What’s New on PainScience.com?
New featured articles, updates to articles, recent blog posts, and noteworthy new scientific papers
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 … or just Google for content that’s new in the last month or year. ~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher
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The 10 newest featured articles on PainScience.com (out of 240)
- Bone on Bone » Jun 2024
- DMSO for Pain » Jun 2024
- Manual Therapy: What is it, and does it work? » Jan 2024
- Reluctantly Reconsidering RESTORE » Dec 2023
- Whole Body Cryotherapy for Pain » Nov 2023
- Does Pandiculation “Reset” Muscle Tone? » Jan 2023
- The Double-Edged Sword of Imaging to Diagnose Pain » Mar 2022
- The Tibiofibular Joint and Knee Pain » Feb 2022
- Ozone Therapy for Pain » Dec 2021
The last 60 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 — 60 updates to 43 articles & books in 146 days, breaking down into 18 major updates, 16 medium, 26 minor. That’s about every other day in recent history; there have been 1832 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. (an all-time rate of about every other day) … plus very roughly ten thousand more since the early 2000s. See the complete update archives.
showing of 60 recent updates
| M | Apr 22 | Insurance Is Not Evidence — This article just got its first-ever substantive update. After being largely ignored for years, suddenly it seemed obvious that more could and should be written — and so it was. A small update relative to others on the site, but big for this little article. In particular, I wanted to point out that insurers are motivated by the relative bargain of paying many ineffective treatments. |
| L | Apr 12 | Vulnerability to Chronic Pain — Added a new section, “Is chronic pain a lifestyle problem?” |
| M | Apr 10 | Neuropathies Are Overdiagnosed — Significant upgrades to the summary of anticonvulsants: “Adding insult to injury: anticonvulsants for neuropathy are perfidious.” |
| S | Apr 1 | A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia — Editing, sensitization — Small but important modernization and clarification edits. |
| L | Mar 28 | Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added member area, massage for fibromyalgia — This section has gotten some substantial upgrading and editorial massaging, and is now set aside for members only. |
| L | Mar 27 | Does Posture Matter? — New member area — Four of the nerdier and more digressive sections of the article have now been set aside for members only. |
| S | Mar 27 | Reluctantly Reconsidering RESTORE — Added a footnote about how a CFT trial could be placebo-controlled. |
| S | Mar 26 | Science versus Experience in Musculoskeletal Medicine — Minor editing, sanding down some rough edges from the last update. |
| L | Mar 26 | Most Pain Treatments Damned With Faint Praise — Added a new section, “Why those positive studies aren’t good enough,” significantly clarifying the purpose of the article. (Yeah, funny how that can happen with a 15-year old article.) |
| S | Mar 23 | Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Chronic Pain — A few overdue pro-ACT changes. |
| S | Mar 22 | The Trouble with Chairs — Some improvements to the presentation of a key citation, Gupta. I confirmed a lack of any important new evidence. |
| M | Mar 22 | The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Revision, sitting and back pain — More and clearer detail, but no substantive changes — the chapter still says essentially the same thing, but better. I confirmed a lack of any important new evidence. |
| S | Mar 17 | Popular but Weird & Dangerous Cures — Added vitamin/supplement overdosing. I had a real facepalm moment when I realized it wasn't already here. I think it might actually be one of the very best all-time examples of a popular-but-dangerous treatment! Ah well, better late than never. |
| S | Mar 17 | Chronic Pain as a Conditioned Behaviour — Editing, minor improvement of a key point. |
| L | Mar 15 | Science versus Experience in Musculoskeletal Medicine — A significantly upgraded section (“What if there’s new, positive evidence? What then? Unfortunately, new “positive” studies rarely change the bottom line”) plus a new section (“A classic example of a revenge citation: massage for exercise soreness.”) |
| M | Mar 13 | Zapped! Does TENS work for pain? — Short new section about microcurrent therapy. |
| S | Mar 11 | The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain — New case study, B12 deficiency — Added a plausible, interesting story about treating widespread chronic pain with B12. |
| S | Mar 10 | Massage Therapy for Bruxism, Jaw Clenching, and TMJ Syndrome — Added a bit more information about my own own experiences with this kind of pain, and a link to much more information in a recent blog post. |
| S | Mar 10 | The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — New topic, laser therapy — Added another treatment to the “Hall of Shame” chapter: laser therapy. |
| L | Mar 6 | The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain — New chapter, 2 case studies about mouth/jaw pain. |
| M | Mar 1 | You’re Really Tight — Two new sections, inspired by discussions with readers: “Patients seek validation from massage therapists” and “So what should therapists say about tissue texture?” |
| S | Feb 25 | You’re Really Tight — Minor editing. |
| M | Feb 21 | Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work? — Science update. Added two new citations to the shockwave evidence review, and more polish and details for the ones that were already there. |
| L | Feb 19 | The Complete Guide to Neck Pain & Cricks — New chapter, medical testing — A significant new overview of medical testing for specific causes of back pain, one of those “basic” topics that was missing from the original, quirkier version of the book for too many years. This is a good step towards rounding it out and making it a more complete guide to the topic for a wider range of readers. |
| L | Feb 19 | The Complete Guide to Neck Pain & Cricks — New chapter, physical exam reliability — Major new chapter, adding much more detail (2800 words!) about the art and science of diagnosing specific causes of neck pain with a physical examination. |
