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 article index, and sitemap.
I have been expanding and upgrading this website since the early 2000s. Relevant new science is 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 237)
- Painful Lessons » Jun 24, 19
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science » May 15, 19
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? » May 2, 19
- Baxter’s Neuritis and Plantar Fasciitis » Mar 4, 19
- Knee Replacement Surgery Doubts » Feb 20, 19
- Deep Cervical Flexor Training » Oct 11, 18
- Cold Laser Therapy Reviewed » Sep 24, 18
- 💩 Massage Therapists Say » Sep 29, 17
- Dupuytren’s Contracture » Jul 6, 17
- Get in the Pool for Pain » Jan 24, 17
- A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia » Jan 21, 17
- Cramps, Spasms, Tremors & Twitches » Nov 16, 16
- Science versus Experience in Musculoskeletal Medicine » Nov 9, 16
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation » Sep 8, 16
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 27 articles in 93 days, breaking down into 17 major updates, 27 medium, 5 minor (use the button below to include/exclude the medium and minor updates). That's an update every 1.86 days in recent history; there have been 1587 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.
- Quite a Stretch — New section, on stretching, inflammation, and aging — » Jun 22, 19
- A Guide to Sciatica Treatment for Patients — Added discussion of cluneal nerve entrapment and trochanter pain syndrome to the diagnosis section. » Jun 20, 19
- A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia — New section: “The inflammaging hypothesis: fibromyalgia as premature aging.” » Jun 19, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Upgraded — Added more detail about greater trochanteric pain syndrome, making the section a little more useful to many readers. » Jun 19, 19
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Science update, spinal manipulation chapter — An “update” with an old citation, but a good one. » Jun 18, 19
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Expanded — A deeper exploration of cervicogenic headache has begun, based mainly on Bogduk. I added a nice case study, more detail to both the arguments for and against, and a nomenclature note. » Jun 18, 19
- 28 Surprising Causes of Pain — Added section about benzodiazepene (tranquilizer) withdrawal. » Jun 17, 19
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — Added quite a bit of speculation about factors that might contribute to inflammaging, mainly related to immunity. » Jun 17, 19
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — Added a section about pollutants and their potential contribution to inflammaging. » Jun 17, 19
- Cramps, Spasms, Tremors & Twitches — Added a little more detail about cramps. » Jun 14, 19
- 28 Surprising Causes of Pain — Added section about social isolation and loneliness, the first of a series that I will be adding about non-specific vulnerabilities to illness and chronic pain. » Jun 13, 19
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Rewritten, definition of tension headache — Completely revised the introduction to the definition of a tension headache. I now discuss the two main interpretations of this very vague term. Another major goal was to change the scope of the article, so that it will include cervicogenic headache in the future. While it will never be a guide to all kinds of headache, it’s clear that “tension headache” alone was too limiting. What I’m really interested in is helping readers troubleshoot any non-migraine, non-ominous headache… which covers a lot more ground than just “tension” headaches. » Jun 7, 19
- Muscle Pain as an Injury Complication — Thoroughly edited and modernized. » Jun 6, 19
- Sensitization in Chronic Pain — Added brief but important coverage of stress-induced visceral sensitization. » Jun 6, 19
- Save Yourself from Tennis Elbow! — New section: “Medications for tennis elbow.” » Jun 1, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Revised, chapter about TrPs as a complication of injury — Significantly expanded and modernized (for the first time since it was originally written, I think). » May 28, 19
- Does Epsom Salt Work? — More detail — Added more information about magnesium supplementation as it relates to muscle cramping. » May 23, 19
- Anxiety & Chronic Pain — Added information and citations about anxiety as a risk factor for injury. Finally cleaned up and modernized my muddled thoughts on the hiding of anxiety and its physical and biological signs. » May 22, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Rewritten, morning symptoms chapter — Heavily revised to basically be an abdridged version of the article Morning Back Pain, focusing on trigger points. This section had been aging poorly, full of unsubstantiated speculation and dubious premises. It’s on much firmer footing now. » May 22, 19
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Science update, muscle pain chapter — Updated references related to the relationship between trigger points and headache. » May 21, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New sub-topic — Fascinating addition to the tutorial: “Shoulder injury related to vaccine administration.” » May 21, 19
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Science update: added some fresh evidence about the efficacy of standard rehab methods (not bad, not great either). » May 21, 19
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — Major enhancement, strength training section — Added an extremely useful evidence-based strength training recommendation. This is as good as any update gets! » May 18, 19
- Save Yourself from Shin Splints! — Expanded, differential diagnosis section — Added radiculopathy, tendinopathy, and more detail about specific peripheral neuropathies. » May 17, 19
- Save Yourself from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome! — New section, all about joint noise — » May 17, 19
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — New section, all about joint noise — » May 17, 19
