reblog)
Por qué el dolor , por qué ahora?
Por qué el dolor , por qué ahora? He estado desconcertado durante algún tiempo con por qué es que el dolor crónico parece estar tanto en el enfoque de los fisioterapeutas en este momento. Durante muchos años, el dolor crónico residía junto con la depresión, la enfermedad reumatoide y la parálisis cerebral como uno de los muchos desordenes y síndromes llamados “cenicienta” que los fisioterapeutas en el sistema público soportaron (aunque con poco remedio para ellos), y aquellos que están en el sistema privado consintieron, cada vez que alguien podía permitirse el lujo de pagar por el tratamiento que era largo y, a lo mejor ligeramente efectivo. Luego, hace unos años, la gente como David … [Read more...] about Por qué el dolor , por qué ahora?
Why pain? Why now?
I've been puzzling for some time why it is that chronic pain seems to be so much in focus for physiotherapists at the moment. For many years, chronic pain resided along with depression, rheumatoid disease and cerebral palsy as one of the many 'Cinderella' disorders and syndromes that physiotherapists in the public system endured (though had little remedy for), and those in the private system indulged, whenever someone could afford to pay for the treatment which was lengthy and, at best, marginally effective. Then, a few years ago, people like David Butler, Louis Gifford and Lorimer Moseley began writing about the neuroscience of pain and it seemed practitioners began to … [Read more...] about Why pain? Why now?