This is a new study being carried out across Scotland on neuropathic pain. Many people who have diabetes, or who get chemotherapy treatment for cancer, may also get long-term, or chronic, pain in their feet and/or hands. This might be because their diabetes or the chemotherapy treatment damages the nerves that cause pain, known as neuropathic pain.

Neuropathic pain is one of the most severe types of pain and its often difficult to treat, and there are no effective treatments to prevent it. Although there are now some treatments available and newer treatments are being developed, we don’t fully understand why some people with diabetes, and some people who have had chemotherapy, get neuropathic pain but others do not.

The PAINSTORM study aims to find out if a person’s lifestyle, other health conditions or even past experiences and family history (genetics) can lead to a person having neuropathic pain. We also want to find out if there are factors which will help us to predict what will happen with the neuropathic pain in the long term. To do this, we are looking to recruit both people with and without current pain. We hope that this information will help us to improve the care and treatment for people living with neuropathic pain.