Choosing the right pain clinic is important and can change the entire course of your pain journey. 

People can tolerate pain longer than they should, but what often breaks them is not being believed, being rushed, or being told to “try this and come back later” without a clear diagnosis or plan. 

If you are comparing pain clinics in Melbourne, one question matters more than any other:

Will I get a proper diagnosis and a clear treatment plan delivered by an experienced and committed pain specialist or will I be left waiting without direction?

Have you ever found yourself asking these questions?

• “Why do I still have pain after surgery? I thought it was supposed to stop it.”

•  “Why is my pain worse, or different, than it was before surgery?”

•  “If my surgery was successful, why haven’t I felt any relief?”

These are questions we hear often, and they point to a complicated issue: Persistent Post-Surgical Pain (PPSP), also known as Chronic Pain After Surgery.

Opioids are widely used, and strong medications used to manage pain, especially in cases of severe or chronic pain. However, these drugs come with a range of side effects, and one of the more perplexing and troubling phenomena is called opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH).

This condition describes a paradoxical response where long-term opioid use can actually increase sensitivity to pain, leading to a worsened pain state rather than pain reduction, for which it was intended.

In this blog, we'll explore what opioid-induced hyperalgesia is, who is at risk, and how it can be managed effectively.