Course Description:

Course Description and Approach:
This lab-intensive weekend course will equip health care providers with the didactic knowledge and hands-on skills needed for treating patients suffering from peripheral neurogenic pain and a variety of nociplastic pain states.
Students will be provided with mandatory pre-course viewing and reading materials to establish the foundation necessary to participate in this lab-intensive weekend. They will demonstrate competency through a quiz for Neurodynamics and a quiz for GMI. Pre-course work will promote appropriate background, rationale, and clinical decision-making considerations for implementation of the techniques covered. For those students enrolled in the TPS program, this weekend intensive serves as the practical application of the Neurodynamics and Too Hot to Handle courses.
On day 1, attendees will practice and develop skills in the physical examination and treatment of a sensitized peripheral nervous system. Practical sessions focus on the main upper extremity nerves
(median, radial and ulnar), trunk, head and lower extremities, including both lumbar and lumbosacral plexuses and tracts. Practical sessions include identifying and palpating peripheral nerves, active and passive neurodynamic tests, and neurodynamic treatments for the sensitive nervous system. Safe and appropriate patient handling will be emphasized.

Day 2 focuses on desensitization of the nervous system, i.e. patients suffering from nociplastic pain. First, attendees will review easy-to-follow strategies to teach people about pain and neural sensitivity related to central sensitization. This practical application of TNE will prepare patients for novel treatments aimed at desensitization of a hyper-sensitive nervous system. Attendees will then learn to test various aspects associated with sensitization, including laterality, two-point discrimination, body diagram drawings, localization of stimulus and graphesthesia. Treatments will include retraining left-right discrimination, motor imagery/visualization, localization, sensory discrimination, graphesthesia and mirror therapy.