Airing Pain

Airing Pain

Airing Pain is the online radio programme and podcast from Pain Concern. Each edition we bring together people with chronic pain and top specialists to talk about resources that can help. You can listen to Airing Pain every Tuesday via Able Radio, with all episodes available on demand here and on our website. Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app to get the latest podcasts delivered straight to your mobile or tablet. We welcome feedback - rate on your device or fill in our survey. Pain Concern is a charity registered in Scotland SC023559.

  1. Pain Education Classes: Learn to live well with pain

    09/16/2025

    Pain Education Classes: Learn to live well with pain

    Pain Education Classes – Learn to live well with pain  “A life-changing experience” – Lindsay McLean, Airing Pain #150 This episode of Airing Pain explores the transformative impacts of pain education classes. Featuring excerpts from a live education session, here we look at how a brief, free course—delivered by trained volunteers with lived experience—is empowering people to navigate life with chronic pain.   Listen to hear how patients are learning more about their pain and the toolbox of techniques available to manage it.  These sessions are the result of a unique collaboration between Pain Concern and the NHS. They are available both online and in person (in Glasgow, run by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s pain management team). Find out more in ‘Additional Resources’ below.  “[The sessions] offer hope”  “If you can learn to turn the volume of pain down, you can bring back joy and an ability to participate in life”  “Now I’m in control of the pain instead of the pain being in control of me”  Watch Lorimer Moseley’s ‘Why Things Hurt’, as highlighted by educator Joan Melville, here – https://youtu.be/gwd-wLdIHjs?si=ckR6O4CN7LPM9a9K. Contributors: Dr David Craig, Joan Melville, Georgina McDonald, Mairi McWilliams, Lindsay McLean, Heather Wallace.  This podcast has been produced in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.   Pain Concern thanks the following funders for their unrestricted educational grants: Richer Sound; NHS Lothian Charity, The National Lottery Community Fund; The Hugh Fraser Foundation; The Trades House of Glasgow Commonweal Fund. Additional Resources:  Explore our free Pain Education Classes and sign up. If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey

    43 min
  2. Why pain persists: from childhood trauma to faulty immunity

    05/21/2025

    Why pain persists: from childhood trauma to faulty immunity

    Airing Pain #149: Why pain persists: from childhood trauma to faulty immunity This edition of Airing Pain looks at the research into why pain persists, how we can identify people at risk and whether we could prevent it happening. In this episode: How does acute short-term pain turn into chronic, persistent pain? Kathleen Sluka explains that people who experience psychological trauma at young ages are more likely to have chronic pain later in life. What scientists think is happening is that psychological trauma or other stressful events actually change your immune system. Shafiq Skikander adds that a lot of patients with fibromyalgia may have had early life stressors. In addition, when they come to clinic presenting with fibromyalgia, they usually have a history of depression. So how does this happen? Gareth Hathway explains that slowly but surely, our understanding of the basic mechanisms is advancing. We now understand that babies do feel pain, young people do feel pain. It has a long-term consequence. We need a specialist approach to managing pain at every part of the life course. We need to think about how we measure that pain and how we treat that pain. The interviews were recorded at the British Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting, 2024. Contributors:  Shafiq Sikander, a professor of sensory neurophysiology at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University, London. Gareth Hathway, professor of neuroscience at the University of Nottingham’s’ school of life sciences. Kathleen Sluka, a professor in physical therapy and rehabilitation science at the University of Iowa in the United States. Thanks The interviews were recorded at the British Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting, 2024.  This programme describes research using laboratory animals that is consistent with Pain Concern’s Humane Care and Use of Animals in Medical Research Policy.  Additional Resources:  You can join our Airing Pain online community: Airing Pain online community If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey

    35 min
  3. Trail - Airing Pain - Exploring the links between hypermobility and neurodivergence

    EPISODE 148

    Trail - Airing Pain - Exploring the links between hypermobility and neurodivergence

    Full Episode available: 5/3/2025 This Airing Pain episode explores how neurodivergent individuals experience pain, potential links to hypermobility, and the need for better education to support conditions like autism and ADHD.  Neurodiversity refers to the different ways a person’s brain processes information.  It is an umbrella term used to describe a number of conditions including Autism or Autism Spectrum Conditions; ADHD; Dyscalculia; Dyslexia; Dyspraxia, or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), and more. In this episode:  Dr. Clive Kelly discusses research on co-occurring conditions in neurodivergence, highlighting varied symptoms and how pain perception differs among individuals. Dr Jessica Eccles talks about her research into the relationship between joint hypermobility and neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD and autism.  We hear from Ren Martin, an autistic learning disability nurse and mother of three neurodivergent children, and Ceri Reid of Parents Voices in Wales, advocating for better neurodiversity and mental health services. Throughout the episode, we hear from Imogen Warner, whose writings are featured in the Autistic Girls Network, and who highlights the reality of being a young autistic person. Contributors:  Dr. Clive Kelly, Consultant Physician and Rheumatologist, James Cook University Hospital and University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  Dr Jessica Eccles, Reader in Brain-Body Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.  Ren Martin, neurodevelopmental specialist.  Ceri Reid, neurodivergent mother and founder of Parents Voices in Wales. Imogen Warner, student with lived experience of autism and chronic pain.  Jane Green MBE, founder of SEDSConnective We are immensely grateful to The British Humane Association and The Heather Hoy Charitable Trust whose generous grants made this podcast possible.

    2 min

Trailers

Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Airing Pain is the online radio programme and podcast from Pain Concern. Each edition we bring together people with chronic pain and top specialists to talk about resources that can help. You can listen to Airing Pain every Tuesday via Able Radio, with all episodes available on demand here and on our website. Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app to get the latest podcasts delivered straight to your mobile or tablet. We welcome feedback - rate on your device or fill in our survey. Pain Concern is a charity registered in Scotland SC023559.