With one in five Australians living with persistant pain, the clinic is designed to help those suffering learn how to better manage symptoms and potentially treat the underlying cause.

Discount Drug Stores believes up to 80 per cent of those affected miss out on or don’t seek treatment.

“Some people just don’t consider it a priority – they don’t have the ability to seek help or may not realise there are other measures, for example something as simple as slightly increasing activity can reduce inflammation in joints,” Moree Discount Drug Store pharmacist Elsie Barnes said.

Ms Barnes said effective management of pain is important to prevent the pain from developing into something more serious and harder to manage into the future.

“It impacts on our day-to-day life quite a lot,” she said.

“If it’s not managed to start with it can continue to impact on other parts of our body and other actions and it can become more of an impediment.

“We want to motivate people to be able to manage their pain relief; we don’t want them to feel like it’s not manageable.”

The clinics will be run in partnership with Painwise Australia and will consist of a one-on-one consultation with qualified pharmacists who can assess the pain, offer advice and give referrals to specialist facilities and programs.

“It’s an opportunity to go through whatever pain they’re experiencing, whether it’s acute or chronic, or perhaps their pain needs aren’t being met by their current therapy,” Ms Barnes said.

“The pharmacist will look at the individual and find a suitable way to look at managing the pain including a change in lifestyle, simple paracetamol such as nurofen and panadol, topical preparations like creams and ointments, or referral.”

The very first clinic in Moree will be held on Wednesday, July 19 from 10am until 2pm, with 15-minute appointments available with the consulting pharmacist.

The clinic will then be an all-year round service, so locals will be able to seek pain management when needed.

Consultations are $9.95. Call the Moree store on 6751 1425 to book an appointment, or walk in on the day and ask for a consultation.

Visit www.discountdrugstores.com.au for more information.