The United Kingdom has been in the forefront of pain research. Experts in universities and industry have driven the creation of new and robust techniques that uncover genes and molecules, brain structure and function, psychological and social mechanisms, drug and non-drug treatments. People who suffer from pain have driven this national collaboration, ensuring research that is relevant to their needs. So why does pain remain such a big problem?
Our understanding of pain continues to improve: we know much more now than in the past about the genetics of pain. We know better which treatments do and don’t work. We are understanding how brain regions connect to determine the lived experience of pain.However, pain is as complex as the people who experience it. How can we bring together the experience of pain and what we can discover about body chemistry or how the brain works?How much more could we learn using all the information and blood samples from those tens-of-thousands of people with chronic pain who participate in research? How could we all work together to ensure changes in the lives of people in pain?