Operation Pain-LESS
Dr Steve Gilbert - pain medicine and anaesthetic specialist - I want to help you make Pain-Less!
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OPERATION pAIN-LESS
Find out how to make getting better from
your operation faster and more PAIN-less
Persistent Post-operative Pain
Did you know that one of the leading causes of chronic or persistent pain is pain that carries on after an operation? This is called persistent post-operative pain.
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) even ran a campaign in 2017 –The global year against pain after surgery. Did you hear about this?
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Often when you're going in for your operation, it's very busy getting on with getting you ready for your operation – getting the paperwork done – getting your bloods done – getting you off to sleep – and giving you pain killers afterwards! Sometimes we can miss out telling you about the things that may help you reduce pain, get better more quickly and reduce the chances of pain carrying on long-term.
It can be hard to change the way things work in health-care :(
Now we know there are some risk factors which make post – op pain more likely.
You can make a big difference to these risks – why wait till your operation?
Or till after.
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Get prepared!
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Get up to date!
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Do the things that work!
You can get the most out of your surgery – Learn more about Operation Pain-Less
Persistent or Chronic Pain
Hi – I am a pain specialist and anaesthetist, practicing for 32 years. I have been passionate about helping to improve understanding of pain – and what to do about it, both for healthcare workers and for the public.
Sometimes it is difficult to get the message across to doctors, nurses or physios though.
They have lots of information from their education about pain being a sign of some disease. You might get an x-ray or a scan to look for some damage – a surgeon might say that you need an operation to fix things - or you might get pain-killers to manage the pain.
Sometimes this works – but sometimes not – you might have heard about the opioid prescription epidemic!
The reason for this is that there’s very little teaching in medical school about the up-to-date science that we know about pain. Studies have found that it’s about 12 hours out of a five year course. The vet students get more than twice as much teaching on pain!
Find out more on the Persistent or Chronic Pain page.
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While we believe that the advice on this website is accurate and based on expert medical opinion you should always consult your healthcare professional on any matter related to your health and well being. He or she knows your circumstances best and therefore the appropriate action to take on your behalf.