Chronic & persistent pain

Understanding it

Why pain persists, in plain terms

Persistent pain is different from a fresh injury. The original strain or damage has usually long since healed, but the body's protective systems have stayed on high alert, so ordinary movement, touch or even a poor night's sleep can keep the pain going. That does not mean the pain is imagined, and it does not mean nothing can be done: it means the problem needs a different kind of help, and a system that has become oversensitive can be calmed.

We help people with long-standing pain in the back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and feet, nerve-related pain, pain that moves or has spread, and widespread aching that never quite settles. It may trace back to an old injury or operation, an accident or a fall, arthritis or another underlying condition, years of heavy work, or it may have crept in gradually with no clear cause at all; stress, poor sleep and worry often turn the volume up further. We look at the muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, joints and nerves involved, and just as importantly at you: how you move, how you are sleeping and coping, and what the pain is stopping you from doing. Care is then shaped around that whole picture, gently and at your pace.