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Plymouth Pain Management Support Service

Date issued: July 2022

Review date: July 2024

Ref: D-378/DW/Pain Management/Plymouth Pain Management Support Service

PDF:  Plymouth Pain Management support service final July 2022.pdf [pdf] 86KB

What is the Pain Management Support Service (PMSS)?

The PMSS is a group of professionals, including Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Nurses with special skills to help you manage your pain and everyday activities better. Persistent pain is pain that continues for more than three months. It can be disabling and frustrating, and can affect your relationships with family, friends and work colleagues. In our experience people who learn to manage their persistent pain in a better way find their quality of life improves.

What services are available?

Pain Management Programme (PMP)

This involves committing to attend two group sessions a week for seven weeks.  A PMP is a group treatment which uses education and practice sessions to help people with persistent pain “get life back on track”, even though there is not a cure for the symptoms that you have, it aims to help people manage pain and everyday activities better.

It includes interactive discussions and active participation in goal-setting, gentle exercise, and mindfulness meditation. Discussion topics include how pain occurs and tips for managing pain medication, flare-ups, sleep difficulties and stress. It is led by Physiotherapist, psychologist and nurses.

ACT Programme

This involves committing to attend one group session a week for eight weeks. ACT aims to help patients to reduce their struggle with chronic pain by developing skills to handle difficult thoughts, feelings and painful experiences more effectively. This is achieved by practicing mindfulness meditation, goal setting and values exploration in a supportive and friendly group environment.

Body Reprogramming Course

Body reprogramming is a Psychologist led Pain Management Group that runs over a period of eight weeks with each session lasting two and a half hours.  

The course aims to help you understand Fibromyalgia and your symptoms using a new framework, The Hyland Model. The Hyland Model teaches a new way of thinking about Fibromyalgia and Central Sensitisation, looking at symptoms in terms of lifestyle management.

Counselling

This involves working individually with a Psychologist. Part of this process can involve working with the more personal aspects of pain such as low mood, worry, frustration, stress, anger, guilt, loss, denial and traumatic memories. A Psychologist can help support individuals in gaining deeper understanding of how their emotions thoughts and behaviours are both influenced by and influence chronic pain. This awareness and understanding helps patients to feel less distressed and more empowered in managing their chronic pain condition.

Will I be cured?

The aim of the PMSS is to help patients to reduce

pain related disability and distress. Your pain will still be there but often people report that their pain is reduced. Although pain is still there, people are more confident to manage it on a day-to-day basis. Many patients find they are more able to engage in activities they value. 

How can I access the PMSS?

People are often referred by a specialist in Pain Medicine as part of a broader package of care. The first step is to complete the questionnaires that accompany this leaflet to help us to understand your needs at this time.

Once we have received these we will contact you to discuss which of the above services seems to be the most appropriate for you. If you do not receive a letter from us within two weeks of sending your forms back, please contact 01752 437707.

To return your form you can post it in the prepaid envelope or hand it into the Rowans House reception.

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