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — Upgrade, strengthening section — A small but good thing: embedded a high quality demo video for the specialized heel raise I recommend. » May 16, 19
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Updated — Added some good expert quotes and optimistic perspective on pain education from Moseley. » May 16, 19
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Added section about regenerative medicine. » May 16, 19
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Added section about eccentric exercise. Improved layout of embedded video of heel raises. Lots of editing. Added caveats about pain-killers. » May 16, 19
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? — Added a new citation (Munk) that reduces my confidence in the available scientific evidence on this topic: it may be closer to “inadequate” than “negative.” My conclusions have been softened accordingly. » May 13, 19
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? — Added a section about ischemic pressure: highly localized “flushing” of tissues. Elaborated on the plausibility of scalene hypertrophy. Added an aside about levels of confidence in myth-busting. » May 11, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Editing — Some clarifications about the mechanism of “flushing” and whether uncomfortable massage intensity can be justified for that reason. » May 10, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Edited, ischemic pressure technique — Clarified, modernized, and expanded a little bit, especially integrating new information about the effect of massage of tissue fluids and circulation. » May 10, 19
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? — Added a section thoroughly reporting on Franklin et al, which challenges my skeptical bias. Also added a fun quote. » May 9, 19
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? — Added citation about the effect of relaxation on circulation. Made it clearer that this is not an anti-massage article. Added tourniquet example to help explain circulation “increase.” Added a new section, “The CPR thought experiment.” Fixed several typos. » May 8, 19
- Does Craniosacral Therapy Work? — Short new section comparing and contrasting beliefs about increase circulation of cerebrospinal spinal fluid versus blood. » May 5, 19
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Science update — A particularly disappointing, predictable update on 2010’s overhyped news about methylene blue. » May 3, 19
- Massage Therapy for Tennis Elbow and Wrist Pain — Editing and modernization with miscellaneous science updates (e.g. regarding inflammation and tendinitis), and taming the claims about trigger points (excessive enthusiasm dating back to the 2000s still being dialed back). » Apr 27, 19
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — New section: “Leaky gut syndrome: not a real cause of inflammation.” » Apr 27, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Rewritten — Totally revised and tripled in length, this chapter is “like new.” I also moved it to the diagnosis section of the book to give it greater importance. » Apr 27, 19
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — More detail, strengthening chapter — Added discussion of one vs two-footed raises and a more detailed progression example. » Apr 26, 19
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — More information, cast boot chapter — Added discussion of actual plaster casts, comparing and contrasting with cast boots. » Apr 26, 19
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Expanded — Miscellaneous improvements, and I added discussion of the “space making” surgeries (e.g. posterior cervical laminoforaminotomy). » Apr 26, 19
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Upgrade, on the erratic quality of chronic low back pain — Modernized the trigger point content and added several paragraphs about sensitization as well. » Apr 25, 19
- Post-Exercise, Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness — New section about vibration. » Apr 24, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Expanded — Imaging is now discussed in its own small section, and I beefed it up with information about the role of diagnostic ultrasound. » Apr 24, 19
- Sensitization in Chronic Pain — Added the term “amplified pain,” discussed and briefly reviewed the notorious Invisibilia episode about it, and added an explanation that exposure therapy can be conservative or aggressive. » Mar 29, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Edited, differential diagnosis — A thorough editing, especially to the information about frozen shoulder, part of an ongoing effort to upgrade differential diagnosis information in the book. » Mar 25, 19
- Strength Training Frequency — Added article abstract. And I also actually removed some content from the article: legacy stuff I simply felt was no longer necessary to make the point effectively. So it’s a bit shorter and sweeter now. » Mar 24, 19
The last 20 blog posts
- Two pet theories about inflammation » Jun 22, 19
- Benzodiazapene withdrawal syndrome » Jun 19, 19
- What the hell is a “tension” headache? » Jun 18, 19
- Just the right amount of hyperbole » Jun 11, 19
- Strengthening-while-lengthening is a “proven” rehab method for muscle strain » Jun 5, 19
- Reality versus best practices in musculoskeletal medicine » Jun 4, 19
- Injection infection? Another surprising way to freeze a shoulder » May 27, 19
- Apostasy fallout » May 24, 19
- That word “placebo” » May 24, 19
- A kooky “scientific” study of massage » May 20, 19
- The metabolic roots of pain » May 20, 19
- Another new “finally” article » May 16, 19
- The PainScience.com origin story » May 15, 19
- New article about massage and circulation » May 9, 19
- Methylene blue for back pain fails a replication test » May 3, 19
- Tech and health care » Apr 25, 19
- Classic examples of failed “common sense” in medicine » Apr 25, 19
- And another speed boost for PainScience.com » Apr 25, 19
- I take requests » Apr 23, 19
- “Primary” versus “functional” pain » Apr 18, 19
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.
