Reading Well for Chronic Pain

Half of the adults in the UK, around 28 million people, are affected by some type of chronic pain. Defined by the NHS as pain that lasts for more than three months, chronic pain is often a symptom of living with a long term condition, and there are three titles devoted specifically to living with pain on the Reading Well for long term conditions booklist.

Manage Your Pain is recommended by IAPT and the British Pain Society. The book is written for patients and uses straightforward language to explain pain management tips, offering practical steps to minimise the impact of persistent pain on a person’s life, work and leisure.

Pain is Really Strange is a scientifically-based, detailed, and humorous graphic book that helps readers better understand pain to combat its effects. With an accessible and engaging format, that will appeal to all reading levels, and can help friends and relatives get an insight into what it’s really like for people living with pain. You can listen to an interview with author Steve Haines to find out more about the book and why he chose to write about pain with a graphic book.

Overcoming Chronic Pain is a self-help book based on methods developed by specialists and used successfully in pain-management programs. It contains daily activities, relaxation techniques, easy to follow diagrams and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques to give practical guidance for living well with chronic pain.

If you or someone you know is looking for information and support about living with pain, you can borrow any of these books for free from 98% of English public library authorities.

Get involved

• Borrow one of the Reading Well for long term conditions pain titles from your local library
• Leave a review on the Reading Well website to let us know what you think
• Visit the British Pain Society website to find more support for living well with pain