upandrun

Last week before the London Marathon

Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

The London Marathon is next Sunday, 23rd April. This means a week of relaxing, putting my feet up, being fed grapes and generally letting everybody run around after me. Well, that’s the dream….

It’s an interesting time during the tapering. I feel that I should be doing more. My body behaves like a dog waiting at the door with lead in mouth, yet I know (from some excellent advice) that the opposite is what is needed right now. A few easy, short runs will be just fine, I keep telling myself.

It has been hard work but a thoroughly enjoyable test of one’s ability to keep going and maintain a training routine of 40+ miles a week. That’s a lot of time. Some may say ‘me time’. I am grateful for those close around me for allowing me to spend a good chunk of time out there and then putting up with my stretching, moving, twitching and generally fidgeting to ease the aches and pains. I have also probably become a bit ‘boring’ as I talk about the times I have run….

It is hard to avoid thinking about a time. Initially I was just aiming to finish but now I am eyeing four and a half hours. But who knows! I have never done this before so it is a leap into the unknown!

I doff my hat to all my fellow runners and wish them all well on their individual quests. By all accounts the London Marathon day is a great one and I am thankful for the chance to experience the crowds, the buzz and the bobbing heads of the sea of runners.

If you can come and support CRPS UK and UP, you’ll be a welcome voice from the crowd! You can also support our work by coming to our quiz on Thursday (20th April) (click here) or donate here

Happy Easter!

RSunnamed

Richmond to run London Marathon 2017 for UP and CRPS UK

Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

I am very excited to announce that I will be running the London Marathon this year jointly supporting UP and CRPS UK.

Please support us here by donating whatever you can spare to help reduce suffering

CRPS UK is a registered charity that is focused upon supporting people with complex regional pain syndrome (what is CRPS?). CRPS is often a terribly impacting condition characterised by intense pain and accompanying symptoms that reach into every aspect of the person’s life. Having received little attention, CRPS is gradually becoming more recognised, thanks in great part to the on-going work of the team at CRPS UK.

Georgie, my co-founder at UP, came to see me several years ago with CRPS and therefore at UP we were thrilled to team up with CRPS UK. CRPS has been a condition that I have studied for many years, and having worked with many people living the condition, personally I am honoured to represent CRPS UK and UP in this way, hoping to make a contribution by raising money to allow the work to go on.

Chronic pain is the number one global health burden. Think about all the conditions that hurt and cause pain. This is not just musculoskeletal pain, but all pain — cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, headaches, migraines, pelvic pain, heart disease, post-surgical pain, infections, inflammatory disorders! If pain was understood globally, by society, by individuals, we would know what we can focus upon to overcome the problems and live as best we can in a meaningful way. At the moment this is not the case. There is still a focus on the tissues and pathology as an explanation, but this is not the case. We have known for years that pain and injury are poorly related, and that there is much more to pain to know and work with to create the conditions for change.

This is what we aim to do at UP and CRPS UK. Pain is a public health problem affecting millions in many different ways: home life, relationships, social activities, work to name a few. People need to know the ways in which they can navigate these issues and move onward. The money you give will directly support projects and initiatives to reach this end where we hope to influence the policy makers and healthcare providers, but in essence to help the individual ease his or her suffering.

Thank you.

Richmond

 

We have done the run!

Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

up-maraThe Royal Parks 1/2 marathon today (9th October 2016) ~ we have done the run!

Team UP completed the run around the Parks and London today to raise awareness for UP and money to launch our campaign. It was a great success!

The Team: Richmond Stace, Jonathan Vickers, Peter Brown, Chris Mutch & Ann Dunmall

On a beautiful morning, we completed the course in good time. Ann even sang in the Rock Choir performance on the main stage!! Awesome!

We were very well supported by Jo, Lucy, Lucy H, Georgie, Mark and of course the volunteers and staff. A big thanks to Sally!

This success means that we will do it again. And again. The #upandrun will now be one of the ways in which we continue to raise awareness through exposure and conversations with people and other charities. UP will support runners in the UK and beyond by funding their place and supplying a running shirt while the runner raises money for UP. So if you want to run for us, get in touch ~ upandsing@gmail.com

You can still support us here: upandrun

And now for the feet to go up!

Some strong words about pain

Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

Here are some strong words about pain because this is what drives the UP | understand pain campaign. Chronic pain is the number one global health burden — it costs us the most and then consider the personal cost and suffering endured by each individual. We are not just talking about musculoskeletal pain (e.g., back pain, neck pain, osteoarthritis etc.) but all pain: headaches, migraines, pelvic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer related pain, pain related to conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and all the other situations in which we hurt and can continue to suffer.

Traditionally the search for the reasons for pain consisted of looking for a pathology, an injury or other structural explanation in the body. The biomedical model needs something to find, something to see with the naked eye or on a scan. Pain can never be seen.

Pain is the ultimate example of a conscious experience, and conscious experiences are built by the individual based on a number of factors that are biological, psychological and sociological. Typically it is the biology that is focused upon with some psychology, which means that the biopsychosocial model purported for some years now, is not really used except in name.

The reality is that you cannot separate these dimensions. How is psychology not biological or sociological? How is biology not psychological? It makes no sense to divide what is a lived experience, a first person experience that embraces the unification of thoughts, perceptions and actions. Fortunately for society, there is a model that is most likely to be able to reflect this unification and the research needed to test the model is going to be supported by the UP campaign (charity-to-be).

As society has evolved so has our pain. Chronic pain is a societal phenomenon — on certain parts of the world, back pain did not exist until the concept was introduced by modern healthcare. That is a societal issue, not a medical issue. And by this regard, society needs a shift to support a new understanding of pain to relieve that very society of this on-going pain problem. This is not a medical problem. As time moves away from the initiation of the pain experience, it shifts rapidly towards the need for a sociopsychological model — what does the person in pain need to understand? What do they need to do? How do they engage with their family? How do they engage with their work? How do they communicate their pain? What actions do they need to take day to day to get better?

This is a public health problem that needs addressing as such. It is not dramatic to say that world leaders and policy makers need to be having conversations about the health problem that costs the globe the most and taking action now. It is absurd that the main reason for seeking help, the vehicle taking people to healthcare is frequently pain. How much formal training do healthcare professionals receive?

The passion behind UP | understand pain emerges from the absolute need for an enforced change from the bottom up. Society needs to be instrumental in the change for its own good and so this is where UP is taking the campaign. To the people. The voice of the people to enforce the necessary change.

This weekend UP has a team at The Royal Parks 1/2 Marathon, raising funds that will be the foundation for all that is described above. So join us and spread the word as we raise the profile of this problem into the consciousness of society for action to be taken now.

Join us on Twitter @upandsing using #upandrun

What research is UP supporting?

Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

Pain being hugely complex and one of the greatest examples of a conscious experience means that we have many questions to answer. This includes an understanding of pain biology, pain psychology and the social dimension. Whilst all are important, it is the unification of these that is the lived experience, the phenomena of pain. This is what we must ultimately understand so that we can have a true working knowledge of what is going on and what we can do about it.

Hence we need a model that can deliver this depth of understanding and a basis for action. We are fortunate in that such work is going on as we speak, and it is this work that UP will be supporting. The yield will be the practical application of our knowledge about pain so that individuals can really know what they can do to move forward and overcome their pain. Such knowledge will also inform healthcare practice from the outset when a person presents with a pain problem — those initial messages are vital; they must be right as they often set the scene.

Chronic pain is the number one global health burden, which means that millions are suffering. This can change. This must change. This is the reason for UP.

Please support us in our mission and come and see us at The Royal Parks run on Sunday 9th October: http://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/understandpain

We are on twitter @upandsing and our hashtag for the run is #upandrun

RS

Why are we running in The Royal Parks 1/2 marathon?

Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

DSC_0179Not long to go now! The day’s events look great fun, so do please come and see us so we can tell you (once we have our breath back!) what UP is all about and why we are raising money.

In short, UP is all about changing how people and society thinks about pain by delivering the right messages based on the latest science of pain. The widest reach comes via the internet and so we are working on a great website resource for all those who need to understand pain — people suffering, those affected by chronic pain and those delivering the care. We are also raising money to support contemporary research into pain, in particular the use of a practical model that explains pain and provides a way forward for people on a day to day basis.

Chronic pain is the largest global health burden, and most people don’t even know that!

Please come and support us! There are 5 of us running ably supported by Jo and Georgie. Georgie will also be performing with Rock Choir on the main stage.

Follow us on Twitter @upandsing where the hashtag will be #upandrun

If you would like to donate to the campaign, please click here and know that you are contributing towards a new movement to reduce global suffering.

Hope to see you there! Look out for the logo: cropped-screen-shot-2015-10-21-at-08-20-53.png