People from all walks of life have discovered the life-changing benefits of self-managing pain effectively

Thank you for being there, it has helped me a lot and made me think how much pain I have been in. Your pathway has been really helpful - there are still goals I have to do, as sometimes I really just cant do, but I try the next day and I won't give up. Thankyou very much for your help. A very grateful Marcia.

I am extremely grateful to have been offered this course. It was good to hear the voices of different health professionals. It has encouraged me to come off serious pain killers and to concentrate on exercise and relaxation instead. I have added the exercises demonstrated to my daily routine. Before the course I had serious problems sleeping , but this is now much better, owing to the relaxation programme. I am learning to accept the pain, it no longer overwhelms me.

I think the course is certainly worth doing, it helps you to cope with the pain and really makes you think about your reaction to the pain

Beneficial

I didn't find many of the activities very useful.

Well thought out, gradual course that has opened my eyes to ways I can most definitely improve my pain management… sometimes it’s the obvious things that can benefit the most…. Having the proper mindset is the first step I believe.

The pathway to pain course has not helped very much in managing my pain. The pain I suffer is not in my head and is caused by specific issues that the NHS will not treat. Having an online course is not helpful for me, although others may have a different viewpoint. The course told me most things I already know already.

"Doing the online course has helped me change my perception of pain. And in doing so has taken a lot of the stress and anxiety that it causes away. I know I'll never be pain free but I now have the knowledge to be in control of it rather than it control me."

I have enjoyed the course and found the content interesting and hope it will help me for the future. Whilst I don't always think it will help with my physical problems, which have been ongoing for many years , the idea of exercise and relaxation is a positive one and I will continue. Exercises are always difficult to do but I will persevere with that. The pandemic has not helped in making me and a lot of others I am sure , get out of trim. A series of heart problems in the last year have knocked me back but I feel the encouragement given by doing a course with prompting has been very useful.

Very useful. Given me tips on managing my pain.

Not so long ago I would have believed that pain was pain and no amount of thinking would help. Well I am happy to say that I entered the course with an open mind and found it extremly helpful and it makes a difference to my daily living.

No special effects or unreasonable expectations - just good well communicated support and advice. Everyday people giving doable targets and encouragement.

It has been a very good course still have a lot of pain and have a long way to go to get to my goal.

I found the meditation and relaxation levels very informative and beneficial, however, I am sorry to say that the actual pain management parts and the videos were not greatly helpful to me, as it really didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know. I will still be going on as usual, as despite watching people telling me what to do on a screen, it will not make my actual pain lessen in any way.

A good course. Gives advice and ways to manage pain.

Thank you so much. Your support, advice and continued support is continuing to help me knowing it's there. I'm still struggling so much but ever so grateful to you all.

This course took me a while to complete, I had quite a few flare ups throughout, however the more I’ve learned over the months how to deal with pain the shorter my flare ups have become, even my partner has noticed. Being an online course meant he could also get involved and get an understanding of how to support me as I used to feel guilty taking time out to watch a film whilst pacing however he encourages me to pace myself all day, every day and having his support has made a huge difference. Knowing that pain does not mean damage , it just really hurts and is tiresome gives me the confidence to go out walking and where I used to just stop, now I either walk through the pain slowly or rest and go again - we are not talking miles here however I’m out, I’m hearing the birds, seeing regulars walk their dogs, in fact made a lot of dog friends, which in turn has really helped my mental health. Some days I still can’t do it, the pain is too much or the tiredness and I’m ok with that because like I said the episodes are definitely getting less and lasting not as long and on those days I play my mediation, get my foot spa out and relax. I’ve also managed to come off of one of my meds pregablin which helped with the pain, however the side effects knocked my confidence more than I’d realised, including memory loss. It’s taken me some time to acknowledge the ‘new me’, I can’t do everything I used to however I think this course has taught me you can either be the person who sits and thinks about the pain and be miserable and down about it or be the person who thinks about the pain and says nope you’re not having my whole day !

This course is aimed at people with bad backs, mine is my pelvis and did find the meditation and relaxation beneficial.

It is extremely irritating harping on about pain doesn't mean damage! All I want is to not have the pain in the first place!

I was dubious that this course could help my pain, but now I’ve completed it I realise it is not about the course making your pain disappear, but more to manage the pain better by implementing certain techniques. I particularly found the relaxation and meditation extremely helpful for forgetting about the pain for a short while. I would recommend anyone with long term or chronic pain to complete this course.

Don’t think this course has helped me at all, constantly getting emails (EVERY DAY) telling me to do the next step couldn’t watch any of the videos as they wouldn’t play