Harry Perkins, son of Olympic champion swimmer and Painaustralia Director Kieren Perkins OAM, was diagnosed with chronic migraine at the tender age of eleven.
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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'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
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.
Breast cancer is a diagnosis heard all too often these days at 13,000 diagnoses a year in Australia.
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.
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 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 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. 
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.
My problems started in the early 1980s with the introduction of computers in most public service departments.In 1986,
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 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 injury happened over two days – August 30-31, 2001 – when I was asked to reorganise the office's new filing system.
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.
"Fortunately", the pain from my neck injury was so severe that it was taken seriously from the start.
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. 
Self Management
If you live with chronic pain, the following resources can help you understand and manage your pain. Studies have shown that the more you do to help yourself, the better you will feel. By implementing some of the strategies contained in the self management methods, books and videos, you can improve your quality of life. The information can also help carers and family members who assist people living with pain.
If you visit healthcare professionals on a regular basis, you should also consider signing up for eHealth. This is particularly useful for people who need to visit multiple medical practitioners, specialists and other healthcare professionals. Through eHealth, all data about a patient will be collated and readily available in a Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR). For more information download the eHealth pdf or visit www.yourhealth.gov.au
Body Movement Techniques
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Alexander Technique: AT is an individualised approach to help people recognise and understand the impact of poor posture on the body. With the help of an AT teacher, people are taught to be aware of their posture, and to change poor habits into good ones, in order to improve movement. AT works on the cause of loss of physical function, not the effects of it, and has proven results in improving low back pain. To find out more, download the AT pdf, or visit www.austat.org.au or www.attm.net.au
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The Feldenkrais Method®: Feldenkrais is based on movement education. With the help of a Feldenkrais Practitioner, people are helped to understand their particular habits of thinking, feeling, sensing and acting. The aim is to improve efficiency of body movement and increased consciousness of how it works. For people with chronic pain, Feldenkrais has proven ability to decrease pain and improve wellbeing and physical functioning. For more information, download the Feldenkrais pdf or visit www.feldenkrais.org.au and to find an accredited Feldenkrais Practitioner call 1800 001 550.
Complementary Therapies
- Acupuncture: According to the World Health Organisation, acupuncture can be used to treat neurological pain, musculoskeletal pain, and many types of sporting injuries. Many scientific studies have shown it is an effective treatment for chronic pain, and there is also much anectodal evidence to support this. For more information, download the acupuncture pdf
- Other Complementary Therapies: The experience of pain is highly subjective, and there are evidence-based treatments outside meainstream medicine that may assist them. There is also good research that shows the power of the placebo effect. Read more in the article Evidence Based or Placebo Effect - Does it matter if it eases the pain? (CHF Magazine, Issue 11, Nov 12, page 3)
Books
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Manage Your Pain (3rd edition) is an Australian bestseller and self-management book developed by Professor Michael Nicholas along with a multidisciplinary team of pain specialists. |
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Leading Australian gynaecologist and obstetrician, Dr Susan Evans has released Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain, a new and revised edition (first published in 2005). Produced in collaboration with Deborah Bush QSM, the paperback contains a wealth of information as well as stories from women who suffer pelvic pain. |
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Pelvic Pain is a 20-page free e-book with a question-and-answer format, written by Dr Susan Evans and based on the book Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain. |
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The Pain Toolkit is for people living with persistent pain. Written by Pete Moore, who lives with persistent pain, asthma and osteoarthritis, in conjunction with healthcare professionals, The Pain Toolkit provides a real life perspective and some tools that really work. |
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Explain Pain demystifies the process of understanding and managing pain. It brings the body to life in a way that makes an interesting read for therapists and pain sufferers alike. |
Videos |
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Endometriosis, it's a big deal Endometriosis New Zealand is excited to share their March Awareness 2012 campaign with you. Click on the picture to watch the video. |
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Backpacking with Pain Persistent pain can have a major impact on a person's life. APMA provides support and advocacy for people with chronic pain. Click on the picture to watch the video.
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