This resource library has been created to provide support materials in one location for people living with pain and professionals supporting people living with pain.
People that do not use English as a first language can amend their browser settings to the language of their choice to translate the web page; resources with YouTube videos can utilise closed captions in a preferred language by following these steps.
Resources for professionals
General information on medicines optimisation and medications:
Medication optimisation – Live Well With Pain
Information on individual medicines and possible procedures for patients – Faculty of Pain Medicine
Opioid prescribing for chronic pain – NHS England
Group consultations: how can they improve clinical outcomes and reduce waiting lists webinar – Digitally Enabled Outpatients (Please note you will need to login to FutureNHS Collaboration Platform to view)
Chronic pain and fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia Action UK – Link goes directly to health professional information and education pack.
Flippin Pain – Resources including links to MSc courses focussed on pain; podcasts; key message posters and a blog written by a health professional living with Fibromyalgia.
Living Life to the Full – Free resources for supporting people doing living life to the full course, including living life to the full with pain.
NHS Scotland – Pain Association – Library of webinars and academic papers on chronic pain.
Sheffield Persistent Pain – YouTube video ‘Assessing persistent pain for GPs’, information on pain medication and use of opioids for persistent pain.
TEDx Talks – TEDx Adelaide – Lorimer Moseley – Why Things Hurt, 15minute video covering some basic neurophysiology, pain theory and understanding pain perception.
Versus Arthritis – Chronic pain in England: Unseen, unequal, unfair Report (2017).
Chronic pain due to hypermobility disorders
Hypermobility Syndromes Association – A clinician’s guide to hypermobility disorders, including: most common diagnoses, investigation and management and 10 things to try in clinic.
Musculoskeletal pain
movingmedicine.ac.uk – Consultation guides, with guidance for conversations lasting 1 minute, 5 minutes or longer; infographics that can be utilised during these conversations with people living with musculoskeletal pain.
Pain service information/education
Bath Centre for Pain Services – Information on referral criteria for Bath Centre for Pain Services.
Bristol Pain Clinic – Information on pain clinic referral for University Hospitals Bristol Trust with contact details, as well as self-management information.
Health Education England – e-Learning for Health module on pain management, created in partnership with the Faculty for Pain Medicine and The British Pain Society.
North Bristol Pain Clinic – Information on pain clinic referral for North Bristol Trust with contact details, as well as self-management and pain management programme information.
Somerset Community Pain Management Service – Information for GPs in the referral area for Somerset Community Pain Management Service – linked to Musgrove Park Hospital.
Resources for people living with pain
Arthritic pain
ESCAPE-pain – Group rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain; links to face to face classes via a location map or you can access YouTube videos for exercises you can do from home. There is also an app available on both Android and iOS devices.
Versus Arthritis – Direct link to the ‘Let’s move with Leon’ resources, a 12-week programme of 30-minute movement sessions to support improvement of strength, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness for people living with pain associated with arthritis or other joint conditions.
Back pain
Back Care – Library of resources, each leaflet is available as a pdf document.
Chronic pain
Action on pain! – Charity website with support and advice information and further information links.
Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB Reducing and Stopping Opioids Patient Information Leaflet – A pdf document with information on reducing opioid medications and additional links to self-help resources.
Body Reprogramming – Resources include videos and a free patient guide – this has translations available: Spanish, German, Italian and Arabic. This website has built in translations for French and German, but most of the content should also translate through your browser.
Brain and Spine Foundation – UK based charity; pdf patient information leaflet and website that provides information on chronic pain.
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Self Help – A pdf document with links to self-help resources and YouTube videos.
Bristol Pain Clinic – University Hospital Bristol pain clinic website – this link will take you directly to the ‘What can you do to help yourself?’ page, this has a built-in translation to view in Polish.
British Pain Society – Understanding and Managing Long-Term Pain pdf leaflet – please note that this is heavily watermarked, which may make it difficult for people with visual impairments or reading difficulties.
Chartered Society of Physiotherapists – Strengthening exercises published via YouTube to support accessibility through closed captions; exercises vary in impact levels to support gradually building strength and getting joints moving to reduce chronic pain through movement.
Chronic Pain Support Group – Support group based in East Anglia, but all publications and newsletters with supporting information published to website.
Control Your Pain – Information on chronic pain and different treatment options available. Website has built in translations for Spanish, German and French.
Flippin’ Pain – A selection of resources co-created by people with persistent pain, healthcare professionals, pain scientists and communications experts to help make sense of the science behind pain.
italk – Living well with chronic pain resources, initially designed to support people in Hampshire attending a Live Well with Chronic Pain class. This website has Recite© built in to translate the information, it also provides audio description in multiple languages for those that have visual impairments or difficulty reading.
