Whether it’s a broken bone or a scraped knee, you have probably experienced a form of acute pain in your life. It is a warning which typically resolves within the healing process. Whereas, chronic pain is defined as any condition which lasts longer than three months. This can be caused by a personal injury or lies within persistent conditions such as fibromyalgia. It impacts all aspects of life.
According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, around 28 million adults in England live with chronic pain. A 2022 study from researchers at UCL and Dartmouth College, funded by the Health Foundation also found that 41% of participants reported that they had chronic pain by the time they reached their mid-40s.
With the NHS facing an increase in demand for their services and with a lack of resources available, chronic pain patients are facing setbacks. However, GPs and healthcare professionals are also facing their own hurdles and are working hard to address the inconsistencies within treatment pathways. But there is still a long way to go in terms of improvement.
Living with chronic pain is a daily struggle that involves managing both physical and emotional pain. It can lead to social isolation and make it difficult to perform basic tasks like getting dressed and getting out of bed, walking and cleaning, which can lower motivation and make pain even more severe.
My mum Lisa has lived with chronic pain since I was six years old, and of course I saw her as the happy, caring and loving mum who gave me and my siblings the perfect childhood. She has been there for us during our highest and lowest points. But now 17 years later, I have seen the spark she once had die down to a dull flame.
Sitting down on her bed, she audibly winces as she tries to find a comfortable position. Although I witness her in pain every day and even though we openly talk as a family, this was the first time we had sat down together for a private conversation. Hearing about her experience in detail was honestly eye-opening.
“It's getting harder, to be perfectly honest, it affects everything. If I've not slept, then I'm always in more pain in the morning, which can be tough. It takes me ages to get dressed, I have to sit down in between putting clothes on and just can't move. I mean, I obviously can move, but not in comfort and It's hard to go out and about now."
"It's a trial most days but I try to keep going."
One problem chronic pain patients face is the ever-growing list of solutions that are presented to them. This can be seen as a positive but unfortunately socioeconomic factors are often left out of the equation. Whether it is due to travel, cost, wait lists or effectiveness, some approaches are simply inaccessible or are failed to be followed-up by specialists.
“When it was first diagnosed, I was told to take up swimming and to go for a walk which is something I would love to do, but it’s the distance to the swimming baths." My mum said. "I’d have to get undressed, into a swim costume, into the pool safely without falling over and then back out again. Just the thought of getting dressed and undressed numerous times, that's not really achievable for me. I wish it was.
"I'm 52 this week, It's not like I thought it would be at all, I wanted to be like, fit and healthy and be able to do lots of things with the family. It's not the life you imagine for yourself."
Now the only form of relief my mum gets to treat her fibromyalgia, arthritis, and back pain is taking up to 50 different medicines a week from her neatly organised rainbow pill box.
Everyone experiences chronic pain differently, making it difficult to determine which treatments might be effective and my mum’s experience only highlights a small amount of the complex problems patients face.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that the landscape of pain management is changing, and it is now more crucial than ever that this is used as an opportunity to explore new options for patients whilst also ensuring that support is in place to get the best results.
This project will explore the voices of chronic pain patients and their journeys navigating the fragile health care system. Such as the changing treatment landscape, opioid prescribing, medical cannabis, mind-body approaches and patient-led support groups.
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