What’s New on PainScience.com?
New featured articles, updates to articles, recent blog posts, and noteworthy new scientific papers
See also the about page, complete articles index, and sitemap.
I have been expanding and upgrading this website for 20 years now, and full-time since 2010. Useful new references are added almost daily. I am always working on an endless list of improvements, and corrections and mea culpas are always the highest priority items. This page lists everything that’s new or changed lately. ~ Paul Ingraham, Publisher
The 15 newest featured articles on PainScience.com (out of 241)
- “Windows of Opportunity” in Rehab » Mar 2020
- Vibration Therapy » Mar 2020
- The Role of “Spasm” in Frozen Shoulder » Mar 2020
- Reassurance for Massage Therapists » Feb 2020
- Vulnerability to Chronic Pain » Jun 2019
- Painful Lessons » Jun 2019
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science » May 2019
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? » May 2019
- Baxter’s Neuritis and Plantar Fasciitis » Mar 2019
- Knee Replacement Surgery Doubts » Feb 2019
- Deep Cervical Flexor Training » Oct 2018
- Cold Laser Therapy Reviewed » Sep 2018
- 💩 Massage Therapists Say » Sep 2017
- Dupuytren’s Contracture » Jul 2017
The last 50 updates to featured articles and tutorials
Like good footnotes, update logging sets PainScience.com apart from most other health websites and blogs. It’s fine print, but important fine print, in the same spirit of transparency as the editing history available for Wikipedia pages. I log any change to articles that might be of interest to a keen reader.
Current Update Stats — 50 updates to 28 articles & books in 73 days, breaking down into 17 major updates, 20 medium, 13 minor (use the button below to include/exclude the medium and minor updates). That’s an update every 1.5 days in recent history; there have been 1821 updates since comprehensive logging started in mid-2016,?Comprehensive update logging started in the summer of 2016. Prior to that, I only logged major updates for the most popular and controversial articles. and many tens of thousands since the early 2000s.
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Editing and more content — Added subsection about passive ROM testing, and did some miscellaneous polishing. » May 28
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Improved — A thorough editing and cleanup, with some information added, most notably the most positive science on the topic. » May 22
- The Role of “Spasm” in Frozen Shoulder — Added an article summary. » May 20
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? — Added new section about deep vein thrombosis. » May 19
- Does Massage Therapy Work? — Upgraded, psychological effects of massage — Significantly expanded on the discussion of how massage might have profound psychological significance to people. » May 14
- Why Do Muscles Feel Stiff and Tight? — Comprehensive editing with many improvements and clarifications. » May 13
- Reassurance for Massage Therapists — Added article summary. » May 12
- Anxiety & Chronic Pain — New section, “Be cautious with marijuana: it can cause anxiety when you use it and when you stop using it.” » May 11
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — New chapter, case study — » May 11
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — Correction and editing, pacing chapter — I removed a digression because it was based on an error about the relationship between stride rate and running speed. And I did some general editing while I was here. » May 11
- Reassurance for Massage Therapists — Added the point that good healthcare is a process not a product/service, and that this represents a significant opportunity for massage therapists (but massage is also a great product/service). » May 9
- Pseudo-Quackery in the Treatment of Pain — Added a new short section, “Process versus product.” » May 9
- Save Yourself from Shin Splints! — Upgraded, hall of treatment shame — More and better information, and also probably mostly complete now. There might be some other ridiculous treatments for shin splints, but probably none that are popular enough to bother writing a paragraph about. » May 4
- Save Yourself from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome! — New content, orthotics chapter — A minor but nice addition of information (and a story) about heels and heel lifts. » May 4
- Save Yourself from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome! — Minor update, rest introduction — Added a couple small but good clarifications, and an amusing bit of perspective, in my never-ending quest to effectively explain the importance of rest. » May 4
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — Upgrade, diagnosis — Clarification what different combinations of strength and pain might mean. » May 4
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — Added info, orthotics chapter — Added basic information and a brief cautionary tale about metatarsal pads. » May 2
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Science update, — A nail-in-coffin study of needling for neck pain has been published. I may never have to update this chapter ever again. (Ha, fat chance!) » May 2
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Added case study — An interesting and credible case study about a clear case of spinal degeneration with counter-intuitive consequences. » May 2
- Complete Guide to Headaches — New content, other causes of cervicogenic headache — Added a substantial new sub-section, “Trigger points, schmigger points: the many other kinds of muscle injury and dysfunction.” » May 2
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — Science update — Cited a more recent review and added a little bit of extra analysis. » May 1
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — Upgraded — Major improvements and clarifications, inspired by some good scholarly debate about the classification of muscle injuries. A formal classification of some muscle injuries as “functional” is an interesting and useful way to introduce the subtopic of trigger points, and to put it in the context of a book about structural muscle injury. » May 1
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — Science update, definition of strain — Added a good new citation about the definition/classification of strain, clarified the unclear nature of “strain,” and introduced the idea of other kinds of muscle injury. » May 1
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Expanded, diagnosing sensitization — Added a bunch more specific information about how to recognize sensitization. » May 1
