18 Jul Who to See for Chronic Pain Help

This article was contributed and written by Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Accredited Exercise Scientist, Ashlie Boots.

If you’re experiencing chronic or persistent pain, you’re not alone. 22-28 July 2024 is National Pain Week in Australia!

According to Chronic Pain Australia, there are over 3.6 million people affected by chronic pain in Australia and it is the leading cause of disability in our country. But here’s the good news: exercise can be a powerful tool in reducing the impact of chronic pain on one’s health and wellbeing.

WHAT IS CHRONIC PAIN?

Pain is an unpleasant response to a perceived or actual threat to the body. Pain is often labelled as ‘chronic’ once the duration of symptoms has exceeded the expected tissue healing timeframe or once it has persisted for longer than 3 months (depending on the definition used). Chronic pain is a complex and multifactorial condition, involving a mix of biological, social, and psychological contributors to one’s experience.

Living with persistent pain can negatively impact one’s quality of life and ability to participate in daily tasks. In addition, people with chronic pain are more likely to experience mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, fatigue, and disrupted sleep, (which, when not managed, can intensify the pain experience).

WHO DO I TURN TO FOR CHRONIC PAIN HELP AND SUPPORT?

If you suffer from chronic or persistent pain, it’s good to have a team of health professionals and communities there for you for any support you may need, including GPs, support groups, physios and exercise professionals like Accredited Exercise Physiologists.

To help manage your pain through exercise, it’s best to connect with an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) for long-term support and ongoing pain management. AEPs are claimable under Medicare in Australia if you have a GP referral, and many private health insurers cover exercise physiology rebates as well. You can find your local exercise professional here.

Let’s look at how exercise helps manage pain and why exercise physiology services for chronic pain shouldn’t be overlooked…

HOW CAN EXERCISE HELP WITH MANAGING PAIN?

Exercise is supported by a multitude of studies to be an effective method of treatment for chronic pain. Exercise has the capacity to elicit a number of positive changes in the body, brain and nervous system, resulting in improved physical and psychological wellbeing.

Outcomes of engaging in regular exercise include the following:

• Improved sleep: Research shows that regular participation in exercise can improve sleep quality and duration. Evidence supports the existence of a reciprocal relationship between sleep and pain, meaning that those who sleep better will likely experience less pain sensitivity than their less well-slept counterparts.
• Improved mood and psychological health: Exercise is known to not only benefit physical health, but emotional health too! Participating in regular exercise can assist with decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression, improved cognitive function, enhanced mood, and it can help to manage stress. There are strong links between psychological health and pain, and improving emotional wellbeing is shown to assist with pain management.
• Improved tissue tolerance and capacity: With chronic pain, the body eventually learns to treat all stimuli as a potential threat, leading it to create the experience of pain with less and less activity needed as a trigger. Engaging in a regular, graded exercise program can reduce the protective response to movement, and over time, improve tissue tolerance to allow one to perform more activity with less pain.

WHAT EXERCISE DO I NEED TO BE DOING?

There is currently no strong evidence available to support the use of one exercise modality over another to manage chronic pain.

The best approach is to find movement that you enjoy and that you can tolerate with your current capacity and symptoms. This can be difficult for people who experience chronic pain as sometimes any exercise or movement can elicit a symptom flare up.

An Accredited Exercise Physiologist can help you find the right form of movement to start with, and collaboratively develop a tailored plan that will help you achieve your goals and decrease your pain.

HOW CAN AN ACCREDITED EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST (AEP) HELP? 

When returning to or commencing exercise with any chronic condition, including chronic pain, it is recommended to be assessed and guided by a suitably qualified exercise professional, such as an AEP.

• Understanding your pain: an AEP can help you make sense of your diagnosis, recognise and explain potential contributors to your pain, and develop strategies to address any fears or beliefs that may be impacting your progress.
• Goal setting: an AEP can develop a plan to achieve your goals by recognising current barriers and developing strategies to overcome them.
• Regaining control: an AEP can help you to regain control of your life, through provision of resources, relevant education, and development of a tailored ‘pain management toolkit’ for you to utilise as an ongoing measure.
• Developing strategies to address pain contributors: There are many factors that can impact one’s pain experience, including sleep, stress, level of activity, environment, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, the list goes on! An AEP can help to understand what aspects of your life may be contributing to your pain experience, then develop strategies to manage and reduce your pain contributors, as well as increasing factors that positively contribute to your pain (like movement, mindfulness and improved sleep).

If you are experiencing chronic pain, feel pain when exercising or struggling to manage persisting pain, connect with your local Accredited Exercise Physiologist today.

Written by Ashlie Boots, Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) and Accredited Exercise Scientist (AES).