What is Chronic Pain?

1 in 8 people in the UK have chronic pain. Sometimes the pain is not troublesome and the person is able to enjoy a full life with minimal limitations. Perhaps they have had to give up sport or find vigorous gardening a problem but are able to stay at work and cope with these changes to their life style without difficulty. They are the same person they were before they had the pain, just doing less.

For many people with chronic pain this is not the case. Very often people say that they are not the same person they were before the pain started. For them the pain has caused limitations which have had a major impact on their lifestyle. The pain may have stopped them working or enjoying hobbies and social life, or interfered with their role within the family. Perhaps they find they have to lie down a lot or take large amounts of medications with unwanted side effects. For these people the pain has had a major impact and robbed them of their identity.

Some people are in between these two extremes. They are still at work and just able to manage their tasks and commitments, but they are becoming increasingly concerned about how they will carry on. What will they be like in five years time? What if the tablets stop working? What if their partner was no longer around to help with the heavy work?

It might be thought that the answer to these problems is a referral to the appropriate specialist to get the problem ‘sorted out’ – have a scan or an X-ray, and perhaps an operation. Unfortunately the above groups are not made up of those who have never seen a doctor or a specialist, but those who have seen multiple specialists and had many treatments. The average person referred to INPUT has had pain for ten years and has tried six different treatments without finding a solution to their problem.

Unfortunately modern medicine does not have a cure for chronic pain.