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New chapter, sensitization — A new chapter about the role of sensitization in frozen shoulder. » May 1
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Added detail, functional freezing chapter — Added a good story about my mother-in-laws broken arm, which nicely illustrates a neurologically mediated ROM lockdown. » May 1
- Quite a Stretch — More content — Added some examples of stretching being rejected by elite athletes. » Apr 29
- Many Pages — Minor updates to several articles about how some pain killers probably impede fracture healing: see Wheatley et al. » Apr 26, 20
- Anxiety & Chronic Pain — New section, “The special threat of health anxiety (hypochondria).” » Apr 24
- Psoas, So What? — Minor additions, mainly a startlingly extreme example of fetishization of the psoas. » Apr 22
- Vulnerability to Chronic Pain — Still more editorial polish and clarifications — nothing major, but another upgrade. I just keep revisiting the topic this week. » Apr 17
- Vulnerability to Chronic Pain — Another round of significant editing. I added a few clarifications, elaborations, and references. » Apr 15
- Vulnerability to Chronic Pain — Added a section, “Where’s the evidence? Does this approach work?” Plus some miscellaneous editing. » Apr 14
- Science versus Experience in Musculoskeletal Medicine — Expanded and polished. Added two new sections, “Science versus practice from the patient perspective,” and “Is it possible to care about both research and patients? Yes!” Added a citation about low-value medical interventions (Herrera-Perez), another about dry needling (Stieven). Added a terrific quote about eminence-based medicine from a class paper (Isaacs), and another about how to “bridge the gap between science and practice.” » Apr 12
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Science update — Nice reference supporting the point that true psychosomatic pain is a rare beast. » Apr 9
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — More information, aging chapter — Discussed the prevalance of severe back pain in older patients, as a good exception-that-proves-the-rule. » Apr 9
- Complete Guide to Headaches — COVID-19 update — Added information about headaches as a symptom of COVID-19. » Apr 6
- Can Supplements Help Arthritis and Other Aches and Pains? — Minor science update, a couple new citations, and a new section about anti-inflammatory nutrition. » Apr 4
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Edited — The standard one-week-later edit, but better than usual. The purpose of the chapter wasn’t as clear as it could have been on the first try. But I think I nailed it this time — this is about why “coping” is much better than it sounds. » Apr 4
- Many Pages — I have completed a site-wide optimization of page speed — not the first time, and probably not the last. This upgrade was focused on the sheer size and complexity of my documents, which are absurdly complex for what amounts to just a lot of text. For instance, the largest article I have — Does Fascia Matter? — is an astonishing 230KB of content and markup, with more than 2000 nodes (distinct document components, e.g. paragraphs, headings, links, etc). That’s bigger than a gallery of several good quality images… in pure text! This update was all about taming some of that size and complexity, eliminating a bunch of cruft that’s accumulated over time. » Apr 4, 20
- Sensitization in Chronic Pain — Added much more information about how to recognize/diagnose sensitization. » Apr 1
- Pseudo-Quackery in the Treatment of Pain — Added far infrared radiation to the list of popular pseudo-quackeries. » Mar 29
- Heat for Pain — Added substantial section about infrared heating. » Mar 27
- Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor addition — Added an infographic of massage benefits as a negative example of typical claims about the profession. » Mar 27
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — New chapter — » Mar 27
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Important science update, largely overturning my earlier interpretation of Heinemeier et al: while healthy tendon is a very stable tissue that doesn’t get recycled, unhealthy tendon does. I had to completely rewrite that section. » Mar 27
- Morning Back Pain — Comprehensive editing. Re-wrote the summary. Refined advice on treating inflammation. Explained fibromyalgia more clearly and accurately. Added more about mattresses. Improved organization, in-document navigation, and added a few sprinkles of humour. » Mar 21
- The Role of “Spasm” in Frozen Shoulder — Post-publication polishing. My first crack at this was pretty rushed and messy — apologies to early readers. It’s been cleaned up and significantly improved. » Mar 20
- “Windows of Opportunity” in Rehab — More context and detail, extensive editing, some new citations and examples — a significant overall upgrade the week after publication. » Mar 18
- Does barefoot running prevent injuries? — A couple science updates and a little editing. I haven’t dipped into this topic in quite a while! » Mar 17
The last 20 blog posts
- Study finds jack shit (which is to be expected) » May 6, 20
- Wax on, wax off » May 3, 20
- Stretching chat with podiatrists » May 1, 20
- “Massage parlour” ecommerce hijinks » May 1, 20
- Maximally ungracious: straining to violate principle of charity » Apr 26, 20
- Wearing a mask a lot? Got a headache? » Apr 17, 20
- Content quality on the internet » Apr 10, 20
- Resist infection with moderate exercise (but know when to quit) » Apr 7, 20
- Stim treatments: if they can’t hurt, they probably can’t help either » Apr 2, 20
- Magical healing at the movies » Mar 29, 20
- Honour is not dead » Mar 24, 20
- Antiviral Kinesio Tape (and hot yoga) » Mar 20, 20
- Running a website is expensive » Mar 20, 20
- This post is not about COVID-19 » Mar 19, 20
- How is PainScience.com like Chernobyl? » Mar 11, 20
- Is exercise good for anxiety? We still don’t quite know » Mar 11, 20
- “Consider the information” and qualifications versus credentials » Mar 6, 20
- Fascinating! The words “fascia” and “fascism” both come from the same symbol » Feb 29, 20
- The Body of Evidence Interview: Massage myths » Feb 28, 20
- Getting “old” » Feb 28, 20
The last 20 bibliography items with beefier summaries
Many scientific papers added to the bibliography are boring and utilitarian. But some are much more interesting, and the pages for those papers are like blog posts about them.
