Dr Sarah Cipollone - Osteopath

07/05/2026

Hello, it's your local nerd on pain management again. I've recently re-read the 2015 critical review "Fifteen Years of Explaining Pain: The Past, Present, and Future" and thought I'd share the gist.

Pain is one of the most misunderstood experiences we have.
Most of us grow up believing pain works like an alarm system: if something hurts, something in the body must be damaged.
Except human bodies are much weirder and more interesting than that. Pain is indeed like an alarm system, but the kind of smoke alarm that can save our life from a fire or ruin our night sleep when the humidity is too high. Pain is the kind of reverse sensors that scream when you reverse near anything at all, to stop you from denting your new Subaru *he hem*. The alarm is trying to protect you, but it's a good gauge of danger or damage.

Modern pain science shows that pain isn’t just a direct signal from injured tissues. It’s a protective response created by the nervous system after weighing up all sorts of information — not just what’s happening in the body, but stress, past experiences, fear, context, beliefs, sleep, emotions, and even the stories we’ve been told about our bodies over the years.

As a culture, we’re still pretty bad at understanding this. We still talk about bodies being “out of alignment”, “bone on bone”, “wearing out”, or “crumbling apart by 40” — as though the human body is basically a 2004 Toyota Corolla with poor service history.

Modern pain education isn’t just about helping people cope with pain better. Research over the past two decades has shown that when people genuinely understand what pain is, why it happens, and how overprotective the nervous system can become, pain can reduce. Not because the pain was “imaginary”, but because the nervous system becomes less convinced the body is under threat.

In other words: understanding pain can change pain - not through positive thinking, or by ignoring symptoms, but by helping the body feel safer.

Being understood is therapeutic. Who knew!?

Reference:
G. Lorimer Moseley & David S. Butler (2015). Fifteen Years of Explaining Pain: The Past, Present, and Future. The American Pain Society.

16/03/2026

Pregnancy is a time of incredible change for you and your body, and good support can make a big difference. It takes a village, and I’d be honoured to be a part of yours 💕

Bookings are available at www.diamondosteopathy.com.au or by calling beautiful Jenny on 49482468

17/02/2026

13/01/2026

Lately I’ve been feeling especially inspired while deepening my studies in paediatric osteopathy.

I’d love to support more parents and their babies in those early months — a time of enormous change.

Osteopathic care for infants is gentle and focused on supporting comfort, movement, feeding and regulation, while also offering parents space to be heard and supported.

If you’re navigating unsettled sleep, feeding challenges, birth recovery or simply want to understand your baby’s body a little better, you’re very welcome at Diamond Osteopathy.

14/11/2025

Hi Airlie Beach! I’ve just had a cancellation for tomorrow morning if anybody is in need 😚
Please call the clinic at 49482468 or book online via my website.

31/10/2025

X-rays and scans can look spooky — but most of what we see are normal age-related changes, not “disease.”
For example:
🦴 Over 50% of people in their 30s already show disc degeneration on MRI — and by 60, it’s more than 90%, even with no pain at all.
🕸️ Facet joint changes are seen in around two-thirds of adults over 40 who feel perfectly fine.
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So before you let your X-ray haunt you — remember these “scary” findings are often just signs of a well-used, lived-in spine.
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Pain is complex. You are not your X-ray.
🎃 Happy Halloween from Diamond Osteopathy!

08/10/2025

That’s “Mrs Dr Sarah Cipollone Osteopath” to you

31/08/2025

Holistic healthcare & pain management underpinned by osteopathic principles; the complexity and unity of the body and its capacity to heal.