Paincasts

Season 3 Episode 12: Supporting Children with Complex Pain with Amanda de Chastelain

Amanda de Chastelain has been working at the Alberta Children’s Hospital since 2014 at their outpatient orthopaedics, complex pain clinic, and burn clinic. She is also a current board member and the past president of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association. 

In this episode, we talked about pain in the pediatrics context, concrete ways to support children experiencing complex pain and their families, and effective ways of communicating concepts of pain with children.

Season 3 Episode 11:  Mobilization with Movement: Integrating Manual Therapy with Pain Neuroscience with Jack Miller and Jim Millard

The Mulligan concept, or Mobilization with Movement (MWM) is an approach to manual therapy that combines active movement, pain neuroscience, patient autonomy, and hands-on mobilization. We have two very qualified guests to discuss this topic: Jack Miller and Jim Millard.

In this episode, we discussed MWM’s philosophies, therapeutic effects in the literature, and practical considerations when applying MWM.

Season 3 Episode 10: Interviewing Leaders in Physiotherapy (Part 2)

Episodes 09 and 10 showcase what our CPA, provincial branches, and CPA division leaders are working on. I also asked them about what they like about getting involved, why they wanted to take on these roles, what they hope to see in the profession, and ways we as physiotherapists and students can get involved. This is part 2 of the 2-part series on leaders in physiotherapy, featuring 6 divisions within the CPA. Part 1 featured the CPA and 2 provincial branches.

List of interviewees:

01:40 Lyndal Solomons (Acupuncture and Dry Needling Division – chair)

11:24 Melissa Cursons (Pediatric Division – chair)

17:22 Meaghan Adams (Neurosciences Division – chair)

24:42 Arthur Woznowski-Vu (Pain Science Division – past chair)

30:25 Meghan Curle (Orthopaedic Division – chair)

39:06 Karim Meghji (Private Practice Division – chair)

Season 3 Episode 9: Interviewing Leaders in Physiotherapy (Part 1)

Episodes 09 and 10 showcase what our CPA, provincial branches, and CPA division leaders are working on. I also asked them about what they like about getting involved, why they wanted to take on these roles, what they hope to see in the profession, and ways we as physiotherapists and students can get involved. This is part 1 of the 2-part series on leaders in physiotherapy, featuring the CPA and 2 provincial branches. Part 2 will feature 6 divisions of the CPA.

List of interviewees:

01:44 Oren Cheifetz (Ontario Physiotherapy Association – president)

05:56 Courtney Bean (Ontario Physiotherapy Association – president-elect)

17:35 George Schneider (Alberta Association of Physiotherapy – president)

29:46 Amanda de Chastelain (Canadian Physiotherapy Association – past president and current board member)

Season 3 Episode 8: Interviewing Physiotherapists about Pain at the CPA Congress

This episode compiles 10 interviews I had during the congress, featuring physiotherapy students, researchers, new grads, and experienced physiotherapists, from all over Canada and abroad. These 10 interviews cover acute care, rehab, private practice, in musculoskeletal, neuro, sports, and cardioresp, across pediatric, general population, and older adults care. I asked about their views on pain, how they manage and support patients in pain, and the value of physiotherapy in their contexts. I have added timestamps of each interview in the episode description if you’d like to jump around interviews. 

List of interviewees:

01:55 Aaron – PT Year 2 student at UofT

07:56 DeAnna – Neuro PT in BC

11:55 Blaise Dubois – keynote speaker, President of The Running Clinic

21:19 Lizzy – PT consultant for a school in Ottawa

26:01 Stephanie – PT Year 2 student at Dalhousie, interested in burn care 

31:37 Jennifer – MSK chronic pain PT and PhD candidate in China

39:59 Brandyn – Assistant Lecturer and PhD candidate at UofA

48:44 Khang – MPT/PhD student at McMaster University

57:06 Isabel – MSK and pelvic floor PT in Switzerland 

01:17:44 Simona – PT Year 1 student at UofT

Season 3 Episode 7: Pain story: Living with Chronic Pain with Elijah

This episode features the patients’ perspective of pain. Elijah developed idiopathic lower extremity joint pain (i.e., hip, knee and ankle pain of an unknown cause) in 2018, during his final year at university. He has gone through very difficult times because of the pain. He is still living with it, but it thankfully has been stabilized. In this episode, we explored his journey of going through and coming out of severe joint pain, his physical, emotional and social experiences of pain, his consultations with various healthcare professionals, and what it means to live well with pain.

Season 3 Episode 6: Cognitive Functional Therapy for low back pain with Dr. Mark Hancock

Mark is a professor of physiotherapy at Macquarie University in Sydney. He has over 20 years of clinical experience as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist working in a primary care setting. Mark now works primarily as a researcher, focusing on the diagnosis and management of back pain. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and his work has been accompanied by editorials and received wide media attention. He is a part of the RESTORE trial, which is the largest clinical trial on Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT), a biopsychosocial model of care for back pain. In this episode, we talked about what CFT is, discussed various aspects of the recent RESTORE trial, as well as practical questions about implementing CFT. For more about the RESTORE trial, please visit the website https://www.restorebackpain.com/.

Season 3 Episode 5: Addressing pain through advanced practice physiotherapy with Rob Werstine

“Don’t wait until the opportunities to pass, prepare yourself to take advantage of the upcoming opportunities” — Rob Werstine

Rob Werstine is an Advanced Practice Provider in the Rapid Access Clinic for Low Back Pain at the London Health Sciences Centre. Partnering with Jack Miller, he started Key Clinical Skills Inc. which has been providing Advanced Practice education across Canada since 2016 to improve the ability of hundreds of non-physician healthcare professionals to take on Advanced Practice roles. In this episode, we talked about the value of advanced practice providers in the healthcare system, the current advanced practice model, and how physiotherapists are well-positioned to respond to the need for better pain management in Canada.

Season 3 Episode 4: Applying Pain Science with Arthur Woznowski-Vu

Arthur Woznowski-Vu is a licensed physiotherapist, PhD candidate, and the Chair of the Pain Science Division. While he is finishing up his PhD studying central sensitization to physical activity, he is currently in the process of launching his own chronic pain rehab clinic. In this episode, we get into Arthur’s research and advocacy at the pain science division, the value of the pain science division, and the importance of integrating pain science with physiotherapy practice.

Season 3 Episode 3: Chronic pain care with Dr. Lindsay Wright

Dr. Lindsay Wright is the director of Integrated Health at Change Pain Clinic in Vancouver. She is a chiropractor with advanced training in movement and exercise as a kinesiologist and clinical exercise physiologist. In this episode, we talked about the evolution of pain care, integrated and individualized approach to patient care, and the importance of validating patients with chronic pain.

Season 3 Episode 2: Low back pain with Dr. Stuart McGill (Part 2)

Dr. Stuart McGill is world-renowned for his expertise in low back biomechanics and treating low back pain. He is a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo and the Chief Scientific Officer at Backfitpro. In this episode, we covered his thoughts on degenerative disc disease, exercise prescription approaches, and refining the art of patient interaction.

Season 3 Episode 1: Low back pain with Dr. Stuart McGill (Part 1)

Dr. Stuart McGill is world-renowned for his expertise in low back biomechanics and treating low back pain. He is a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo and the Chief Scientific Officer at Backfitpro. In this episode, we discussed the validity of non-specific low back pain, the implications of using this label in our practices, and the intersection of a biomechanical approach with the biopsychosocial approach.