Chronic or long-standing pain commonly occurs because a person has had a change in their health by a mechanical, physiological or traumatic event. Sometimes the events occur immediately and other times it creeps insidiously upon us over time. As a result, if the problem doesn’t get addressed appropriately by a pain management specialist in the acute (early) stage, then we tend to find the pain or condition becomes almost part of what our body and mind expects as normal behaviour.
Chronic pain can be dull, sharp or throbbing pain. Sometimes it may be there intermittently and other times people may feel this pain all the time. Chronic pain is not limited to one area of the body and can cascade to other unaffected areas of the body if left untreated. Unfortunately, many people contact pain management clinics when the pain is already spreading.
Breaking the mould of “normal” or expected pain is the most common thing that gets left behind when addressing chronic pain treatment options with patients in pain management clinics. Altering the nervous system’s ability to read and react to pain is something at Melbourne Sports Podiatry we look at doing effective immediately to break the mould of long-standing pain.
Our pain management specialists can do this through a number of interventions whether it be by an external stimulus, sensory feedback exercises, offloading devices or altered routines and movement patterns created by us to alter and change your response to chronic pain symptoms. Once we can alter the bodies now normalised response to chronic pain, we can look to implement more conventional treatment options.
At Melbourne Sports Podiatry we encourage our patients every step of the way. Each MSP pain management specialist gets that chronic pain is a burden and most likely affects your day to day life. Hence your journey to return to your best function always starts with a transparent conversation, thorough assessment and clear education alongside treatment.