Feeling pain in the back that comes and goes? How about a constant headache? These are some of the common sensations we usually take for granted, hoping it will just magically go away. Ignoring the pain that you feel may end up becoming worse as it could be your body’s way of signalling that you need to pay attention.
There are different types of pain that people suffer from. The main types of pain are a) acute pain, which normally arises after an injury such as a broken bone or pain felt after an operation; and b) chronic pain, a common type of pain occurring in approximately 1 in 5 people in Australia. This is the type of pain that lasts for longer than 3 months.
The Prince of Wales Hospital Pain Management Department has a team of health professionals who can help you professionally manage pain and its viable impact in your life. Our Foundation, through our supporters, has proudly helped the department to provide the utmost care and the best treatment to its patients through program and equipment funding. Here are some of them:
- Gym and exercise equipment which helps in stretching and strengthening. Cardiovascular exercise is a fundamental part of managing persistent pain.
- Nerve block infusion devices and syringe drivers to help deliver effective analgesia to patients who undergo complex major surgery, or to treat pain from a serious injury such as rib fractures.
- Fascia iliaca block dummy for the management of pain from hip fractures, a training device used to educate specialist and trainee anaesthetists to block the pain of a hip fracture whilst the patient awaits an operation. This is a safe and effective way to treat pain after a person’s injury. The training helped ensure that there is a doctor, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, who can perform this procedure to relief pain.
Thought and stress management, activity pacing, relaxation, mindfulness, and gradually increasing exercise are some varieties of counselling that are also being offered by the department. Patients who utilize these strategies reported less troublesome pain, which makes these strategies vital in the department’s pain management program.
The initiatives that the Foundation helped provide are invaluable and integral to patient recovery and allow the department to provide effective pain management programs for acute pain to avoid its progression to chronic pain.
To book an appointment or to know more about our Pain Management Department, visit https://www.seslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/prince-of-wales-hospital/services-clinics/directory/pain-management-department
