Beyond Pain

Rethinking persistent pain in Inverclyde

Living with pain that doesn’t go away is common and affects about 3 to 5 out of every 10 people. This kind of pain is called persistent pain, or sometimes chronic pain.

Persistent pain can make life hard. It can affect your body, your mood, your relationships and your work. The Pain Cycle shows how pain can affect our lives in negative ways.

In Inverclyde, we want to help people understand persistent pain better - including people with pain, their families, friends, co-workers, and health and care workers.

Understanding pain better (and breaking the Pain Cycle) can change people’s lives.

On this page you can find information to help you understand and manage pain. This includes short films, self-help and step-by-step guides, books, leaflets and apps. We hope you’ll find something helpful for you.

Understanding your pain

Living with pain

Local resources & support

Health, care & community workers

Understanding your pain

Without understanding, advice on the best way forward often makes no sense at all. Here are some useful resources to help you understand persistent pain.

NHS Inform provides health information for people living in Scotland. The chronic pain pages support people with learning and tools to understand pain, live well with pain and manage flare ups.
Flippin’ Pain shares the latest (often surprising) science of pain with people in the UK. Getting to know the real science could change how you respond to pain, and even how it feels. It sounds incredible, but research has shown that it’s true and this could be a game-changer for anyone struggling with persistent pain. If you’re struggling, caring for someone in pain, or just interested in learning more, visit their website for more information.
Understanding pain in less than five minutes produced by Hunter Integrated Pain Service in Australia, explains how pain works - featuring the cartoon character ‘Brainman’.
Understanding pain and how to think about pain differently (in under 10 minutes) produced by Rethinking Pain.
Why do we hurt? A TEDx talk by Professor Lorimer Mosley.
People living with persistent pain have found these books useful. They’re available widely, including through online stores such as Amazon. They are also available to borrow through Inverclyde Libraries.
- The Pain-Free Mindset: 7 Steps to Taking Control and Overcoming Chronic Pain by Dr Deepak Ravindran
- Chronic Pain the Drug-Free Way by Phil Sizer
- The Painful Truth: The new science of why we hurt and how we can heal by Monty Lyman
- Explain Pain by David S Butler and G. Lorimer Moseley
- An Introduction to Living Well with Pain by Frances Cole (An Introduction to Coping series) Dr Frances Cole
- Where Does it Hurt? A memoir of life with chronic pain by Tim Atkinson
- Mindfulness for Health: A practical guide to relieving pain, reducing stress and restoring wellbeing by Vidyamala Burch and Dr Danny Penman

Living with pain

A range of resources - including websites, guides and tools - to help you find the best way forward for you.

Explore tools and resources to learn new skills for living well despite your persistent pain. Everything in the resources section has been tried and tested by people with persistent pain. Used and trusted by thousands of people every year, Live Well with Pain’s resources for people with pain are accessible, effective, and simple to follow.
Ten Footsteps to Living Well with Pain is a step-by-step guide to learning how to self-manage your pain with confidence.
Managing your mental health when you have chronic pain is a self-help guide you can work through at your own pace. The guide uses cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help you manage your mental health if you’re living with chronic pain.
Mind to Mind provides links to services, websites, videos, free apps, podcasts and more that can help you. Topics covered include handling stress, sleeping better, dealing with loneliness, lifting your mood and dealing with panic and anxiety.
Find out about 12 practical and easy to use tools from the Pain Toolkit author, Peter Moore. The 12 Pain Toolkit tools are a set of practical strategies designed to help people manage their persistent pain more effectively. These tools include simple links for pacing, planning and relaxation, to get you back on track and in the driving seat.
These pages contain information about the Pain Service, as well as online resources and information to support people living with persistent pain. It also provides information in different languages.
These pages contain information from the MSK Physiotherapy Service about self-care and self-management, and provides links to information, videos and leaflets.
Pain Concern is a UK-based charity that provides information, support and resources for people with pain and their families. Use this site to learn about pain management, self-care, research, peer support and more.
Pain Association Scotland is a national charity that delivers professionally led self-management pain education in the community. The site includes resources in the form of peer stories and videos on self-management.
Versus Arthritis offer support for conditions affecting muscles, bones and joints - including many types of arthritis, back pain and joint pain. This includes self-management support, peer support, information and exercise options. They also provide information and support for people with Fibromyalgia.

Local resources & support

Services and support available in Inverclyde that may be helpful to you.

Inverclyde Libraries has six branches throughout Inverclyde and all provide safe, comfortable spaces to access a wealth of trusted health & wellbeing information in both physical and digital formats. Knowledgeable and skilled library staff are available to help you gain access to whatever resources or services you require to support your health & wellbeing.
Please find further information including locations and opening times here.
All resources and services are free-of-charge.
Supporting people to connect, build bridges back into our community and live life well, we work with people from a range of backgrounds, ages, and experiences. We offer many different projects such as Community Connectors, Recovery, Living Well Lifestyle Management, Macmillan Improving the Cancer Journey, Involve Inverclyde, Peer Support Groups and much more!
Our projects are free and open to all - find out more here.
Inverclyde Life is a directory of community activities and services in Inverclyde. You can search the hundreds of social projects that exist locally. These projects include advice services, community centres, leisure services, care services, housing, community groups, physical and mental health services, gardening projects and much more.
GP-based Community Link Workers can support patients with non-medical issues which are affecting their overall health and wellbeing. This can include issues relating to financial wellbeing, housing, legal concerns, bereavement, carer support, employability, parenting support, mental and emotional wellbeing, isolation, physical and social activity, amongst others. Patients can refer themselves by contacting their GP practice reception team (there is no need for a GP appointment).
The Live Active GP Exercise Referral scheme is provided by Inverclyde Leisure and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. The scheme provides opportunities for people with medical conditions, including persistent pain, or those who are inactive and at risk of developing conditions to become more active in a safe and welcoming environment. Speak to your GP, practice nurse or Community Link Worker who can make a referral to Live Active, or if you would like more information call the Live Active team on 01475 213136.
Gateway Walks offer a range of free, weekly local Health Walks. These walks are aimed at people who are looking to get, or to stay active. Many of our walkers are living with long term conditions, including persistent pain. Our walks are local, friendly and open to all. Usually lasting around one hour and led by our trained walk leader volunteers who ensure the pace and distance is right for whoever comes along.
For more information contact Jenni Murray, Walks Co-ordinator on 07474 786428 or jenni@lylegateway.com or checkout their Facebook page here.

For health, care & community workers

Resources designed for health, care and community workers who support people with persistent pain.

A “Once for Scotland” learning site.
Launched in 2025, the Chronic Pain Knowledge Hub provides learning and training materials for the workforce in Scotland. This includes the chronic pain learning toolkit - an interactive chronic pain learning toolkit for all Health and Care Professionals (and other ‘self-management supporters’) whether directly or indirectly providing support for people living with pain.
If you haven’t registered for Turas, you will need to create an account.
The Ten Footsteps - a practitioners’ guide will show you how to support the people you are working with so they get the most out of the Ten Footsteps to Living Well with Pain - an online programme for developing confidence in pain self-management. The guide follows the same ten footstep structure but is written with you in mind; showing you the key skills and interventions you’ll need as you support people in their use of the Ten Footsteps programme.
Versus Arthritis shares updates, training and education resources, and decision-support tools with a focus on arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.