Chronic Pain Self-Management Program

Who Can Attend?

Adults experiencing:

• Chronic musculoskeletal pain (such as chronic neck, shoulder, back pain, etc.)
• Whiplash injuries
• Chronic regional pain syndromes
• Repetitive strain injury
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Post-surgical pain that lasts beyond 6 months
• Neuropathic pain (often caused by trauma)
• Neuralgias (such as post herpetic pain, and trigeminal neuralgia)
• Post-stroke or central pain
• Persistent headache
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Diabetes and who have neuropathy
• Severe muscular pain due to conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis
• Family, friends and/or caregivers are also welcome to attend.

Program Topics

Subjects covered include:
1) techniques to deal with problems such as frustration, fatigue, isolation, and poor sleep,
2) appropriate exercise for maintaining and improving strength, flexibility, and endurance,
3) appropriate use of medications,
4) communicating effectively with family, friends, and health professionals,
5) nutrition,
6) pacing activity and rest, and,
7) how to evaluate new treatments.

It is the process in which the program is taught that makes it effective. Classes are highly participative, where mutual support and success build the participants’ confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active and fulfilling lives.

Program Benefits

Learning how to manage pain so that you can get on with living a satisfying fulfilling life can represent a daily challenge for those faced with chronic pain. 

The Chronic Pain Self-Management Program is a workshop given two and a half hours, once a week, for six weeks, in community settings such as senior centers, churches, libraries and hospitals. Workshops are facilitated by two trained leaders, one or both of whom are peers with chronic pain themselves.

The Chronic Pain Self Management Program teaches  a variety of tools that can help meet that challenge.  The research studies found that, on average, people who have taken the program have more vitality, less pain, less dependence on others, improved mental health, and more involved in everyday activities compared to people who have not taken the program. 

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For further information on Ardent Solutions' Chronic Pain Self-Management Program, please contact Patty Amidon at 585-593-5223, ext. 1017