Live Well With Pain – Collection of resources that are designed to help patients learn the skills they need to effectively self-manage their pain; full of tried and tested ideas and methods – many suggested by people who are themselves living well despite their pain.
Living Life to the Full – Free online courses with one course focusing on living with chronic pain.
My Joint Health Hub – Chronic pain section of the website with direct links to YouTube videos, has additional resources linked and resources for people living in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire to self-refer for additional support. Built in website translations available in Albanian, Somali, Polish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (simplified), Gujarati, Pashto, Turkish, Urdu and Romanian.
NHS England: Decision Support Tool – An interactive tool to help you when making choices about options to consider when managing your chronic pain. This tool could be completed prior to an appointment with a member of your healthcare team, or during an appointment. This is a pdf document and is only currently available in English.
NHS England: Ways to Manage Chronic Pain – General information about living with chronic pain, links to physiotherapy self-referral pathways; information on over-the-counter pain relief and alternative treatments such as low impact exercise. Links to additional resources on the page.
NHS England: Fitness Studio Exercises – Direct link to the video resources for low impact exercises, additional link on page for strength and flexibility exercise plan. The videos include a transcript for those with hearing difficulties and audio description for people with vision impairment; there are no language translations built in and the transcript is built into the video so is unlikely to translate with browser language settings.
NHS Scotland: Chronic Pain – Information about chronic pain, its causes and how you can manage it. Embedded YouTube videos from Pain Association Scotland about pacing and managing pain flare ups.
NHS Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Service – Links to YouTube videos created by the Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Service (TIMS) including graded activity/exercises, sleep and pain, goal setting and posture. All videos have closed captions with translation options.
North Bristol Pain Clinic – Information for people living with pain that may benefit from a local specialist pain management service. The website includes information on gaining a referral (if appropriate), what to expect during your appointment, patient information leaflets and information on the use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator (TENS) as an alternative to or alongside medication to manage pain.
Pain Association – Although two of these YouTube videos are specifically for people based in Scotland (attending a meeting/attending a course), there are an additional eleven videos which have good accessibility as they utilise the built in closed captions feature.
Pain Concern – Support information, phone line, forum and radio programme to support people living with pain or family members or carers of people living with pain.
Pain Concern: Airing Pain Podcast – Direct link to the Airing Pain podcast. Over 140 episodes with each discussing different topics/ areas of concern or support opportunities for people living with pain. These podcasts have transcripts for each episode that can be translated through the browser, or alternatively the episodes have direct links to the YouTube videos with closed captions.
Pain Toolkit – These resources require payment and have been included in this list as it holds a library of audiobooks, webinars, workshops, and an online support café/forum which may be of beneficial to some people living with pain.
Pain CD – Direct link to ‘Living With Chronic Pain’ by Neil Berry, this can be accessed for free online or downloaded from the website; alternatively, it is possible to purchase a physical copy of the CD.
Pain UK – Direct link to the Pain UK YouTube channel; bite sized videos lasting 2-6minutes to support pain management.
Physiotherapy Pain Association – Culturally-specific support information (via downloadable pdf) for people living with pain written in collaboration with a Muslim Chaplain and Imam.
Sheffield Persistent Pain – Resources for people living with pain to support understanding about why we feel pain and how that can become a chronic/persistent pain cycle. YouTube videos embedded from The Royal Holloway University faculty.
The Pain Clinic Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire – Patient information pdf leaflet about the pain clinic service in the region.
Joint Pain
My Joint Health Hub – Eight sections to the website for specific regions of pain: foot and ankle pain; back pain; elbow pain; hand and wrist pain; hip pain; knee pain; shoulder pain and an area for pelvic health.
Each area has additional resources linked and resources for people living in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire to self-refer for additional support. Built in website translations available in Albanian, Somali, Polish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (simplified), Gujarati, Pashto, Turkish, Urdu and Romanian.
Nuffield Joint Pain Programme – free course provided by Nuffield Health for anyone living with joint pain. You can search if you have access to a local Nuffield gym offering the programme at the bottom of the page via the postcode checker.
Musculoskeletal Pain
One You South Gloucestershire – Information leaflet for the One You initiative to support reduction of joint pain in people with a body mass index of 30 or more or who are smokers via weight management and smoking cessation programmes. The document is a pdf and therefore has limited accessibility.
Yoga with Adriene – Low impact, chair yoga with other videos available to build strength and flexibility – YouTube so built in closed captions with translation options.
Pain Scale
British Pain Society – pain scales in multiple languages to support improved assessment by healthcare professionals and patients; available in: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Greek, Gujurati, Hindi, Polish, Punjabi, Somali, Swahili, Turkish, Urdu. Vietnamese and Welsh.