Chronic pain — pain that persists beyond the normal healing time, usually defined as longer than three months — is common and can be genuinely wearing, affecting sleep, mood, work and the things you enjoy. It is also widely misunderstood. The encouraging news is that a great deal can be done to help, and that persistent pain rarely means ongoing damage. At Back in Action in Penwortham, we take a supportive, realistic approach to helping people across Preston and Lancashire live better with persistent pain.
Understanding chronic pain
Pain is the body’s protective alarm system, and in the short term it usefully tells us to rest and protect an injury. With chronic pain, that alarm system can become more sensitive over time, so that pain continues, or is felt more readily, even after the original tissues have healed. This is sometimes described as the nervous system becoming “sensitised”. It is a real, physical phenomenon, and it explains how someone can have significant, genuine pain without ongoing damage to account for it.
This understanding is important and, for many people, reassuring. It means that hurt does not necessarily equal harm, and that the level of pain is not a reliable measure of how much is wrong. It also points the way towards what helps: rather than searching endlessly for something to “fix”, the focus shifts to gradually rebuilding activity, confidence and quality of life, and to calming an over-protective system.
None of this means the pain is imagined or that you should simply ignore it — far from it. Chronic pain is real, and it deserves to be taken seriously. The point is that understanding how persistent pain works opens up genuine, practical avenues for improvement that go well beyond chasing a structural cause that may not be there to find.
What chronic pain can involve
Chronic pain is a broad term covering many different conditions and experiences, and no two people’s are quite the same. It may involve:
- Pain that has persisted well beyond the expected healing time for the original problem
- Pain that no longer seems to match any clear, ongoing injury
- Pain that has spread, or become harder to pin down, over the course of time
- Fluctuating good days and bad days, sometimes without an obvious reason
- An impact on sleep, energy, mood and concentration
- Frustration at not having a single clear explanation or quick solution
- Worry that activity might cause harm, leading to doing less over time
- A loss of confidence in movement, and avoidance of activities
These wider effects are a normal part of living with persistent pain, and addressing them is just as important as addressing the pain itself. Indeed, for many people, improvements in sleep, mood, activity and confidence go hand in hand with improvements in the pain, and sometimes lead the way. Treating the pain in isolation, without these wider aspects, tends to be far less effective.
A realistic, honest approach
We believe in being honest about chronic pain. There is rarely a single quick fix, and anyone promising to “cure” long-standing pain should be treated with caution. What the evidence supports, and what we aim to offer, is helping you reduce the impact of pain and reclaim activity and function, often through a combination of approaches rather than any one treatment. For many people, the most valuable shift is from fighting the pain to learning to live well alongside it while gradually expanding what they can do.
How chiropractic care can help
Within a broader approach, hands-on care can play a useful supporting role. It can offer welcome relief from specific areas of tension and stiffness, and, perhaps more importantly, it can be a vehicle for getting moving again with guidance and reassurance. Following a thorough assessment, our drug-free care may include mobilisation and soft-tissue work to ease specific areas of stiffness and tension, and — importantly — a graded movement and rehabilitation programme to help you rebuild activity and confidence at a manageable pace. Much of our role is supportive: explaining pain in a way that makes sense, encouraging steady progress, and helping you move with less fear. We will be honest that chronic pain often needs a wider team, and we are glad to work alongside your GP and other services.
What to expect at Back in Action
Your first visit is mostly about understanding your pain and its impact on your life. We will take a careful history, examine you as appropriate, and — just as importantly — listen, since people living with persistent pain are often used to not being heard. We will explain our thinking in plain language and discuss a realistic plan, including what you can do for yourself and where other support may help. You can read more on our new patients page, with current charges on the fees page.
We will not encourage open-ended dependence on treatment. Our aim is to help you become more confident and self-reliant in managing your pain, with our support as one part of a bigger picture, and to be honest if we do not think we are the right people to help.
Helping yourself: living well with persistent pain
Self-management is at the heart of living well with chronic pain, and small, sustainable steps make the biggest difference. The evidence is clear that what people do for themselves, day to day, matters more over the long term than any individual treatment:
- Keep as active as you can, building up gradually and pacing yourself rather than pushing into big flare-ups
- Try to maintain the activities and routines that matter to you, adapting them where needed rather than abandoning them
- Lean on supportive people around you, and accept help when it is offered
- Look after sleep, which has a powerful effect on pain and on your ability to cope
- Address stress and low mood, and seek support for these in their own right, not just as side-effects of pain
- Set realistic, meaningful goals and notice progress, rather than focusing only on pain levels
- Be kind to yourself on harder days, which are a normal part of the picture rather than a failure
If persistent pain is affecting your mood or wellbeing, please do speak to your GP, who can advise on the full range of support available, including pain-management services.
Related conditions and treatments
Chronic pain overlaps with many specific conditions, including back pain, nerve pain, myofascial pain syndrome, osteoarthritis and stress-related pain. The care we provide draws on approaches such as exercise and rehabilitation and chiropractic manipulation, and may form part of a wider plan alongside our chiropractic and physiotherapy services, and alongside the care of your GP and other services.
Take the first step
If persistent pain is wearing you down, you do not have to face it without support. We are happy to talk it through honestly and help you understand the options open to you. You can get in touch to book an appointment, or to ask any questions before your first visit.
This information is for general guidance and does not replace individual medical advice. If you are struggling with persistent pain or your mood, please speak to your GP.