Chronic pain is very common…
There are thousands of patients troubled by persistent pain in area which I cover. In the UK the incidence is estimated to be more than 10 million sufferers. In my opinion this is likely to be an underestimate. There are no accurate figures. However, this fairly recent and robust study
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/6/e010364 (Fayaz et al. 2016) concluded that the estimated prevalence in the UK population was 43%.
That equated to 28 million people.
If the figures are correct, the socioeconomic impact of chronic pain is huge and could overwhelm the NHS, employers and ultimately lead to significant and deleterious complications for society as a whole.
Chronic pain is associated with depression, anxiety, social isolation, worklessness and ultimately there is an increased risk of suicide in sufferers.
Chronic/Persistent Pain is poorly taught in medical schools. I only developed an interest in it once I started to review musculoskeletal patients in my practice clinic some 10 years ago.
There is no quick fix or solution to the increasing issues of chronic/persistent pain in the community. The notion that there is a quick fix for the complicated and complex issues is disingenuous. In my clinical experience the approach needs to be multidisciplinary and multi-modal. I personally feel there has to be a combination of the following evidenced based and not so evidenced based therapies.
In no specific order;
Self-care and Self-management
Physiotherapy
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy/EMDR/Counselling
Pharmacological
Acupuncture
Support and help for carers who have chronic pain and those looking after those in chronic pain
Work rehabilitation, reasonable adjustments, upskilling and/or retraining
Pacing activities
Benefits for those off work, long term, due to chronic pain
Public awareness of ‘invisible diseases’
Debt guidance
Mindfulness/Relaxation
Increased research into alternative therapies for treating chronic / persistent pain.
Governmental acceptance of the burden of chronic pain on the NHS and especially primary care services.
I am great believer in the Biopsychosocial Model of Pain.
I intend to improve this website if and when time allows. Hopefully, one day it will become one of the leading sites for chronic pain information. I will endeavour to educate clinicians and patients with evidenced based research. I am hoping to broaden the purpose and scope of the website over time to allow it to become an interactive and multiplatform educational tool. For more information you can view the blog page here.
