Your GP will need to refer you to the Chronic Pain Service. There your referral will be assessed by one of the consultants. Even as an inpatient in our hospital, your referral to our service must still be done via your GP. Your discharge letter can include a request to your GP to consider a referral to the Pain Service.

Any pain that lasts more than 3-6 months despite medication or treatment, or that the underlying tissue damage has resolved. Pain is a useful tool to help the body signal when there is damage or something is wrong. “Your brain will make pain when it concludes that your body tissues are in danger and you need to do something about it” (Mosely & Butler, 2015). These messages can help protect us from harm. However, sometimes this system can go wrong and the brain can interpret the impulses and messages from the body as pain even when there is no physical cause.

With chronic pain the nerves continue to send signals to the brain despite there being no injury, danger or inflammation. The brain then continues to send back the signals that trigger the feeling and experience of pain. As a result pain is still felt. It can be very frustrating to learn that there is no physical or medical cause for the pain. Research explains that the nervous system is oversensitive and continues to behave as though there is ongoing disease or injury. Pain comes from the body and the mind, so thoughts and feelings can modify pain experiences in big ways. Thoughts and feelings can also affect the choices that you make. They can affect how you approach daily activities, or what you do during a flare-up. These choices will in turn affect your pain experiences.

Take time to watch the following videos to help understand the concept of chronic pain:

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Pain Interventions

Our consultants offer a wide range of pain interventions on an out-patient basis at the Day Surgery Unit at CHH. Listed below are the main interventions available:

• Medial Branch Block and Radiofrequency Ablation
• Nerve Block Injections
• Epidural Injections
• Bursa Injections
• Ganglion Nerve Block

Pain Management Programme

We offer a tailored programme to help patients to live better with pain. We help them learn how to deal with the long term effects of pain in a positive and healthy way. The programme is designed to help you feel in control of your pain. And to help you learn relaxation and ways to manage your pain on a day to day basis. It is led by our pain specialist nurses and specialist physiotherapist. It is carried out one-to-one via telephone appointments; usually about 6. You will work through a booklet under the guidance of the nurse.

Acupuncture

We offer British Medical Acupuncture, which has evolved from traditional Chinese method and is used to treat mainly musculoskeletal pain. It stimulates the nervous system and can help to lessen pain.
This service is delivered at the East Riding Community Hospital. We hold three clinics a week; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons only.
To access this service you must be under the care of one our consultants. And you must be assessed to meet the criteria for this service.

Pain Psychology

Sometimes pain can have a greater impact on our mental health and well-being. This needs expert knowledge and treatment to help manage this well. In our team, a clinical psychologist gives one-to-one sessions with patients who need extra support to manage the psychological impact. A referral is made by one of the pain consultants or one of the pain specialist nurses.