June 9th, 2018 11:22 am

Frida Kahlo: Portrait of Chronic Pain

By |2018-06-09T11:31:59+10:00June 9th, 2018|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources, Read|Tags: , |

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.

March 16th, 2018 12:52 pm

GPADD 2018 Dealing with Addiction Conference – I’m Presenting!

By |2018-07-19T10:35:38+10:00March 16th, 2018|Categories: Learn, Professional, Professional Resources, The pain|Tags: |

GPADD 2018 Dealing with Addiction Conference – I'm Presenting! It's a topic that needs serious attention and I'm honoured to be invited to speak and share my personal experience. My aim is to share the resources that I've found that have helped me avoid dependency, and to share resources that have helped me understand my complex chronic health issue. Education is key for both the patient and the professional in the management of chronic health issues.

November 1st, 2017 2:48 pm

Trust me, I’m a patient: pain education for professionals from a lay perspective

By |2017-12-11T09:19:31+11:00November 1st, 2017|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources|Tags: , |

Unfortunately, it is all too common for the professional not to listen to the patient and not to believe in their pain. The focus on the ‘relief of suffering’ has almost got lost in modern medicine’s search for diagnosis and cure. It is hard enough to be coping with pain, but terrifying not to be believed when one goes for help. It should not take months of suffering and inadequate (or no) pain relief before a patient finally gets to a pain clinic.

May 15th, 2017 10:54 am

Not the fitball’s fault – it’s Nav1.7’s

By |2017-12-09T15:38:29+11:00May 15th, 2017|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources|Tags: , |

In his theory, a stimulus triggers the Nav1.7 channel to open just long enough to allow the necessary amount of sodium ions to pass through, which then enables messages of stinging, soreness, or scalding to register in the brain. When the trigger subsides, Nav1.7 closes.

July 11th, 2016 4:54 pm

Resources for Treating Chronic Pain by the Pain Specialists Australia (PSA) …MY pain team!

By |2019-08-26T17:53:09+10:00July 11th, 2016|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources, Read, Tips|Tags: , , , , , , |

Forgive my bossiness but this post comes from a desperate experience that I lived for 4.5 years. That’s a long time for someone with increasing chronic pain levels and not much hope. [...]

Go to Top