Ian Cleary

Getting better or just getting better at managing?

March 11, 2016IanChronic Fatigue Syndrome & ME, Chronic Pain/ Fibromyalgia, Depression, anxiety and other conditions, Lightning Process, NeuroplasticityComments Off on Getting better or just getting better at managing?

The understanding of NEUROPLASTICITY has become a valuable tool in working with both physical and mental health. NEUROPLASTICITY is the process where the brain alters its structure and function as an adaptation to experience. The implications of this are huge. One implication is that the things that people do to ‘manage’ their problem are also […]

Continue Reading

The Fibromyalgia Test and what it means

November 17, 2015IanChronic Fatigue Syndrome & ME, Chronic Pain/ Fibromyalgia, Depression, anxiety and other conditions, NeuroplasticityComments Off on The Fibromyalgia Test and what it means

The Fibro Diagnositic Test- Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick (because that would hurt EVERYONE). There is normally a large and exhaustive range of tests that people undergo on their journey to get a diagnosis. But the simple diagnostic test for Fibro is pretty straight forward. Prod someone in various […]

Continue Reading

Stress? Coping well vs just not doing it. You CHOOSE.

You may know the boiled frog experiment. Put a frog in a pot of warm water and it will detect the warmth and jump out. But the bizarre thing is if you put it in a pot of water at room temperature then heat it slowly, the frog can’t detect ANY change and will stay there […]

Continue Reading

Cute rabbits, perception and the brain

October 23, 2015IanChronic Pain/ Fibromyalgia, In the News & Research, NeuroplasticityComments Off on Cute rabbits, perception and the brain

What can a fake rabbit teach us about neuroplasticity and the brain? There is a neat experiment known as the cutaneous rabbit illusion. If you tap two spots at distant places on your forearm in a particular timing, you experience the sensation of being touched in the middle of the two places as well. The brain […]

Continue Reading

Where is pain?

July 17, 2015IanChronic Pain/ Fibromyalgia, NeuroplasticityComments Off on Where is pain?

Understanding Pain I recently read an article about fibromyalgia that read “Pain is the body’s way of alerting your brain that there is a problem”. This fundamentally misunderstands modern pain science and that misunderstanding can get in the way of people beating many chronic pain conditions. Pain is not your BODY’S way of alerting your brain there is a problem. […]

Continue Reading

Trauma and the brain

Why do we remember anything? We clearly don’t remember everything. So why bother remembering anything at all? It’s pretty clear life would be difficult and potentially dangerous without memories. Memories play an important role in keeping us safe. We learn from a bad experience so we don’t make the mistake again. So while many of […]

Continue Reading

The day I broke my back

June 4, 2015IanChronic Pain/ Fibromyalgia, Neuroplasticity, The Stress ResponseComments Off on The day I broke my back

Back pain can be debilitating. I know. I’ve been there. I remember waking up one morning with horrific pain shooting through my back. The sort of explosive pain that stops you breathing and feels like a full body explosion. I lay there for hours until I realised I needed to get help. I slowly rolled […]

Continue Reading

Losing trust in your body

March 5, 2015IanChronic Fatigue Syndrome & ME, Chronic Pain/ FibromyalgiaComments Off on Losing trust in your body

We all know and understand intuitively how important trust is in a relationship. However this is not about the loss of trust between two people. It’s about a loss of trust in one’s self. After years with chronic fatigue or pain people lose trust in themselves. They learn that they can no longer rely on […]

Continue Reading

Acceptance and Hopelessness

There’s some really interesting discussions taking place around the impact that a diagnosis can play in the path of physical conditions. That’s a fascinating concept. How can ‘naming it’ change anything for a physical condition? Clearly a diagnosis can be valuable in knowing what the appropriate course of action is. However, with many of the conditions I […]

Continue Reading

I get pain on the run

February 18, 2015IanChronic Pain/ FibromyalgiaComments Off on I get pain on the run

Chronic Pain is a curious thing. Swearing can reduce pain ….. unless you swear a lot already. Wearing googles that make the painful bit look further away can change the pain experience, saying “that” pain instead of “this” or “my” pain can reduce pain. Even using the word “pain”  (or ouch, hurt,  jabbing, searing) can […]

Continue Reading
Contact

+61 (0)450736082

info@iancleary.com
PO Box 481
Eumundi, Qld, 4562.
AUSTRALIA