Pain Management Coaching

Cronic Pain Management

What is Pain Management Coaching?

Physiotherapy-led pain management coaching aims to help you alter your perception of pain and reduce the impact it has on your life by equipping you with a range of tools, techniques, and management strategies.


Chronic pain can have a significant impact on every aspect of your life. It can make you tired / irritable, affect relationships, lead to stress / anxiety / increased depression, and cause you to feel isolated and alone. You may find yourself cancelling social engagements or taking time off work because you feel unable to cope with them, or can't predict if you will be having a ‘good day’ or a ‘bad day’. You may feel that those around you do not understand what you are going through, which can feel very frustrating. For this reason, many people struggle with the fact that chronic pain conditions can be ‘invisible’ – there is often no external indicator that you have limitations, which means that other people have no way of telling how much pain you are in or how much you may be struggling.

Research has shown that developing a deeper understanding of pain can help reduce the amount of pain you experience and the impact it has on your life. At Nebula Physio and Wellbeing Ltd our physiotherapists will help you explore the different factors contributing to your pain, such as stress, sleep, and lifestyle. We will help you to understand your pain and learn how to break out of the chronic pain cycle. We combine both your physical and emotional wellbeing to maximise your function and minimise your pain. We will listen to your problems and work with you to build a treatment plan specifically tailored to work towards your aims and goals. We will guide you through the recovery process at a safe and steady pace, breaking your activities into smaller and more achievable steps.

Pain management coaching can help you:
  • Identify and address triggers for your pain or discomfort
  • Improve or change strategies that are not working for you
  • Examine any barriers that may prevent you from following treatment recommendations
  • Discover strategies to help you overcome any barriers to improvement
  • Challenge beliefs regarding your pain
  • Adopt a healthier lifestyle and improve general wellbeing
  • Develop goals to help keep you on track

Changes in your nervous system

The idea of a chronic pain problem can be very daunting and worrying. You may be wondering how long it will last, what it may mean, and how much it will impact your work and home life.
 
When you have chronic pain, your nervous system undergoes some changes making it much more sensitive than it used to be. Your body sends you pain as a response to threat – it wants you to change what you are doing to avoid causing injury. Normally you require some form of tissue damage or you need to be close to causing tissue damage for your body to generate a pain response. For example, if you step on a pin, stub your toe or catch your leg on the edge of a table, your body will generate a pain response because you have just caused a minor injury. When the nervous system is sensitised, ‘normal’ everyday movements that are not causing any tissue damage can generate this same response – you may find that just turning your head or lightly touching your leg causes you to experience pain.

These changes to your nervous system started happening when your pain first began. Even though any injuries have now healed, your body still has ‘pain memory’ and therefore continues to behave as though you still have the injury.

What physiotherapy-led pain management coaching may entail

Your pain is unique to you. We will help you identify your own personal pathway to pain relief, individually tailored to your own goals, time constraints and preferences.  Some of the options you may benefit from include:
  • Pain management education
  • Integration of mindfulness, CBT (cognitive behavioural therapies), ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), or MI (motivational interviewing) techniques to assist with the emotional and psychological aspects of returning to work and activity
  • Breathing exercises
  • Meditation/relaxation exercises
  • Graded exercise and activity
  • Learning how to pace and delegate
  • Ergonomic advice for work and home
  • Sleep assessment
  • General wellbeing assessment
  • Nutritional advice
  • Acupuncture for pain management, stress/anxiety, and sleep problems
Pain management coaching sessions are delivered by Elizabeth Watson-Rose and Sarah Massey who specialise in treating complex spinal conditions, hypermobility conditions, and chronic pain conditions. These sessions are also available virtually. If you would like to discuss whether pain management coaching is the right approach for you, call us on 07702 847036 to have a brief introductory chat with Elizabeth or Sarah.

For more information on chronic pain check out our blog posts The Cycle of Chronic Pain and Understanding Chronic Pain.