Testimonials

‘I would recommend the course because it encourages you to try and maintain a positive outlook and take control over your condition’

Salisbury Participant
still using 7 techniques taugh

'Many thanks for your kindness and care’

Swindon Participant 12 months later still using 4 techniques taught

'Running this workshop makes people make time for themselves’

Swindon Participant
still using 2 techniques and has joined the gym

I saw an advertisement for a ‘Challenging Pain’ workshop in a free local paper. The timing was ideal for me because I was feeling very down at the time. I am 71 years and have been active all my life, but the pain from Osteoarthritis I was experiencing in my knee had prevented me from walking far and from doing my usual activities, and this had resulted in my putting on weight.

I attended a ‘Challenging Pain’ workshop at the Community Health Clinic Centre, Torpoint, Cornwall in September 2006. The workshop was free, and delivered over two 2½-hour sessions by two volunteers trained by Arthritis Care. This made good sense to me as they both knew what it was like to live daily with pain caused by arthritis.During the workshop we were shown many useful pain management techniques, which were safe and easy to use and effective. I found the relaxation and conscious breathing exercises which we tried very beneficial. The whole workshop helped me a great deal, talking to others who were in the same boat as me, learning how to manage my negativity, deal with stress and to pace myself to prevent tiredness.

Following the workshop I continued at home with many of the exercises from the Exercise Handout we were given. I was encouraged to continue with these exercises by my younger son who has Ankylosing Spondylitis. I found that they were not too strenuous, and many I could do sitting in a chair watching television. I also found that my whole body was feeling better - my health and well being had improved.

Early this year my GP referred me to a consultant and in June I was admitted to Derriford hospital for a knee replacement operation. Before and following the operation I used the deep breathing and relaxation techniques we had been shown at the ‘Challenging Pain’ workshop. A physiotherapist came to my bed and explained that I would need to follow her exercises so that I could return home, but only when I was able to bend my knee at a 90-degree angle. She then asked me to try gently to bend my knee, and was amazed when I bent it straight away to the required position. She called her senior to my bed and they were both surprised that I could achieve this so quickly after my operation. I told them that I had been doing exercises I had been shown on a ‘Challenging Pain’ workshop run by Arthritis Care, and that these had helped especially to keep the muscles strengthened around the joint. The physiotherapists told me to tell others and also Arthritis Care that this was a first-rate service which could be of benefit to so many people in pain, and many like me who were waiting for joint replacement surgery. 

I was allowed home from hospital after only 5-days. The lady in the next bed to me had to stay in for 3-weeks – it took her that long to reach the ‘magic 90° bend’! I am still keeping up with the exercises, and keeping active. I have a friend in Peterborough who is also waiting for a knee replacement operation and I have told her that she should attend a ‘Challenging Pain’ workshop when one is available in her area. Thank you Arthritis Care for making a difference to my pain and making a difference to my life. 

Torpoint participant September 2007