Pain and OT

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I once heard a neuroscientist say: 

Many of our frameworks end up being wrong—because the body is more complicated than we ever imagined. 

Pain science perfectly illustrates this. We are living in an era where new frameworks are being written—because classical understandings of pain have not only been inadequate, they have led to ineffective and even harmful treatment. 

Today, we look at a new framework for understanding pain. 

And, there’s good news for OT in it. 

The authors argue that such a complex condition needs holistic treatment like OT and PT can provide. To help us unpack what this all can mean for your daily OT practice, we are excited to welcome to the podcast Irvin Eisenberg, who owns Resilience Occupational Therapy, where he helps members of his community manage their pain.

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• The Distributed Nociceptive System: A Framework for Understanding Pain

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Role of occupational therapy in pain management
• The effect of occupational engagement on lifestyle in adults living with chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify researched-backed OT pain interventions. 
• You will be able to identify assessments you can use for pain management. 

Resources for Pain and OT

• Why You Hurt- Education from Adriaan Louw
• Centralized Sensitization Inventory

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• 00:00:00 Intro to Pain and OT
• 00:01:00 OT Potential Podcast Intro
• 00:02:27 Intro to Chronic Pain
• 00:03:02 Problems with Classical Understandings of Pain
• 00:03:47 Intent of this Article
• 00:04:10 The Distributed Processing of Nociceptive Information with the Spinal Cord
• 00:05:45 The Distributed Processing of Nociceptive Information with the Brain
• 00:07:36 Distributed Treatment
• 00:09:12 Article Conclusion

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)

• 00:10:11 Intro to Irvin Eisenberg
• 00:15:56 Opening his Own OT practice
• 00:20:11 Impressions of the Article
• 00:28:28 Talking about Pain with Clients
• 00:34:48 Story about the Tremendous Power of the Brain to Regulate Pain
• 00:39:01 Go-to Assessments for Pain
• 00:45:43 Irvin’s Holistic Approach to Pain
• 00:58:43 Advice for OTs who are Interested in Starting a Pain Private Practice
• 01:00:25 Final Thoughts

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about Pain and OT.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.  Our guest, Irvin Eisenberg, also has no financial disclosures.

Speakers

Irvin Eisenberg, MOT

My interest in the body and health started in college where I studied dance and choreography at Bard College. My interest deepened with training in the Barbara Brennan healing science and my introduction to Reiki.  

While I love dance and the human form I had very little talent for dance and exhibited poor rhythm.  As a result, I left college to go to massage school.  In time, I graduated from the 1000-hour Finger Lakes School of Massage program in 2007 and continued my personal studies.

I became fascinated with connective tissue (fascia) and studied under a Rolfer ® for 2 years before attending Tom Myers’ program Anatomy Trains Structural Integration ®.

After graduating I continued to study with various students of Dr. Ida P Rolf.  But I wanted to meet more of my client’s needs, and went back to school (Utica College) to complete my BS and get a 69 credit MS in Occupational Therapy.

Since graduating in 2018, with my broader skillsets and the ability to accept insurance as payment, I’ve been able to help an ever-growing number of people in Central Vermont. 

I am continually fascinated with the human body and am currently studying the neuroscience of pain to help prevent and reduce chronic pain.

I currently enjoy hiking, dodgeball, and “doing circus tricks” with my 5-year-old.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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