This conferencing is damn hard work…or is it?
Yoga class conducted by Monique Leverington Synergy Yoga Adelaide
Day 2 started brilliantly. There was to be a yoga session available to delegates at lunch time, so that meant it was essential to attend the whole day’s proceedings in my favourite attire…..active wear. Much to the horror of (probs) my whole family, as I get older I just love wearing my active wear more and more, and now I own a pelvic floor safe exercise studio I feel compelled to look the part at all times- except when treating patients. I reckon there’s this awkward next ten years when the kids will shrink in horror as I venture out to more and more places in it, but I reckon when I turn 70 they will be ‘Hey look at my amazing Mum in her active wear all the time- she’s SO into exercise’. So due to extreme comfort dressing I was primed for another day of Extreme Learning and I certainly got that.
Giando Iannetti, Professor of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at the Faculty of Life Sciences, University College, London took us through the different types of brain mapping using scalp EEG and fMRI. So interesting to see the science behind understanding pain and the good thing about EP3 is there is plenty of time for questions. To be honest the best way I can point you to get an overview of this science hub’s brilliant work is to link you to his papers – that way you can do some rainy Sunday reading and sit in awe of the cleverness of the under-appreciated scientist. I really don’t understand why in Australia we constantly try and strip money from science research. Politicians are so blinkered in their mindset. When you look at the explosion of health costs you’d think they would be pouring money into things like pain research in order to gain millions maybe billions in savings in health costs. #nobrainer
The next speaker was the esteemed Editor of Pain and head of the Pain Prevention and Treatment Research Programme at Duke University, Professor Frank Keefe. When looking up Google to check Frank’s bio out I was staggered to see the prolific research he is involved with. As we are just about to start a cancer rehabilitation class at the studio which has an education component, a Pilates session and relaxation at the end of the class, I was fascinated to see the grants which he has obtained and the research it is currently funding. Lots of cancer research! I will be keen to see the results of this in coming years.
Frank was fantastic. I suppose for many of us in the audience his 3 hour conversation with us was more clinically orientated and therefore more what we can take back to clinic and implement. I was absolutely amazed at the work he is doing in conjunction with his son using virtual environments for pain control. When you think about the environment that chronic pain patients often are stuck in – bed and often not getting out of home- he is using images of beautiful landscapes and virtual 3D modeling software to help patients with challenging pain to disengage from their pain. I’d like to think that we have created our own little special environment at Studio 194 for patients who maybe suffering pelvic pain, arthritis pain or perhaps have anxiety issues from an extremely overactive bladder. Early on in the studio’s life, when I was vaguely wondering why at nearly 60 I had created this new (little monster) space for me to oversee- a patient called it his safe zone. He was young and doing yoga to try and help his significant anxiety caused by his certain health problems and when he said that I did feel it was in fact worth the hard work and sleepless nights.
I could go on forever about the role-playing we did with Frank in the second session to help with our interviewing skills, but it is again very late and there are two more days of intense conferencing to go and I don’t want to nod off for even a second. Some beautiful images follow if you want to use them to create a lovely virtual environment for your patients in pain.
Rather than this

They can look at these….

Sunset Glenelg Beach #2106EP3

Cinque Terre walk 2011