The room was full of people all with different conditions and degrees of disability. There were two professionals who took the session, Physiotherapist and a Psychologist. The session was divided into two parts the first half the Physiotherapist spoke about pain from a medical point of view discussing the anatomy and physiology aspect and the difference between acute and chronic pain. The second half the Psychologist talked about what impact pain has on our emotions, family, work etc.
We were encouraged to move about as much as we needed in order to be comfortable, they even had mats if we wanted to lye down, and they even had a timer set for them to change positions regularly, which was the first time I had seen this in a session. I needed to get up from my wheelchair a lot as I get stiff but didnt feel embarrassed.
Both speakers were excellent and gave you a really good understanding about pain from both sides, they said it was a 'self management' programme where you are taught new skills to help reduce the effect of pain on your life, it will not take away your pain but help you manage it better, you need to be able to attend all sessions of the programme and carrying out tasks at home in between the sessions, some people will find this physically and emotionally demanding, the team will help you manage these if they arise they encourage you to turn up when having a flare-up even if you can only stay for a short time as they can help you through it. You will have a one-one session with a member from the team who will discuss with you whether the programme is suitable based on your current situation, it might be that you want to delay starting until later when you feel more ready. There is a waiting list so not sure when I will receive my appointment for my one-one session. If the programme is not suitable you can have individual psychology sessions, physio, pain med and medical interventions instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment