Self Management
We know that self management is one of the things that can most improve the lives of people living with pain, but all too often it’s not being put into practice successfully.
After speaking to people with pain and healthcare professionals, we’ve been able to put together a clearer picture of what is going wrong and how we might make things better.
Visit our online shop to view our selection of self management leaflets, available for free in print and digitally.
Pain Management in Lockdown
April 28 , 2020
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Pain specialists from around the world have reviewed ways in which people with chronic pain can continue to be helped using modern technology despite pain treatment centre across the world having closed their doors. Publishing their results in the medical journal Pain, they point out that telemedicine ...
Transcript – Programme 112: Measuring Pain, Reading the Brain
March 26 , 2020
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How pain’s subjectivity makes it difficult to measure, rewiring the brain and new research that allows patients to visualise their pain
To listen to this programme, please click here.
Prefer a PDF? Click here.
This edition is funded by the Plum Foundation.
In this edition of Airing Pain, returning contributor Mark Johnson, Director ...
Transcript – Programme 111: Physiotherapy, Mind, Body and the Social Component
February 26 , 2020
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Anxiety and expectations, how ‘fear circuitry’affects self-management, and the importance of social prescribing
To listen to this programme, please click here.
Prefer a PDF? Click here.
This edition has been funded by Friends of Pain Concern.
Director of CSPC Physiotherapy in Leeds, Alison Rose, specialises in working with high-level athletes, particularly those ...
Pain Matters 74 – OUT NOW
February 25 , 2020
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INSIDE THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY PAIN TEAM
Happy New Year from all of us at Pain Matters. In our first magazine of the new decade, we have invited the Chronic Pain Team from NHS Borders in the south of Scotland into the guest-editor’s chair for issue 74. In a jam-packed issue, ...
Airing Pain 120: Osteoporosis
January 07 , 2020
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How we prevent, manage and diagnose this ‘silent disease’
This edition of Airing Pain has been supported by a grant from The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.
Osteoporosis is a largely ignored condition that affects over 3 million people in the UK, with women being more at risk; a condition which, because ...
Transcript – Programme 109: Fibromyalgia
October 09 , 2019
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Fibromyalgia management’s revised recommendations, walking as self-management, and one person’s journey with living with FM
This edition has been supported by the Women’s Fund of Scotland.
To listen to this programme, please click here.
Prefer a PDF? Please click here.
Fibromyalgia (FM) affects around 2% of the UK population, with 80-90% of ...
Sex and chronic pain
July 12 , 2019
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[message_box color="white"]Download a pdf version of this leaflet here.[/message_box]
Sex and chronic pain
Persistent pain can impact on mood and on many areas of life such as work, exercise and socialising. This leaflet is designed to give advice to people who have found it more difficult or have had ...
Airing Pain 112: Measuring Pain, Reading the Brain
April 02 , 2019
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How pain’s subjectivity makes it difficult to measure, rewiring the brain, and new research that allows patients to visualise their pain
This edition is funded by the Plum Foundation.
For a full transcript of this programme, please click here.
In this edition of Airing Pain, returning contributor Mark Johnson, Director of ...
Airing Pain 111: Physiotherapy, Mind, Body And The Social Component
March 06 , 2019
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Anxiety and expectations, how ‘fear circuitry’ affects self-management, and the importance of social prescribing
This edition is supported by friends of Pain Concern.
Director of CSPC Physiotherapy in Leeds, Alison Rose, specialises in working with high-level athletes, particularly those with complex injury histories. Rose speaks to Paul about her ...
Airing Pain 109: Fibromyalgia
January 07 , 2019
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Fibromyalgia management’s revised recommendations, walking as self-management, and one person’s journey with living with FM
This edition has been supported by the Women’s Fund of Scotland.
Fibromyalgia (FM) affects around 2% of the UK population, with 80-90% of those being women, and being a widely misunderstood condition its exact ...
Transcript – Programme 107: Easing Pain Appointments with the Navigator Tool
November 12 , 2018
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How Pain Concern’s Navigator Tool can help focus pain appointments.
This edition is funded by the Health and Social Care Alliance and Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation.
To listen to this programme, please click here.
Prefer a PDF? Click here.
In 2015 Pain Concern released its report ‘Breaking barriers to self-management ...
Airing Pain 107: Easing Pain Appointments with the Navigator Tool
October 02 , 2018
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How Pain Concern’s Navigator Tool can help focus pain appointments
This edition has been funded by funded by the Health and Social Care Alliance and Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation.
In 2015 Pain Concern released its report ‘Breaking barriers to self-management of chronic pain in primary care’, marking the ...
Transcript – Programme 104: How Sleep and Chronic Pain Interact
September 25 , 2018
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More pain, less sleep. Less sleep, more pain. The relationship is a complex one, but what are the mechanisms behind the link between sleep and pain?
This edition is funded by the Constance Travis Charitable Trust and the Isabella Memorial Trust.
To listen to this programme, please click here.
Prefer ...
Promo for Pain Concern’s Navigator Tool
September 12 , 2018
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New research from Pain Concern offers the prospect of better care for those living with chronic pain.
The specially-developed 'Navigator Tool' encourages positive communication between people seeking to manage debilitating pain and their healthcare professionals.
Expect more information in the next few weeks, with an Airing Pain programme on ...
