What is INPUT?

INPUT is a pain treatment unit at St.Thomas' Hospital. Patients come here from all over the country to learn better ways of coping with their pain and getting back to a normal life in spite of their problems.

The unit has an interdisciplinary staff of over twenty people, including doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and nurses. Patients stay in the unit, in a group of ten to twelve people, for a fixed length programme of either 2 or 4 weeks. During this time they learn more about their pain and to overcome their fears about it.
They start to get fitter and are taught ways of planning and organising their day that do not result in heightened levels of pain. This is combined with relaxation and other psychological ways of controlling the pain.