Category:Pain

Pain is a common problem and the primary therapeutic objectives of physical therapists working with people in pain are the reduction of pain and associated disability, the improvement of function, and promotion of health and well-being in everyday living.

For the most effective management of pain, physical therapists must have an understanding of the biological basis, the psychosocial and environmental components of pain and their impact on the pain experience across the life span. Therapists should be familiar with pain assessment and measurement approaches and should be able to implement a broad variety of evidence-based pain management strategies. The key focus is to encourage early engagement of the patient in appropriate active pain management strategies (what the patient can do) rather than focus on passive interventions (what you do to the patient). In this regard, treatment interventions are designed to form part of an overall pain management approach which should also incorporate self-management.

While physical therapists are not responsible for pharmacological management, they should have sufficient knowledge about pharmacological agents and their side effects and be able to optimise the 'therapeutic window' offered by pharmaceutical agents to encourage the use of active management strategies as appropriate for each individual patient. It is essential to take a patient-centred holistic and collaborative view of the needs of the client/patient with pain and disability.