About Pain Talk
Have you ever wished you could pick the brain of your local pain expert, if you had one, or find the right word or phrase that can shift the mindset of someone living with persistent pain that can improve their function and quality of life? Pain Talk is a podcast dedicated to bringing together experts who study and support individuals living with pain. It is a platform where scientists, health care providers and individuals living with pain can talk pain—pain and simple.
What do we know about pain?
The science of pain and our understanding of the nervous system has grown exponentially in the past decade.
No longer is pain viewed as a collection of cables passively transmitting information; rather, it is seen as a dynamic structure that has the ability to change and adapt through sophisticated mechanism and complex biological messengers.
As our pain knowledge has grown, so has the development of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions that can alter the pain experience for the patient.
The appropriate use of the different treatment modalities, however, requires a recognition that not all pain is the same nor are the goals of care, pain reduction targets, and pathophysiology similar.
Dr. Maureen Allen
BN CCFP-EM(PC) FCFP
Dr. Maureen Allen is an Emergency Department Physician practicing in rural Nova Scotia. She’s been a health care professional for 36 years beginning her professional career as a nurse. She completed her medical degree and family medicine residency training at Memorial University in Newfoundland in 1991 and later completed her added competency’s in emergency medicine and palliative care. She is actively involved in continuing education programs and provides clinical support to rural Nova Scotians living with chronic pain, substance use disorders and end-of-life.
She has published on the use of atomized methadone buccally at the end of life and a framework for addressing complex pain and addiction delivered through the emergency department. Dr. Allen has been actively involved in the development of an opioid treatment program for her community and provides clinical support to colleagues managing complex pain and substance use disorders.