, Assistant Professor, School of Physiotherapy,聽;听, Professor, Department of Anesthesia,聽;听, Associate Professor, Registered Dietitian, Department of Applied Human Nutrition, Faculty of Professional Studies,聽; ;听, PhD Student, Industrial/Organizational Psychology,聽; and聽, Full Professor and Associate Vice-President, Research,聽.听
Chances are, you or someone you care about is living with , often defined as pain that lasts for three months or more. Persistent pain is described in many ways, including continuous, consistent or recurrent (or flares).
People living with pain cannot be left in the dark to self-manage. that as a medical issue and can be addressed with collective action.
. Often invisible, chronic pain can be associated with other chronic conditions, including arthritis, diabetes and cancer. Other common types of include, but are not limited to, migraines, back or spinal pain.
Pain may affect people to the point that they can鈥檛 work, eat, take part in physical activity or enjoy their life. According to Health Canada, the total direct and indirect .
While one in five Canadians experience chronic pain, people living in poverty, those with mental health or substance use conditions, veterans, Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQ2S communities, people living in rural and remote locations, persons with disabilities, women and those working in the trades.
The reasons why some people or groups are impacted more than others or support (both perceived and actual), as well as , and factors.
are . For instance, youth and with in remote communities are at particular risk, and have specific needs.
While many people living with pain require pharmacological treatment, such as medication, there is growing interest in .
5 non-pharmacological ways to manage pain
1. Nutrition and food as medicine
have an established role in . For instance, specific (like the Mediterranean diet) and foods (fatty fish, for example) are associated with reduced inflammation, chronic disease and pain.
A registered dietitian can help people living with pain and solve problems while avoiding information overload. Approaches may include food substitutions, food eliminations, home-based accommodations or tools and advice on shopping and meal preparation. Dietitian services .
2. Movement as medicine
Well established in both western and complementary medicine, movement of the body 鈥� or lack of movement 鈥� has significant impacts on pain.
Physical and movement therapy such as physiotherapy, and are common pain treatments, but they can also be used to prevent pain.
There is growing evidence that yoga and qigong 鈥� a system of meditative movement and breathing exercises 鈥� can play a role in pain management and prevention. For instance, regular qigong practice (daily for six to eight weeks) .
Complementary treatments , though some community programs or workplace, group and private insurance plans offer full or partial coverage.
3. Allyship and addressing stigma and bias
People living with pain can benefit from having knowledgeable allies, especially when confronted with stigma and bias.
People living with chronic pain . Examples provided in research include: 鈥淵ou look healthy, you cannot be in pain,鈥� 鈥淵ou just want attention鈥� and 鈥淚t must be nice to not work.鈥�
Several factors contribute to chronic pain-related stigma. These include intersecting determinants of health (like sex, gender, poverty, body weight and ethnicity), the lack of visible signs and symptoms of pain and the perceived subjectivity of pain assessment. and have been well documented.
Social stigma can by increasing feelings of stress and shame, but a growing body of evidence may also be .
Traditionally and currently, people living with . People with pain in larger bodies commonly hear the recommendation that they should lose weight, . This is something many health-care providers are trying to address in the wake of .
4. Support peer-to-peer initiatives
. It can be taught within programs with community-based approaches , which aims to enhance self-management of chronic pain through interactions with peers who share similar conditions.
Living with chronic pain can be . Peer support groups offer compassion, understanding and validation by encouraging participants to share their experiences.
They also provide , with stronger social connections and some reduced use of health services in addition to improved self-management skills.
5. Advocate for inclusive workplaces
Chronic pain has been shown to have a including absenteeism and presenteeism. Chronic pain is a serious impediment to employee overall well-being. Pain may deplete employee mental and physical reserves, which disrupts performance and job engagement, and increases turnover as well as employee burnout.
Chronic pain also has a socioeconomic impact on employees, who may face issues like . A lack of intentional and compassionate management of employees with chronic pain is detrimental to both workplaces and employees.
Investing in workplace interventions such as structured accommodation policies can help organizations . More proactive approaches to managing chronic pain at work include work station adjustments, flexible work arrangements and facilitation of support (like physiotherapy, massage, psychology). People living with pain can better manage flare-ups and time off, when trusted with self-pacing in the workplace.
Ideally, an employer should give employees both autonomy and support to balance their health and organizational productivity. Organizational commitment to successful and compassionate management of employee chronic pain 鈥� a 鈥溾�� 鈥� allows employees to feel comfortable discussing issues with their managers and to ask for help when needed.
Online resources
There are many more resources online and in communities, including while living with pain.
is a peer support organization that helps people with pain access quality care.
provides access to a range of educational tools, self-assessments and self-management strategies for chronic pain, for use by people living with pain, their families and friends, peer support groups and health-care providers.
is made up of people living with pain and pain organizations, including advocates, researchers and clinical experts. Pain Canada provides educational tools, self-assessments and self-management strategies, and runs national every November.
and LivePlanBe+ are free online educational programs created with the input of people living with pain.
offers sessions led by therapeutic movement professionals that are designed to help people with persistent pain learn to feel safe to move again. A free archive of 37 session recordings is available on .
includes evidence-based resources for better pain management for children, directed at educators, care providers and the public.
Collective action is needed to more fully address the individual and societal impacts of chronic pain, noting that not everyone experiencing chronic pain has the resources to cover the costs of treatments and supports. Given the complexity and financial impacts of chronic pain in Canada, we need to better understand and address the long-term, biophysical and of pain. At the very least, pain prevention and treatment requires information and resources that are person-centred and accessible to all.
This article was co-authored by Virginia McIntyre, President and Executive Director of People in Pain Network and a member of Pain Canada鈥檚 National Advisory Committee, and by Yaadwinder Shergill, Clinical Research Associate and Program Manager at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .