Pain research
The impact of our investment in pain research
- We have unmasked many causes of arthritis pain, found treatments and designed programmes that can ease it, shown what doesn’t work, and uncovered new opportunities to better treat pain.
- We have invested over £69M in pain research over the last 20 years.
How our research is improving the lives of people with chronic pain
People with arthritis experience a range of symptoms, from joint stiffness to extreme tiredness. However, pain can be the most difficult symptom for many people.
Pain is complex and is affected by many different factors. Alongside biological causes, psychological factors such as thoughts and feelings, personal relationships and lifestyle, can also affect chronic pain.
Pain can affect how we move, think, sleep and feel, along with our ability to spend time with loved ones.
Our research is improving our understanding of pain and finding new ways to treat and prevent it. Through research we can push back against the impact chronic pain has on people with arthritis.
Over 20,000 people have taken part in ESCAPE-Pain thanks to our research. ESCAPE-Pain is a six-week programme of education, exercise and self-management that helps people with arthritis manage their pain.
ESCAPE-Pain programmeResearch at our Pain Centre of Excellence is helping us better understand what pain is, what drives it, and why, so that we can better tackle it from the root cause and find out what works best for whom.
Arthritis UK Pain CentreThe Advanced Pain Discovery Platform (APDP) brings together the UK’s pain research experts. They are transforming our understanding of chronic pain and speeding up the development of new treatments.
APDPHow our research is helping us better understand chronic pain
Drivers of chronic pain
Each person’s experience of pain is unique, so researchers at our Pain Centre are helping to demystify this by better understanding the melting pot of factors involved.
TOPPIA Research Consortium
Researchers across the UK have come together to tackle pain in inflammatory arthritis. The Arthritis UK TOPPIA consortium will combine patients’ lived experience alongside multidisciplinary expertise to achieve precision pain management that addresses individual needs.
Professor Tamar Pincus' approach to pain
"It took me a long time to understand that acceptance was not the same as giving up or losing hope, but instead I’ve come to see it as a conscious decision to completely engage with life, including pain."
Professor Tamar Pincus
The social and psychological aspects of pain
Our thoughts, emotions, relationships, daily life and wider society can also shape how pain starts, continues, improves or gets worse. Find out more about how the CRIISP consortium is helping us to understand more about these factors.
How our research is helping pave the way for new treatments
Safer prescription of pain medicines
Our Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Consortium is helping to answer questions faced by people living with arthritis including how to reduce the impact of chronic pain, and how to make pain medicines safer.
Musculoskeletal Epidemiology ConsortiumTackling back pain head-on
Our biomechanics and bioengineering researchers are finding ways to combine small sensing devices with artificial intelligence - pinpointing movement issues for people with lower back pain to help find solutions.
Research tackling back painThe results of this clinical trial show that methotrexate, a medication already used for autoimmune conditions, was effective in relieving both the pain and stiffness caused by knee osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis breakthrough
Take part in arthritis research
People like you with lived experience of arthritis are key to bringing real life perspectives to shape arthritis research. When you get involved, you'll work to ensure that the research we fund and support is of the highest quality and based on the needs of people with arthritis.
How our research is helping people manage their pain
Personalising care for low back pain
A tool called STarT Back, which matches treatment based on your back pain experience and journey, is widely available across the UK thanks to research supported by the Arthritis UK Primary Care Centre.