Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Awareness Talks
As a charity we believe it is extremely important for all healthcare and legal professionals as well as student healthcare to be aware of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), so you can fully support patients living with the condition.
To support health professionals within the NHS and private sector, we provide in-service awareness talks to all NHS teams across the United Kingdom.
It aims to give you the knowledge and skills you need to work effectively with people with the condition.
CRPS affects 1 in 3,800 people within the UK and it affets more women that men (3.4-1). CRPS has a range of symptoms that can affect patients in different ways. Understanding those symptoms and how the condition can affect people is important.
Awareness Talk Aims
After attending one of our CRPS awareness talks, you should:
- Have a basic understanding of what CRPS is, the various symptoms patients can have and how it is diagnosed and treated
- Know how to recognise CRPS and what you need to do to get someone diagnosed
- Understand how CRPS can affect a person both physically and mentally
We believe that it is crucial that all healthcare professionals have a general understanding of CRPS, how it is diagnosed, treated and to be able to identify a patient with the condition.
Ultimately, it is our aim that when students join any branch of the healthcare profession, they are at least aware or understand CRPS and eventually diagnoses will become quicker, therefore treatment will be available faster culminating in hopefully a patient into ‘remission’ or lesser and more manageable pain.
Why Are These Talks Important?
On average student medics receive around 6 hours of training on persistent pain. Physiotherapists receive the most training on chronic pain which is around 9 hours.
The topic of chronic pain and more specifically CRPS needs more awareness brought to the curriculum of all student healthcare professionals as well as Continuing Professional Development (CPD). In a research study in 2015 (Briggs, E.V. et al) they found that:
“Dedicated pain modules were most common in France (27/31 schools; 87%). Excluding France, only 22% (47/211 schools) provided a dedicated pain module and in only 9% (18/211) was this compulsory…”
Who Delivers The Talks?
Generally our founder, Victoria will deliver the CRPS awareness talks. However we have other volunteers and trustees who are available and can deliver the talks.
The founder of Burning Nights CRPS Support is not just a CRPS patient but is a trained barrister used to research and public speaking. She is passionate and fully committed about the subject of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and all areas of it and want to be able to pass on her knowledge that she has gained since 2004 to the medical profession as a whole and the legal fraternity.
Who Will Benefit?
It is important that the following people would benefit from our CRPS awareness talks:
- Healthcare professionals
- Student healthcare
- Legal professionals
- Student lawyers
- Schools – who have students with CRPS
- Colleges
- Universities
Do You Provide Other Talks?
Yes we are available to offer talks on various topics other than CRPS, including
- About the charity and its work
- Our Founder talking about her life with CRPS and being a bilateral amputee
- Amputation due to CRPS
- Chronic Pain
- Disability
- Disability awareness training
Is There A Cost?
Currently, the in-service CRPS awareness sessions are free of charge to the NHS and to schools.
However we ask for a small donation for private companies and private clinics as we are a charity.
What Does The Talk Involve?
The CRPS talks are usually approcimately 1 hour in length plus time for questions. However each talk is bespoke to you and your team’s needs. The timings can be altered to suit you.
However we are unable to deliver a CRPS awareness talk in under 45 minutes. Therefore we recommend that you set aside at least 1 hour for our talks.
The talks are delivered using PowerPoint and we will usually have our own equipemnt including laptop, screen and projector. However we are happy to use your equipment.
You will be given a list of all the resources and citations used for the information provided during the talk. We will also provide you with our CRPS diagnostic form as well as leaflets and posters for your clinic.
Book A Talk
Interested in booking one of our talks? Please complete the form below to register your interest and we will be in touch.
Previous CRPS Talks and What People Say About Them
Here is a short 10 minute video of our founder, Victoria, giving a presentation on her life with severe Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) during the 2016 Naidex disability show:
Wrexham Maelor Hospital
We were invited to speak to a group of Occupational Therapists at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, as they are receiving more CRPS referrals.
We gave a 2 hour presentation to the group complete with handouts, PowerPoint and symptoms & signs handout. It was a great experience for the OTs and they felt that they learned a lot from it. In their feedback in answer to the question on recommendation they said:
“Yes definitely to both healthcare professionals and patients.”
North Manchester General Hospital
We were invited to North Manchester General hospital to talk to a group of physiotherapists in May 2016. It was a very probing presentation and we answered many questions on various areas of our presentation especially on the topic of ice and CRPS.
Royal Oldham Hospital
This Complex Regional Pain Syndrome awareness training session was for a mixture of physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists. It took place in June 2016 and in their feedback, one person said
“I’ve been on numerous training and management courses and this one kept me gripped for the whole hour, thank you!”
Bolshaw Primary School
We are available to speak at schools, colleges and universities to explain about CRPS and how it can affect children in school, college or university.
Manchester Neuropathy Centre
This CRPS awareness training sessions was for a group of neuro-physiotherapists who wanted to learn more about Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) as they were receiving more CRPS patients in their practice.
