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    Understanding Pain - Pain Science and Clinical Implications for Chiropractors [1 hr cpd/pt]

    • Understanding Pain - Pain Science and Clinical Implications for Chiropractors [1 hr cpd/pt]

    • Understanding Pain - Pain Science and Clinical Implications for Chiropractors [1 hr cpd/pt]

    • Understanding Pain - Pain Science and Clinical Implications for Chiropractors - Reflection / Case-Based Questions

Summary and Learning Outcomes

Summary
 This course provides chiropractors with an up-to-date, evidence-informed understanding of pain grounded in contemporary pain science. Moving beyond outdated tissue-damage models, the course explores pain as a complex sensory and emotional experience shaped by neurophysiological, psychological, and contextual factors. Chiropractors will examine the mechanisms underpinning acute and chronic pain, including nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic processes, and consider how neuroplastic changes within the nervous system contribute to persistent pain states. Emphasis is placed on clinically relevant concepts such as peripheral and central sensitisation, descending modulation, and the role of the immune system, enabling practitioners to better interpret patient presentations where pain and tissue pathology do not align. Throughout the course, these concepts are explicitly linked to chiropractic practice, supporting clinicians to validate patient experiences, challenge common pain myths, and adopt a more informed, compassionate, and effective approach to persistent pain.

Learning Outcomes:

After this module, learners will:

1. Differentiate between acute and chronic pain, including primary and secondary chronic pain presentations.
2. Classify pain mechanisms as nociceptive, neuropathic, or nociplastic based on contemporary pain science.
3. Describe the basic neurophysiology of pain, including peripheral sensitisation, central sensitisation, and descending modulation.
4. Explain the role of neuroplasticity and immune processes in the development and maintenance of persistent pain.
5. Critically evaluate traditional tissue-based pain models and apply modern pain concepts to chiropractic clinical reasoning.
6. Communicate key pain science concepts in a way that validates patients’ experiences and supports recovery-oriented care.

Instructor(s)

Julia Gover

Julia Gover is a pain specialist, educator, and TEDx speaker with an MSc in Pain Science and Management. She qualified as a chiropractor from AECC University College in 2012 and spent over a decade in clinical practice, including running her own clinic, supporting people with persistent and complex pain. Her clinical work led naturally into education and leadership, and she now serves as Director of Continuing Professional Development for the Royal College of Chiropractors. Julia also works with the Flippin’ Pain Campaign and is passionate about making pain science accessible, hopeful, and relevant, delivering engaging, evidence-based talks shaped by both clinical expertise and lived experience.