Chronic pain is any sort of pain that lasts for more than three months. Studies suggest that in the UK, somewhere between one third and one half of the population suffer from chronic pain, which amounts to roughly 28 million people. The causes of an individual’s chronic pain can vary dramatically, and a whole host of factors should be taken into account such as length of time since pain began, the cause, site, potential triggers to name but a few.

If you’re dealing with chronic pain, there are a few things to keep in mind.

The first and one of the most important things to remember is, if you’re in pain, it’s real, 100% of the time. What we mean by this is if you’ve been told that it’s all in your head and you need to just continue with your life then you should go and seek a second opinion, preferably someone with qualifications in modern pain theory and preferably experience in dealing with chronic pain patients.

The second thing we’d like you to know is that your pain can go away. This might be hard to believe if you’ve been in pain for years, but it doesn’t have to be something you have to live with forever, at least not at the level you’re currently experiencing it.

The third thing is, and you’re probably aware of this if you’re someone who lives with chronic pain, is that a degree of patience is involved. The road to being pain free if you live with chronic pain can be a potentially bumpy ride, with periods of highs and lows. Your osteopath can work through this with you and try and make the journey as smooth as possible, however there will likely be a few hiccups along the way. This is mostly down to how pain is generated, but so long as you’re aware of this and it’s explained to you why this has happened, we hope that this understanding can help you on your journey to being pain free.

A few other important factors to remember if you’re someone who experiences chronic pain.

Pain is normal. It’s actually a good thing (even though it might not feel like it) and is designed to protect you from danger. If you didn’t experience pain you could get into all sorts of trouble and potentially do some serious harm to your body.

• Experiencing pain does not mean you are causing damage to your body.
• Your body is not broken, out of alignment, out of place or not working properly. It mighthowever have become overly sensitised and be trying to protect you from damage when it doesn’t necessarily need to. This can be overcome with patience and some guidance from an experienced pain professional.