Chronic Pain written on a cream background. Three cartoons show graphics representing pain with characters curled up surrounded by lightning bolts.

Understanding Pain Part 2: Chronic Pain

Hello again everyone. I hope you enjoyed learning all about pain in my last blog! That was just a basic overview of pain in general. This time I want to talk about chronic pain and central sensitisation. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of what happens and why. Before coming on this placement,…Continue reading Understanding Pain Part 2: Chronic Pain

The Problem with Pain Scales

Throughout my Occupational Therapy training and my short but already meaningful career I’ve heard two key phrases in relation to OT. ‘Holistic’ and ‘Client centred’ .. even as students who struggled to explain exactly what being an OT involved we all knew that we had to practice holistically and be client centred [1]. So, we…Continue reading The Problem with Pain Scales

The Able Label – Adaptive Clothing

“The Able Label provides quality, stylish clothes with adapted designs and hidden extras that make self-dressing easier for those with dressing difficulties.”      The Able Label is a stylish and comfy adaptive clothing range, I’m proud to announce my affiliation with them. Their items feature a number of accessibility features. To start with, no…Continue reading The Able Label – Adaptive Clothing

Ableism in the media ‘Anyone can run a marathon’

Earlier today I was watching the London Marathon. The commentator repeatedly emphasised that ‘anyone can run the London Marathon’ all you need is ‘enough training and enough belief’. I let this sink in for a bit and decided that I couldn’t stay quiet. I was encouraged by a friend to share what I thought. What absolute…Continue reading Ableism in the media ‘Anyone can run a marathon’

Limitless Travel role-emerging placement

As part of Occupational Therapy degrees each student must complete one thousand hours of practice. How this is divided up varies from place to place. Northampton University divides practice hours into three placements. The first is shortest and is mainly observation. The last placement is the longest and it’s expected that each student will carry…Continue reading Limitless Travel role-emerging placement

Travel with a variable health condition

Planning a holiday or a day out should be exciting but for many people with variable illnesses or disabilities it can be pretty daunting. To be honest, planning anything can be pretty daunting. I’ve lost count of the number of events I’ve called off at the last-minute.  For any new visitors to my blog, I…Continue reading Travel with a variable health condition

Hypermobility Syndromes – When to seek medical help?

Living with Ehlers Danlos or any of the other hypermobility syndromes does mean you are going to get injuries at some point.  That’s not me being negative, it’s the truth. Living with these disorders is risky! Simply rolling over in bed or putting on socks can lead to ridiculous injuries. I do my best to…Continue reading Hypermobility Syndromes – When to seek medical help?

Non-verbal communication

So this is a new topic for me but I think it’s probably going to help a lot of people. Communication is something we all do, usually without much thought but there are some times when communication can be a bit harder. The most obvious types of communication are talking and listening but actually, a…Continue reading Non-verbal communication

Therapeutic Relationships

Therapeutic Relationships – Getting the most from Healthcare

I’m often asked how I’ve managed to get the most out of healthcare appointments, there is no quick answer so I’ve decided to write a longer one. As always, this post is written from the dual perspective of expert patient and healthcare professional. Much of this post is written from my own personal experience. During…Continue reading Therapeutic Relationships – Getting the most from Healthcare

Sleep deprived ramblings -Why I use a wheelchair & Life with a variable disability

It’s not often I write about how much disability can suck. I do my very best to stay positive. I write useful posts with coping strategies. I think I do a pretty good job when it comes to living a fun and meaningful life but there are some times when I genuinely feel like my…Continue reading Sleep deprived ramblings -Why I use a wheelchair & Life with a variable disability