About chronic pain

What is Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is pain that persists beyond the normal time of healing, or occurs in diseases in which healing does not take place. Chronic pain can occur when no obvious cause can be found, and is thought to be due to changes in the nervous system. It can affect any part of the body and people of any age including children.

Facts and Figures

• Chronic pain affects 7.8 million people of all ages in the UK.
• 25% of those diagnosed with chronic pain go on to loose their jobs
• In 22% of cases chronic pain leads to depression
• Chronic pain accounts for 4.6millon GP appointments per year
• Pain is the second most common reason given for claiming incapacity benefit and £3.8 billion is spent per year on incapacity benefit
• An improved chronic pain strategy that enables people to regain their independence may not involve significant additional resources, is likely to be cost-effective, and could help boost the national economy by up to £18 billion each year through increased output and productivity

   

Current Issues

• Recent reports have identified pain services as ‘variable and patchy.’
• When poorly managed, conditions associated with pain can have a devastating impact on the quality of life of individuals and their families.
• The failure to implement an effective prevention and treatment strategy for chronic pain not only imposes an unnecessary burden on patients, but also represents an inefficient allocation of time, money and professional expertise.