Twenty years of easing back pain

IT’S the end of an era for members of an Oldham chronic pain support group.

Helen Proctor founded Back to Back in the early 1990s after struggling to cope with her own chronic back pain and finding limited help.

After attending a course on pain management, she set up the group and began offering light exercise classes, advice on pain management and a place to get support.

But due to the declining health of Helen and vice chairman Margaret Barnett, the group has decided to close/

Chairman Helen (72), from Hollinwood, said: “I started Back to Back because there just wasn’t anything available. People with back pain were often met with cynicism - people thinking it was an excuse to get a sick note.”

The new group received a grant and began to offer monthly meetings, which later became weekly as more and more people joined.

Margaret (77), from Shaw, said: “I think we’ve done a lot over the past 20 years and I hope we’ve helped a lot of people.”

Helen says she isn’t worried about the group ending because there is a lot more help now than in the early 1990s.


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