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Patient education is vital and includes reassurance and information about the nature of the pain, duration and symptoms. It is important that the patient’s expectations about treatment are realistic and any fears or barriers to treatment are addressed. Explain, if appropriate, that while pain symptoms are unlikely to be cured, specific treatments can lead to improvements in pain control, function and overall physical and psychological wellbeing. Patients should also be educated in the importance of self-management. There are numerous self-management methods that patients can try to improve their quality of life, including relaxation techniques, simple cognitive and behavioural strategies (eg. distraction, visualisation, positive self-talk), physical exercises, pacing, massage, hot/cold treatment, good sleep and rest patterns, and a healthy diet. The patient may initially need some basic instruction on how to use some of these strategies. Educating the patient to use pain scales to track pain intensity may assist the patient to take control of their pain management1, 5.
Patients should be educated about the use of prescribed analgesics including dosing regularly rather than “as required”, not exceeding maximum doses (including the use of over the counter medications), and the potential for drug interactions and side effects1, 2.
A useful patient pamphlet on chronic pain that is produced by the NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group is included in Appendix 3.
Appendix 3: NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group patient information leaflet on chronic pain
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