"Fortunately", the pain from my neck injury was so severe that it was taken seriously from the start.
Harry Perkins, son of Olympic champion swimmer and Painaustralia Director Kieren Perkins OAM, was diagnosed with chronic migraine at the tender age of eleven.
That Friday in June 1990 began like any other Friday – two adults, three teenagers, family pets, all heading out. I was totally unaware that this was the day "Super Mum" would die and life as I knew it would be over.
As a chronic migraine sufferer I've lived with pain since I was a small child. With the help of sub-occipital electrodes and an implanted pulse generator (IPG implant) I can now manage my daily pain and rely less on heavy medications.
September 23, 2006 was a beautiful, still, sunny autumn day.I was in the UK to visit my elderly mother and other family members and had taken the train to London to visit a friend.
It happened on 28 August 2008 at 8.28am. Everything after that is a bit of a blur, but the moment the accident happened will be stuck in my memory forever.
In 1962 at the age of 21, Renée was involved in a serious car accident that kept her in an English hospital - in a 40-bed geriatric ward - for nearly two years.
My first taste of pain and injury was when I was only three years old.We had a car accident and I had my lower lumbar joints damaged as well as whiplash injuries to my neck. No one knew this at the time, though, and by the time I was nine I was having X-rays on my back to find out why I was in so much pain.
Breast cancer is a diagnosis heard all too often these days at 13,000 diagnoses a year in Australia.
I injured my neck in 1993 while attending a Scout Jamboree in Canada as a carer for a child with cerebral palsy.My pain symptoms didn't really show up until 1997 when I started getting lots of neck and arm pain. 
I'd survived the traumas of a major motor car accident, the ignominity of a prostatectomy, and the despair and exasperation of three separate cancers and their harsh therapies, but nothing had prepared me for the greatest challenge of my life, dealing with chronic pain
My injury happened over two days – August 30-31, 2001 – when I was asked to reorganise the office's new filing system.
I first incurred a serious back injury at work in 1985. It was not able to be evidence-based for five years (at the time of surgery).
I was an advisory teacher when I suffered a spinal injury in 2007 that landed me in a Brisbane hospital emergency department.Thanks to a neurosurgeon, I regained the use of my left leg and the crushing pain eased. 
Before my accident, about six years ago, I worked at a prestige car dealership in Brisbane. This work was physically demanding as well as being quite social. We all had to get on well as it could be quite a pressured environment and humour often kept us going.
I woke up one morning in 1988 with a sore back.As the pain continued to increase, I consulted my general practitioner who referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. After some tests, I was told that there were no problems and that the pain should go away. It didn't.
I was nine years old when I damaged the ligaments in my left leg in a hurdling accident.After a year of treatment my leg hadn't healed – in fact the pain had worsened and I was diagnosed with chronic regional pain syndrome. 
I had two major cycling accidents in the 1980s which caused a spinal fracture and severe whiplash.I quickly got over the accidents and was fine until the early 1990s when I started to have migraines. This gradually progressed to daily migraines by 1996.
My problems started in the early 1980s with the introduction of computers in most public service departments.In 1986,
6 when I was 17. Unrelated to any incident, I began to experience extreme back pain. I later discovered it was a degenerative disease with no cure, but at the time I thought it could just be 'fixed'.
It was during a long jump attempt at my school's athletics try-outs when I was nine that I first hurt myself.As usual, I ran and jumped but as I hit the sand I felt pain in what I thought was my ankle.
Submissions
|
"It is unacceptable to have 50 percent of cancer patients following surgery or trauma unable to receive effective pain relief." - Professor Michael Cousins AM, Chair National Pain Strategy |
Painaustralia is strongly focused on advocating for improved pain services to improve the lives of people living with pain. Our submissions, presented in collaboration with other organisations, have had positive outcomes for people living with pain.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Rules - SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED
The Australian Government has released a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Consultation Paper on the Rules, that explains in detail how the NDIS will operate.
The purpose of this Consultation Paper is to explain what will be covered in the NDIS Rules and to seek feedback. There is an opportunity for Painaustralia and other interested parties to comment on this.
Our aim would be to ensure that people with chronic pain and no visible disability will be adequately covered by the NDIS.
Submissions for comment and feedback opened on 1 February 2013 and will close 1 March 2013.
The NDIS Consultation Paper on the Rules is available here.
If you wish to provide comment to Painaustralia for a joint submission, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
New Disability Support Pension (DSP) Impairment Tables
The new DSP Impairment Tables released by the Department of Families Housing, Community Services and Indiginous Affairs (FaHCSIA) in January 2012 have taken into account a submission made by Painaustralia during their review last year.
The Painaustralia submission called for changes to the way that chronic pain conditions are assessed and acknowledgement that chronic pain is not simply a symptom but can become a chronic disease in its own right.
The revised tables ensure that all people with chronic pain and a genuine need for support, can qualify for the Disability Support Pension. The changes also represent a step towards the de-stigmatisation of chronic pain and the creation of a system that supports and affirms the rights of people living with pain.
Painaustralia was also invited to nominate a Pain Management Specialist to act as an official advisor to the Departments' Health Professional Advisory Unit and we are pleased that Associate Professor Milton Cohen has undertaken this role.
Relevant Links
- Guidelines to the Tables for the Assessment of Work-related Impairment for DSP (from 1 January 2012)
- Social Security (Tables for the Assessment of Work-related Impairment for Disability Support Pension) Determination 2011
The Guide to the Impairment Tables used prior to 01/01/2012
- A Guide to the Tables for the Assessment of Work-Related Impairment for DSP (prior to 1 January 2012)
- Schedule 1B Tables for the assessment of work-related impairment for disability support pension
PBS Deferrals
Painaustralia contributed to the successful campaign led by the Consumers Health Forum, to restore the integrity and independence of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schene following the controversial deferral of essential medicines from the PBS, in 2011.
Prostheses List
Painaustralia joined with Cancer Voices and other groups to help reverse the Federal Governement's proposed changes to the Prostheses List that would have seen infusion pumps used to deliver pain medicines removed from the list.
The Health Department has confirmed that no changes would be made without further consultation.