Occupational Therapy (OT)
What is it?
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Form of therapy that focuses on helping people do daily activities in adaptive ways. This can include self care, leisure activities, and productivity.
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OT addresses each person’s physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and sensory/perception needs.
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Introduces new skills and routines into daily life that can ease chronic pain.
What is done in OT?
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Proactive pain control so you can participate in daily life
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Example: Heat/cold therapy
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An occupational therapist will assess your daily routines and help you determine how to adapt so that you can continue with your activities.
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Teach you to be less reactive to pain and prevent fear-avoidance thought processes.
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Fear-avoidance thought processes prevent you from doing activities that you would normally be able to do. It is common for people with chronic pain to become afraid of activities that may trigger pain.
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An occupational therapist may assess environmental factors that may be influencing the pain and identify what can be modified.
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Safe body mechanics and ergonomics can help you regain confidence in being able to do physical activities.
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Neuromuscular re-education involves being retrained in physical activities using specific muscle groups.
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Electromyographic biofeedback
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Muscle tension reduction training involves learning to relax muscles and calm the mind.
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You must learn how to anticipate potential problems and plan in advance how to address these problems.
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Chronic pain forces us to pace our activities. We have to learn how to regulate activity levels and identify how much energy and how much rest is needed throughout the day.
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This can include breaking down activities into smaller steps.
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Identify a baseline and how much activity you can tolerate before experiencing pain.
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Occupational therapists can also provide assistive devices such as walkers, wheelchairs, canes, long-handled reachers, shoe horns, and dressing aids.
Sources
Rochman, D. L. (2014). Occupational therapy’s role with Pain Rehabilitation . AOTA. Retrieved July 20, 2022, fromhttps://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/HW/Facts/Pain%20Rehabilitation%20fact%20sheet.pdf
Lagueux, É., Dépelteau, A., & Masse, J. (2018, November 12). Occupational therapy’s unique contribution to chronic pain management: A scoping review. Pain research & management. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6260403/
Doheny, K. (2021, October 15). Occupational therapy in pain management. Practical Pain Management. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/meeting-summary/occupational-therapy-pain-management