Airing Pain – Details, episodes & analysis

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Airing Pain

Health & Fitness

Government

Health & Fitness

Frequency: 1 episode/36d. Total Eps: 158

Airing Pain is the online radio programme and podcast from Pain Concern.

Each edition we bring together people with chronic pain and top specialists to talk about resources that can help.

You can listen to Airing Pain every Tuesday via Able Radio, with all episodes available on demand here and on our website.

Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app to get the latest podcasts delivered straight to your mobile or tablet.

We welcome feedback - rate on your device or fill in our survey.

Pain Concern is a charity registered in Scotland SC023559.

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Data updated on 06/08/2026

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https://painconcern.org.uk/airing-pain-survey/
16 shares
https://www.britishpainsociety.org/
12 shares
https://www.iasp-pain.org/
9 shares

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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 69%

Publication history

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154: Early traumatic experiences

Episode 154

Tuesday, August 4, 2026 • Duration 38:12

'The last injury report by Save the Children stated 50,000 casualties in children from 2020 to 2025, and we think that's an underestimation…'

Can mental and physical trauma in childhood lead to a lifetime of pain?

‘If you’re exposed to things like abuse, neglect and various household challenges, and external challenges like war and displacement, you might be more likely to develop poor health…’

‘One of the things that’s come out, particularly within our Ukraine collaborators, is that their children have high pain scores, regardless of injury severity and regardless of pain management…’

What are the lessons from history that we ignore at our peril?
'We asked, was there anything they wanted to tell us about their experiences? A number of them wrote about the Second World War. Some of them, exactly as you say, said we just got on with it, and they were very stoic, but there were others who...'
And what can be done?

'Some say, well, you can't avoid adversity happening, and that is true. My answer to that is if you can intervene after some adversity, then…'

This episode features discussion of trauma and conflict that some listeners may find distressing.

Thanks go to the British Pain Society: all interviews were recorded at their 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting.

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153: Can nature and mindfulness help pain?

Episode 153

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 • Duration 36:42

This episode is produced in partnership with the British Pain Society. The interview with Sam Hughes was recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Can nature and mindfulness help pain?

This episode of Airing Pain looks at the interplay between nature and mindfulness, and how they can become part of the pain management toolkit.

Nature and neuroscience. Understand the science with Dr Sam Hughes. Learn how nature interacts with pain, and how this interaction works in virtual reality.

Greater connections. We join the Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust on one of their group wellbeing walks. We look at the benefits of building connections with nature, each other and ourselves.

Focusing on the here and now. We hear from trained and accredited mindfulness teacher Cath Ashby. Cath explains how the practice of mindfulness can be applied to nature, and what this can do for pain.

Contributors:

Dr Sam Hughes, a Senior Lecturer in Pain Neuroscience at the University of Exeter

Elly Kinross, a Woodlands and Greenspace Officer with the Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust

Cath Ashby, a trained and accredited mindfulness teacher

Pain Concern’s free, online mindfulness sessions

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152: How is pain management changing?

Episode 152

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 • Duration 39:45

This episode is produced in partnership with the British Pain Society. These interviews were recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting. The 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting is just weeks away – register here.

Amongst other things, here we tackle the taboo subject of acute period pain, highlight how changes in primary care are improving the pain management landscape, and discuss common misconceptions about opioid use.

Does period pain need rethinking? Understand the research with Katy Vincent, Professor of Gynaecological Pain at the University of Oxford.

Can a health and wellbeing coach change patient lives? One of the latest developments in pain management, as explained by NHS coach Phoebe Williams.

Do opioids get a fair press? Great for pain from an accident, surgery or fall. But for chronic pain? Dr Jane Quinlan, consultant in pain management, gives an overview and some top tips.

Contributors:

Prof Katy Vincent, Professor of Gynaecological Pain at the University of Oxford

Phoebe Williams, Health and Wellbeing Coach at NHS Hammersmith & Fulham

Dr Emma Davies, National Clinical Lead for Persistent Pain at NHS Wales Performance and Improvement

Tim Atkinson, Vice Chair of the British Pain Society’s Expert Patient and Carer Committee

Dr Jane Quinlan, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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How neurodivergent people experience pain

Tuesday, March 3, 2026 • Duration 12:32

‘if you’re treating people in pain, you’re treating autistic people in pain’

Do neurodivergent people experience pain differently?

The simple answer – and the slightly more complicated one

Why you, or your patients, aren’t recovering
Building relationships across neurotypes
Pain thresholds, pain anxiety, pain communication…

With Dr David Moore, Reader in Pain Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University

Thanks go to the British Pain Society – this interview was recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Read Pain Matters 91 now.

