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Managing chronic pain

This booklet is for you if:

  • You are an adult who is living with chronic pain
  • You are a family member, carer or friend of someone who is living with chronic pain.

This booklet explains:

  • how chronic pain is assessed
  • what medication is available
  • which psychological methods are available
  • how physical therapy can help
  • which complementary therapies are available
  • what you can do yourself to help manage your pain, and
  • where you can find more information.

This booklet explains the recommendations in a clinical guideline, produced by SIGN, about:

  • how you can get your pain assessed, and
  • ways of helping to manage your pain.
  • It gives you information about the care you are likely to get.

This booklet is for adults and was updated in 2019. It does not explain treatment options for managing pain in children, which can be different.

If you would like to order copies of the booklet, please email sign@sign.ac.uk

We are happy to consider requests for our publications to be made available in other languages or formats. We ask you to complete a form to help us make a decision on whether to proceed. Factors affecting the decision include level of demand, cost to translate, availability of interpretation services, other format(s) available and subject matter of the publication.

PAT 136, January 2013