I’ve lived with chronic musculoskeletal pain since December 2015. At its worst, sitting and walking were virtually impossible. Lack of mobility made my world very small – my bedroom – triggering situational depression. I obsessively researched my condition and constantly catastrophized, imagining the worst about treatment outcomes.

I have the honour of connecting with people; together we navigate their experience of pain and identify what self-management approaches work for them.

Pain BC is interested in learning more about cultural understandings of chronic pain and pain management in the South Asian community. In collaboration with iCON (InterCultural Online Health Network), we are hosting an online focus group with Punjabi speakers who live with pain or who care for someone who does.

Pain BC is interested in learning more about cultural understandings of chronic pain and pain management in the Chinese community. In collaboration with iCON (InterCultural Online Health Network), we are hosting an online focus group with members of the Chinese community who live with pain or who care for someone who does.

iCON, in collaboration with Pain BC, is hosting two virtual events aimed at people living with pain, families and caregivers. The March 16, 2022 webinar will be delivered in Cantonese and the March 21, 2022 webinar will be delivered in Punjabi.

Every month, people living with pain rely on the generosity of donors to make it possible for Pain BC to:

There’s nothing like finding a community. It really bolstered me. It gave me hope. It made me feel I have a place in this world.

As part of our ongoing evaluation and program-improvement process, we are looking for people with pain to take part in brief, virtual interviews about our Pain Support Line program.

As an organization, we care about human rights and justice. We know that experiences of pain are intertwined with experiences of trauma. We also know that current and historical injustices create barriers to healing and care.

I believe I have a very optimistic outlook on life with chronic pain – maybe because this really is the only life I have known. I feel that this is what makes me unique to helping others who live with chronic pain and are looking for support to manage it.

It’s a bittersweet time for Pain BC as we thank Dr. Wesley Buch for six years of service and commitment as a Pain BC Board member.

Health Canada has released the final report from the Canadian Pain Task Force (CPTF), An Action Plan for Pain in Canada. The plan lays out recommendations for targeted actions necessary to improve outcomes for the nearly eight million Canadians living with chronic pain and to reduce pain’s impact on families, communities, and society.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published new Guidelines on the management of chronic pain in children and, for the first time, appointed a patient partner – Justina Marianayagam – to a Guideline Development Group (GDG) responsible for its development.

As a volunteer facilitator, I feel validated and that I have purpose in my life. People have so much to share and everyone’s story is different, but the one thing we have in common is chronic pain.

Over the past 10 years my own understanding of pain has evolved greatly. Most importantly, it has grown to view the patient as a whole person and to recognize that pain, despite the wordy definitions, is a human experience that is unique and individual. As such, it requires health care providers to take a 30,000ft view and attempt to better understand the person as more than just their pain condition.