Airing Pain

By Airing Pain

Airing Pain is the online radio programme and podcast from Pain Concern.

Each edition we bring together people with chronic ... more

4.5

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FAQs about Airing Pain:

How many episodes does Airing Pain have?

The podcast currently has 268 episodes available.

Airing Pain episodes:

September 16, 2025 150: 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
...more
44min
September 09, 2025 150: Trail - Airing Pain 150: Pain Education Classes - Learn to live well with pain
...more
2min
May 21, 2025149: 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
...more
35min
May 16, 2025Trail - Airing Pain 149: Why pain persists: from childhood trauma to faulty immunity
This edition of Airing Pain focuses on advances in understanding and managing chronic pain, from neuroimmune mechanisms to new diagnostic and treatment approaches.

In this trailer, listen to excerpts from the full program on:
how does acute, short term pain turn into chronic, persistent pain?
Why do early life experiences affect later life pain?
And why do existing tools for measuring pain fall short?
...more
2min
May 02, 2025148: 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.
...more
3min
May 02, 2025 Airing Pain Short - Interview with Jason Wilsher-Mills
Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills has lived with pain and chronic polyneuropathy since he was a child.
In this interview he talks about his recent exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London called "Jason and the Adventure of the 254"
...more
6min
April 30, 2025 Airing Pain - Interview with Susan Birth
"Susan Birth, Chief Executive of Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, explores the challenges faced by individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and hypermobility spectrum disorders, touching on symptom management, NHS navigation, and promising new research."
...more
2min
April 30, 2025 Airing Pain - Interview with Simon Harvey
"Simon Harvey, General Manager of Able in South Wales, discusses supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism, and neurodivergent conditions. He reflects on the podcast's relevance for families and individuals, sharing personal insights about pain management and raising autistic children with ADHD."
...more
2min
March 05, 2025148: Exploring the links between hypermobility and neurodivergence
Airing Pain 148: Links between hypermobility and neurodivergence

Released on: 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.

Time Stamps:

00:43 Understanding Neurodivergence and Pain

04:46 The Relationship between Hypermobility and Neurodivergence

12:06 Gender Differences in Diagnosis and Pain

13:49 Ren Martin’s Personal Experience

32:27 Diagnosis for Neurodivergent Individuals

35:18 Challenges in Education for Neurodivergent Children

42:40 Training for Educators and Healthcare Workers

Links Referred to in this Episode:
School toolkit for JHS and EDS - School Toolkit for EDS and JHS
Parents Voices in Wales: Resources & Key Documents – Parents Voices in Wales CIC
Autistic Girls Network: https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/
Ehlers-Danloss Society: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com
Hypermobility Syndrome Association. - The HMSA | The Hypermobility Syndromes Association
Healios: https://healios.org.uk/
SEDSConnective: https://www.sedsconnective.org/
If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey
...more
52min
December 04, 2024147: Person-Centred Care
This episode of Airing Pain focuses on person-centred care. Person-centred care is based on the individual rather than on a generic group of patients.

In this episode:
Vicky Sandy-Davis, Lead Nurse of Independent Health and Social Care, talks about the importance of recognizing the value of person-centred care, specifically for people with intellectual or learning disabilities
Ian Taverner and Sarah Harrisson discuss the importance of involving people living with chronic pain in research studies so that researchers can be guided by those with experience of chronic pain
Professor Nicole Tang and Jenna Gillett share findings from their research on mental defeat. For people living with chronic pain, mental defeat can be a way of characterizing how the pain impacts a person's perceived loss of autonomy which can lead to a loss of identity when experiencing repeated episodes of pain.
The interviews were recorded at the British Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting, 2024.

Contributors:
Vicky Sandy-Davis, Lead Nurse for Independent Health and Social Care, West Midlands

Ian Taverner, Chair of the Public Advisory Group of CRIISP (Consortium to Research Individual, Interpersonal and Social Influences in Pain)

Sarah Harrisson Research Associate in Applied Health Research at Keele University, Specialist Pain Physiotherapist with the IMPACT Community Pain Service (Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) in Stoke-on-Trent

Professor Nicole Tang, Director of the Warwick Sleep and Pain Laboratory, Academic Co-Lead for the Warwick Health Global Research Priority Mental Health Theme

Jenna Gillett, PhD student at Warwick University and Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Buckingham.

If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey
...more
37min

FAQs about Airing Pain:

How many episodes does Airing Pain have?

The podcast currently has 268 episodes available.

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