My problems started in the early 1980s with the introduction of computers in most public service departments.In 1986,
"Fortunately", the pain from my neck injury was so severe that it was taken seriously from the start.
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. 
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. 
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'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 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.
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 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.
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 injury happened over two days – August 30-31, 2001 – when I was asked to reorganise the office's new filing system.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Breast cancer is a diagnosis heard all too often these days at 13,000 diagnoses a year in Australia.
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'.
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.
Peter: Accident at work
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.
I was 34 and I was working at a metal recycling factory. We were unloading some steel and I tripped over something on the ground and feel backwards. The steel we were unloading weighted about 100 kilos, and it hit me in the back.
I managed to get up, walked three paces, and collapsed in a heap. I had smashed a disc and a vertebrate in my lower back, and the extent of injury was severe. It was painful to walk, and it was even too painful to get out of bed, so I spent the next month or two flat on my back.
I had two rounds of back surgery. The first one was eight months after my injury, and by that time my nerves had fused to the bones in my spine, so some had to be severed. As a result, today I have areas of numbness and no reflexes at all in my left leg, along with a severe degree of pain in my leg and lower back, every minute of every day.
For several years I took painkillers to manage the pain. I started with Panadeine Forte, but the pain got worse so I was prescribed Gabapentin, and that was how the roller coaster began. In the end, I was on a daily mix of Gabapentin, Rivitrel and Endone, the dosages of which would have to be increased periodically to provide the same level of relief.
However, the medication had very negative side effects. I was constantly depressed and anxious, and had no desire to socialise, shutting out family and friends. I was in this zombie-like state for at least two years, until I began to realise medication was not the answer.
My children were just five and one when the accident happened and I haven't been able to pick them up since. I can't carry more than two kilos. I missed out on two of my children's birthday celebrations because I was stuck in bed. And my depression was putting a lot of strain on my marriage.
I had been looking for a magic potion, but realised my condition was here to stay, and I had to do something about it. I started by making a decision to get off the medication.
In October 2010 I participated in a three-week intensive pain management program at RNSH called ADAPT. Through my hard work and the support of the facilitators, I was weaned off all medication within the first week. At the same time, I was given the understanding and tools to manage my pain in a different way.
Today, I manage my pain through regular meditation, plenty of stretches, and daily walks. For me ADAPT was a God-send; my enthusiasm for life is back.
I will never be able to return to my former life, or the sports that I loved, or work full-time. I still have pain every day. But I can cope with it now. Some days it can take me an hour to get out of bed, but I want to do it.
I'm driven to keep improving myself and I'd like to get back to part-time work, but for now I'm happy to be a stay-at-home dad, and spend time with my children. I also happen to be a great cook, so my wife's pretty happy about that!