Painful Conditions

Where does it hurt? Browse the list of conditions we treat.

Head and face pain
Neck pain
Shoulder Arm and Hand pain
Chest pain
Back pain
Pelvic and Abdominal pain
Hip, Leg and Foot pain
General painful conditions
Sports Injuries
Cancer pain

We treat over 90 painful conditions including Muskuloskeletal Pain, Neuropathic Pain and Complex Pain. Information updated: 30th Nov 2006.

What is Pain?

Pain is what the patient says it is! Pain is always subjective.

“An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.”

Abridged from the International Association for the Study of Pain.

Pain can be divided by its time-course. Acute Pain is pain present for less than 3 months; Chronic Pain is pain present for greater than 3 months.

Pain can also be divided into 2 types:

Nociceptive (Normal Pain)
Neuropathic Pain

What is Neuropathic Pain?

A type of pain caused by damage and/or dysfunction to the nervous system. It affects up to 1% of the UK population.

Causes of Neuropathic Pain include:

Painful Diabetic Neuropathy
Post Herpetic Neuralgia
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Multiple Sclerosis
Post Trauma
Neuropathic Cancer Pain
HIV Neuropathy
Post-Stroke Pain

Neuropathic Pain can be extremely unpleasant and distressing and responds poorly to standard analgesics (pain-killers) such as Paracetamol, NSAIDs or Codeine.

Patients often describe the pain with very descriptive language: burning, stabbing, shooting, numb, sharp, sawing, lancinating.

With Neuropathic Pain there is often disruption to the normal functioning of sensory nerves which may manifest as allodynia, hyperalgesia and dysaesthesia.

Pain and sensory dysfunction can lead to motor dysfunction, including stiffness, reduced movement and disability.

Patients may also experience other manifestations of pain including: sleep difficulties, anxiety, depression, mood disturbances, relationship difficulties and social isolation.

Allodynia: Pain due to a stimulus which does not normally provoke pain, for example the brushing of clothing.
Hyperalgesia: An increased response to a stimulus which is normally painful, for example pin prick felt as severe pain.
Neuralgia: Pain in the distribution of a nerve or nerves.
Neuropathy: A disturbance of function or pathological change in a nerve. This can occur in one nerve, mononeuropathy; or in several nerves, mononeuropathy multiplex; or if diffuse and bilateral, polyneuropathy.
Paresthesia: An abnormal sensation, whether occurring spontaneously or evoked, by touch, pressure or temperature change.

Full IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) list of pain terminology.

List of Painful Conditions We Treat

Each Condition is a link to valuable detailed information from other respected web sites.

Sports Injuries

Sports Injury treatment from the London Pain Clinic uses the latest evidence based treatments. For more information see the Sports Injury Treatment page.

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Cancer Pain

Pain in Cancer can include Nociceptive pain (normal pain), Neuropathic pain or a mixed picture. For more information see the Cancer Pain Treatment page.