Pain

Main umbrella pain support groups and organisations

 Pain Relief Foundation

Funds research into the causes and treatment of chronic pain. Leaflets, tapes, books, etc, available on a wide range of pain related topics.

 Action on Pain

A national charity providing support for people affected by chronic pain, either as a sufferer or a carer/relative.

 British Pain Society

UK society of health professionals involved in pain management and research. Includes information for patients.

 Chronic Pain Policy Coalition

Established in 2006, the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition (CPPC) is a forum uniting professionals, parliamentarians and patients who operate at a policy level to develop an improved strategy for the prevention, treatment and management of chronic pain and its associated conditions

 Pain Concern

UK charity providing information and support for people who live with pain and those who care for and about them. Listening-ear helpline. Free leaflets to help you manage your pain. Their magazine 'Pain Matters' brings you information such as: how to cope with pain; how well are our pain services working? updates on the latest developments.

 painSUPPORT

A friendly, supportive and informative not-for-profit organisation for those with chronic pain. An interactive site with a confidential contact club and lively discussion page.

 Neuropathy Trust

Supporting people with peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain.

Recommended self help resources

The following self help web resources are recommended by Southampton Pain Management Service:

 The Pain Toolkit

By Pete Moore ; A Department of Health funded booklet

 Pain Management - how to get the best from your health Services

From the Patients Association.

 Pain Concern

Pain concern has a number of free useful booklets available to download such as how to exercise safely, pacing, etc - www.painconcern.org.uk/pages/page59.php

Self help guides to purchase

All available on Amazon via the Patient UK bookshop:

• Overcoming Chronic Pain: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques - by Frances Cole
• Manage Your Pain - by Michael Nicholas; Allan Molloy; Lois Tonkin; Lee Beetson; A sort of “Haynes Manual” and based upon Pain management courses run by the authors.
• Coping Successfully with Pain (Overcoming common problems) - by Neville Shone.

Information on differing types of pain

Adult Post Operative Pain Management:

• Adult Post Operative Pain Management - From the 'Behind the Medical Headlines' website developed to provide authoritative and independent expert commentaries on topical medical matters reported in the international media. Produced by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.
• Prospect - an online resource to assess evidence for interventions to relieve pain in specific clinical situations, and questions the appropriateness of generalising this information to other clinical circumstances. The group has developed evidence-based guidelines for the management of post-operative pain related to a number of surgical procedures, including elective open colorectal surgery, total knee replacement and mastectomy.

Cancer Pain:

• Cancer Pain - a patient guide to complement the SIGN national guideline for health professionals.
• Cancer and pain control - what help to expect when you have pain related to cancer from Cancer Research UK

Neuropathic pain:

• Neuropathic pain - from Patient UK.
• Neuropathy Trust

Phantom limb pain:

• Phantom limb pain - from the Pain Relief Foundation.

Fibromyalgia:

• Fibromyalgia Association - provides comprehensive information on FM for patients.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (Formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy):

• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - from the Pain Relief Foundation
• Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - from RSD Alliance, an umbrella organsaition for all those organizations wishing to help those with Complex regional pain syndrome.
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - from NHS Choices

See also resources and links in Patient UK for the following painful conditions:

• Angina
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Breast pain
• Headache
• Migraine
• Neck Pain
• Postherpetic neuralgia
• Shingles
• Trigeminal neuralgia

Drugs / medicines used for pain relief

 Strong Opioids - The British Pain Society Guide

Generally considered the authorative guide on this controversial topic.

 Drugs for Nerve Pain

From the Pain Relief Foundation

 Medicine Guide for Pain

Medicine Guides provide reliable information about medicines (drugs), conditions and the different treatment options available. They have been developed in the UK as part of the Medicines Information Project.

 Medicine Guide for Pain (severe)

Medicine Guides provide reliable information about medicines (drugs), conditions and the different treatment options available. They have been developed in the UK as part of the Medicines Information Project.

