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Medical Consultation

At present all patients are seen first by a pain management consultant. In a 30 minute appointment we will formulate a targeted management plan.

 

This may include:

            alteration of medications

            pain management education

            referral on for pain management programme assessment

            referral on to another speciality

            interventional procedures

            specialist nurse follow up

 

Interventional Procedures

Interventions are not utilised as pain management solutions in isolation. We use them in combination with pain management techniques.

 

Procedures undertaken include:

 

            medial branch radio frequency ablation - used in the management of facetogenic back pain

            nerve root blocks - used in the management of lower limb neuropathic pain

            peripheral nerve blocks e.g. supra scapular

            axial steroid injections for specific back pain diagnoses

 

Pain Management Programme

Stockport Pain Managements Services run, at present, 3 pain management programmes a year. Each consists of 9 weeks of 3 hours per week. Pain Management Programmes have a strong evidence base to support their use.

 

Patients will be referred in by the pain consultant before being assessed for suitability. Exclusion criteria may include:

            Inability to attend the days of the course

            Mental health conditions

            Language barriers

            Inability to partake in the physical element of the PMP

            Awaiting other investigations

We also have an online Pain Management Programme (ePMP) which is 10 weeks long with 5 modules.

Those who are unable to attend either a PMP and ePMP may be offered some one to one appointments to cover pain management strategies. 

Chronic Pain Specialist Nurse

Our specialist pain nurses perform a variety of tasks including:

            pain management education

            pain management programmes

            medication reviews

            telephone reviews

            TENS education

            electroacupuncture

            qutenza - used to treat discrete regions of neuropathic pain

 

Disease Specific Information

 

Back Pain

Fibromyalgia

Knee Pain

Foot Pain

Shoulder Pain

Neck Pain

Osteoarthritis

Shingles

Neuropathic pain

 

Back Pain
 
Stratification

 

The STarT Back tool is a simple to use tool that stratifies back pain into low, medium and high risk. Click on the image above to access the online scoring tool.

 

For further details on it’s use can be found here. Matched treatment recommendations can be found here .

 

The majority of low and medium risk patients should be managed in the community. High risk and a proportion of medium risk patients may benefit from specialist, multidisciplinary care at Stockport Pain Management Services.

 

Guidance

The NICE guidelines for low bak pain and sciatica were recently updated and can be found here .

 

The use of epidural injections for non-specific low back with or without sciatica is no longer recommended or funded by Stockport CCG

 

Patient Information

This patient information leaflet contains useful background teaching plus strengthening exercises.

 

Videos

This video demonstrates how to perform the relevant exercises.

 

Fibromyalgia / Chronic Widespread Pain

 

The key to managing fibromyalgia is encouraging patient autonomy. Through education regarding the condition and it’s management patients must learn to put together a package of self-management tools including:

            graded exercise

            CBT

            relaxation techniques

            medications

            simple techniques such as hot water bottles

 

At Stockport Pain Management Services we are happy to see patients with fibromyalgia to aid in the reinforcement of these principles and for consideration of a pain management programme.

 

We do not recommend repeat referrals as the key is patient self-management in the community.

 

This leaflet  from Fibromyalgia UK is a little outdated but outlines management approaches well.

 

This article  gives a good overview of the pathophysiology and management of functional pain syndromes including fibromyalgia.

 

Patient Information Leaflet

 

Knee Pain

Patient information leaflet

 

This video supports the exercises recommended in the patient leaflet.

 

Foot Pain

Patient information leaflet.

 

This video supports the exercises recommended in the patient leaflet.

 

Shoulder Pain

Patient information leaflet

 

Neck Pain

Patient information leaflet

 

Osteoarthritis

Patient information leaflet

 

Shingles / Post Herpetic Neuralgia
Management

NICE guidance

Patient Information Leaflet

Dealing with Pain

Neuropathic Pain
Diagnostic Tool

The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS)  is a simple diagnostic tool to identify neuropathic pain.

 

Neuropathic pain is commonly associated with high levels of distress. We recommend referral to Stockport Pain Management Services for all cases of suspected neuropathic pain.

 

The NICE guidelines for pharmacological management of neuropathic pain can be found here .

© Stockport NHS Foundation Trust 2025. Stepping Hill Hospital, Poplar Grove, Stockport, SK2 7JE. 0161 483 1010