Free arthritis pain management course

It affects 250,000 people in Northern Ireland, which represents around 1 in 7 of the population.

Around 30,000 of all those affected are under 45, and approximately 400 are children under 16-years-old.

If you are living with arthritis, it can be very difficult to cope.

Completing a self-management course could be your first step to learning how to better manage your condition and turn your life around.

Arthritis Care Northern Ireland is running a six-week self-management course commencing in the Curran Court Hotel, Larne on Wednesday February 5, from 10.30am – 1.00pm. This course has been funded by the Health and Social Care Board (North). Challenging Arthritis is a free course for anyone over 18 years living with the pain of arthritis.

Topics include pain management, relaxation techniques, action planning, diet and exercise. It also helps to build confidence in dealing with health professionals, and gives participants the opportunity to meet other people with arthritis.

Nancy Toner, a Challenging Arthritis course leader said: “I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when I was sixteen. For many years I was completely in the dark and very frightened about what was happening to my body. Any information for a patient was often very difficult to come by. Going on the course enabled me to meet other people who had exactly the same pain and problems that I had been living with so many years.”

To secure a place, contact Yvonne on 028 9078 2940 .