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The Pain & Therapy Bibliography

A unique database of scientific sources about musculoskeletal pain, injury & treatment, constantly updated & annotated since 1997

Photo of an extremely bright, sunny library with bookshelves receding into the distance and disappearing into blazing sunshine. In the center of the light, there is a barely visible silhouette of a salamander.

Some people collect stamps; I collect science about painful musculoskeletal problems (with a smattering of important items from other areas of pain science). I have been building this database for about 29 years now. It’s big — about 3300 scientific papers, and another thousand other items like books, webpages, etc. — but it does not pretend to be comprehensive (there are huge institutional databases for that, especially the Physiotherapy Evidence Database).

What makes this bibliography valuable is that its contents were hand-picked, every record chosen for a reason, and many hundreds of them are also described and “translated,” their significance emphasized, with links to related articles. I favour sources with an interesting angle: surprising results, odd methods, profound implications, and so on.

In short, it has depth and character.

So where is it?

All around you! The bibliography is everywhere on PainScience.com, in the footnotes mostly,1Like so:

Woolf CJ. Central sensitization: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of pain. Pain. 2010 Oct;152(2 Suppl):S2–15. PubMed 20961685 ❐ PainSci Bibliography 54851 ❐ but there is no master table of contents for it. See below for lists of the most recent entries below and Greatest Hits. Thousands of individual entires will also bibliography pages with a site search (use the search box at the top of the home page).

Flow chart time! I will describe it nicely for you. First cell says: new study published. Second cell: does it confirm my beliefs? If yes… must be a GOOD study. If no… must be a BAD study, so nitpick and find flaws, bad study confirmed! And then both pathways then ultimately lead to the inevitable conclusion: “I was right all along!”s width=

Anyone can cite studies that seem to support their position … or dismiss ones that seem to undermine it. There is plenty of ‘art’ involved in the wise analysis & interpretation of research.

About footnotes & citation style

A robust bibliography and “good footnotes” still set PainScience apart in modern online publishing.2My footnotes contain either extra commentary and whimsical asides, or citations to science and other sources. It’s still rare to see effective footnoting on websites.3It’s a gnarly technology and design problem. Bibliographic data and citation formats do not play nicely with modern publishing technology. There’s lots of software for wrangling references on your PC, but it’s still almost impossible to integrate them (efficiently) into blogs and websites. It still has to mostly be done “manually”… and so it mostly doesn’t get done. I have invested heavily over the years in doing it right.

I first put PainScience.com on a firm bibliographic foundation in 2007 — a “footnotes first” content management system based on the fairly exotic BibTeX data format, a huge custom programming job. In 2015, I converted my referencing format to the Vancouver system,4In 1978, editors of medical journals from around the world met here — probably close to where I live — and thrashed out a new standard. It was so difficult and tedious that they named it after the city they were trapped in. Their work is still the standard today, and it is heavily documented. the standard used by most medical journals, along with a bunch of other upgrades — a massive project.5I had to re-tool the footnote factory & re-train all the bibliography gnomes. Weirdly, I felt much more comfortable diving into this Sysyphean chore simply because the new standard was named after where I live. Every footnote is lovingly crafted by software — essential for mass production. I had to reprogram that software to speak “Vancouver style.” Read more.

All of this is extraordinary for a private educational site — unique, in fact. I take referencing really seriously!

Recent bibliography highlights

The last 20 papers added to the bibliography … with a decent summary. (Not every paper gets a summary!)

All-time bibliography highlights

What’s here? Several dozen of the best and most interesting are listed here — the quirkiest, the best news, the worst news, the most compelling. The greatest hits of pain science.

