News and Events

The Building Hope webinar with Neil Pearson kicked off our webinar series with style! The response to the webinar was positive and encouraging. The recording of the webinar is available to view for free. Please pass it on to anyone who may need some hope in their journey with chronic pain.

A few resources mentioned in Neil's presentation:

• Online Mirror-box tool through NOI Group
• The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, MD
• Research review on rhythmic gum chewing for pain supression.
• A pain program with lower wait periods - Vancouver Island Pain Program

Co-sponsor and Speaker Websites:

• Pain BC
• Canadian Pain Coalition
• Life is Now

In addition to the positive responses, there were some great questions that were submitted to Neil during our Q&A time. Due to time constraints he couldn't answer them all. We are posting the remaining questions here with answers from Neil as well as some of our co-sponsors.

Repeated - rhythmic motion 

Q. Neil mentioned repeated motion yet it is repeated motion that sets off Fibromyalgia flare-ups. Any comment?

A. from Neil Pearson - This is a great question!!! It gets to the basic point that all pain is not the same. The research indicates that in those without chronic pain, rhythmic movements lasting  longer than 4 minutes can facilitate the production and release of  serotonin, which then acts as a descending inhibitory mechanism…it blocks danger signals coming up the spinal cord. For many people with chronic pain conditions, gentle small rhythmic movements decrease pain – even the rocking we do, and the joint mobilizations done by physios are taking advantage of this. However, the nervous systems have the ability to become hypersensitive or to misinterpret any input as being dangerous. Often we see this in people with fibromyalgia and with  complex regional pain syndrome.
It is also important to consider whether the flare-ups occur in relation to repeated motion in which the individual is using the  strategy of doing one’s best to ignore the body and the pain while  trying to be more active. In this case, it may be the ignoring that is equally at fault as the repeated motion. I know it is more complex than this, but the system doesn’t need to scream if we listen to it whisper.
Practising being tough may allow the nervous systems to practise screaming. So one’s strength at pushing through the pain may not be serving you in the face of a hypersensitive nervous system. Somehow we need to find the middle road – challenge the pain but not too much!

Q. Tell me more about rhythmic gum chewing.  Did Neil say that even chewing gum increases seratonin?

A. from Neil Pearson - Yes the researchers showed that rhythmic gum chewing(chewing to a mentronome) longer than 4  minutes in people who do not have chronic pain, increased the descending  inhibition of serotonin. For a more detailed analysis of the research, see Neil's research review.

Yoga therapy

Q. Being in pain is extremely expensive - currently i have no funds for physio, yoga or therapy of any kind. Anything I do now must be self-taught. Can yoga be done on my own at home?

A. from Neil Pearson - Yes, yoga can be done at home. As with all these interventions, having the guidance of a teacher helps, but that does not mean there is no benefit otherwise. Sometimes libraries will have videos that can be loaned, and some yoga teachers will be open to offering free classes or  free/loaner videos to those who have an obvious desire to learn. There are also many many free resources on the internet teaching the breathing and meditative aspects of yoga. Just remember to try the technique and evaluate how it affects you. If it does not feel right, it may not be. If it does not produce a positive impact within 4 weeks of daily practice, try another technique.

Q. Yay Yoga! Is there a particular kind of yoga that works best for people living with chronic pain?

A. from Neil Pearson - The type of Yoga is very individual. I generally suggest gentle Yoga  postures, but sometimes people do better with more energetic or with restorative (minimal movement) Yoga practice. You need to be a consumer. Look around for Yoga classes, and see if you can meet or talk to the  Yoga teacher. Also, know that Yoga practices include many things beyond the physical postures of yoga, including Karma Yoga (service to others), or Bhakti Yoga (including singing and chanting). Yoga is many paths to finding peace. You need to find your way.

Q. Would it be possible to get links to the Yoga Research? – Have some links to articles below from Pubmed. Do you have others?

A. from CIRPD - Neil has a variety of research information and research-based resources on yoga for chronic pain on his resource page on his site. We also provide some research-based resources on yoga and other forms of physical activity that can help in treating chronic pain.

Q. My physio says I should no t rotate, flex or extend due to my spinal injury. Can I still do yoga? If so, how?

A. from Neil Pearson - You can most definitely do Yoga, because Yoga is so much more than moving the body. I would suggest getting another opinion if anyone says you should not rotate, flex or extend your spine at all. Limiting movement may be wise depending on the situation, but no movement at all makes me wonder about how you could even get in and out of bed, and whether your body is that fragile, and if you really need to be that afraid of moving. It’s possible they were not clear, or you misunderstood, and although the probability is low for most back conditions it is possible that this exactly the right advice.

Other

Q. Do you find that the health care community as a whole has universally accepted the idea of neuroplasticity? 

A. from Neil Pearson - No, there are many people who do not accept that pain is changeable. It may be lack of knowledge or it may be holding on to dogma, or it could be that when we don’t think it is possible this impacts our patients’ outcomes.

Q. What stress management techniques do you teach to clients? 

A. from Neil Pearson - Stress management is huge and there are a variety of options. The best are related to breathing, relaxation, body awareness and biofeedback. Further Resources

Q. I do a combination of biofeedback training with autogenic training for chronic pain patients and find two things: it helps reduce stress levels and improves sleep quality.  Comments?

A. from Neil Pearson - Working with biofeedback and stress responses is so important as one factor to assist some people in pain. We know self-management is the key for most people, however often there is a need for assistance to get to the place where we can do it ourselves, and in the face of severe ongoing pain, guidance may be the only thing that provides decent non-phrmacological pain relief.

Q. If someone is depressed and has long-term chronic pain being treated with medication, what would the first thing you would recommend as a course of action for family supporters - eg. counselling?

A. from Pain BC - Our recommendation would be to participate in a Chronic Pain Self Management or Living with a Chronic Condition workshop. These are available online or in group format in communities throughout BC. This is a program paid for by the BC gov't. The toll free # is 1-866-902-3767.
Individual or family/couples counselling is also a good option.
CIRPD also provides further self-management information and resources.

Q. How do you determine your baseline?

A. from Pain BC - By what you can do on a regular day/bad day/good day. Function is key.

Q. Any research on the benefits of EMDR and chronic pain?

A. from Pain BC - Not aware of any.