Pain clinic at Exeter Hospital

What is a pain clinic?

A pain clinic brings together specialists, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and psychologists among them, to help people who are struggling to manage long term pain. Between them, they offer a broad mix of treatment and everyday support.

What conditions does a pain clinic treat?

These clinics generally see people whose pain has continued beyond 12 weeks, sometimes rooted in things like arthritis, an old injury, an underlying illness, or nerve-related damage. Fibromyalgia, aches through the muscles and joints, and pain centred in the back, neck, head or face all feature too.

Some teams also step in to manage discomfort after surgery while you're still in hospital, on top of their usual work with people carrying pain over the longer term.

Pain like this rarely stays put in one spot alone, often affecting sleep, mood, work and the small routines of daily life.

What are the benefits of attending a pain clinic?

The idea is to help you pick up ways of handling and easing the pain yourself, lifting your day-to-day wellbeing in the process. It won't always disappear entirely, but the goal is making ordinary life feel more workable regardless.

What treatments are available at a pain clinic?

• Medicine.
• Targeted injections for pain relief.
• Hands-on therapy such as physiotherapy.
• Movement and exercise.
• Complementary approaches.
• Talking therapy.

More specialised options can include injections aimed at specific nerves, radiofrequency-based treatment, and, for pain following an operation, epidurals or pumps that let you control your own pain relief.

A structured course sometimes gets offered too, usually run in groups alongside others dealing with pain that won't shift. Rather than chasing a reduction in the pain itself, this centres on getting more out of life despite it, through gentle movement, relaxation techniques, working through the emotional side of long-term pain, talking things over as a group, and pacing yourself so things don't flare up as often.

What happens before a pain clinic appointment?

It typically begins with your GP, who'll examine you, talk through the story behind your pain and how it's developed, and check whether there's an underlying cause worth investigating further. Struggling to keep on top of it yourself is usually the trigger for being referred somewhere more specialist.

Beforehand, you might be sent something to fill in ahead of your appointment, and bringing along someone close to you for support is perfectly fine.

What happens during your pain clinic appointment?

1. A consultant goes through your medical history, what treatments or tests have come before, and talks with you about how it's shaping your everyday life.
2. An examination may follow, so wear something you can remove easily if needed.
3. You will together discuss a plan, possibly combining more than one approach, medication alongside physiotherapy or talking therapy, for instance.
4. Where something like an injection gets recommended, this could happen straight away or get scheduled for a later date.

What does ongoing treatment look like?

Care through a pain clinic rarely stops at one appointment. Depending on what's planned, this could mean coming back for further reviews, additional injections, or joining a group-based course alongside others in a similar position.

For pain being managed in hospital following an operation, the specialists involved stay closely linked with your surgical team, fine-tuning things as your recovery continues.

What are the risks and considerations?

Particular procedures on offer at a pain clinic, injections being one example, come with their own individual risks, something your consultant will go through with you directly.

For anything like an injection, arranging for someone responsible to get you home afterwards matters, since you may not be safe to drive yourself.