 Drugs used to treat arthritis

Detailed information on various drugs from the Arthritis Research Campaign.

 Fentanyl Patches for Use in the Management of Chronic/Persistent Pain

West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust provide a wide range of patient information, including one in this area.

 Pain Relief at Home – A guide to your ‘pain killers’ and how to take them

Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provide a wide range of patient information leaflets including one on post operative pain management.

Other resources

 NHS choices

NHS choices is produced by the Department of Health NHS Knowledge centre. It has a number of pages on managing pain although it can be hard to navigate. It has a useful blog on arthritis which discusses pain treatment options.

 Bandolier

This hosts the Oxford Pain Internet Site. It firmly based in the principles of evidence-based medicine and has pulled together systematic reviews with pain as an outcome. It is generally regarded as the authoritative guide on pain treatments.

 Pain (chronic neuropathic or ischaemic) - Spinal Cord Stimulation

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Pain (chronic neuropathic or ischaemic) - Spinal Cord Stimulation .

  Chronic Pain

Healthtalkonline, is an award-winning charity website, which lets you share in other people's experiences of health and illness. The information is based on qualitative research into patient experiences led by experts at the University of Oxford.

  Youth Health Talk - Chronic Pain

This is a website about young people’s real life experiences of health and lifestyle. It is not just a website about the medical facts, this is about real people and real lives.

  Dr Mark Miller’s website

Covers several types of common chronic pain conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia.

 Bath Pain Management Services

Bath Pain Management Service aim to enhance individuals' daily functioning, allowing them to return to activities that are important to them, whether their pain is reduced or not. They are a regional centre for rehabilitation of complex pain problems where there is a high degree of disability and a national centre for children and adolescent pain. The website describes psychological therapies’ role in managing pain which can often be misunderstood.

 TENS Hire

UK based organisation aiming to provide tens machines for pain relief.

 Relaxation reviews

Independent reviews of guided relaxation tapes and CDs, with a section on tapes for pain.

Local support groups

 Keeping Pace With Pain

Southampton Chronic Pain Support Group.

 COPING - Derbyshire Chronic Pain Support Group

Information, help and support for people with chronic (ongoing) pain.

Further sources / more detailed information

Some non-UK sites

 American Pain Foundation

Founded in 1997 is an independent nonprofit organization serving people with pain through information, advocacy, and support. It is the sister organization of the American Pain Association. Their mission is to improve the quality of life of people with pain by raising public awareness, providing practical information, promoting research, and advocating to remove barriers and increase access to effective pain management.

 American Chronic Pain Association

Aims to facilitate peer support and education for individuals with chronic pain and their families so that these individuals may live more fully in spite of their pain. Also, to raise awareness among the health care community, policy makers, and the public at large about issues of living with chronic pain.

 Return to Work Matters

An online network that provides news, a forum for issues, articles on research, resources and tools for return to work professionals and people engaged in returning injured people to work. The site authors state they aspire to offer the best available evidence, information and support to employers, medical and rehab practitioners, and insurers primarily in Australia and New Zealand, but with a rapidly growing audience in the UK and the USA.

The following list popular non-UK health information sites with content aimed at the general public. They are mainly from the US. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included but these large sites are comprehensive.

• Non-UK disease / illness sites
• Non-UK self-help / support group sites

More detailed medical information

The following list online sources of more detailed medical information, mainly from the UK. These sites are mainly aimed at health professionals, but are of interest to all. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included, but information about most medical topics can usually be found.

• PatientPlus - hundreds of medical reference articles provided by Patient UK.
• Evidence Based Medicine - such as from Clinical Evidence, The Cochrane Library, etc.
• Database of UK Clinical Guidelines - from NICE, SIGN, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, etc.
• Medline - abstracts available from thousands of journals.
• Sites listing free online medical textbooks and journals.
• Sites listing free medical images - pictures, atlases, anatomy, skin diseases, etc.