The chronic pain service at Southend Hospital has celebrated its 100th pain management programme.

The programme uses meditation and exercise, with participants learning more about the science of pain and strategies to improve quality of life, such as better sleep, healthy eating, managing stress and pursuing goals.

Participants attend every Monday and Wednesday for eight sessions over four weeks, run by Mary-Anne Therrien, a specialist physiotherapist, and Tricia Rose, a counselling psychologist, who have been a part of the programme since it began in 1999.

During the last 16 years, the programme has seen more than 800 patients, the youngest a 17- year-old and the oldest a patient in their eighties.

One in five adults in the UK has a chronic pain conditio,n but many manage this themselves in the community. The group see those who need more support to learn to manage the pain.

Mary-Anne said: “Patients who attend the pain management programme have been put forward by other members of the chronic pain team because they have chronic pain that won’t be helped by any further medical management and this has a significant impact on their quality of life. Chronic pain is pain persisting for more than three months which has not responded to usual treatment and which may not have a specific cause.

“Participants accept the pain is not going to be cured and are willing to learn to manage it differently and are open to new ideas. Patients who attend have a wide range of pain conditions.”

Two former members, who completed the programme three years ago, are an integral part of the programme as they attend each new group, helping put new attendees at ease.

Barry Mears, 65, from Leigh, said: “We got so much out this and wanted to give something back, helping people over their ‘first day nerves’. It’s been a massive benefit to me and, although it doesn’t cure pain, it really help mentally against what problems you have and makes life easier as a result.”

Carl Strange, 47, from Canvey, said: “Before I first came, I said to my wife that ‘I don’t expect to get much out of i’, but the programme has changed my view and taught me how to relax.”

New attendee, Joanne Brown, 39, from Westcliff, was certainly thankful for Barry and Carl’s soothing effect. She said: “They’ve made me far more positive about attending ,knowing what positives someone else has got out of the sessions.”