title: 'Like the worst toothache you've had' - How people with rheumatoid arthritis describe and manage pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease often associated with disability. Despite new treatments, pain and activity limitations are still present.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe how persons with RA experience and manage pain in their daily life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven semi-structured focus groups (FGs) were conducted and analyzed using content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis revealed four categories: 1) Pain expresses itself in different ways referred to pain as overwhelming, aching or as a feeling of stiffness. 2) Mitigating pain referred to the use of heat, cold, medications and activities as distractions from the pain. 3) Adapting to pain referred to strategies employed as coping mechanisms for the pain, e.g. planning and adjustment of daily activities, and use of assistive devices. 4) Pain in a social context referred to the participants' social environment as being both supportive and uncomprehending, the latter causing patients to hide their pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pain in RA is experienced in different ways. This emphasizes the multi-professional team to address this spectrum of experiences and to find pain management directed to the individual experience that also include the person's social environment.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social and Welfare Studies , Linköping University , Norrköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.affiliation: b Department of Rehabilitation , School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University , Jönköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ahlstrand
authors.affiliation: c Department of Rheumatology , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.|d Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Thyberg
authors.affiliation: b Department of Rehabilitation , School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University , Jönköping , Sweden.|e School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work , CHIRI, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia.|f Department of Medical and Health Sciences , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falkmer
authors.affiliation: g Division of Community Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences , Linköping University, Pain and Rehabilitation Center, Anesthetics, Operations and Specialty Surgery Center, County Council of Östergötland , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Börsbo
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social and Welfare Studies , Linköping University , Norrköping , Sweden.|c Department of Rheumatology , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Mathilda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Björk
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012656:Self-Help Devices
keywords: Activities; adapting to pain; mitigating pain; social environment