“In the health domain, therapeutic education is underestimated.
Chronic pain and stress are at epidemic levels, yet in the past epidemics have only been altered by education.
Many problems such as chronic pain and stress are still ‘off the radar’ in terms of health professional, business and government understanding.
The Noigroup education system covers acute and chronic musculoskeletal, central and peripheral, and neuropathic pain states.
Overall, the nervous system is a remarkable, mobile, complex, plastic and changeable organ, and this impacts both acute and chronic injuries and disease.”
~ Noigroup mission statement
Truth be told, I am a bit intimidated to be studying with the top experts in the field of pain and performance. Add to that the majority of trainees are physiotherapists, occupational therapists, sports psychologists and such.
I feel like a fish outta water, what with my yoga lingo and love for incense.
Good thing I practice mindfulness, so I can watch my mental peregrinations.
This particular training – my third one with the Neuro Orthopaedic Institute Australasia, or Noigroup for short – focuses on applying principles of neuroscience to the field of athletic performance.
I think of it as the next step in my own understanding pain evolution.
Where the previous courses I’ve attended concentrated almost entirely on coping and managing pain – in other words on surviving – this new course, Less Pain Better Performance, is all about growing and thriving.
I am sure I will talk and write much more about what I’ve learned once the training is complete and I had some time to digest it, but I want to leave you with the following thought – it is certainly not a new idea, but it feels valuable enough to come back to.
A new – and exciting – trend in the field of elite athletic performance is to add a pain neuroscience educator to the team of coaches, physiotherapists, and sport psychologists that take care of the athletes. The benefits include significant reduction in the number of injuries, and also speedier recovery when and if the injuries actually occur.
If this science-inclusive trend can help elite athletes, perhaps it can also help us, regular folk – weekend warriors, hockey moms, grocery carriers, room vacuumers, window washers, christmas tree decorators – people struggling with pain on the daily basis. What do you think?
Hey, my name is Julia
Living with chronic pain has taught me to look for solutions in unlikely places – places where most people see only problems.
Over the years I’ve gotten to be pretty good at this problem-solving and silver-lining finding thing.
So good that I felt compelled to share what I’ve learned and help others to find their sea legs while navigating, living, and winning their battle with chronic pain.
