On my current placement majority of my patients have chronic pain. When you are not constantly in pain it is very hard to understand what your patients are going through. Many of the patients still come in looking for a "quick fix" and unfortunately that is not possible and the most likely result is that they are probably never going to be able to live pain-free. I am finding this very hard to explain to my patients. I am also finding it very difficult to treat these patients because most of the more traditional therapies have already been tried and failed.

There is a chronic pain program currently running at my placement. It consists of a small group of patients suffering from chronic pain conditions who attend lectures, group meetings and gym sessions over a 3 week period. The program is aimed to help the patients deal with their conditions and the pain that goes with them.

I attend a lecture with the patients today, it was very interesting to listen to the patients and hear how everyday activities are so difficult for them to complete and how their pain impacts so severely on their lives. The lecture today was about "Pacing". I learnt some interesting points that will definitely help me when treating chronic pain patients in the future. They advised the patients to all keep diaries and to plan and prioritise all their activities. By doing this they can make sure they do only one heavy activity a day, schedule their breaks and generally feel in control of their lives and their pain.

I found this very interesting and will be educating any of my patients in the future who have a chronic pain condition about this. We as physiotherapists can also utilise the diary to prescribe their exercise programs. This will assist with compliancy and give the patients control over their own programs.