A 4-day Course on the Treatment of Pain / Understanding of Pain for the Acupuncturist.
Module 1 – 12th April 2024
Aims
- To revise and review understanding of acute pain.
- To revise and review chronic pain as a distinct phenomenon from acute pain.
- To classify chronic and acute pain and distinguish between the sensation of pain and the emotion of suffering.
Outcomes:
By the end of this module participants should be able to:
- State how acute pain and chronic pain are different from each other .
- Understand the physiology and experience of pain.
- Explain how pain can manifest in different ways, including as behavioural problems.
- Explain the various causes and classifications of pain and the clues that help to distinguish them from each other.
Syllabus
- Introduction to pain.
- How pain manifests as a behavioural problem.
- Causes of pain in the cat and dog.
- Classifications of pain.
Module 2: – 13th April 2024
Aims:
- To explain the current status of assessment techniques
- To explain some approaches using osteoarthritis as an example
Outcomes:
By the end of this module participants should be able to:
- Explain why assessing pain is not straightforward
- Apply the knowledge that behavioural changes are part of any assessment of pain
- Explain and apply some of the techniques used to assess pain and suffering
- Apply some approaches to osteoarthritis
Syllabus
- Assessment of pain.
- Treatment of osteoarthritis as an example of chronic pain.
Module 3 – 14th April 2024
Aims:
To explain the practical approach to examination and how to base a treatment on the examination and history of the patient
Outcomes:
By the end of this module participants should be able to:
- Understand that treatment plans cannot be started without examination of the patient
- Explain the confounding factors in assessment of pain problems
- Understand how acupuncture can be applied to patients with central sensitization
- Explain the limitations of acupuncture with anxious/aroused animals
- Appreciate the current research in terms of sedation effects on acupuncture
Syllabus:
- Examination of a patient.
- Approach to patients
- Practical case examples
Module 4 – 15th April 2024
When acupuncture is not enough – what comes next?
Aims:
To demonstrate that acupuncture is not always enough, and that multimodal analgesia and other techniques may need to be employed
Outcomes:
By the end of this module participants should be able to:
- Appreciate the limitations of acupuncture
- Explain how different pharmacological treatments work
- Appreciate how to choose between treatments
- Define the challenges of assessing physical therapies
- Be clear about how to devise treatment plans
Syllabus:
- When acupuncture is not enough
- Pharmacological interventions
- Physical therapies
- Other complementary and alternative therapies (CAM)
- Discussion and forum