People with chronic pain often feel like their pain and even their life is out of control. This can be due to a range of factors depending on the individual. The following resources are useful to read, listen to and engage with during your pain management program. Thinking about how this information might apply to improving control of your pain and your life and discussing this with your Advance practitioner will greatly assist in your recovery.

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  1. If your pain is fluctuating with major flare ups on a regular basis it is worth looking at improving your pacing to avoid the “boom bust” of too much activity, increased pain and needing to rest. Check out our info sheet and patient video on pacing. To plan out how this can apply in your individual situation have a go at the pacing homework sheet and then discuss with your Advance practitioner

  2. Sometimes feeling “in control” relates to how confident we feel about managing our pain problem; also called “self efficacy”. See the picture on how people can spiral into low self efficacy. People with higher levels of confidence tend to recover more quickly. Self efficacy can be improved, along with a greater sense of control, through a range of strategies as described in this info sheet