Chronic pain is defined as persistent pain for a period of 12 weeks or more. Chronic pain is a common and complex condition that can cause distress and have wide reaching impacts on our lives.
However, there are steps we can take to help take control of the pain, rather than the pain controlling you. These include:
- Getting active pacing is a really useful skill as it guides you to do the level of activity that is right for your body. When you pace your activity, you take a break before pain, tiredness or exhaustion forces you to stop
- Practice relaxation and mindfulness - this can help people with chronic pain to lessen pain levels, reduce stress and improve concentration. Why not practice mindfulness while enjoying some of our beautiful green spaces
- Managing setbacks - to cope better with setbacks and reduce the stress, or the low mood that they sometimes cause, it is helpful to have a setback plan. This might include easing back in and keeping gently active, be kind to yourself, ask for help, pace more, make time for relaxation activities. A setback plan can help you to get back on track more quickly
- Managing emotions - emotions linked to pain can sometimes take over day-to-day life. Being kind to yourself and showing yourself compassion can help to challenge those unhelpful thoughts
- Acceptance - rather than struggling to avoid or reduce your pain, you can learn to observe, understand and accept it
- Understand pain - by managing your weight, getting fitter and stronger, balancing your activities and focusing more on your valued goals and less on the pain we can retrain our brains.
Local support services
Online exercise programmes
National websites and resources
Online toolkit