What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is persistent pain that lasts longer than 3 months, beyond the usual healing time of an injury or illness. It continues even after the injury has healed or may occur without an obvious cause. It affects physical, emotional, and mental well-being, disrupting daily activities and quality of life.
This persistent pain can erode confidence, strain relationships, and interfere with work or routines. Many sufferers feel hopeless after trying various treatments without relief. Chronic pain is not just about tissue damage – it’s multifactorial nature makes it a challenge to manage, even for the most experienced clinician.
Why is Chronic Pain Challenging to Manage?
- It Involves multiple body systems such as the nervous system, immune system, and psychological health, making treatment complex.
- The brain and pain pathways might have become hypersensitive and hyper excited, resulting in painful responses to an otherwise normal stimulus. It is a long and difficult process to reduce the hypersensitivity.
- Traditional pain medication may no longer be effective and lead to dependence or addiction.
- Chronic pain is often influenced by psychosocial factors such as anxiety, past experiences and depression. Chronic pain also leads to poor sleep, fatigue and social isolation, which further worsen symptoms.
How to Manage Chronic Pain?
- Physical Therapy & Exercise
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- Low-impact exercise (walking, swimming, yoga) releases endorphins, which are natural painkillers. It also reduces nerve hypersensitivity over time.
- Strength training supports muscles and joints, reducing pain from weak or imbalanced muscles.
- Stretching & mobility exercises relieve tension and stiffness.
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- Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE)
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- It is an approach used to help individuals better understand pain, reduce fear and improve coping strategies. It focuses on how the nervous system processes pain rather than just the structural damage or injury.
- PNE has been shown to reduce fear of movement (kinesiophobia), desensitise the nervous system and improve treatment outcomes.
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- Manual Therapy and Modalities
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- Manual therapy such as soft tissue massage and myofascial release can help with temporary pain relief.
- Modalities such as dry needling and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can reduce pain and nerve sensitivity.
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- Lifestyle Modifications
- Good sleep hygiene is important as poor sleep can increase pain sensitivity.
- Reduced stress levels can also help an individual’s muscles to relax better and in turn reduce pain.
- An anti-inflammatory diet may potentially reduce inflammation in the body as well.
How Would Chronic Pain Management Help?
The outcome of this program is simple:
- Reduce pain.
- Retrain how you react/respond to your pain.
- Regain your ability to engage in activities that you enjoy.
- Regain your independence.
Why Choose Physio & Sole Clinic?
At Physio & Sole Clinic, we provide holistic chronic pain management through expert care and personalised solutions. Our evidence-based treatments, including rehabilitation exercises, pain neuroscience education, manual therapy and psychological support can help to provide you with some respite from your condition, improve your quality of life and regain your confidence.
Book an appointment with Physio & Sole Clinic now.
Frequently Asked Questions on Chronic Pain Management
Results vary depending on the individual, but we celebrate every goal achieved as a small win.
While chronic pain cannot always be fully cured, it can often be effectively managed to improve quality of life. While some cases resolve with treatment, others persist due to nerve sensitization, psychological factors, or underlying conditions.
The goal of management is to reduce pain intensity, improve function, and enhance coping strategies through a combination of physical therapy, medication, lifestyle changes, and pain neuroscience education (PNE). With the right approach, many people experience significant pain reduction and regain normal activity levels, even if complete pain relief is not always possible.
