Teenager suffering chronic pain is calling for more awareness surrounding the issue this Kids in Pain week

From New South Wales, to the South West, catching a mulloway at Busselton Jetty was the latest video uploaded to 15-year-old Cooper Smylie’s Youtube channel Fysh Lur. Travelling across Australia with his family for the past three years, you wouldn’t know the young fisher had complex regional pain syndrome, experiencing chronic pain so severe he’d been left on occasions bed bound and unable to walk. Cooper is helping Kids in Pain week raise awareness for children who experience chronic pain similar to him. Released by Chronic Pain Australia, the inaugural Kids in Pain Report found one in five Australian children experience chronic pain, impacting aspects of everyday life including sleep, schooling, sport participation and mental health. Drawing on experiences of children and families with chronic pain, the report said about 65 per cent waited three years for a diagnosis, or never received one. At the age of nine, Cooper woke up in agonising pain days after tripping over at school. Endless appointments, tests and scans left Cooper and his family with no explanation for the immense pain in his foot. It wasn’t until they ran into a doctor, who recognised the symptoms from a recent conference he attended, Cooper was given a diagnosis. Cooper described CRPS as a constant burning pain, experiencing instances where everyday things such as the feeling of the wind on his skin or wearing socks would increase the pain. With times like this leaving him bed bound, Cooper said he had to learn how to walk again, twice. “We’ve had complete muscle wastage through my legs at one point, so I had to completely learn how to walk,” he said. “Which was not great to see my legs, bone thin, unable to move or even hold myself up.” With no specific treatments to help ease the pain, Cooper said fishing and his therapy cat helped him cope. “It’s a real relaxing sport for me, where I can get out and just sort of chill out on the water,” Cooper said. “Then I have my therapy cat, Frankie, who sort of just gets me through it when I can’t get out and do anything.” Cooper said he wanted to see more awareness and care for people receiving a diagnosis. “When you have like just pain, you’ve got no idea where it’s coming from, no idea what it is, it’s really hard to get through,” he said. Cooper’s mum Melinda Smylie said a lack of paediatric pain studies surrounding CRPS and knowledge about the condition made it difficult for those affected to get the right care. “It makes it really difficult to get quality care when nobody even knows what the condition is,” she said. “We saw several GPs over the time who’ve never even heard of it.” Chronic Pain Australia chair Nicolette Ellis said pain in children was overlooked. “Too often, children’s pain is dismissed, even by health professionals, as anxiety, growing pains, or just normal, “ she said. Ms Ellis said a lack of recognition for chronic pain meant it was missing from policies, analysis and service planning, calling on the Federal Government to act. “If the Federal Government is serious about boosting productivity, we need urgent recognition and investment in chronic pain diagnosis, management and treatment for children so that these families can get the care and support they so desperately need,” she said.