What is long term pain?

Long term pain is also known as Chronic Pain or Persistent Pain. Long term pain is any pain which persists for longer than three months and people with long term pain often find it effects many areas of their life. Including their activity levels, their family and relationships, their working life, their sleeping patterns and their mood or emotions. The sections on this website will give you more information about each of these areas. 

Some people with long term pain have a clear diagnosis for their pain, such as arthritis. However, many people with long term pain do not have a clear diagnosis or have been given inconsistent information about their pain  or have been given a diagnosis  which  doesn't fit well with their daily experience. 

Understanding and learning about what long term pain is and why it is so complex can often help people to understand more about how it impacts their lives. Please watch the videos, follow the links and use the information and activities on this page to learn more about what long term pain is. Sometimes even understanding these things can help people to manage their pain more successfully. 

• Leaflet understanding persistent pain 
• For more information view the Lorimer Moseley talk 
• Check out this clip which is all about how pain works in the nervous system 
• Watch “Understanding Pain and What to do about it in less than five minutes