Beyond painkillers: is it time to rethink persistent pain management?

On Tuesday evening, The Turmeric Co. brought together healthcare professionals, researchers, athletes and people with lived experience for an important conversation: how can we rethink the way we understand and manage persistent pain?

The event marked the launch of our new healthcare strategy and white paper,  The Invisible Burden: Rethinking Pain Management from Healthcare to Elite Sport .

It was a significant moment for The Turmeric Co. - and an incredibly personal one for our founder, Thomas 'Hal' Robson-Kanu.

A problem that is too big to ignore

Persistent pain affects millions of people across the UK, but its impact is often hidden.

It can influence everything from work and sleep to movement, relationships and mental wellbeing. Yet too many people feel their options are limited, their concerns are dismissed or they simply have to learn to live with it.

To understand that experience more clearly, we surveyed 2,000 UK adults and interviewed experts from across healthcare, sport and lived experience including representatives from the British Pain Society.

The findings reveal the true scale of pain’s impact, as well as an appetite for more personalised, joined-up support. They also reinforce why nutrition, movement, recovery and other lifestyle interventions deserve a greater place in the conversation alongside appropriate medical care.

From a family kitchen to a healthcare strategy

For Thomas, the subject is deeply personal.

At 17, while at Arsenal’s academy, he suffered two serious knee injuries and underwent two operations. Facing persistent pain, severe inflammation and the possibility that his football career could be over before it had properly begun, he and his father began researching natural ingredients that could support his recovery.

Together, they created their first raw turmeric blend in the family kitchen.

Thomas went on to make his first-team debut for Reading, represent Wales and play at the highest level for another 15 years. That original experience later became the foundation of The Turmeric Co.

What started with one family looking for a better way forward has grown into a much bigger ambition: helping more people believe in what their bodies can still do.

A conversation across healthcare and elite sport

During the evening, Thomas joined a panel of experts to explore the pressures facing both patients and healthcare professionals, the lessons we can take from elite sport and the role of prevention-first support.

In professional football, recovery is treated as a daily priority. Nutrition, movement, sleep and rehabilitation are considered together, with the aim of keeping players well—not simply stepping in once something has gone wrong.

Most people will never have access to a Premier League medical team. But the principles behind that support should not be reserved for elite athletes.

Our panel explored how healthcare could become more proactive and personalised, while giving people practical tools to support their wellbeing before problems become harder to manage.

It was an honest conversation, and exactly the kind we want to keep having.

Strengthening the evidence

Our healthcare strategy represents the next stage of The Turmeric Co.’s journey.

We are continuing to invest in UK research and work closely with doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians and other healthcare professionals to bring credible evidence into more everyday conversations around nutrition and recovery.

This work includes our Clinical & Research Steering Committee, established to shape our ongoing studies, make sure our claims are backed by credible evidence and give healthcare professionals research they can trust.

Our products have already been used in peer-reviewed research involving elite and sub-elite footballers, with studies exploring muscle soreness, recovery, immune health and menstrual symptoms. We now want to build on that foundation responsibly and transparently.

This is only the beginning

Seeing so many people from different backgrounds come together around this issue made Tuesday evening particularly meaningful.

The Turmeric Co. began with Thomas and his dad making turmeric blends in their kitchen while he was struggling with pain following serious football injuries. To now be building on that personal experience alongside respected voices from healthcare, research and sport is something we are incredibly proud of.

No single product, profession or intervention can solve the challenge of persistent pain alone. Real progress will require better evidence, earlier support and much more collaboration.

Tuesday was an important step - and we’re only getting started.

Join our healthcare community

Are you a healthcare professional interested in evidence-led nutrition and the future of prevention-first health?

Join The Turmeric Co.’s healthcare community HERE to access our new whitepaper, The Invisible Burden: Rethinking Pain Management from Healthcare to Elite Sport  , alongside our latest research, clinical resources and updates.