Millions of people suffer with chronic or persistent pain, although it seems to be a silent disease that isn’t talked about enough in society. Persistent pain can be seen as a pain experience that lasts longer than 12 weeks. Often people are prescribed medication, while some will be referred to a pain clinic – but this doesn’t always resolve the problem.

People in chronic or persistent pain have often gone round in circles, trying to find answers. Many will have multiple consultations, scans, x-rays and blood tests, but they all come back clear. Yet they continue to suffer every day with pain.

Pain can be all consuming, making day-to-day tasks harder and harder to do. It can even affect your social life because you don’t want to see people or go anywhere, meaning life can seem pretty dark.

Within the healthcare system everything is so compartmentalised: you have a headache, you go the the headache man. You have knee pain, you go to the knee specialist. But what if all these pains are somehow connected and by only looking at one thing at a time the root of the cause isn’t found?

At iQ, we take a 360 approach. We truly listen, understand and take time to find out about you – what makes you tick, what did you do before you were consumed by pain and what do you want to do now?

By using various techniques, including ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) – which has been recommended by NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) as an effective treatment for chronic pain – we work with you to make those changes and help you find pleasure in living once again.

It’s not an easy or quick fix, but it’s a worthwhile commitment to finding ‘You’ again.