Dr Stephanie Davies and Dr Nicholas Cooke
October 2015
Rewire Your Pain Perth Book Launch on October 15
Top Tips on How to Reduce Chronic Pain
‘A Daily Walk as Good as Antidepressants’
TWO Perth doctors will launch a book to help people with chronic pain at Bethesda Hospital, 25 Queenslea Drive, on Thursday, October 15, from 4-8pm.
Rewire Your Pain: An evidence-based approach to reducing chronic pain – a joint collaboration from Dr Stephanie Davies, Dr Nicholas Cooke and Julia Sutton – is packed full of transforming tips on how to manage pain and get the most out of your life.
Many suggestions are based on movement, healthy lifestyles and positive thinking, rather than increased medication and the book is the result of decades of experience in pain management. Dr Davies attributes the insights and skills in the book to the many discussions she has had with people in pain, and the enthusiastic healthcare professionals that she has worked with for the past 25 years.
“The book offers simple and effective ideas about managing pain that can have a dramatic and positive impact,” said Dr Davies.
It is a hopeful book for those suffering. She said thousands of patients have tried her approach and simple daily habits could make a profound difference.
“People can learn techniques that give them a greater sense of control, which in turn reduces the threat value of pain, and calms down the nervous system,” Dr Davies said.
“Healthy habits such as a daily walk are as good as antidepressants. A walk will stimulate the brain so thoughts are clearer. It can make you feel better and therefore calm your nervous system. Some may have to start small, even with a trip to the letterbox or around the corner, but it is important to build up the activity and form a habit.”
Eighty per cent of people will experience ongoing pain during their life, while 15% feel pain every day. The 144-page book’s RRP is $30. The book can be purchased from October 15th 2015 at:
Australia Wide: APMA via website store: www.painmanagement.org.au/shop/books.html
NSW: PainAustralia: 1 Miller Lane Pyrmont NSW 2009: Ph (02) 9694 0993
Vic: Arthritis & OsteoporosisVictoria, 263 Kooyong Road, Elsternwick Vic 3185: Ph 03 8531 8000
SA: Arthritis SA 118 Richmond Rd, Marleston SA 5033: Ph (08) 8379 5711
WA: WA Specialist Pain Services, Unit 5/136 Railway St, Cottesloe, Perth: Ph 0412 933419
Black Swan Health Ltd: 137 Main St, Osbourne Park Ph 08 9201 0044
Arthritis & Osteoporosis WA: 17 Lemnos St, Shenton Park, WA 6008: Ph 08 9388 2199 Imaging Central: 345 Stirling Hwy, Claremont WA 6010 Ph (08) 9284 6900 Dr John Salmon: 2/89 Forrest St, Cottesloe WA 6011 Ph (08) 9284 6005
Specialists Pain Medicine Clinic: 6/65 Grand Boulevard, Joondalup Campus Ph 08 9400 9020 Movewell Physiotherapy – see www.rewireyourpain.com for locations
Distribution requests for healthcare practices and retail bookshops can be directed to admin@wasps-pain.com.au. For more information go to: www.rewireyourpain.com
For the event, email RSVP to sbryant@bethesda.org.au or fax to: (08) 9340 6399
Information on the Media Release please contact: Cate Rocchi Perth Media (cate@perthmedia.com.au), 0428431699
About the Book
Rewire Your Pain: an evidence-based approach to reducing chronic pain – written by Perth doctors Dr Stephanie Davies and Dr Nicholas Cooke with help from Julia Sutton – offers life-changing insight into how you can manage chronic pain.
The book introduces you to ways of thinking and daily habits that can make a huge difference. Its recommendations may look simple, but the effects can be profound. People in pain can transform their lives by learning techniques that give them a greater sense of control.
Medications are only a small part of the puzzle and small changes (or habits) can be very useful for people in pain. That pain may be lower-back pain, sciatica, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain, headaches, pain following an injury or operation (nociceptive pain), arthritis (inflammatory pain), immune-responsive pain or neuropathic pain.