Airing Pain 102: Chronic Pain And Resilience
May 01 , 2018
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Exploring what can be done for high-level athletes in the context of chronic pain, and how one man with a spinal injury found himself “in the zone” through cycling
This edition is funded by a grant from the Stafford Trust.
Ade and Paul Evans
For top-level athletes, chronic pain can ...
Airing Pain 97: Sex and Chronic Pain
December 05 , 2017
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How chronic pain can affect both sexual and emotional intimacy, and remembering that communication is key
This programme is supported by an educational grant from the Tillyloss Trust.
Along with food, shelter and clothing, sexual expression is one of the basic human needs. It allows us to express love ...
Airing Pain 90: Back Pain
May 10 , 2017
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David Rogers, physiotherapist and co-author of Back to Life, explains persistent back pain and some simple exercises that can help
This programme was funded by a grant from The Schuh Trust.
Back pain causes more disability than any other condition in the UK[1]. It is the second most common ...
Airing Pain 89: Dementia
April 12 , 2017
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The challenges of pain management in people with dementia, different medications and why an iPod could be latest tool in our first aid kit
This programme was funded by grant from W G Edwards and the Cruden Charitable Foundation.
According to a survey carried out by the Alzheimers Society, ...
Transcript – The Project: Breaking the barriers to self-management
January 15 , 2016
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Self-management – we know it’s one of the things that can most improve the lives of people living with pain, but all too often it’s not being put into practice successfully.
After speaking to people with pain and healthcare professionals, we’ve been able to put together a clearer ...
Pain management programmes
September 22 , 2015
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‘Self-management’ doesn’t mean being abandoned to ‘get on with it’ alone. Support can come from healthcare professionals, family, friends, voluntary organisations or support groups.
If pain is having a big impact, pain management programmes can help people to get their lives back on track. This involves focusing on ...
Medical investigations
September 22 , 2015
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Doctors and patients can both get caught up in an almost endless search for a cure or a clear diagnosis of what’s causing the pain. Searching for a medical solution is understandable, but it can delay people in starting to learn to manage their pain.
With the right ...
GP consultations
September 22 , 2015
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Your GP is likely to be the healthcare professional who’ll be most involved in helping manage persistent pain, but it can sometimes be a difficult relationship. People in pain and their GPs both often feel that there isn’t enough time to deal with a problem as complex ...
Emotional impact of chronic pain
September 22 , 2015
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Pain can involve a lot of loss – of friendships, work or plans for the future. The emotional impact of these losses as well as of the pain itself often hits people hard.
People with long term pain can find themselves struggling with low mood, depression, anxiety and ...
What is self-management?
September 22 , 2015
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‘You have to want to live again.’ That’s the key to managing pain, according to Diane. It can be a long, winding road, but many people living with pain have learned strategies that help them to get the most out of life alongside their condition, rather than ...
The project – Breaking the barriers to self-management
September 01 , 2015
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Self-management – we know it’s one of the things that can most improve the lives of people living with pain, but all too often it’s not being put into practice successfully.
After speaking to people with pain and healthcare professionals, we’ve been able to put together a clearer ...
Airing Pain 27: Arthritis: Challenging perceptions
February 21 , 2012
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Setting the record straight on arthritis, and practical tips on living with the condition.
This programme was funded by Pain Concern’s supporters and friends.
In this programme we tackle the issue, raised by Judy on our forum, of how people with arthritis – which often has no obvious physical ...
Airing Pain 26: Transforming Pain Services: Joining up pain management and involving the patient
February 14 , 2012
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The health professionals working to improve pain management, and the importance of getting patients more involved.
This programme was funded by Pain Concern’s supporters and friends.
The relationship between doctor and patient is crucial in managing pain. In this programme we look at how the British Pain Society’s newly ...
Airing Pain 25: A Heads-Up on Migraines
January 30 , 2012
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How to manage migraines: patients and experts share their thoughts.
This programme was funded by Pain Concern’s supporters and friends.
Nine out of ten people report a lifetime history of head pain and 2012 has been designated the Global Year Against Headache by the International Association of the Study ...
Navigator Tool
Material for healthcare professionals to make consultations more holistic and encourage self-management is already widely used (for example Realistic Medicine, Year of Care and House of Care) and Pain Concern has now developed a paper-based tool for patients to prepare themselves to bring up their concerns and worries in appointments. Designed to help patients navigate their concerns and bring the most important questions up in primary care appointments.
Leaflets
Our leaflets are free to download. If you would like to order printed leaflets for individual use – or bulk order leaflets for distribution in clinics, GP’s surgeries and community groups – please add to your basket and checkout free of charge.
Radio
Our radio programme Airing Pain brings together people with chronic pain and top specialists to talk about the resources which can help.
Pain Concern produces a new Airing Pain programme once a month, which you can hear on Tuesday and Sunday evenings at 8pm via Able Radio. Podcasts are then available to listen to on demand via our website. You can subscribe to the Airing Pain podcast on Audioboom, iTunes and through most podcast apps.
Transcripts are now available for most of the programmes.
View our Playlists for theme-specific programmes.
Pain Matters
Pain Matters, the magazine for people living with chronic pain, contains news, features and comment on pain management, research into treatments and personal experiences of living with pain.