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- Seminars | CRPS awareness training sessions | Manchester
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- Seminars | CRPS training | Burning Nights CRPS Support
Amersham Hospital
This was a CRPS awareness session for a group of Occupational Therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists in April 2017. This was an overview of the condition, signs and symptoms and available treatment options. We also included a small section on how to spot a possible CRPS patient and also how to deal with a CRPS patient.
Interactive CRPS Session (Primary Care and Public Health Exhibition May 2017)
This was a brief 15 minute interactive session on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome where we gave a small amount of information on the basics of CRPS and the main time was given to going over various photographs of limbs and extremities for the audience to decide if it was a CRPS diagnosis or not. This short session was extremely well attended and well received by the whole audience.
Enable Therapy Services
In June 2017 Enable Therapy Services a group of Occupational Therapists who provide various services to “promote the use of rehabilitation and early intervention. Our founder, Victoria gave a 1 hour informal session on CRPS awareness including pathophysiology, treatment options, diagnosis and how to look out for a CRPS patient.
OXFORDSHIRE MSK PHYSIOTHERAPY SERVICE
We were invited to give an 1 1/2 hour overview session on complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) to a group of approximately 25-30 MSK physiotherapists in September 2017.
This session included information about the condition in general, epidemiology, pathophysiology, treatment, how to deal with a CRPS patient as well as diagnosis, prognosis and future possible treatment options.
Liverpool Wheelchair Services
We spoke with a great team of Occupational Therapists’ at Liverpool Wheelchair Services. Our CRPS awareness session was bespoke to the group as they are dealing with CRPS patients in terms of getting a wheelchair from the NHS and wheelchair services.
“Fantastic training session last week by Victoria @BNightsCRPS thank you so much for coming up and giving us all things to think about when looking at wheelchair provision for someone with CRPS. It was great! Really gave us food for thought“
Tissue Viability Society Conference April 2018
Our founder Victoria was invited to speak at the Tissue Viability Society (TVS) conference in Newcastle in April 2018. Victoria spoke about the various skin complications within complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and how it can affect patients.
The presentation was very well received by everyone who attended and it generated a genuine interest in the topic as well as a number of questions. Watch the 30 minute video of Victoria’s speech on Skin Complications within Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
Hereford Podiatry Training Day, June 2018
In June 2018 we were invited to be one of the speakers at the Hereford Podiatry training day which they hold regularly. This was the first opportunity we had of speaking to a group of podiatrists and in addition to the general overview of CRPS that we usually do we included a section on ‘What Podiatrists Need To Know’ which gave some helpful hints and tips on what patients may have issues with in terms of their feet and how these obstacles can be overcome.
“I’d definitely recommend this session!!! Thank you so much for coming and I’ve learnt so much today – thanks!”
“Enlightening and informative presentation”
Rotherham NHS Trust, September 2018
We were delighted to be invited to speak to a large group of physiotherapists with the addition of one OT in September 2018. This was an overview of CRPS, epidemiology, pathophysiology, CRPS treatment pathway and future treatments.
“Definitely recommended – I’d recommend this training for all the multi-disciplinary team that should be involved so they can recognise it (CRPS)”
“Yes I’d recommend the session to others, it’s useful to clarify what am already doing and has improved my awareness – thanks!”
“CRPS Awareness session was extremely informative and very thorough. I’d DEFINITELY recommend it!”
“This session should be incorporated into undergraduate training. Thank you for your time – it was very informative”
“Nice to have a caseload based presentation with an extensive knowledge”
West Sussex Independent Living Service, September 2018
This was a small group of OTs who were interested in learning more about CRPS in both adults and children. This session was a general overview of CRPS using patient examples and images as well as research to back up the points. This CRPS awareness session was in September 2018.
SOCAP Birmingham, Bournville, October 2018
We were invited to give a CRPS awareness session for the SOCAP Birmingham branch meeting in October 2018. This was an overview of CRPS along with the treatment pathway, future treatments, the condition itself as well as information and tips on what podiatrists need to know, how to suspect CRPS and how to deal with CRPS patients. This session was very well received and the podiatrists who came found the session “very enlightening and informative.”
Inspirational Speeches by our founder, Victoria and her life with CRPS
Burning Nights CRPS Support’s founder, Victoria has also spoken about her life as a CRPS sufferer and being a bilateral amputee as well as about the condition itself at the following events:
- Naidex 2016, 2017 and 2018
- Cambridge Medico-Legal Conference – September 2016
- Unite Professional Occupational Therapy Healthcare – October 2016
- Manchester College – April 2017
- IASP SIG CRPS Annual Conference in Cork, Ireland – August 2017
- Manchester College – December 2017
- Manchester College – Human Library for Hate Crime Awareness Week – February 2018
Interested in booking a speaker?
If you are interested in discussing with us your requirements for your seminar, training or talk or interview/media articles, please complete the form via this link or send an email and we will answer your query as soon as possible.
