Pain consultant

The role of your pain consultant is to find out about your individual pain story, the impact that pain is having on your life and take into consideration any other medical conditions you may have.

Your consultant will review relevant pain medications and may adjust if necessary. We recognise that pain medicines can have a limited effect and can cause side effects which have a negative effect on quality of life. It is not unusual for us to recommend that you reduce some of your medicines and only continue the ones which are most effective for you.

Pain specialist physiotherapy

Physiotherapy in persistent pain management may differ to your experience of physiotherapy elsewhere. Pain specialist physiotherapists play a crucial role in assessing and supporting individuals with persistent pain. Most people with persistent pain have what is called “neural hypersensitivity”. This means that the nerves around the area(s) of pain have become overly sensitive to stimuli, or the entire nervous system has become hypersensitive. However, it is possible to damp down this sensitivity and rehabilitate the nervous system.

Pain specialist physiotherapy explores ways to help you develop skills and lifestyle changes that will help rehabilitate the nervous system. It often focuses on...

  • Providing pain education
  • Improving physical function
  • Implementing tailored exercise programs
  • Management of activity
  • Use of other therapeutic modalities
  • Relaxation
  • Heat or cold therapies
  • TENS
  • Virtual Reality
  • Supporting development of personal goals

Collaborating with other members of the Fife Pain Management team, our physiotherapists contribute to a multidisciplinary approach to help you to move towards living well despite your persistent pain. This may as part of a group approach or in a one-to-one setting.

Pain specialist pharmacy

The Pharmacists, as part of the Pain Service Multidisciplinary Team, can help support you in your pain self management journey.

They will do this by working with you to:

  • Review your current medication focussing specifically on your pain medication to discuss whether it is effective, safe and suitable for you.
  • Explore your previous use of and experience with pain medications.
  • Increase your knowledge about different types of pain and the role of pain medication.
  • Discuss options with you and agree a short or longer term plan to maximise possible benefit from medication and reduce the risk of side effects or harm. This may involve supporting you to trial an increase or decrease in medicines.
  • Arrange follow up to assess if any changes have been beneficial.
  • Advise on ongoing monitoring or review required to ensure long term safety.

Not all patients are referred to the pain management service will be seen by the pharmacist.

If you have a pharmacy appointment;

  • Please complete and return the medicines questionnaire and pain diary you have been issued in advance.
  • Think about any questions you may wish to ask the pharmacist. You can write these down and bring them along with you.
  • Tell the pharmacist about any other products you take or use, including non-prescribed medication, vitamins or herbal supplements.

Pain specialist psychology

Psychologists working in pain management have skills in a range of different psychological therapies which are designed to help with the emotional impact of chronic pain. We work with people both on a one-to-one and group basis.

We know that people living with chronic pain have often spent a lot of time and effort trying to get rid of pain, in order to reduce the impact it has on their life. Unfortunately, most of the time this is not very successful and you may find yourself stuck or unable to move on in life because of your pain. In pain management psychology, we take a different approach:

  • Instead of trying to get rid of pain, we start to tackle the ways in which it has impacted on your life.
  • We concentrate on giving you strategies and approaches to help you get back in touch with what is important to you in life and work towards living a full and meaningful life, despite your difficulties with pain.
  • This might involve making changes to what you do, exploring the impact that thoughts can have, or learning new skills, for instance mindfulness or relaxation skills.
  • We can also help you to manage the emotions associated with living with chronic pain, such as anxiety and depression and build your confidence which may have been lost as a result of your pain condition.
  • We will encourage you to identify your own goals, and work towards these.
  • Our aim is to help you learn how to live well with pain and improve your quality of life despite the long-term nature of your condition.
  • Understanding the psychological impact of pain can help you to better manage your pain and improve your overall quality of life.

Pain specialist occupational therapy

Occupational therapists provide more practical support to help people recover and to remove the barriers that stop people working or getting on with their lives. They will look at things like;

  • Opportunities to look after yourself
  • How you use your leisure time
  • Pacing activities
  • Conserving energies
  • Work simplification strategies
  • Assessment of home or work environment
  • Provision of adaptive equipment
  • Relaxation and stress management