Following sprain, wife's left with head pain (6,4)
I believe the answer is:
french loaf
'pain' is the definition.
('pain' is French for bread)
'following sprain wife's left with head' is the wordplay.
'following' becomes 'f' (used when citing page numbers etc).
'sprain' becomes 'wrench' ('wrench' can be a synonym of 'sprain').
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'left' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'with head' becomes 'loaf' (slang term for the head. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.**).
'wrench' with 'w' taken away is 'rench'.
'f'+'rench'+'loaf'='FRENCH LOAF'
(Other definitions for french loaf that I've seen before include "Long crusty bread" , "pain?" .)