Ongoing pain is something you can change. This book is about rewiring your pain and winning back your life. The 144-page book’s RRP is $30. Distribution requests for healthcare practices and retail book outlets can be directed to admin@wasps-pain.com.au.
www.rewireyourpain.com
Top Tips to Help Manage Pain for People in Pain, and their carer’s
1. Turn down the ‘alarm’ in the central nervous system. A painful experience triggers a danger message in your brain’s alarm system, the sensitivity can be hard to dial back down to normal. Each day you can gently coach your brain to a peaceful place.
2. Focus on some minor everyday actions such as a sip of water or a snack. When ongoing pain disrupts your life, introducing new small daily actions can make big changes to it.
3. Avoid stirring up the nervous system by overdoing physical activity, being stressed or angry or focusing on negative thoughts.
4. Make good habits part of your daily life. These could be short or long walks (depending on what you can manage). Walking boosts your mood, helps you think clearly, aids digestion, helps you sleep, improves fitness, gets sunlight on your skin, reduces inflammation and calms your nervous system.
5. Mindfulness meditation is a simple daily habit you can teach yourself and offers relief from tension and a way to reduce pain.
6. Train yourself to worry less. Deal with your worries in a step-by-step approach. Solve problems, resolve issues and conflicts and dissolve your worries. Sometimes sharing with friends helps dissolve them.
7. Say No to things you can no longer manage.
8. Structure in fun activities to look forward too. This could include music, visiting special places or even gardening.
Ongoing pain affects a lot of people:
· 80% of people will experience ongoing pain during their life.
· 70% of people can’t trace the start of their ongoing pain to a single event.
· 15 to 20% of people have pain most days.
About the Authors
Dr Stephanie Davies
MBBS, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA
Dr Stephanie Davies studied medicine at the University of Western Australia and trained in Anaesthetics in Perth. During her Anaesthetic training she also specialised in Pain Management and worked as a consultant in the United Kingdom, before returning to Perth in 1999.
Subsequently, Dr Davies has devoted her career to pain management and clinical research. She was
Head of Service for the Fremantle Hospital Pain Medicine Unit from 2008 to 2014, and established the Self-Training Educative Pain Sessions (STEPS) program there. Dr Davies has supported the replication of the STEPS program locally and nationally. She was the co-lead, with Dr Helen Slater, in establishing www.painhealth.csse.uwa.edu.au with the Western Australian Department of Health and founded www.mylibrary.net.au and www.researchaustralia.net.au.
Apart from being a founding director of Perth-based WA Specialist Pain Services (WASPS), Dr Davies is also an Adj. A/Prof at Curtin University’s School of Physiotherapy; senior lecturer, UWA, School of Medicine and Pharmacology; chair of the State Wide Pain Services (SWPS); co-chair of the Pain Health Working Group (PHWG) and a director of CoCare.io.
She is also developing a webapp, www.tobepainless.com. The app’s aim is to achieve personal engagement in behavioral strategies that improve pain and also health, and support the reduction of harmful opioids in our communities.
Dr Nicholas Cooke
MBBS DRCOG MRCGP(UK) FRACGP
Dr Nicholas Cooke trained and studied at Guys Hospital, London, and completed his GP training in the United Kingdom, before immigrating to Australia. He has been a general practitioner for 20 years and brings a generalist approach to pain management.
He became interested in pain management through his work in orthopaedics and rheumatology. Furthermore, Dr Cooke is concerned with the accurate diagnosis of the multiple facets of persistent pain and focused therapy. He particularly promotes the bio-psycho-social model of pain management, rehabilitation and the involvement of physiotherapists, clinical psychologists and other allied health providers.
Julia Sutton
BBus (Com) Grad Dip (Com Dev)
Ms Sutton is a writer who helped manage her daughter’s pain after she developed a painful medical condition in her early teens. What followed was a steep learning curve about the impact of pain on an individual and those around them. This experience has led to a passionate interest in creating accessible pain resources. Ms Sutton initiated a consumer driven campaign for a dedicated multi-disciplinary children’s pain unit in Perth. She is also founding editor of jointpainrelief.com.au, a website for parents of children who live with ongoing pain.
