Struggling with self-management?

We have a new column in our magazine in which Pete Moore, co-creator of the paintoolkit.org, responds to readers' questions/problems with self-management. If you've something you'd like to ask Pete send an email to:

[e-mail]

[johnsmith]

15 reasons why stretching and exercising (don’t forget swimming) is good for you. You have missed out a very important reason why stretching is important. Not surprising as many physiotherapists lack basic knowledge on how muscles work as an engineering system. Explanation of proprioception is missing and what prevents good proprioception is missing.

[earthwitch]

I think I struggle more with the idea that "self-management" of pain is going to work for everyone, than I do with managing my condition. I think a lot of people (doctors included) don't seem to get that there are two types of severe or chronic pain - one is pain that is directly related to flares of disease, and to a large extent disappears if the disease is well controlled (which for some of the inflammatory arthritises and other conditions isn't always the case) and the other includes the chronic pain where pain receptors end up going into overdrive and cause some wonky pain signals, or widespread pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, CRPS, etc (also sometimes known as functional pain). Self management I think is entirely appropriate for the second type. Although it can make a little bit of difference for disease-flare-pain, it shouldn't be seen as a substitute for good disease management, and yet too often it is.

I am one who fits into the first category (pain from disease activity, that relieves when the disease is controlled),and I have to say that the paintoolkit really hasn't been much use at all to me even though I often have very severe, and quite chronic pain. My self management is far more specific to my disease aimed at preventing flares, rather than controlling pain. I think the paintoolkit is probably great for the people who have things like fibromyalgia, CRPS etc, but I don't find it useful to assume that it will be good for everyone. Try it, and if it works then use it. For some people it will never be a substitute for good disease control.