Service Users Questionnaire Results 2021-22
Below is a video of some of the results from the Service User Questionnaire that was completed earlier this year
Christmas 2024
As this time of year we tend to reflect on the big picture.
On the surface it seems that the main focus of our work is on adopting a number or simple adaptive techniques like pacing, baselines, stress management and relaxation.
Lifestyle for Health – Nutrition and Movement
We all need to eat and drink to keep us going, but what we put in our bodies can affect our health. Many studies identify a clear link between chronic pain and nutrition. Making positive changes in diet can be helpful. For example, swapping a pro inflammatory diet, which is high in saturated fats, sugar and processed foods, to one that includes more anti- inflammatory foods. It sounds very easy on a handout like this but we know, in practise, this is a minefield.
Improving Activity
What happens when we do not take exercise?
Being in pain over a period of time can reduce the amount of exercise we take. It’s easy to slip into the habit of fearing more pain and avoiding it by not exercising.
Christmas Thoughts
Christmas means family. That can of course be lovely, but it also means lots of talk, busy-ness, awkward moments and potential stress. Read more on Christmas Thoughts by clicking the read more button.
Anxiety
Anxiety and some solutions that might help.
Self-Managing in the garden
Some ideas that might help as we move into summer
Coping with the changing seasons
As the season changes we came up with some ideas that could help you cope.
Dealing with lock down anxiety
Anxiety is a form of fear that wears everyone out.
It goes without saying, there has been a lot of anxiety associated with Covid-19
Ironically, some people have said that they have felt easier when they have had to isolate themselves away from the world;
but there has still been a constant rising background of worry and concern over the last year.
In a way we’ve got used to it, but now that lock down is easing, many people are feeling heightened levels of anxiety.
Fatigue
Fatigue is the name given to extreme tiredness. It is different from normal tiredness. If you have fatigue, you can always feel tired and be very low in energy, even after you rest or sleep. Fatigue affects everyone differently and can affect you both physically and mentally. This tiredness can be unpredictable and overwhelming
Dealing with lock down anxiety
Anxiety is a form of fear that wears everyone out.
It goes without saying, there has been a lot of anxiety associated with Covid-19
Ironically, some people have said that they have felt easier when they have had to isolate themselves away from the world;
but there has still been a constant rising background of worry and concern over the last year.
In a way we’ve got used to it, but now that lock down is easing, many people are feeling heightened levels of anxiety.
Goal Setting
Goals are simply things that you want to achieve.
Goal setting gives a structure to achieving goals that might be difficult to realise.
Goal setting helps to put you back in control of a situation that may be overwhelming.
The key to goal setting is to identify realistic small steps that you’re motivated enough to do.
Flare-ups and set-backs
Flare-ups are unusually painful episodes (or episodes of high symptom incidence) that eventually settle down and go away. The experience of a flare-up is physically and emotionally harrowing. In addition to pain and fatigue, many people are frightened, puzzled, frustrated, angry, panicky and desperate. For my purposes a set-back is the same thing, it just sounds less dramatic. However you could also think of situation where a set-back in life makes it harder to cope with health problems.
Pacing and Baselines – Goal Setting
Pacing is about adapting to change so that you can get back in control and do more or be more reliable. A change in health means that people often push themselves hard to maintain standards and some people live on the limit working to 100 percent, only stopping when the pain makes it impossible to carry on. This is known as Cycle of over-activity and forced rest, or boom & bust. A person may feel trapped because booms get gradually less and busts get longer
Positive Thinking - Improving Mood and Well-being
Reframing or cognitive restructuring Reframe - there are different ways of thinking about the same thing. Changing how you describe things to yourself is important eg. I walked for 10 minutes is much more positive than “I only walked for 10 minutes.” Try it.
Think in terms of what you can you do, rather than what you can’t do. And similarly, in terms of what you do have rather than what you don’t have. This is linked to Reframing.
Sleep
Sleep is a habit that we can get in to and out of. If sleep becomes a problem, it can quickly build in to a difficult habit that locks in stress and prevents sleep. Going to bed expecting that you won’t sleep, usually means that you don’t sleep. It is easy to programme ourselves in to not sleeping by thinking: ‘I can’t sleep’, ‘I always wake at 3am’ ‘I can never get back to sleep’.
Stress
Stress is at the centre of all Pain management. This is because living with a change in health is stressful and stress winds pain up. It makes pain worse and or it makes pain harder to cope with. It is therefore really important to understand exactly what stress is and start to deal with it. It’s a big topic, so there is a lot crammed in to this handout.
Racing minds and unhelpful thinking
A racing mind is caused by attempting to solve a problem by thinking in unhelpful ways. This can stir up stress and emotion which makes solving a problem even harder. Often one thought leads to another and everything blurs in to one.
Understanding how Self Management fits in
Chronic Pain can be managed in a number of different ways. The one that everyone relies on and knows about is the Bio Medical Model. This is what happens in hospitals and health centres where clinicians work to identify and modify the physical (bones, muscles, structures) and physiological (chemical) causes of symptoms. The main tools for this work are pharmacy and surgery. Typically the patient is passive and has things done to them. This is an important area which benefits many people, but it is not the whole story.