Stress can produce a whole range of problems, some of them physical and some emotional. That’s why it is important that any kind of stress treatment is completely holistic, focusing on combatting both physical causes of stress wherever possible and improving overall quality of life and emotional wellbeing.

What is chronic pain?

Ravenscroft Healthcare takes such an approach to the treatment of chronic (long-term ongoing) pain. Chronic pain is defined as pain that goes on for longer than three to six months or pain that extends beyond the expected period of healing. The pain may be mild or severe, continuous or episodic, and it may have a musculoskeletal cause or a neurological cause.

Impact of chronic pain

Living with this type of pain is more than just learning to manage the physical symptoms. Chronic pain can impact on all aspects of your health and emotional wellbeing, taking a toll on your work, relationships and social life as well as interfering with the performance of day-to-day tasks.

How to manage chronic pain

It is as important to look after your psychological wellbeing as well as managing your physical problems. Learning to deal more effectively with stress, as well as maintaining a positive mindset, can not only help you to feel better but may even reduce your pain levels.

Ravenscroft’s approach

Ravenscroft’s specialist multidisciplinary team includes pain physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pain consultants and clinical psychologists all of whom collaborate to create a tailored and comprehensive pain management plan. 

Among the pain-related conditions we treat are:

• Chronic pain syndrome
• Chronic fatigue syndrome

The approaches we might use to help you manage chronic pain include a range of approaches to improve psychological wellbeing and reduce levels of pain and inflammation. These include:

• Counselling: this may be offered if you are experiencing depression or anxiety. 
• Deep breathing exercises: these are a useful self-help technique to lower stress levels and manage pain. People who are in pain tend to take shorter, shallower breaths which can contribute to feelings of anxiety or panic. By learning how to breathe more deeply and slowly, you can improve feelings of calm and allow yourself to feel more in control. 
• Mindfulness meditation: this is about focusing on the here and now rather than ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. It can be helpful in reducing anxiety about chronic pain and helping people to judge their pain levels more accurately. 
• Relaxation techniques: learning to relax effectively enables the muscles of the body to relax which may reduce the experience of pain. Feeling anxious or tense tends to heighten pain sensations throughout the body. 
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT): this is based on the premise that the way you think about things has an impact on the way you feel. CBT explores negative behaviour patterns and ways to change them over time. 
• Acupuncture: this is a treatment derived from ancient Chinese medicine whereby fine needles are inserted into key points on the body to relieve pain and prevent further inflammatory processes.
• Pain management programme: this begins with a multidisciplinary assessment involving pain consultants, physiotherapists, pain psychologists and pain nurses. It will look at the impact of pain on quality of life and identify physical and psychological issues that need to be addressed. Treatment may include physiotherapy exercises to include functionality as well as approaches to manage the psychological impacts of pain.

Covid-secure centres

Ravenscroft has treatment centres across London and Milton Keynes. The clinics have introduced stringent measures to ensure they are Covid secure, with all patients undergoing screening prior to face-to-face appointments.

Towards a better quality of life

If you experience chronic pain, there are many different approaches that can help you to manage your symptoms more effectively and develop greater emotional wellbeing and a better quality of life.