We are a patient-centred and patient led organisation uniting to advocate and educate around the prescribing of opioids for severe chronic pain. As chronic pain patients, we are here to tell our side of the story and ensure that pain management remains individualised and multidisciplinary, including pain medications where appropriate.
Pain management services are in high demand. The gold standard for managing chronic pain is a mutidisciplanary approach. But finding quality pain management services can be difficult, and waiting lists are very long…up to two years in some places.
We’re building a directory of pain management services in the hopes of helping people find and access the services they need to proactively manage their pain conditions.
The problem with chronic pain is that there are not many studies on the long term outcomes of any treatments, particularly opioids. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that opioids are safe and effective in a subset of pain patients, and improve quality of life.
There are many myths around opioids, the science tells us that the addiction rate for chronic pain patients is low, opioid induced hyperalgesia is a rare phenomenon IF it exists at all, and opioids do provide pain relief and improve quality of life.
But there aren’t enough studies, and more needs to be done to show the safety and efficacy of not only opioids, but other common treatments as well.
Chronic pain can happen to anyone. It can be caused by a variety of things, including degenerative diseases, pain sensitisation syndromes, accidents or injuries or ongoing pain after surgery.
Because each pain patient is unique and individual, pain management and treatment much be individualised and the gold standard is multidisciplinary pain treatment i.e. multiple interventions by different specialists and therapies.
People living with chronic pain are being force tapered off their opioid pain releiving medications and being offered no effective alternatives. For many people, opioids are the only option that make their pain manageable, and allow people to live more functional lives. Opioids are safe and effective for many patients and we are fighting this misguided attempt to reduce opioid harms.
We are working on several projects designed to raise awareness of what life with chronic pain is like, to educate the public and health professionals, and to help chronic pain patients find and access multidisciplinary pain services.
Few people understand chronic pain, or how disabling untreated or under-treated chronic pain can be.
Pain services can be difficult to locate. We’re building a directory of recommended providers in a range of specialties with experience in chronic pain.
People living with chronic pain often feel misunderstood and disbelieved. Through education and advocacy we aim to provide support to the chronic pain community.
Add your voice and skills to the growing problems in chronic pain management.
"I live with multiple chronic diseases and my main symptom is pain. Access to multidisciplinary care is essential."
"I am afraid that my opioids are going to be taken away. They are the only thing that allows me to live a relatively normal life."
"I use a range of therapies for my chronic pain, including exercise, physiotherapy and opioid pain medications."
"My neurologist doesn't manage my pain, I need to see a pain management specialist for that. It means travelling four hours each way every three months.."