- Carbon-14 bomb pulse dating shows that tendinopathy is preceded by years of abnormally high collagen turnover. Heinemeier et al., 2018, FASEB J. » added Mar 2020
- Dermatome and fasciatome. Stecco et al., 2019, Clin Anat. » added Mar 2020
- Chronic Pain, Psychopathology, and DSM-5 Somatic Symptom Disorder. Katz et al., 2015, Can J Psychiatry. » added Mar 2020
- Running ground reaction forces across footwear conditions are predicted from the motion of two body mass components. Udofa et al., 2019, J Appl Physiol (1985). » added Mar 2020
- Short-term resistance exercise inhibits neuroinflammation and attenuates neuropathological changes in 3xTg Alzheimer's disease mice. Liu et al., 2020, Journal of neuroinflammation. » added Feb 2020
- Is objectively measured sitting time associated with low back pain? A cross-sectional investigation in the NOMAD study. Gupta et al., 2015, PLoS One. » added Jan 2020
- Factors Contributing to Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome in Runners: A Prospective Study. Becker et al., 2018, Med Sci Sports Exerc. » added Jan 2020
- Laceration of the transverse mesocolon in an old man with a habit of abdominal massage for constipation: a case report. Mori et al., 2020, Surg Case Rep. » added Jan 2020
- The relation between pain-related fear and disability: a meta-analysis. Zale et al., 2013, J Pain. » added Jan 2020
- Inactivity induces resistance to the metabolic benefits following acute exercise. Akins et al., 2019, J Appl Physiol (1985). » added Nov 2019
- [Evidence of the efficacy and safety of cannabis medicines for chronic pain management: A methodological minefield]. Häuser et al., 2019, Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. » added Nov 2019
- Skeletal Muscles Do Not Undergo Apoptosis During Either Atrophy or Programmed Cell Death-Revisiting the Myonuclear Domain Hypothesis. Schwartz et al., 2018, Front Physiol. » added Nov 2019
- Pain-Free Versus Pain-Threshold Rehabilitation Following Acute Hamstring Strain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Hickey et al., 2019, J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. » added Oct 2019
- The vagus nerve and the inflammatory reflex—linking immunity and metabolism. Pavlov et al., 2012, Nat Rev Endocrinol. » added Oct 2019
- The Effectiveness of PNF Versus Static Stretching on Increasing Hip-Flexion Range of Motion. Lempke et al., 2018, J Sport Rehabil. » added Oct 2019
- Blended-Learning Pain Neuroscience Education for People With Chronic Spinal Pain: Randomized Controlled Multicenter Trial. Malfliet et al., 2018, Phys Ther. » added Sep 2019
- Pain Neurophysiology Education and Therapeutic Exercise for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial. Pardo et al., 2018, Arch Phys Med Rehabil. » added Sep 2019
- A questionnaire survey of muscular symptoms in chronic headache. An age- and sex-controlled study. Lebbink et al., 1991, Clin J Pain. » added Aug 2019
- Mechanical loading inhibits cartilage inflammatory signalling via an HDAC6 and IFT-dependent mechanism regulating primary cilia elongation. Fu et al., 2019, Osteoarthritis Cartilage. » added Aug 2019
- Exercise-induced hypoalgesia: A meta-analysis of exercise dosing for the treatment of chronic pain. Polaski et al., 2019, PLoS One. » added Jul 2019
