A STUDENT suffering from chronic back pain decided to devote her studies to looking at the problem – and found that laughter really was the best medicine.

Soolet Yasin, of St Silas Road, Blackburn, spent the final year of her psychology degree getting behind the mindsets of people who were in chronic pain like herself.

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The 42-year-old mother-of-five, who has since graduated, was in agony for 15 years but, like many waiting for treatment, turned to painkillers.

But she has concluded that having a sense of humour is as important as medicines.

She said: “Nothing is being done to help people like myself to manage pain and there are backlogs which may mean people turning to drugs overdose or addiction as they are left to manage it themselves and not encouraged positively.

“I got addicted to pain killers until I found my own strategy and now I want to help others who suffer too.”

Soolet said thousands of people across the UK experience chronic pain, which is defined as lasting three-six months, or in comes cases a lifetime.

Soolet, who studied at the University Centre Blackburn College, carried out her research into coping strategies.

She handed out questionnaires to patients attending Ceragem UK in Preston, a therapy centre providing therapeutic massages on thermal massage beds.

She said: “Given the huge NHS waiting list for chronic pain patients, and the limited effectiveness of medical treatments, I was particularly interested in exploring alternatives to conventional medical treatment.”

She categorised three types of dealing with the problem: substances (alcohol, drugs), acceptance (coming to terms with their condition) and humour (seeing the funny side).

Soolet would like the NHS to devote more resources to therapeutic pain relief.