We often wish we could get rid of pain. However, without pain it is very difficult to stay alive. We need pain to warn us when there is a problem. To force us to stop what we are doing and try to heal ourselves. This sort of pain is called ‘acute pain’.
Unfortunately, there is another type of pain that isn’t useful. Sometimes our bodies can be fooled into sending pain signals to the brain when there is no current physical injury to the body. This may be due to an old injury or because a nerve has become trapped. Doctors often refer to this as Chronic Pain.
Chronic pain is a bit like a fire alarm going off when there is no fire.
Medication and surgical procedures are not always able to get rid of all the pain. There are a lot of different psychological and physiological strategies that can help alleviate or manage the pain. It’s important to find the strategies that work for you.
The British Pain Society created a really good guide to understanding and managing it. It’s such a clear comprehensive document that I won’t try to summarise it on this page. You can view it or download the PDF document below:
If you would like help in devising the best strategies to deal with your pain please do not hesitate to contact us.
Any questions or comments?
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Further Information …
I’ve included some links to websites that I have found useful below.
A Guide to Living with Pain by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS)
This section of the UK’s National Health Service website gives information on many different types of pain and how to cope with it. It includes pages on headaches, back pain, sex advice for people in pain etc.
Strategies for people who live with persistent pain.
The British Pain Society has information on a wide range of medications and potential treatments for pain.