Over the last months I have found myself having a very similar conversation with a number of different people, and it has been something I have been thinking about more. Several of the people I have been working with were previously very active, some at a competitive level. For a lot of them, sport and exercise was not just something they did. It was a big part of how they saw themselves.

This is a bit more of a personal reflection, and there’s no clear solution here, just something I’ve been thinking about. One of the things I’ve struggled with since becoming self-employed is the ethical side of charging people for healthcare. It’s never fully sat right with me. I personally do believe that people should be able to access the right and best care possible independent of their income.

Working with people who live with persistent pain stirs up a lot, both thoughts and emotions. It can be extremely rewarding, getting to be part of someone's journey as they make progress towards the activities that matter to them. It can be humbling too, hearing how thoroughly pain can uproot a person's life. And I often feel blessed and privileged to be in a position where people trust me with their stories, their emotions, the deeply personal stuff they don't tell many peo

When I started to work with people with persistent pain I started to realize something early on; this condition often needs a team approach to address different aspects of the pain and its impact by the right people. This may include doctors, specialists, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, pharmacists, psychologists, and more. Of course not all of these, but these professions (and more) can play an important role. However, when multiple peo

Are pain relief treatments always helpful, or can the endless search, time spent and financial cost actually get in the way of recovery for people with persistent pain? Pain relief can be incredibly disabling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting pain to reduce.

There's a fascinating debate happening among pain researchers right now: will we ever be able to measure pain objectively, the way we measure blood pressure or temperature? Is this important, in my opinion, YES. Because we currently have no objective way to measure pain, people with very real pain can sometimes be told it's "all in their head." Anyone who's experienced that will know how invalidating it feels.

Every person who walks through our doors brings not just pain, but a story, and that story often tells us more than any scan or diagnosis ever could. In the last few weeks, I’ve met people whose pain journeys have been completely different from what you’d ever read in a textbook.

One of the things that continues to fascinate me is how differently people respond to pain treatments. You might have heard it yourself, one person swears that a certain treatment completely changed their life, while another says the very same thing made their pain worse. It’s one of the few true constants we see in pain care: there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all solution.

One thing I’ve learned working with people who live with persistent pain is just how unique every story really is. No two journeys are the same. Everyone brings their own experiences, and those experiences shape how pain feels and how it affects daily life.

Google and more recently AI are a very common tool used by people when we develop pains, aches or sustain injuries. More and more people come in having already worked out their own diagnosis and treatment pain. This is also referred to as Dr Google.

Most people spend only brief periods with clinicians, usually 30 minutes at a time. The rest of your life, you’re managing pain on your own: moving, resting, working, parenting, navigating sleep, dealing with stress.

What role can physiotherapy play in managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA)? A systematic review and meta-analysis (the highest standard of research) from 2025 looked at 17 clinical trials, including 1,362 people with RA. The findings highligh We begin with good intentions… until life gets busy or pain flares, and suddenly the new routine disappears. This can feel discouraging, but here’s something important: Struggling to maintain habits is a normal part of being human,

Most of us decide, sometimes repeatedly, to start healthier habits: walk more, stretch more, sleep earlier, eat differently, meditate, cut back on alcohol, or slow down. We begin with good intentions… until life gets busy or pain flares, and suddenly the new routine disappears. This can feel discouraging, but here’s something important: Struggling to maintain habits is a normal part of being human, not a personal flaw.

This study was another systematic review which included 51 trials. It looked at the effects of multi-modal programs in the outcomes of pain and disability in the long-term (over 1 year). Multi-modal programs include more than one treatment mode or profession. So instead of an injection or seeing a chiropractor, it looked at implementing a number of different modalities (e.g., nutritional changes, movement intervention, psychological interventions).

Living with persistent pain can feel overwhelming and isolating. Joletta’s story shows that while pain may not always disappear, it is possible to rebuild life around it.

Clinical assessments and scans (like MRI, CT, ultrasound, or X-ray) can pick up findings that are common in people without pain at all. So while they can help in some cases, they often don’t tell the whole story.

A recent systematic review (a study that looks at all studies for a certain topic) investigated effective strategies for reducing the risk of lower limb injuries in female athletes. Why is it important, because in one sport season 50% of females experience lower limb injuries. The review included data from 82 studies and included 154,000 female athletes (both adults and kids).

A 5 minute per day increase in moderate to vigorous physical activity in the least active individuals was associated with preventing approximately 6% of deaths during follow up.

Chasing "feel good first" can sometimes backfire. When life gets organised around avoiding and escaping pain, the day slowly fills up with the things you won't do. Each reasonable decision to skip something brings instant relief, which makes skipping it easier next time. The life narrows one sensible step at a time, often without anyone noticing it happening. The body does not always tell you what you real

Some people live with pain that fades into the background and doesn’t interfere with life. Others find pain overwhelming; dominating thoughts, interrupting sleep, reducing activity, or increasing fear and uncertainty. If this sounds familiar, psychological strategies can help reduce the interference of pain.