23/10/2025
I drew a picture for you guys! I'm sharing this image so you can better equip yourself when managing or recovering from pain or injury. In the Venn diagram you’ll see MANY contributors pertaining to pain that could be either possible risk or protective factors.
Managing pain and injury through the lens of the biopsychosocial model means treating the whole person comprehensively, taking in to account the many variables impacting an individual, such as; beliefs and expectations, sleep, socioeconomic status and hormonal shifts. This contrasts with the older biomedical model which views pain and injury simply as a physical pathology without consideration for a broad range of factors that contribute and modulate the experience of pain.
The myth of pain as always being a physical issue, like tissue damage or degeneration, can be very limiting. It overlooks the important role the brain plays in perpetuating pain and fails to recognise the abundance of biological, psychological and social factors that play a role in pain. For example...
🤕Distress, anxiety and depression are important predictors in the development of acute pain becoming chronic. (Meints, Edwards, Gilligan, Schreiber, 2020)
🤕50% of the population may experience neck pain in their lifetime. The greatest predictors of neck pain are low job satisfaction and low perceived support at work (Cohen & Hooten, 2017)
🤕Kinesiophobia is common among individulas with persistent lower back pain. "This fear driven avoidance may lead to deconditioning, heightened pain perception and a cycle of inactivity and disability" (Dr Deeba Shaikh, 2025)
Pain is nuanced and impacted by biological, psychological and social factors such as; sleep quality, emotions, expectations about pain or aging, quality of our relationships, hormonal fluctuations and stress.
Whilst the biomedical approach still has value and can be very effective in the treatment of acute injuries and mechanical problems, care and treatment can be limited by its narrow framework. For greater scope and increased, positive health outcomes, all biopsychosocial risk and protective factors should be considered. (References in bio.)
