.png){kind=small}
PERSISTENT PAIN
MANAGING YOUR PERSISTENT PAIN
Persistent or chronic pain is an exceptionally common occurrence. In fact, the numbers are quite staggering. It is estimated that in the U.K. there are 28 million people suffering with persistent pain, 43% of the population which increase to 62% in over 75 year olds. In the U.S. & Australia the incidence of persistent pain is higher than that of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease combined.
In order to manage your persistent pain optimally you need to understand how the pain process works and the different factors that affect it. I hope some of the information below helps you do just that.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR CONDITION
Persistent pain is characterised by any pain that has lasted longer than 3 months. It can be due to a specific condition like osteoarthritis or patellofemoral pain, however, in many cases a specific diagnosis is often very difficult.
This is because pain is complex, multifactorial and highly variable with many of the factors that affect pain being out side of the scope of imaging or scans and some times our control too.
The figures at the top of the page regarding the incidence of persistent pain are quite astonishing and the reasons as to why these figures are so higher are also complex and multifaceted: we are an increasingly aging population, in certain parts of the world health care is difficult to access and/or very expensive, the complexities of persistent pain are much better understood than they were previously, however, there are large swathes of health care that don't facilitate evidenced based care when it comes to persistent pain and a significant number of health care professionals that continue to reinforce outdated, inaccurate, negative narratives about health and pain, which tend to make people worse and not better.
On this website we have put together a number of different resources for you to try and help to understand how persistent pain works, without this knowledge, trying to manage persistent pain is incredibly difficult. We have also put together a resources page to sign post you in the direction of accurate, evidenced based help when it comes to managing persistent pain.
