Living With Pain

The Chronic Pain Update

Provided by Chronic Pain Australia

Volume 2, No. 1/2 Jan/Feb 2011

In this issue:
Chronic Pain Australia Activities Page 1 Upcoming Events Page 3
Pain Resources Online Page 2 Journal Watch Page 3
In The News Page 3 Other News Page 4

Chronic Pain Australia Activities

 The S*K*E*C*H project – Supporting Knowledgeable and Empowered Communities in the Hunter
Chronic Pain Australia is working with the Hunter Integrated Pain Service and GP Access on an
innovative project to help people in pain. The S*K*E*C*H project is focused on Goal 1: People in pain
as a national health priority and & Goal 2: Knowledgeable, empowered and supported consumers ,of
the National Pain Strategy (click here to view the Strategy).

If you live in the Hunter region in NSW and would like to have your say about chronic pain, come to a
Community Forum at the Charlestown Library on either Thursday 3rd March 11am to 2.30pm OR
Saturday 5th March 10am to 1.30pm. For more information about the Forum or the S*K*E*C*H project
in general, contact Coralie.Wales@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au.

 “Give Silent Pain a Voice”

We have been developing a program aimed at raising community understanding about chronic pain.
The first stage of the program will be the Speak Out For Chronic Pain initiative. This project will provide
individuals living with chronic pain with the skills to enable them to effectively speak in public about
their experiences. The project is consistent with Goals 1 & 2 of the Australian National Pain Strategy
(see above). We expect to trial this program in Sydney later this year. If you live in the Sydney area and
would like to register your interest in the program, please email us at
national.office@chronicpainaustralia.com . If the trial is successful we will seek further funding to
establish the program in other states.

 Walk For Pain 2011

Planning is underway for the 2011 Walk For Pain, which will be held in October. This year the
walk will be held in Sydney and Brisbane. If you are interested in being involved in planning the walk in
either of these locations, please contact the national.office@chronicpainaustralia.org to register your
interest and contact details.

national.office@chronicpainaustralia.org  www.chronicpainaustralia.org  (02) 9481 0189 1

Chronic Pain Australia Activities continued…
 Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA) Review of the Prostheses List
DOHA are reviewing the Prostheses List. A prosthesis is usually thought of as an artificial substitute or
replacement for part of the body. Under the Private Health Insurance Act 2007, private health insurers
are required to pay a fixed amount for a range of prostheses that are included on the Prostheses List. At
the moment, there are more than 9,000 products on the Prostheses List ,including cardiac pacemakers
and defibrillators, cardiac stents, hip and knee replacements and infusion pumps.

Chronic Pain Australia has been approached by some other organisations who are concerned that as a
result of the review, external infusion pumps (not implanted infusion pumps) used for chronic pain
management may be removed from the Prosthesis List. This could mean people who have private health
insurance may no longer be reimbursed by their insurance company.

We would like to hear from you if you use or have used an external infusion pump as part of your pain
management and if it helped you. It is important that the Australian Government hears and
understands the potential impact of removing external infusion pumps from the Prosthesis List. Please
send your story to us at: national.office@chronicpainaustralia.org .

 Calling all volunteers!

Chronic Pain Australia is an unfunded organisation which relies on volunteers to keep going. If you like
what we do and have some time to get involved, we want to talk to you! Volunteers are particularly
needed to help run our office in Parramatta and our social networking initiatives.

Pain Resources Online

Please note, Chronic Pain Australia does not endorse these online resources. If there are any online
resources you find helpful, let us know.
 National Prescribing Service (NPS) (Aust) – Be Medicine Wise
Aims to help people to ask questions and know what is in their medicines and to make better decisions
about the medicines they take.

 ChronicBabe Forum
An online resource for young women with chronic illness.

 PainACTION (USA) - Are Patients from Mars and Providers from Venus?
An interactive tool aimed at helping you talk to your doctor.

 National Health Service (UK) – Video: Back Pain and Work

A short video which demonstrates how to set up your computer workstation to improve your posture
and reduce strain on your body.

