If you’ve got pain that’s been going on for long time, chances are that you’ve seen a few doctors by now, and probably many other health professionals as well.
So how do you access help that’s specifically addressing all the problems associated with your chronic pain? The first place to start off with obviously is your GP. Your GP can get help in a number of ways; if you’re in a regional area, this may be through Telehealth with their local chronic pain service. And particularly with COVID, there’s a lot more Telehealth services available for people who are in regional areas.
The other thing that you can do is to look up the Pain Australia website. Within there, you’ll find a directory of chronic pain services throughout Australia. And again, if your area is not particularly well covered by services, you’ll find that your GP can access help to manage you through the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Better Pain Management website. So there’s a lot of ways that you can access help.
But to plug into these services, to acknowledge the fact that the pain is affecting every area of your life. And that every area of your life needs attention is important.
Dr Jennifer Stevens is a Pain Specialist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and Pain Australia
