Neil Pearson on Building Hope and Recovery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIraNEW_gdA

I know I may have mentioned this once or twice before on my blog (or in like every post), but in case you missed it: Neil Pearson‘s work changed my life.

It all started when I met a physical therapist who had studied with Neil. This physical therapist opened my eyes to a relatively new approach to chronic pain treatment, called pain neurophysiology education. Ultimately, I was so inspired by what I learned that I began to consider physical therapy as a career.

I have written a lot on these experiences, and I always urge people to watch the three online lectures, given by Neil himself, that my physical therapist insisted I watch when I first began treatment with him.

For me, these lectures have always been a springboard– I come away wanting to know more.

Well, I was poking around on the Internet last night, and stumbled across this amazing webinar, Building Hope: The way through pain to self-management and recovery.  In this Neil Pearson discusses some new ideas and approaches to treatment that I hadn’t heard before.

The webinar itself is hosted by the Canadian Institute for the Relief of Pain and Disability, a really cool organization that’s worth checking out in its own right. They have a lot of great resources, and I love their compassionate, actively pro-patient stance. (Obviously, every organization tries to be “pro-patient,” but CIRPD really seems to get it right).

Here are some of the key points I’m taking away from this webinar:

1) Neuroplasticity means the nervous system can be changed, and if it can be changed one way (as in the case of chronic pain/central sensitization), it’s also possible to change it back.

2) Even just visualizing movement can help the nervous system inhibit its own pain signals. Research has established that exercise is a great way to stimulate your body’s own internal pain controls, but when the movement itself creates more pain, it can be counterproductive.

That is the beauty of just visualizing movement. As far as your brain is concerned, visualizing a movement is very, very similar to actually performing it.

As Neil explains at the 17:10 mark, visualization can actually help to stimulate the nervous system to inhibit pain. Over time, after you let your nervous system “practice” moving through visualization, you may find you have less pain when you actually go to move.

I think this is seriously SO cool. I can’t even find the words. It’s things like this that really inspire me to become a PT, and help people living with pain. (My takeaway: I want more information on this right now!!!).

3) You can help the nervous system block out pain signals by distracting it and giving it other information to process. You can use touch, or movement– even if it’s very very small movement.

4) Repetitive, rhythmic movements in particular can help to calm the nervous system by giving it something else to focus on other than pain. Rhythmic movements such as walking, breathing or even rhythmic gum chewing (what?!) have been shown to release more serotonin and help control pain.

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I just honestly can’t even tell you how inspiring I find all this stuff.

I am fortunate that, right now, I am mostly able to move without significant pain. (Due to my SI joint concerns, I do have to be cautious).

But it’s nothing like the place I used to be in. I can remember a time in my own life when even thinking about moving was terrifying. I just felt truly stuck– like my body was a jail.

I can also think of people I’ve met– through blogging, reading stories, as well as the patients I’ve met while shadowing physical therapists– who are in equally as much pain, and seem to be trapped within their bodies.

These are people who, through no fault of their own, are in too much pain to move. It’s not that they’re lazy; it’s not that they’re depressed. It’s not that they don’t want to get better.

It’s just the way the deck was stacked; the way the cookie crumbled.

They are in too much pain; their injuries are too great; their nervous systems too sensitized. Perhaps they are obese; perhaps there are multiple health conditions going on.

Whatever the reason– it is so amazing to know that there is a way to begin to help them, without requiring them to move before they are ready.

I want to help those people. I want to be that physical therapist that comes in and helps the hard cases, the ones other medical professionals may have secretly labeled impossible. I want to sit with those people, and look them in the eye, and tell them that there is a way out of this.

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I hope that you enjoy the video, and that you will also check out more from CIRPD and Neil Pearson. The webinar was also co-sponsored by the Canadian Pain Coalition and Pain BC— two additional groups with a lot to offer (why does Canada have all the cool organizations?). I could say more about how cool they are… but that will have to wait for another post.

I hope you are as inspired as I am! As always, don’t hesitate to let me know what you think!