  1. Long-Term Effects of Repeated Injections of Local Anesthetic With or Without Corticosteroid for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Randomized Trial
  2. Effect of exercise on depression and anxiety symptoms: systematic umbrella review with meta-meta-analysis
  3. Anatomy of the anterolateral ligament of the knee
  4. Topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) and eccentric exercises in the treatment of mid-portion achilles tendinopathy (the NEAT trial): a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial
  5. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Persons with Obesity and Knee Osteoarthritis
  6. Inflammation-induced mitochondrial and metabolic disturbances in sensory neurons control the switch from acute to chronic pain
  7. Prediction of an extruded fragment in lumbar disc patients from clinical presentations
  8. Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study
  9. Comparison of neck vertebrae in patients with and without “cervicogenic” headache
  10. Laser therapy no better for back pain than weak red light
  11. A noteworthy new trial of CBD for acute back pain
  12. Effectiveness of customised foot orthoses for Achilles tendinopathy: a randomised controlled trial
  13. The incidence of plantar fasciitis in the United States military
  14. Is 'plantar heel pain' a more appropriate term than 'plantar fasciitis'? Time to move on
  15. A systematic review of causes of sudden and severe headache (Thunderclap Headache): should lists be evidence based?
  16. A review of low quality evidence about exercise for neck pain
  17. Failed trial of vertebroplasty for compression fractures
  18. Famous paper may seem anti-science, but it’s the opposite
  19. Changes in nerve root movement and circulation in sciatica patients
  20. Risk factors associated with a history of iliotibial band syndrome (hITBS) in distance runners: a cross-sectional study in 76 654 race entrants - a SAFER XXXIII study
  21. Commonly used interventional procedures for non-cancer chronic spine pain: a clinical practice guideline
  22. Common interventional procedures for chronic non-cancer spine pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials
  23. Analgesic effects of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials
  24. Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture
  25. Do Functional Movement Screen (FMS) composite scores predict subsequent injury? A systematic review with meta-analysis
  26. Neurophysiological reflex mechanisms' lack of contribution to the success of PNF stretches
  27. Long distance running and knee osteoarthritis. A prospective study
  28. The classic 1977 paper by Engel that introduced the now famous biopsychosocial model of healthcare
  29. Spinal degeneration found on MRI not linked to the severity of future back pain
  30. The neck and headaches
  31. Effect of NSAIDs on Recovery From Acute Skeletal Muscle Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
  32. Obesity does not increase the risk of chronic low back pain when genetics are considered. A prospective study of Spanish adult twins
  33. Spinal manipulation for migraine mostly ineffective in unusually good trial
  34. Disc degeneration is more common in people with low back pain
  35. Are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs effective for the management of neck pain and associated disorders, whiplash-associated disorders, or non-specific low back pain? A systematic review of systematic reviews by the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (OPTIMa) Collaboration
  36. Manual lymphatic drainage for post-cancer lymphedema not very effective
  37. Online tutorials for chronic pain reduced pain, anxiety, disability
  38. Abnormal Findings on Magnetic Resonance Images of the Cervical Spines in 1,211 Asymptomatic Subjects
  39. Thigh and hip exercises effective for patellofemoral pain
  40. The greatest hits of back pain science are a disappointment
  41. Spinal manipulation no better for back pain than placebos
  42. A large test of 3 treatment for greater trochanter pain
  43. Surprisingly effective back pain injection: intradiscal methylene blue
  44. More than 20% of manual therapy treatments do some harm
  45. General practitioners do not follow guidelines for low back pain care
  46. Nerve root impingement fairly rare, barely more common in car accident victims
  47. A fascinating landmark study of placebo surgery for knee osteoarthritis
  48. 21 therapeutic touch practitioners fail a basic test of their skills
  49. Beyond pain intensity: Validating single-item pain bothersomeness measures
  50. Cannabis-based medicines for chronic neuropathic pain in adults
  51. Optimizing elastic band resistance training for Metabolic Syndrome components in older adults: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of randomized controlled trials
  52. Mapping the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists
  53. An overview of obesity-related complications: The epidemiological evidence linking body weight and other markers of obesity to adverse health outcomes