 Cardiff University Pain Community Centre (UK) – Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
A video which explains the signs and symptoms associated with the Bruehl criteria used to diagnose the
syndrome of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

national.office@chronicpainaustralia.org  www.chronicpainaustralia.org  (02) 9481 0189 2

In The News
 Common painkillers linked to heart disease
“The findings confirm that drugs such as Nurofen and Voltaren can significantly increase the risk of heart
attack and stroke. “ The Australian

 1 in 5 Cancer Survivors Suffers Chronic Pain, Study Finds

“More than 40 percent of cancer survivors experience pain, and the risk is highest among black and
female patients, finds a new study.” Medline Plus

 Chronic pain sufferers not getting care needed, online survey finds
“For chronic pain sufferers, finding comprehensive care through Canada’s medical system to address pain
management continues to be a challenge, a new survey suggests.” National Post
 Mind Reading: Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran on 'Unlearning' Pain
“Even before the discovery of "mirror neurons"— brain cells activated when we observe the actions of
others that enable empathy — Dr. V.S. Ramachandran was using real mirrors to change the brain and
relieve pain.” Time

Upcoming Events etc.

If you know of any upcoming events related to chronic pain, tell us so we can feature them.

Coeliac Awareness Week, 13-20 March 2010

“Coeliac disease (pronounced seel-ee-ak) is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune means the body
mistakenly produces antibodies that damage its own tissues. It is a permanent intestinal intolerance to
dietary gluten. A number of serious health consequences can result if the condition is not diagnosed and
treated properly.” For more information, go to: http://www.coeliacsociety.com.au/aware.html

Consumers Reforming Health Conference – Melbourne, July 18-20

“The Consumers Reforming Health conference is a conference developed specifically for those with interest
in involving consumers in health care, policy and governance.” This conference has a reduced registration
fee for health consumers. To visit the website , click here.

Journal Watch
 Kennedy, D (2011) Analgesics and pain relief in pregnancy and breastfeeding Australian Prescriber,
34:8-10

 Cherniack, EP (2011) A Ray of Hope for Tender Joints: Vitamin D and Rheumatoid Arthritis The Journal of
Rheumatology, 38/1
 Gordon SJ et al (2010) Pillow use: the behavior of cervical stiffness, headache and scapular/arm pain
Journal of Pain Research, 3:137-145

 Gagnier, JJ (2010) Evidence Based Review of Natural Health Products for Non-Specific Low
Back Pain The Open Pain Journal, 3:52-59

national.office@chronicpainaustralia.org  www.chronicpainaustralia.org  (02) 9481 0189 3

Other news...
Body in Mind
Chronic back pain: Behavioural treatments sent to the naughty step?
Discusses the implications of the recent Cochrane Review of behavioural treatments for chronic back pain
for chronic back pain treatment.

Ovarian Cancer Australia

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. 1 in 77 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in their
lifetime. Click here to find out more about this disease from Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Dignity For Chronic Pain Sufferers is running a petition about chronic pain and opiate prescriptive
medications. For more information on this organisation and to view the petition, click here.
Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF)
Our Health, Our Community Project
“CHF’s Our Health, Our Community Project aims to provide a new resource to support consumer
engagement in health issues; help consumers navigate the newly reformed health system; and train and
support consumer representatives.”

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare

Windows into Safety and Quality in Healthcare 2010
This report discusses a range of healthcare safety and quality matters in a number of settings and from
various perspectives, including:
• Improving safety and quality by learning from the experience of patients
• Accreditation, change and improved quality of patient care
• Improving medication safety

To Connect and Help Us Give Silent Pain A Voice

 Visit us at: www.chronicpainaustralia.org
 Become a Chronic Pain Australia Supporter: subscribe to this e-bulletin
 Become a member: contact our national office by email or telephone.
 Follow us on Facebook.
 Tweet us on Twitter.
 Make a tax deductable donation here.
 Become a volunteer: contact our national office by email or telephone.

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national.office@chronicpainaustralia.org  www.chronicpainaustralia.org  (02) 9481 0189 4