Chronic pain: A poorly understood experience in young people.

Pain is a common experience in everyday life and part of our earliest experiences as babies and toddlers. Most pain that we experience does not last very long and is ‘helpful’, as it teaches us how to avoid situations that can cause us harm. However, not all pain is short term or helpful. Pain that is continuous or comes and goes for a minimum of three months is called chronic pain. Chronic pain is common in children and teenagers and can affect many areas of young people’s lives, such as sport, school, sleep, mental health, and friendships. Unfortunately, we do not understand this experience of chronic pain in young people, and how it affects their lives, very well at all. It’s really important that we develop a better understanding of how we can support young people with chronic pain and their families to live full lives.