Derek Griffin specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist with expertise in chronic pain disorders is talking about chronic pain and how pain is understood on both an individual and societal level.
There are many factors that influence an individual’s experience of pain and Derek explains the importance of listening to the patient and bringing understanding to the narrative.
Everyone will seek to make sense of their pain and understanding the many factors that interact to not only influence the pain but determine the response can help in the management and treatment of individuals.
We are subject to many societal beliefs about back pain from early on in our lives but the narrative can be changed if we are prepared to listen.
 
KEY TAKEAWAYS

Chronic pain is an umbrella term for a number of conditions so it’s important to recognise each individual and their story.
Pain is a societal problem and people have beliefs about pain whether they are suffering it or not. Its widely believed that pain equals damage to tissues resulting in pain but there is not a 1 to 1 relationship between pain and damage.
There are many factors that influence an individual’s experience of pain
You can have damage and not have pain and also have pain without any obvious injury.
There is a huge interaction between our beliefs, behaviours, how we cope with pain and how the nervous and immune systems respond which influence pain and its persistency
If you can link key concepts to the patient’s story you can help them to reflect.
Even when you can’t change someone’s life there are ways to help them improve their coping mechanisms.
There has to be a blame-free narrative and there are many things are involved in the experience of pain.
It’s always about listening to the individual and their story.
There are lots of reasons around the societal beliefs about back pain and how it persists but it about shifting the beliefs at a population level to make change

 
BEST MOMENTS
‘No activity is too little’
‘It’s human nature to try and attribute something to a particular event because it brings control’
‘It’s about changing the narrative of pain’
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Back Pain PodcastFree Sciatica guide: www.thebackpainpodcast.com 
Derek Griffin Twitter
Derekgriffinphysio@gmail.com
 
ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dave ElliotDave is the owner of Advanced Chiropractic, a chain of Chiropractic and massage therapy clinics in Essex, UK. Dave still sees patients during the week but has been working hard to talk to as many experts in the field of back pain as possible to help distil all the information and bring it to you in this awesome podcast. You can find Dave on any of the Advanced Chiropractic social media platforms, or you can contact him @ hello@thebackpainpodcast.com if you have any questions for him.-Instagram
 
Rob BeavenRob owns and runs a multidisciplinary clinic, The Dyer St Clinic in Cirencester Gloucestershire. His team of Chiropractors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, Doctors and podiatrists all collaborate on thousands of back pain patients every year. Alongside Dave, he has worked hard to bring to the table experts across all industries to give you the low down on back pain, with steps you can implement today to start feeling better.-Instagram -Twitter
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