Detailed guides to painful problems, treatments & more

PainSci Update Roundup (Aug 2, 2021)

 •  • by Paul Ingraham
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Weekly nuggets of pain science news and insight, usually 100-300 words, with the occasional longer post. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.

This is a summary of 9 noteworthy updates to articles and books on PainScience.com for most of July. Sometimes I pump out this many updates in a week! But lately it’s all been newsletter, newsletter, newsletter.

The Complete Guide to Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome — An extremely detailed guide to rehab from patellofemoral pain syndrome (aka runner’s knee), with thorough reviews of every treatment option. (115,000 words, 466-min read)

Another top-to-bottom book edit is complete. Typos and other minor errors creep in over the years as I work on updates.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response — That nice, weird tingly head feeling (and its possible relevance to healthcare and treating pain, especially with massage). (2,300 words, 9-min read)

All new article!

Index of Oddball Articles — Underrated, obscure, and hard-to-categorize articles on PainScience.com. (160 words, 1-min read)

Another new page: just a list of my most obscure articles. A couple dozen that have just one thing in common: almost no readers, despite being around for quite a while.

Does Fascia Matter? — A detailed critical analysis of the clinical relevance of fascia science and fascia properties. (31,000 words, 125-min read)

Added a short new section about ludicrous claims about a fascia-COVID link — an unusually egregious example of poor clinical reasoning about fascia.

Cramps, Spasms, Tremors & Twitches — The biology and treatment of unwanted muscle contractions. (11,000 words, 48-min read)

Added my recent personal anecdote about successful treatment of a chronically twitching eyelid.

Zapped! Does TENS work for pain? — The peculiar popularity of being gently zapped with electrical stimulation therapy. (10,000 words, 41-min read)

Cited Zhang on pain relief from brain implants, a futuristic rat study.

Chronic Pain as a Conditioned Behaviour — If pain can be learned, perhaps it can be unlearned. (5,500 words, 23-min read)

Added a new section of about threat hyper-vigilance, with a great analogy to pet reward hyper-vigilance, illustrated with a fun comic.

Cold Laser Therapy Reviewed — A critical analysis of treating pain and injury with frickin’ laser beams. (4,250 words, 18-min read)

Detailed new analysis of a major new trial of laser therapy for back pain. This is the most substantive science update this article has ever gotten, or probably ever will.

A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia — The science (and not the pseudoscience) of the mysterious disease of pain, exhaustion, and mental fog. (26,000 words, 105-min read)

Fibromyalgia transplanted to mice in blood? Perfect first addition to a new part of the fibromyalgia guide dedicated of “useless but fascinating” research.

PainSci Member Login » Submit your email to unlock member content. If you can’t remember/access your registration email, please contact me. ~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher