Faculty Member, School of Psychology
Senior Lecturer
Life and Environmental Sciences
About
The major aim of my lab is to provide insights into the mechanisms behind 'functional pain'. Very broadly, functional pain is pain that cannot be explained by disease or injury and is defined by symptom report. Prevalent functional disorders include fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and nonspecific low back pain. These disorders are common in the general population with estimates of chronic sufferers ranging from 5-20%. Functional pain reduces quality of life, generates considerable health care costs, decreases work-related productivity and may increase mortality. Treatment is difficult, with physicians and patients often reaching for multiple treatments, used sequentially or in combination, to achieve pain relief. Unfortunately, even this strategy often results in failure. In many cases, physicians are left frustrated and patients dissatisfied with chronic, unremitting symptoms. Currently we are attempting to model the symptoms of functional pain using a variety of techniques including hypnosis and priming. We are also investigating whether descending analgesia is dysfunctional in patients with fibromyalgia or non-specific low back pain.
Contact Information
University of Birmingham
School of Psychology
Edgbaston
B15 2TT
0121 414 4659
