Managing pain

  • Versus Arthritis

    You don’t need to face arthritis alone. Their advisors aim to bring all of the information and advice about arthritis into one place to provide tailored support for you.

    Phone
    0800 5200 520

    Website
    www.versusarthritis.org

  • Breathing exercises- Diaphragmatic

    There are three parts to this series on abdominal breathing, which can support relaxation and pain management.

    Youtube video
    www.youtube.com/watch

  • My Live Well With Pain

    My Live Well with Pain is completely free to use, and is full of trusted techniques that people with persistent pain have found useful, in helping them to get on with their lives and live well with pain.

    Website
    Live Well with Pain

  • Pain Toolkit Booklet

    The Pain Toolkit is for people who live with persistent pain. It has been put together to act as a guide to help those with persistent pain and provides handy tips and skills to support with pain management.

    Leaflet
    The Pain Toolkit (PDF)

  • Understanding Pain

    Understanding Pain in less than 5 minutes is a YouTube video exploring how we sense pain and some pointers to overcoming the disabling effects of persistent pain.

  • Whittington Health: Musculoskeletal Services

    Islington Musculoskeletal Service and website has useful exerises and a self referral form for further advice re chronic pain management.

    Website
    Whittington Health: Musculoskeletal Services

  • Escape Pain

    Escape Pain is a rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain of the knees and/or hips, that integrates educational self-management and coping strategies with an exercise regimen individualised for each participant. It helps people understand their condition, teaches them simple things they can help themselves with, and takes them through a progressive exercise programme so they learn how to cope with pain better.
    Website: www.escape-pain.org

  • Pain Toolkit

    Pain Toolkit has been developed by a persistent pain sufferer to help people understand their pain and develop strategies to help them live fuller more active lives.

    Website
    www.paintoolkit.org

  • Whittington Health: Persistent Pain

    information on managing persistent pain, lasting more than three months without effective relief from standard medical treatment from our colleagues at the Whittington hospital

    Website
    Whittington Health: Musculoskeletal Services

  • Medically Unexplained Symptoms

    This information is for anyone with physical symptoms without an obvious physical cause. It also explains what you can do to help yourself and what treatments are available.

    Website
    RCPSYCH: Medically Unexplained Symptoms

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Around 1 in 7 people live with chronic or persistent pain, this is pain persisting for more than 3 months and is often on the basis of conditions such as arthritis and musculoskeletal back pain.

Acute pain in general serves a purpose of protecting your body from further harm, persistent pain however serves little useful purpose and significantly degrades quality of life; it affects mood, sleep, mobility, can contribute to loss of energy, feeling tired and having reduced concentration.

Managing persistent pain can be complicated, your GP can help with medicines and painkillers however these come with their own “baggage”; in particular stronger painkillers such as cocodamol, tramadol and opiate patches themselves can contribute to patients feeling tired, can cause constipation along with dependence. They do have a place in managing pain but are only part of the answer.

There is very little evidence that opiate pain relief improves the quality of life for patients living with persistent non cancer pain, in addition if a patient is taking the equivalent of 120mg morphine per day, there is evidence that life expectancy reduces by around 10 years. If you are taking 8 x 30/500mg co-codamol per day this is equivalent to 24mg morphine.