Ep41: Assessing and Treating Neuropathic Pain (Part 2): Important Theoretical and Practical Considerations with Dr. Tara Packham

About this episode

This episode discusses the assessment and treatment of neuropathic pain, focusing on desensitization and related concepts.

In this episode, we talked about: Do we really understand what desensitization is? Clarifying concepts, including desensitization, hypersensitivity, sensory re-education, graded exposure, and counterstimulation Important practical considerations for using “desensitization” with patients Incorporating contextual effects of treatment and orienting patients to positive recovery expectations Dr. Tara Packham is an occupational therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience in hand and upper limb rehabilitation, and an assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences (SRS) at McMaster University. Tara’s program of research focuses on assessing and addressing persistent pain, and continuing to advance the field of hand rehabilitation. Tara has published and presented extensively for both hand rehabilitation and pain management audiences on persistent pain conditions impacting the upper extremity. Her research spans development and evaluation of outcome measures, refining and testing interventions, and exploring the experiences of persons with health challenges accessing rehabilitation. She is the Editor in Chief at Hand Therapy and currently serves on the editorial…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Tara Packham

Topics covered

• neuropathic pain
• desensitization
• hypersensitivity
• sensory re-education
• graded exposure
• counterstimulation
• patient expectations

Keywords

• neuropathic pain
• desensitization
• hypersensitivity
• sensory re-education
• graded exposure
• counterstimulation
• pain management

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McMaster University, Canadian Physiotherapy Association Pain Science Division, Hand Therapy, Journal of Hand Therapy, Pain Medicine, International Association for the Study of Pain

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