Airing Pain

‘If I have seen further, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ 

So wrote Isaac Newton to fellow scientist Robert Hooke back in 1675. The two didn't always agree, but the sentiment, that for the most part research and discovery is built on the work of those who came before, is as true today as it was then. 

Three and a half centuries later, the British Pain Society has just launched its Year of AI, Technology and Innovation in Pain Management. 

In this episode we join the conversation, exploring the promises and challenges of developments in neuromodulation, virtual reality and AI.

… It just seems amazing that something as intense and specific as pain, we haven't yet figured out exactly what we need to do in the brain to change it ...

… The technology is not going to be as much of a barrier. The barrier is our own imagination of what we think is possible and how we should use that technology …

… In my head, there was just all these risks and questions, and I'm like, guys, we need to do some studies on how this is going to roll out in healthcare … 

Featuring: 
 
Karen Davis, Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto 

Joshua W. Pate, Associate Professor in Physiotherapy at the University of Technology Sydney

Ben Seymour, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Oxford 

Diego Vitali, Research Fellow at University College London

'The last injury report by Save the Children stated 50,000 casualties in children from 2020 to 2025, and we think that's an underestimation…'

Can mental and physical trauma in childhood lead to a lifetime of pain? 
 
‘If you’re exposed to things like abuse, neglect and various household challenges, and external challenges like war and displacement, you might be more likely to develop poor health…’

'Some say, well, you can't avoid adversity happening, and that is true. My answer to that is if you can intervene after some adversity, then…'

This episode features discussion of trauma and conflict that some listeners may find distressing.

Thanks go to the British Pain Society: all interviews were recorded at their 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting.

This episode is produced in partnership with the British Pain Society. The interview with Sam Hughes was recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Can nature and mindfulness help pain?

This episode of Airing Pain looks at the interplay between nature and mindfulness, and how they can become part of the pain management toolkit. 

Nature and neuroscience. Understand the science with Dr Sam Hughes. Learn how nature interacts with pain, and how this interaction works in virtual reality. 

Greater connections. We join the Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust on one of their group wellbeing walks. We look at the benefits of building connections with nature, each other and ourselves. 

Focusing on the here and now. We hear from trained and accredited mindfulness teacher Cath Ashby. Cath explains how the practice of mindfulness can be applied to nature, and what this can do for pain.

Contributors:

• Dr Sam Hughes, a Senior Lecturer in Pain Neuroscience at the University of Exeter

• Elly Kinross, a Woodlands and Greenspace Officer with the Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust

• Cath Ashby, a trained and accredited mindfulness teacher

This episode is produced in partnership with the British Pain Society. These interviews were recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting. The 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting is just weeks away – register here.


Amongst other things, here we tackle the taboo subject of acute period pain, highlight how changes in primary care are improving the pain management landscape, and discuss common misconceptions about opioid use.

Contributors: 

Prof Katy Vincent, Professor of Gynaecological Pain at the University of Oxford

Phoebe Williams, Health and Wellbeing Coach at NHS Hammersmith & Fulham

Dr Emma Davies, National Clinical Lead for Persistent Pain at NHS Wales Performance and Improvement

Tim Atkinson, Vice Chair of the British Pain Society’s Expert Patient and Carer Committee

Dr Jane Quinlan, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

‘if you’re treating people in pain, you’re treating autistic people in pain’

Do neurodivergent people experience pain differently?

The simple answer – and the slightly more complicated one

With Dr David Moore, Reader in Pain Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University

Thanks go to the British Pain Society – this interview was recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Read Pain Matters 91 now. 

• Can stress cause chronic pain? The research, explained… with Cormac Ryan, Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation at Teesside University.

• What can pain do to relationships? What can relationships do to pain? Pain masking, social withdrawal, the power of attunement… with Rebecca Pearson, Professor of Developmental Psychology and Epidemiology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

• How do sex and gender affect pain? Sex hormones, gender identity, social modelling… with Katelynn Boerner, Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of British Columbia.

Thanks go to: 

The British Pain Society – the interviews in this episode were recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

 If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey   

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). 

Book onto a free class/find out more information.  
 
Watch Prof Lorimer Moseley's explanation of pain, as recommended in this episode.

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.

If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey.

• 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.