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Chronic PainArrow
Age 41-60
Interview CP45  

Interview CP45

Age at Interview: 54
Sex: Male
Background: Retired risk management/human resources, Voluntary work for Action on Pain; married; 2 children.
Brief outline:Back and ankle pain following accident, 1990. Surgery: Surgery for back and ankle injuries. Treatment: Intensive rehabilitation, TENS. Pain management: One-to-one counselling psychology. Current medication: Morphine (MST Continus), anti inflammatory drugs.


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Feels that chronic pain is a hidden disability and recalls his daughter saying he needed a 'P' for pain stamped on his forehead.

 



I think in terms of getting people to understand about chronic pain. First of all it's got to be an acceptance that it's there. As I said earlier, you can't see it. My daughter says “Dad you should have the letter P stamped on your forehead so then people would know that you're in pain”. I think that's extreme, but she's got a point. 

But people need to be able to talk to you freely about it, to, if they're not sure, ask don't shy away from it because it makes it more difficult for all concerned. Try and understand how it affects you. I sometimes screw my face up with pain and people think I'm smiling at them and they smile back and you think “You don't realise what's going on.”  And that's, that's the sort of thing. They have to talk to you and saying “Okay, you're in pain, what can I do to help?”   

And don't be afraid to ask if you need help. But to be able to tolerate, sometimes it slows you down and you can't do things as quickly as you want to, it wears you out, it's frustrating, and to be tolerant of it but try and understand what's behind it, that's the important thing.  

As I said, it's easy to see a plaster on a leg and you think “Yep, broken leg” good chance that you got it right. But you can't see the pain and so you need to just take that step further and it doesn't make somebody any different, they just need that little bit of understanding.
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