Chronic Pain
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is common and affects 20% of Australians aged 45 years and older. Chronic pain is pain that lasts beyond normal healing time after injury or illness - generally 3 to 6 months. It is a common and complex condition, and the pain experienced can range from mild to severe. Long-term low back or neck pain, Fibromyalgia and migraine headaches are common types of chronic pain.
What Causes Chronic Pain ?
Whilst chronic pain can be a symptom of diseases such as arthritis or the result of injury, it can also be a “disease” in its own right. Pain experts now agree that in some cases chronic pain can caused by unhelpful changes in the brain, known as “maladaptive plasticity”. In other words, the pain is coming from the brain - it’s a “brain problem.” Brain scans that look at how the brain is working, such as QEEG, can help to localise the areas of the brain that are not working normally (which can be different from one person with Chronic Pain to another). This important information can be used to help guide advice and to develop personalised treatment programmes.
Drug-Free Treatment For Chronic Pain
This new understanding that chronic pain can actually be a “brain problem” has resulted in innovative brain-based treatments. Everybody’s brain is different, and so there is no “one size fits all” approach to successful chronic pain treatment. At Perth Brain Centre, we use special brain scans, called QEEG, to help localise the areas in the brain that are not working normally. This information guides drug-free and effective, evidence-based and personalised treatments which are directed towards “re-training” the brain and reversing maladaptive plasticity. Treatments, which are drug-free include Biofeedback, Neurofeedback and tDCS (Trans-Cranial Direct Current Stimulation).
