Understanding persistent pain can be a really important part of living alongside it. These short videos can supplement the discussions you have with our team.  

Pain Explained 
This animated video provides a resource to help people understand pain better. Physiotherapist Jackie Walumbe and Clinical Psychologist Dr Katy Bradbury use this animated video to explain how pain works: including the impact of pain, the difference between acute and chronic pain and the integrated physical, psychological and social influences on pain. 

Tame the beast - it’s time to rethink persistent pain 
An animated video narrated by Professor Lorimer Moseley. The video aims to increase the viewers understanding of persistent pain in a visually stimulating way.

Why do we hurt?  
Engaging and humorous TEDx talk by Professor Lorimer Moseley answering this question.

How does your brain respond to pain? 
Everyone experiences pain -- but why do some people react to the same painful stimulus in different ways? And what exactly is pain, anyway? Karen D. Davis walks you through your brain on pain, illuminating why the “pain experience” differs from person to person.  

Why do we feel pain differently? 
Dr Janet Bultitude from the University of Bath’s Department for Psychology / Centre for Pain Research explores the science behind pain, what pain is and why pain might be experienced differently by different people

The mysterious science of pain 
Joshua W. Pate investigates the experience of pain in this Tedx video. Explore the biological and psychological factors that influence how we experience pain and how our nervous system reactions to harmful stimuli.

Living with Chronic Pain - Neil Berry 
Audio files containing Information on various aspects of pain management. Subjects include: 

  • Living with chronic pain 
  • Sleep and diet 
  • Managing negative emotions 
  • Medication: friend or foe 
  • Learning to relax  

Free to download at www.paincd.org.uk  

Acceptance and commitment therapy for chronic pain
Prof. Tamar Pincus explains acceptance and commitment therapy for chronic pain. ‘It took me a long time to understand that acceptance was not the same as giving up or losing hope, but instead a conscious decision to completely engage with life, including pain’.

Below you will find a selection of websites and books you may find helpful in supporting you to understand and live with persistent pain. We encouraged you to also explore our short videos about pain section.  

As with any form of pain management, different resources or techniques will suit different people. Please remember you may need to try out more than one resource before you find something that is helpful for you.  

Websites: 

Live Well With Pain 
This website was created by a small group of healthcare professionals working in pain management. It includes a “Ten Footsteps” programme to support patients to live alongside pain. 

Flippin’ Pain 
Flippin’ pain is a public health campaign aiming to increase understanding of persistent pain. The website includes information on understanding pain and patient stories.

Pain Toolkit 
This website is a website run by Peter Moore who experiences persistent pain himself. The website discusses many pain management tools.  

Retrain Pain 
This is an excellent resource with a number of quick, engaging materials around the topic of persistent pain. It includes resources in a number of other languages.  

Health Talk Online 
This website includes a number of patient videos describing their experiences of chronic pain and use of pain management strategies.  

Pain Concern: 
This website for the charity Pain Concern offers a wide range of resources and other support for people with persistent pain (e.g. peer support and a helpline). The podcast available on this website (called “Airing Pain”) includes discussion of many helpful topics.  

Tame the Beast? 
This website was created by a pain researcher (Professor Lorimer Moseley), David Moen (Physiotherapist) and Sam Chisholm (professional communicator). It includes lots of useful information and patient stories.  

Books: 

The Painful Truth: The New Science of Why We Hurt and How We Can Heal by Monty Lyman (2021, Bantam press). 
This engaging book, written by a doctor, provides explanations of persistent pain and research around it. The book includes lots of engaging examples and personal anecdotes to support understanding.   

For a mindful approach to managing pain and mood: 

Living Well With Pain and Illness: Using Mindfulness to Free Yourself From Suffering by Vidyamala Burch (2008, Piatkus).  
The book provides some very clear explanations of a mindfulness approach to managing pain in a step by step approach. The author of the book has experienced chronic pain for a number of years following spinal injury.  

Mindfulness For Health: A Practical Guide to Relieving Pain, Reducing Stress and Restoring Well-being by Vidyamala Burch and Dr Danny Penman (2013, Piatkus).  
This book guides you through a step by step eight week programme focused on doing practices for about 15-20 minutes per day and includes a CD of the practices. 

Full Catastrophe Living: How to Cope with Stress, Pain and Illness Using Mindfulness Meditation by Jon Kabat-Zin (Revised Edition 2013, Piatkus).  
This book was initially published in 1990 and is based on an approach known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, one of the first mindfulness programmes to be delivered in NHS setting to support individuals with physical health issues.  

Living with the Enemy: Coping with the stress of chronic illness using CBT, mindfulness and Acceptance by Ray Owen (2013, Routledge).  
This book aims to support individuals living with chronic illness and may be particularly helpful for individuals with multiple health conditions. The book draws on a range of approaches and includes links to downloadable audio exercises and worksheets.  

A number of organisations provide information on how to manage the impact pain can have on your mood. These include: 

For more general mental health support the following resources may be helpful: 

MIND 
MIND is a charity that offers free mental health support and guidance. You can explore their general website or search for a Mind local to you 

Rethink Mental Illness 
Rethink is a charity which aims to improve the lives of people affected by mental illness.Their website provides information and links to local services in your area.  

Every Mind Matters 
Offers advice on improving your wellbeing and coping with various issues. 

NHS Talking Therapies
NHS Talking Therapy services offer help with conditions like depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety and panic disorder, amongst other issues. You can usually self refer to these services. 

If you are a local resident, you can access digital or phone support within Psychological Therapies Services (iCope): 

If you need crisis support, you may find it helpful to contact: 

Advice on accessing things in your local area (e.g. getting back to work, single point of access, volunteering) and further support services that may be useful including welfare and benefits advice, housing, immigration and law services.  

Citizen’s Advice
Citizen’s advice is a charity offering advice and support on a number of issues including health costs and services, benefits, housing, law, debt and immigration for example.   

Advice on accessing social care, benefits and access to work schemes

Step change: 
A charity offering free advice and support on managing debt.  

The Shaw Trust
This charity focuses on supporting people to access employment.

Social prescribing
Social prescribing could be one way of enabling patients to re-engage with a life that is meaningful to them. Both Camden and Islington have social prescribing services. Please click the links below to find out more, including how to be referred to their services: 

If you live outside the boroughs of Camden and Islington, you should be able to talk with your GP about local social prescribing services.