Managing pain and living with a long term condition
Managing pain
As you age, your body may experience more wear and tear, but long-lasting pain is not a natural part of ageing. If you’re in pain, and it won’t go away, talk to your GP or staff working with you.
It’s not always possible to stop the pain, but it may be possible to reduce it.
Depending on the reason for the pain, your GP or another professional may ask a physical therapist to work with you. They will help you with stretches and pain relief. This can help you recover after illness or accident.
What can help?
It often helps to keep active, stay mobile and take as much exercise as you can. Keeping your mind occupied also helps. If you are unsure, talk to your GP.
Over-the-counter painkillers like paracetamol or anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen can help and allow you to exercise, but always take them carefully - watch out for side-effects and read the label.
If in doubt, or if they aren’t helping after a couple of weeks, talk to a pharmacist or your GP.
Who to contact
If you are experiencing any of the issues described above, please contact your GP or pharmacist.
Useful external links
- NHS: Ways to Manage Chronic Pain
- NHS: 10 Ways to Reduce Pain
- NHS Take care of your teeth and gums
- WHT: Advice on Managing Pain
Living with a long term condition
A long term condition (LTC) is an illness that cannot be cured but can usually be controlled with medicine or other treatments. Examples of long term conditions include:
- arthritis
- asthma
- diabetes
- epilepsy
- angina
- heart failure
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
We want to ensure that as far as possible, people with LTCs can maintain or enhance their quality of life through accessing high-quality services and supported self-management.
Tips
Having an LTC can be frustrating or worrying at times. It is very common for health conditions to affect how you feel, and for your mood to affect your health condition. This can lead to you feeling stressed, low, anxious or worried. Do not isolate yourself! There is plenty of help out there to support you in managing your condition. Here are some suggestions:
- Recognise individual risk factors that may impact your long term health: smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, anxiety, stress, etc.
- Get active, and set yourself achievable goals.
- Seek expert advice from your GP, nurse or other healthcare professional involved in your care. They can help you achieve your goals.
- Get the people you love more involved in your care and life choices.
- Look out for support groups and mental health advice.
- Learn more about your condition by attending self-management courses.
- Manage your condition yourself, as much as you can. You can get the right resources to do it in your home.
- Do not miss your appointments.
- Get a list of questions or worries that can be taken to appointments for further discussion.
Support available
- Expert Patient Programme (EPP) for all long-term conditions (external link) - EPP is for any adult living in Haringey who has one or more long term health conditions. The course is also available for carers. The course is designed to help you cope with your health condition and improve your quality of life.
- Let's Talk by Haringey's Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies - IAPT (external link) supports people living with LTCs.
- The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP) (external link) is a face-to-face and tailored behavioural change programme available to people who are found to be pre-diabetic as a result of blood tests (HbA1c 42-47 mmol/mol). You can self-refer.
- Diabetes Self-Management Programme (DSMP) (external link). This is a free 7-week course (3 hours per week) for people who live with Type 2 diabetes. It is designed to help you to manage your diabetes well and gain control of your health.
- Diabetes UK (external link) offers support for patients and a full range of other resources including recipes, advice for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, research, etc.
- The British Lung Foundation (external link) offers support for patients with various breathing/lung conditions.
- One You Haringey (external link) can support you to make simple changes like stop smoking, drinking less, managing your weight, getting more active.