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Every year I think something amazing will happen during National Pain Week. But every year, nothing amazing ever does. We all wait for answers, but either the answers don't come, or they prove more tiresome. Worst of all, the answers are a direction to a lonely zone – the figure-it-out-yourself zone! So, figure it out myself; I will this year! I'm making National Pain Week AMAZING by writing the end of this story.
(Excerpt from Chronic Pain Australia’s nationalpainweek.org.au) Welcome to National Pain Week 2014 This year we celebrate National Pain Week by creating awareness that PAIN IS AGELESS. Thank you to everyone who has completed our Snapshot Survey – look out for [...]
(excerpt from ...chronicpainaustralia.org.au) Australia's THIRD National Pain Week. People in pain a national health priority! This year we are also building on the petition started last year. Pharmacies and Libraries will have these petitions available for people to sign and [...]
Yep, it's another call for your lived experience. I know how exhausting and affecting these surveys can be. I approach surveys with a personal mental measure of worthiness and value. In any given week, I can have up to [...]
When will patients be understood and listened to?! It’s obviously necessary to have a peak body addressing the needs of the pain community. Still, the frustration of not being taken seriously only exacerbates our pain, [...]
Or my nervous system's fault either. Have you ever let your mind wander beyond the boundaries of chronic pain research? I can't help it, my mind flies around all over the place! Today, it's in Maroni, a village in Larnaca Cyprus. That's where my mum was born. I've been wondering alot about village life lately. And more specifically about my grandmother (Giagia) and her lifestyle in Maroni. I've visited Cyprus four times – each time without pain! I really love mum's village Maroni, it's beautiful. I always make a point of walking around the whole village when I visit so am very familiar with its nostalgic, stony, dry characteristics. I love the feeling of my feet on the ground in Maroni – not sure what that is. Perhaps a memory...
I assumed the pain ‘industry’ was still learning about the management and treatment of chronic pain and that’s why communication was so poor. I assumed it wasn’t like that for other severe health issues. But… My mum had a stroke [...]
I’m sure you’ll all agree my advocacy for chronic pain has been extensive in my 13-year lived experience. I’ve learned a lot about who to trust, who I should collaborate with and which message is worthy of me sharing my [...]
MEDIA RELEASE 17 June 2019 At last – A national plan for better pain management Painaustralia has today launched the new National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management. Millions of Australians live with ongoing persistent pain. Chronic pain can have [...]
The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) is one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. Although famous for her colorful self-portraits and associations with celebrities Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky, less known is the fact that she had lifelong chronic pain. Frida Kahlo developed poliomyelitis at age 6 years, was in a horrific trolley car accident in her teens, and would eventually endure numerous failed spinal surgeries and, ultimately, limb amputation. She endured several physical, emotional, and psychological traumas in her lifetime, yet through her art, she was able to transcend a life of pain and disability. Of her work, her self-portraits are conspicuous in their capacity to convey her life experience, much of which was imbued with chronic pain. Signs and symptoms of chronic neuropathic pain and central sensitization of nociceptive pathways are evident when analyzing her paintings and medical history. This article uses a narrative approach to describe how events in the life of this artist contributed to her chronic pain. The purpose of this article is to discuss Frida Kahlo's medical history and her art from a modern pain sciences perspective, and perhaps to increase our understanding of the pain experience from the patient's perspective.