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151: How do social factors impact pain?

Episode 151

Tuesday, February 3, 2026 • Duration 31:01

This episode of Airing Pain explores how social factors impact the onset, experience and treatment of pain.
…understanding how things like your thoughts, your fears, your social interactions influence your biology can be really, really powerful…
…you're not just dealing with the pain, you're holding it in for everyone else…
…we normalise, and even celebrate, different types of pain for different genders…

Can stress cause chronic pain? The research, explained… with Cormac Ryan, Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation at Teesside University.

What can pain do to relationships? What can relationships do to pain? Pain masking, social withdrawal, the power of attunement… with Rebecca Pearson, Professor of Developmental Psychology and Epidemiology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

How do sex and gender affect pain? Sex hormones, gender identity, social modelling… with Katelynn Boerner, Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of British Columbia.

Thanks go to:

The British Pain Society – the interviews in this episode were recorded at their 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey

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150: How pain education is changing lives

Episode 150

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 • Duration 43:29

'Now I’m in control of the pain instead of the pain being in control of me'

This episode explores the transformative impacts of pain education classes.
Featuring excerpts from a live education session, here we look at how a brief, free course—delivered by trained volunteers with lived experience—is empowering people to navigate life with chronic pain.
Listen to hear how patients are learning more about their pain and the toolbox of techniques available to manage it.

These sessions are the result of a unique collaboration between Pain Concern and the NHS. They are available both online and in person (in Glasgow, run by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s pain management team).

Book onto a free class/find out more information.

Watch Prof Lorimer Moseley's explanation of pain, as recommended in this episode.

Contributors: Dr David Craig, Joan Melville, Georgina McDonald, Mairi McWilliams, Lindsay McLean, Heather Wallace.

This podcast has been produced in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Pain Concern thanks the following funders for their unrestricted educational grants: Richer Sound; NHS Lothian Charity, The National Lottery Community Fund; The Hugh Fraser Foundation; The Trades House of Glasgow Commonweal Fund.

If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our Airing Pain survey.

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149: Why pain persists: from childhood trauma to faulty immunity

Episode 149

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 • Duration 34:54

Airing Pain #149: Why pain persists: from childhood trauma to faulty immunity

This edition of Airing Pain looks at the research into why pain persists, how we can identify people at risk and whether we could prevent it happening.

In this episode:

How does acute short-term pain turn into chronic, persistent pain? Kathleen Sluka explains that people who experience psychological trauma at young ages are more likely to have chronic pain later in life. What scientists think is happening is that psychological trauma or other stressful events actually change your immune system.
Shafiq Skikander adds that a lot of patients with fibromyalgia may have had early life stressors. In addition, when they come to clinic presenting with fibromyalgia, they usually have a history of depression.

So how does this happen?

Gareth Hathway explains that slowly but surely, our understanding of the basic mechanisms is advancing. We now understand that babies do feel pain, young people do feel pain. It has a long-term consequence. We need a specialist approach to managing pain at every part of the life course. We need to think about how we measure that pain and how we treat that pain.

The interviews were recorded at the British Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting, 2024.

Contributors:

Shafiq Sikander, a professor of sensory neurophysiology at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University, London.

Gareth Hathway, professor of neuroscience at the University of Nottingham’s’ school of life sciences.

Kathleen Sluka, a professor in physical therapy and rehabilitation science at the University of Iowa in the United States.

Thanks

The interviews were recorded at the British Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting, 2024.

This programme describes research using laboratory animals that is consistent with . You can join our Airing Pain online community:If you have any feedback about Airing Pain, you can leave us a review via our

Airing Pain Short - Interview with Jason Wilsher-Mills

Friday, May 2, 2025 • Duration 05:02

Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills has lived with pain and chronic polyneuropathy since he was a child.
In this interview he talks about his recent exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London called "Jason and the Adventure of the 254"

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Airing Pain - Interview with Susan Birth

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • Duration 01:38

"Susan Birth, Chief Executive of Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, explores the challenges faced by individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and hypermobility spectrum disorders, touching on symptom management, NHS navigation, and promising new research."

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Airing Pain - Interview with Simon Harvey

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • Duration 01:30

"Simon Harvey, General Manager of Able in South Wales, discusses supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism, and neurodivergent conditions. He reflects on the podcast's relevance for families and individuals, sharing personal insights about pain management and raising autistic children with ADHD."

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Airing Pain – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

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Airing Pain – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

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