Reconceptualising pain according to modern pain science
Four articles on PainSci cite Moseley 2007: 1. Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis 2. Pain is Weird 3. Sensitization in Chronic Pain 4. Mind Over Pain
PainSci notes on Moseley 2007:
A detailed and scholarly primer on modern pain science, and yet still fairly accessible compared to, say, a neurology textbook. This article is ideal for professionals looking for an introduction to the topic. Patients should read a more plain language summary, like my article, Pain is Weird.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
This paper argues that the biology of pain is never really straightforward, even when it appears to be. It is proposed that understanding what is currently known about the biology of pain requires a reconceptualisation of what pain actually is, and how it serves our livelihood. There are four key points: (i) that pain does not provide a measure of the state of the tissues; (ii) that pain is modulated by many factors from across somatic, psychological and social domains; (iii) that the relationship between pain and the state of the tissues becomes less predictable as pain persists; and (iv) that pain can be conceptualised as a conscious correlate of the implicit perception that tissue is in danger. These issues raise conceptual and clinical implications, which are discussed with particular relevance to persistent pain. Finally, this conceptualisation is used as a framework for one approach to understanding complex regional pain syndrome.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Moore 2023 J Pain.
- Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation. Suri 2010 Spine J.
- Prediction of an extruded fragment in lumbar disc patients from clinical presentations. Pople 1994 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- Characteristics of patients with low back and leg pain seeking treatment in primary care: baseline results from the ATLAS cohort study. Konstantinou 2015 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Kuyken 2022 Evid Based Ment Health.