Experts come together to support the one in five Scots with persistent pain
Stacey Wilson has never been one to shy away from a challenge – competing for Scotland in throwing sports and athletics up until the age of 23 – but the PE teacher from Edinburgh didn’t expect to face her hardest one at age 27, when debilitating back pain changed her life forever.
Immediately after giving birth to her daughter Sadie, now seven, Stacey began experiencing excruciating pain in her back. The ‘flare-ups’, as she refers to them, last between four and six weeks and have blighted Stacey’s life ever since, resulting in hospitalisation, expensive healthcare treatments, time off work and her even having to learn to walk again.
Most traumatising for the mother of two is the impact her pain has had on her children.
Stacey recalls: “My back pain started straight after having my daughter, despite having a really healthy pregnancy. It meant I couldn’t fully enjoy being a new mother as I was in constant pain, very fatigued and had continual brain fog.
“After having my little boy, Clark, four years ago, I also remember being blue-lighted to the hospital in agony. He was just a few months old, and I was waiting for 10 hours to be seen, expressing breast milk in the hospital cubicle and then being told to ‘go home and make an appointment with my doctor for the morning.’
“I couldn’t move and had to be lifted and laid down in the back of my dad’s cab to be taken home – it was an horrific experience that has stayed with me to this day.”
Despite being proactive about her health and paying out thousands of pounds on private healthcare treatments, including cupping and acupuncture, Stacey was frustrated she wasn’t being listened to. “I felt like I was hitting my head off a brick wall,” she explains. “I asked to join a pain management programme three times to try and regain some control, but I kept being rejected for a place – with no feedback about why.”
After eventually getting onto a pain management programme, the 34-year-old from Gilmerton hasn’t had a severe flare-up in four years.
Stacey now manages her pain with tried and tested techniques and coping strategies including Pilates and regular physiotherapy sessions.
She is sharing her story in a bid to help others like her, who live with chronic pain. Chronic or persistent pain affects 20% of Scots and is defined as pain that lasts for longer than 12 weeks, despite medication or treatment.
Running in February and March, people from across Scotland will have the opportunity to get advice, guidance and hear real-life stories about living with chronic pain from world-leading pain experts, panels of people who live with it and specialist health professionals, through a series of free-to-attend events.
The events – designed specifically for those affected by persistent pain – will be delivered as live webinars which can be watched back by those who are unable to attend on the day.
Led by the Flippin’ Pain™ public health movement in partnership with NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government, the series is one of 13 Scottish Government-funded projects made available via the Chronic Pain Winter Support Fund. They aim to improve access to care and deliver better health outcomes for people with chronic pain in Scotland.
Internationally acclaimed pain scientist and the world’s leading pain educator, Professor Lorimer Moseley, will lead the first event: ‘Rethinking Pain: new understanding and new possibilities.’
Professor Moseley spearheads the ‘Pain Revolution’ movement throughout Australia, has 300 published research articles, is author of six books and presented a series of Ted X Talks, putting him at the forefront of thinking in contemporary pain science.
Chronic pain can affect many aspects of day-to-day life and can be associated with depression, anxiety, fatigue and sleep issues. People with chronic pain are also more likely to report lower life satisfaction and poorer quality of life compared to those without the condition.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd explains: “Living with chronic pain is extremely challenging, which is why the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring patients can access the support they need, when they need it.
“We are running a public consultation on a new Framework for Pain Management Services with the aim of improving the care and quality of life for people with chronic pain.
“I am pleased to see projects like this one, funded through our Chronic Pain Winter Support Fund, to boost the support available for people with chronic pain to help them maintain their health and wellbeing over the months ahead.”
Richard Pell, campaign director for Flippin’ Pain™ concludes: “Understanding pain is so important. Our understanding of pain – why it’s there, why it behaves the way it does and why it sometimes doesn’t go away – influence what we do about it and even how it feels.
“Many long-held beliefs about pain are hugely out of step with modern scientific understanding. People deserve better. People are suffering more than they should, losing control and seeing their quality of life deteriorate.
“I urge people living with pain, their friends and family too, to engage with the events and to do so with an open mind. Flipping your understanding of pain won’t take pain away overnight – but with time it can be transformative and has been the first step on the road to recovery for many.”
Flippin’ Pain™. Its ‘Why rethinking pain really matters’ webinar services includes:
- Event one: 15th February 2022, 10am, ‘Rethinking Pain: new understanding and new possibilities.’
- Event two: 2nd March 2022, 5pm, ‘Why everything matters when it comes to pain.’
- Event three: 23rd March 2022, 12pm, ‘Flippin’ everything you thought you knew about arthritis.’
All events can be watched back, on-demand.
For more information including booking a place for the events visit the News & Events page at www.flippinpain.co.uk
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