All HCP blogs
Dear clinician – medications
Dear Clinician Do you remember me? I remember you. I was the person who turned up in terrible pain asking for help. I had experienced
Dear clinician
Dear clinician Do you remember me? I haven’t seen you for over 8 years, but I remember you. I was the person who dissolved into
A visual image of my sciatica
A lived experience account of sciatic body perception disturbances
Pain is more complex than I thought!
The thoughts of a persistent pain patient on the complexity of pain, and how to live well with pain
Making the most of physiotherapy
I have written this blog primarily, but not exclusively, to support other people living with persistent pain, and who are either about to attend, or
Making the most of physiotherapy patient leaflet
This leaflet has been written by a physiotherapy patient to support people who are about to attend, or who are currently attending, physiotherapy. It is
A patient’s understanding of persistent pain
Ten years ago, my life was changed by a manual handling accident. I now live in persistent pain, but I still live a good and
Dear Clinician – early trauma and pain
Important Note I feel it is important for me to say that these are my personal thoughts only, based on my personal experience of early
Dear clinician – thank you
As I sit here reflecting on my journey with pain, I am wondering if you remember me? You saw me during one of the most
Trauma informed care for persistent pain
In this blog I look at what Trauma Informed Care is, and how I would personally like it to look for me as a persistent
Cognitive Functional Therapy changed my life!
Why do some physiotherapists follow a Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) approach when treating chronic pain conditions? What does this mean? Is CFT any better than
My pain journey in brief
10 years ago, I suffered a life changing injury in a manual handling incident. In simple terms I herniated a disc and my sciatic nerve
Making physiotherapy even better post COVID-19
These are my patient thoughts on how physiotherapy practices might change and improve post COVID-19. Unusually for me, but then everything is unusual just now,
‘Dear Clinician’ – PDF
A number of clinicians have asked if they can use my ‘Dear Clinician’ letter in their teaching. In order to support this I have produced
Bénéficier au mieux de la kinésithérapie
My ‘Making the Most of Physiotherapy’ leaflet has been kindly translated into French by Clément Noel, and available here or on Clement’s site at https://www.omt-france.fr/
‘Pain is more complex than I thought’ – PDF
This pdf has been created by a person living with persistent pain. It explains my thoughts on how complex persistent pain can be, and the
Evidence Based Practice: A patient’s journey
I have been hesitant to fully explain the beginning of my persistent pain journey. Any re-telling of my story will inevitably be one-sided as I
Effecting change beyond the clinic door
Most of my life living with persistent pain is spent beyond the clinic door. For healthcare to be truly effective for me it must involve
A patient’s perspective on clinical governance
My view as a physiotherapy patient is that good clinical governance is vital to ensure quality, consistency and safety of physiotherapy care. Since my life-changing
Musings about my experience of the BioPsychoSocial model in healthcare
I’m a relative newbie to Twitter and have been reading with interest the posts about the BioPsychoSocial model and its use in healthcare. I have
A patient’s view of core stability exercise
Following my manual handling accident in 2008, core stability exercises were prescribed for me by a number of consultants and physiotherapists, and taught to me
Evidence Based Practice: A patient’s thoughts
My persistent pain story began in the summer of 2008, and since then I have been treated by many clinicians within a system of Evidence
Therapeutic alliance – a patient’s thoughts
I cannot over-emphasise how important it is to me as a persistent pain patient to have a strong, supportive therapeutic alliance, with all of the
How do I know what a physiotherapist does?
As a patient how do I know what a physiotherapist, or any other healthcare professional, does? Through ‘common knowledge’? Is that a consistent accurate picture?
An ocean begins with a raindrop – improving ‘patient skills’
I have read many really good Twitter posts and articles about healthcare professionals improving their skills in order to better support patients with persistent pain.
Healthcare and my personal injury claim
Eleven years ago, I suffered an injury which was to change my life. I continue to live with persistent pain, predominantly neuropathic pain. I have
What I want from a healthcare professional
What I want when I go to see a physiotherapist, occupational therapist or other healthcare professional, or clinician, is someone with a wide range of
Professionals involved in my care
A short post showing the approximate number of treatments I was given following my manual handling accident in 2008, and the approximate number of professionals
Monitoring and regulation in teaching
I have been asked by a few physiotherapists how teachers are regulated, how (and if) they are re-validated, and how their performance is monitored and
My improved simple understanding of pain
Since writing my post, ‘A patient’s understanding of pain’, I have continued to learn more about pain. I have further considered my own persistent pain
The complexity of MY pain
Ten years ago I experienced a manual handling injury that was to change my life. My L5-S1 lumbar disc prolapsed, which unfortunately resulted in my
A patient’s FURTHER understanding of persistent pain
Last year I wrote a well received blog called ‘A patient’s understanding of persistent pain’. It can be accessed by clicking HERE. Since that time
