Pain Conditions

Chronic pain often doesn’t have a cure. One of the biggest causes of chronic pain for instance is the wear and tear associated with a busy and active life. So, setting realistic goals to manage this pain and optimise your quality of life is vital from the outset.

In most cases a number of different strategies from the list below will be considered.

At assessment discuss with your pain specialist where you feel the pain and how the pain affects you.  Then we can jointly create treatment options unique to your experience. It may be for instance worth treating the less severe pain first if it can get you moving a bit more freely before moving on to the more severe problem.

In addition, it is impossible to underestimate how much chronic pain affects us on all levels so it is best to maintain an open mind to management options. We also have to set our expectations from the outset. Consider carefully what you are looking to achieve and how you are willing to achieve it. Many conditions that cause chronic pain cant be removed such as forms of wear and tear affecting the spine. So how best do we live with these challenges.

The best medical evidence in pain management shows that working as part of a group is the best way to manage chronic pain. Whilst it’s really important to reduce the severity of the pain that is not usually the whole picture. For instance someone struggling with long term back pain should not only have their pain managed but then use the period of improved pain to regain fitness and core strength. In addition long term pain has been shown to affect us in other domains such as worsening someone’s mood, making them anxious or even depressed.

Pain specialists work with colleagues in physiotherapy, exercise physiology, psychology and the other medical specialties to ensure the best overall pain management.