Chronic pain management is one of the major areas of practice for many of the members of the New Zealand Pain Society.  Australian research recently published in the Pfizer Health Reports (PDF) suggests that 29% of people experience chronic pain - and these are people from all walks of life and across all age groups. 

Chronic pain is "pain that extends beyond the expected healing time of an injury, or can accompany chronic illnesses such as arthritis...or simply lasting longer than 3 - 6 months."  Some commentators believe the word chronic should be replaced with a term such as persistent or long term because of the popular interpretation of chronic as "intense" pain.

Managing chronic pain effectively depends on many things, but at least one of them is combating the stigma that people with chronic pain often feel about their condition. The Pfizer report found that 21% of people with chronic pain often feel that people doubt the reality of their pain, while a further 58% of people thought others sometimes doubted whether their pain was real.

People attending Burwood Pain Management Centre typically have had their chronic pain for around 4 years before they are referred for assessment, and many have stopped working during this time. 

There are many ways people with chronic pain can live well despite having what is sometimes thought to be a "life sentence".  While medication is usually a key component of chronic pain management, for many people with chronic pain self management is the next most important component.

Self management includes being fully informed about the health problem, working actively with the health care team to develop a plan that is individually tailored, and developing skills and strategies to be able to achieve goals for moving on with life.

More information on chronic pain management

Health Navigator NZ - a collaborative project developed by a range of non-profit health organisations getting together and identifying the best health information and self-help resources

Healthskills blog - Healthskills is a blog for health providers who want to read about research related to self managing chronic pain.

How to Cope with Pain - a resource for those with chronic pain, their families and friends, and for those who treat patients with chronic pain.