- A randomized controlled trial of exercise and manipulative therapy for cervicogenic headache. Jull et al., 2002, Spine (Phila Pa 1976). » added Jun 6, 19
- Semantic memory functional MRI and cognitive function after exercise intervention in mild cognitive impairment. Smith et al., 2013, J Alzheimers Dis. » added May 31, 19
- A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Foam Rolling on Performance and Recovery. Wiewelhove et al., 2019, Front Physiol. » added May 23, 19
- A parallel randomized controlled trial examining the effects of rhythmic sensory stimulation on fibromyalgia symptoms. Janzen et al., 2019, PLoS One. » added May 14, 19
- Noninvasively measuring the hemodynamic effects of massage on skeletal muscle: a novel hybrid near-infrared diffuse optical instrument. Munk et al., 2012, J Bodyw Mov Ther. » added May 13, 19
- Connective tissue reflex massage for type 2 diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease: randomized controlled trial. Castro-Sánchez et al., 2011, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. » added May 10, 19
- A multicenter randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of intradiscal methylene blue injection for chronic discogenic low back pain: the IMBI study. Kallewaard et al., 2019, Pain. » added Apr 26, 19
- Benefits and harms of spinal manipulative therapy for the treatment of chronic low back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Rubinstein et al., 2019, BMJ. » added Mar 29, 19
- What does best practice care for musculoskeletal pain look like? Eleven consistent recommendations from high-quality clinical practice guidelines: systematic review. Lin et al., 2019, Br J Sports Med. » added Mar 2, 19
- A systematic review of the effects of strength training in patients with fibromyalgia: clinical outcomes and design considerations. Andrade et al., 2018, Adv Rheumatol. » added Feb 6, 19
- Acute sensory and motor response to 45-s heavy isometric holds for the plantar flexors in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. O'Neill et al., 2018, Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. » added Jan 27, 19
- Role of platelet-rich plasma in articular cartilage injury and disease. Mascarenhas et al., 2015, J Knee Surg. » added Dec 7, 18
- Power posing: brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Carney et al., 2010, Psychol Sci. » added Dec 3, 18
- A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: the case of felt power. Gronau et al., 2017, Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology. » added Dec 3, 18
- Effect of Intensive Patient Education vs Placebo Patient Education on Outcomes in Patients With Acute Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Traeger et al., 2018, JAMA Neurol. » added Nov 28, 18
- The clinical course of low back pain: a meta-analysis comparing outcomes in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies. Artus et al., 2014, BMC Musculoskelet Disord. » added Nov 22, 18
- Comparative Effectiveness of Conservative Interventions for Nonspecific Chronic Spinal Pain: Physical, Behavioral/Psychologically Informed, or Combined? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. O'Keeffe et al., 2016, J Pain. » added Oct 30, 18
- Fascial Manipulation Associated With Standard Care Compared to Only Standard Postsurgical Care for Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Busato et al., 2016, PM R. » added Oct 25, 18
- Mechanical deformation of posterior thoracolumbar fascia after myofascial release in healthy men: A study of dynamic ultrasound imaging. Wong et al., 2017, Musculoskelet Sci Pract. » added Oct 25, 18
- Intracellular invasion of green algae in a salamander host. Kerney et al., 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. » added Oct 23, 18
