After a 25-year military career, including four tours in Afghanistan, former Royal Navy nurse, Janine, is still caring for the Armed Forces community.
As a Veterans Clinical Advisor at Help for Heroes, Janine is on a mission to tackle a hidden enemy that three out of four veterans the charity supports are living with.
Chronic pain can have a devastating impact on the life of a veteran and their loved ones, and it’s one of the most common conditions on Janine’s caseload.
“Chronic pain affects sleep, mental health, relationships and work. It can make leaving home seem impossible and it’s easy to become lonely and isolated,” said Janine.
The World Health Organisation recognises chronic pain as pain that persists for more than three months. In 2022, a staggering 77 per cent of veterans with long-term health conditions who sought support from Help for Heroes struggled with long-term pain.*
“The term ‘chronic pain’ has nothing to do with its severity. Veterans may feel their pain is not worthy enough to reach out for support and they may not know there is a way forward,” Janine explained.
“We can retrain our brain to manage chronic pain better - the key is having a good understanding of pain, a healthy lifestyle, and finding the right balance between beneficial activity and rest,” Janine added.
Help for Heroes is the only UK military charity to have a dedicated clinical team providing physical healthcare support. Last year the team supported almost 1,500 people. They are there for veterans, and their families, from any branch of the UK military, no matter when or where they served.
The Charity offers a free pain management course, which helps people understand what’s happening with pain and build a toolbox of ways to reduce it.
“It helps to do some light activity, as that produces endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers,” said Janine.
“When we say ‘exercise’ to a veteran, they might think of a marathon or a yomp with a bergen on. But it could simply be getting up and showered.
“Coming along to one of our coffee mornings is a good activity to start with as it gets veterans out of the house and talking, which has both physical and mental benefits.”
“Transition from the military is one of the worst causes of stress I see. Getting the right amount of good-quality sleep reduces stress and helps us manage pain. Our body repairs itself when we’re asleep, but being in pain can make sleep more difficult. Our sleep course provides great advice,” Janine added.
“A veteran who attended our recent pain management course said to me, ‘the biggest thing I’ve learnt is there's not one silver bullet that can fix this, apart from learning about pain and doing little things that can make a big difference’.
“And that’s the best answer. It’s not just about medication or what the doctors can or can’t do. It’s about veterans empowering themselves by increasing their knowledge and, in some cases, resetting from that military mindset of ‘pushing through’,” Janine said.
“Pain can make people feel like they’re alone. But they’re not. We’re here for them. And there are many positive things people can do to feel better.”
Join Help for Heroes in their mission to support veterans and their families. Make sure no one fights the Veterans War alone. Find out more at helpforheroes.org.uk
* Help for Heroes Veterans & Family Survey 2022. 77% of veterans and serving personnel (n=646), with long-term health conditions said they could not manage or found it challenging to manage, their long-term pain.