  54. 2D and 3D microstructural analysis of the iliotibial tract
  55. One-Year Trajectory of Pain, Function, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Plantar Fasciopathy
  56. The Problematic Nature of Fibromyalgia Diagnosis in the Community
  57. Restoring trust in menopause management: menopause hormone therapy is not a panacea, and physical activity remains a critical intervention
  58. A malevolent force: A qualitative exploration of perceptions of changes in bodily function and sensations in complex regional pain syndrome
  59. Preoperative Physical Therapy is Associated With Decreased Length of Stay and Improved Postoperative Mobility in Patients With Sarcopenia Undergoing Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery
  60. Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans
  61. Heavy Slow Resistance Versus Eccentric Training as Treatment for Achilles Tendinopathy: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  62. Placebo analgesia in physical and psychological interventions: Systematic review and meta-analysis of three-armed trials
  63. Recovery trajectories in common musculoskeletal complaints by diagnosis contra prognostic phenotypes
  64. Moderators of the effect of therapeutic exercise for knee and hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis
  65. Total daily energy expenditure has declined over the past three decades due to declining basal expenditure, not reduced activity expenditure
  66. Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation
  67. Resurrection of endogenous retroviruses during aging reinforces senescence
  68. Is there a relationship between throbbing pain and arterial pulsations?
  69. Intimate Partner Violence During Recovery from an Orthopaedic Injury: An Exploratory, Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Cohort Study
  70. 'Myths and facts' education is comparable to 'facts only' for recall of back pain information but may improve fear-avoidance beliefs: an embedded randomized trial
  71. A failure to replicate the extraordinary result: lasting effect of open-label placebo
  72. A negative trial of exercise for knee arthritis, with clever use of saline injection as a sham
  73. Association between Inter-Limb Asymmetries in Lower-Limb Functional Performance and Sport Injury: A Systematic Review of Prospective Cohort Studies
  74. A rare good quality trial of magnesium supplementation for pain
  75. Relationship between pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, and self-efficacy in patients with frozen shoulder: a cross-sectional study
  76. Can you forget pain?
  77. Creatine for osteoarthritis has no effect
  78. Leg massage during pregnancy with unrecognized deep vein thrombosis could be life threatening: a case report
  79. Relationships Between Sleep Quality and Pain-Related Factors for People with Chronic Low Back Pain: Tests of Reciprocal and Time of Day Effects
  80. Psychotherapy for pain (mostly CBT) damned with faint praise
  81. Study: Medial gastrocnemius stiffness linked to plantar fasciitis with elastography
  82. Study: Plantar fasciitis strongly linked to tight calf muscles
  83. Trajectories and predictors of the long-term course of low back pain: cohort study with 5-year follow-up
  84. Exercise probably helps anxiety, but it remains unproven
  85. Seventy-six genes linked to multisite chronic pain
  86. Noninvasively measuring the hemodynamic effects of massage on skeletal muscle: a novel hybrid near-infrared diffuse optical instrument
  87. A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: the case of felt power
  88. The clinical course of low back pain: a meta-analysis comparing outcomes in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies
  89. Kinetic risk factors of running-related injuries in female recreational runners
  90. Can we identify types of back pain patients that respond better to treatments?
  91. The effect of heat on skin permeability
  92. Root compression on MRI compared with clinical findings in patients with recent onset cervical radiculopathy
  93. Surface effects on in-shoe plantar pressure and tibial impact during running
  94. Diazepam Is No Better Than Placebo When Added to Naproxen for Acute Low Back Pain
  95. Only a history of neck pain and being a woman are likely risk factors for neck pain
  96. Mechanisms-based classifications of musculoskeletal pain: part 1 of 3: symptoms and signs of central sensitisation in patients with low back (± leg) pain
  97. Both too little and too much load are linked to illness and injury in athletes
  98. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effectiveness of Graded Activity and Graded Exposure for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain
  99. Prolonged conservative care versus early surgery in patients with sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation: two year results of a randomised controlled trial
  100. Frozen shoulder: long-term outcome following arthrographic distension

Articles about science, research, and citing

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