Chronic pain is pain that has been present for 3 months or more. It can interfere with daily activities such as working, socialising, and undertaking physical activities or hobbies. Pain management treatment involves reducing stress, building new ways of coping, increasing activity, and treating anxiety and depression. At Turning Tides Psychology we offer a range of therapies which can help you to live well with chronic pain.
Acute pain is the body’s natural reaction to an injury or illness and may come from inflammation, tissue damage or surgery. Once the injury or illness has healed, the acute pain should also be reduced.
But for some, the pain does not go away. If the pain then persists for 3 months or more, this can be categorised as chronic pain -which continues beyond the usual healing period. There is often no obvious reason for pain as the initial injury has healed. Because of this, other considerations beyond biological factors need to be determined such as stress levels, poor sleep, and anxiety and depression.
Chronic pain occurs due to a long-term illness, such as arthritis or cancer pain. It can also be the result of an injury, such as a broken ankle, where the area may still be sensitive.
Some people can experience chronic pain without a specific injury or illness. This type of chronic pain has more to do with sensitivity in the nervous system and would not show up on scans. An example of this type of pain is Fibromyalgia Syndrome.
Another type of pain is psychosomatic pain, which is caused by emotional or psychological problems, like stress.
There are common signs and symptoms that you might experience if you have chronic pain. These include:
People who have chronic pain can be at a heightened risk of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and substance misuse. For some, mental health conditions are caused because of the pain, for example, not being able to work due to pain might mean that the person becomes depressed.
However, for some people, the mental health conditions may have been present before the pain even started. Unfortunately, the drugs used to treat chronic pain can be highly addictive, which can lead to substance misuse.
Recommended treatments target physical, psychological, and social stressors. The goal of pain management is to help you to live well with pain by returning to the highest level of function and independence while improving overall quality of life. In practice, this means:
A healthy lifestyle is beneficial to help manage chronic pain:
Feeling stressed can have a negative effect on chronic pain. When stressed, our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) activates and releases stress hormones which can increase inflammation and worsen pain. Meditation, breathing and self-care can have a positive effect
Stress -Keeping moving is an important factor in pain management. This can be low-intensity exercise, such as light walking or swimming. It also has the added benefit of helping to manage stress.
Exercise -Foods like red meat, fried foods and sugar can contribute to inflammation and chronic disease. Eating a healthy diet is important to maintain good health as it can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body which is beneficial to chronic pain.
Diet -Having good quality sleep is another important factor for chronic pain management. Being well rested helps the nervous system to feel less stress which has a positive effect on pain.
Sleep -Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is based on the theory that all thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are linked. Therefore, when someone is thinking negatively about their pain it is likely to be having a negative effect on their mood. Helping people to reframe their thoughts about their pain can help break the cycle leading to increased activity and improved mood.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyWhen someone has chronic pain, it can be difficult to accept. ACT offers support whilst you come to terms with the things that cannot be changed, whilst connecting with what’s important to you. It helps teach mindfulness skills so you can stay present rather than worrying about things that have not yet happened.
Acceptance & Commitment TherapyCompassion Focused Therapy can help bring a compassionate stance to chronic pain. Often when someone has chronic pain, they can be overly critical of themselves. This leads to further stress being placed on the person which can have a ‘wind up’ effect on the pain. CFT teaches those suffering to be more compassionate with themselves to stop the negative cycle.
Compassion Focused TherapySome people who experience chronic pain have had earlier traumatic life experiences which may have stressed the nervous system contributing to chronic pain. EMDR therapy can help support the person with chronic pain by trying to process traumatic experiences. Once they have been processed, this can help to calm the nervous system and have a beneficial effect on chronic pain.
EMDR TherapyAt Turning Tides, we have Psychologists who are highly trained and have many years of experience working with health conditions, including chronic pain. Our psychologists are fully qualified in using different approaches to help manage a range of problems. Therapy aims to provide you with the tools to help you cope.
Our psychologists can help you to understand the difficulties you are facing with chronic pain exploring some of the different factors that have brought you to where you are today. Based on these individual factors, they will teach you strategies to effectively help you cope more effectively and allow you to move forward in your life.
We offer regular face-to-face appointments at our modern and comfortable clinic in Hoult’s Yard, Newcastle or we can offer online therapy via Zoom if you live further afield or have a preference for online sessions.
We have tried to keep our pricing as simple as possible. We charge £120 for a 60-minute appointment, regardless of whether this is an assessment or therapy session. Our fees are the same for face-to-face appointments and online appointments as you will receive the same high standard of care from our psychologists, regardless of how it is delivered.
A psychologist will then be in touch to arrange a free 15-minute no-obligation call, where we can discuss your requirements in more detail and you can get a feel for whether Turning Tides is the right psychology practice for you.
If we’re not right for you, we’ll try and signpost you to somewhere that is.
Please note – Turning Tides is not a crisis service, and if you feel you need urgent support or are experiencing a mental health crisis then it is important that you contact your GP if they are available, or attend A&E.