Airing Pain 16: Power over Mind and Body

Getting mind and body working together on a pain management programme, and loosening up with hydrotherapy

Pain management programmes teach people with pain the strategies they need to live as full a life as possible. Paul Evans talks to patients and professionals at Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh to hear their uplifting approaches to pain management. The programme focuses on the way that mind and body work together, with psychologists playing as important a role as physiotherapists. It looks at how tackling negative thoughts and patterns of behaviour are as crucial as dealing with the physical aspects of pain.

We also get an insight into the amazing benefits of hydrotherapy for those in pain, helping people to take the first step towards getting back into exercise.

Issues covered in this programme include: Psychology, interaction between mind and body, managing thoughts, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, mobility, activity, patient behaviour, pacing, the biopsychosocial model, tailored exercises, patient education, ACT, acceptance and commitment therapy, joint pain and back pain.

Contributors:

• John McLennan, initial assessment of patient
• Leanne Nicholas, clinical psychologist’s approach, thought strategies
• David Gillanders, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Nuno Fereira, ACT and its effects
• Margaret Kerr, hydrotherapy and how it works
• Lorraine and patients, hydrotherapy in practice.