| L | Feb 19 | The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — New chapter, medical testing — A significant new overview of medical testing for specific causes of back pain, one of those “basic” topics that was missing from the original, quirkier version of the book for too many years. This is a good step towards rounding it out and making it a more complete guide to the topic for a wider range of readers. |
| L | Feb 19 | The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Rewritten, physical exam reliability — Major chapter overhaul and expansion. There is now much more detail (2800 words!) about the art and science of diagnosing specific causes of back pain with a physical examination. |
| S | Feb 16 | DMSO for Pain — Minor editing and polishing (although it always amazes me how many little problems I can find in an article I thought I “finished”). |
| S | Feb 15 | Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work? — Added a small sidebar about TECAR therapy (diathermy), which is identical to ultrasound in principle. |
| S | Feb 15 | The Pressure Question in Massage Therapy — Updated my thoughts on somatoemotional release. |
| M | Feb 15 | Cold Laser Therapy Reviewed — Miscellaneous upgrades, including an audio version of part of the article. |
| S | Feb 13 | Masking Pain is Under-Rated — A little more minor editing. Added a footnote with a good point and some whimsy. |
| S | Feb 13 | Many Pages — Added Canadian flag to masthead for National Flag of Canada Day, February 15. PainScience is a proudly Canadian project. |
| L | Feb 7 | Chronic Pain and Inequality — Added a fair bit of new material to dig deeper into why healthcare professionals fail to take symptoms seriously. Revised the introduction. Miscellaneous editing throughout the article. |
| L | Jan 29 | What Works for Chronic Pain? — Added a new section: “‘Prehab’ works (for preventing pain after surgery).” |
| S | Jan 28 | Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Refinements to the discussion of indirect harms. That section is now called: “6 ways being a sucker for supplements can go wrong.” |
| L | Jan 24 | Most Pain Treatments Damned With Faint Praise — A rare update to this old article, acknowledging that I may have been too dismissive of small effect sizes over the years. See the new section, “Give small a chance.” |
| M | Jan 23 | Masking Pain is Under-Rated — General editing and improvements. |
| S | Jan 22 | The Power of Barking: Correlation, causation, and how we decide what treatments work — Some light editing and revision. Started to nude this article in the direction of becoming a more general guide to all the ways that we can get fooled into thinking a treatment is helping when it actually isn’t. |
| M | Jan 22 | Chronic Pain as a Conditioned Behaviour — Added a significant citation to Madden, a 2017 study that I’d somehow missed. There’s now a substantial new footnote about that one. Also added a point about the general difficulty with experimentally reproducing conditioned pain. |
| S | Jan 18 | Placebo Power Hype — Miscellaneous minor improvements to the section, “Placebo for sale! Is it okay to pay for a placebo?” |
| M | Jan 14 | Does Acupuncture Work for Pain? — Substantive update to evidence of serious publication bias for acupuncture research in China. See an entire new section tucked into a footnote: “Does China only publish good science news about acupuncture?” |
| M | Jan 11 | Heat for Pain and Rehab — Two small new sections, “Comfort vs analgesia” and “Heating time: how long does it take?” There’s actually more new content tucked away in a footnote about Bartholdy et al. on heated mittens. |
| L | Jan 7 | What Happened To My Barber? — New section, “An activator incident: can a light tap injure the neck?” |
| S | Dec 20 | Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work? — Added a new citation to the shockwave evidence highlights, plus some older ones. |
| L | Dec 15 | Tissue Provocation Therapies in Musculoskeletal Medicine — Substantial revision and expansion. |
| L | Dec 13 | Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work? — Major expansion of “Adding injury to injury: shockwave therapy’s big idea.” This nerdy new members-only section roughly doubled in size over the last couple days of writing and revision, and now most notably includes a much more complete discussion of the biological effects of shockwave therapy. |
| M | Dec 11 | Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work? — Several improvements to the review of clinical studies of shockwave therapy. More still coming. |
| L | Dec 10 | Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis — Science update, shockwave therapy — A small but important update: new good quality negative evidence. Sigh. |
| M | Dec 8 | Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work? — Science update: several citations about shockwave for erectile dysfunction (just one line in the article, but the footnotes are practically a mini-article unto themselves). |
| S | Dec 6 | Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Minor science updates and additions about creatine. |
| S | Dec 6 | The Insomnia Guide for Chronic Pain Patients — Added a little more about creatine and it’s potential to treat sleep deprivation. |
| S | Dec 3 | Trigger Points on Trial — Minor editing for clarity and currency. |
| S | Dec 3 | How to Treat Sciatic Nerve Pain — Added a comprehensive list of the major diagnostic possibilities. |
| S | Dec 3 | Does Epsom Salt Work? — Added sidebar, strange magnesium claims — Added a sidebar for colour and whimsy: “Weird health claims about magnesium.” |
| M | Dec 1 | 14 Kinds of Bogus Citations — I finally added “The Zombie.” Better late than never! |
| L | Nov 30 | Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Substantial science update and general upgrade to the topical glyceryl trinitrate section. |
| M | Nov 30 | Salamander and Regeneration Science — New section, “Every therapy in the rehab business thinks its ‘regenerative’.” |
| S | Nov 26 | What Happened To My Barber? — Added a good quality diagram of artery dissection. |
| M | Nov 26 | Alternative Medicine’s Choice — Added a significant sidebar, “The epic double-standards for mainstream and alternative medicine.” |
The last 20 blog posts
Blog posts are smaller and more ephemeral than the articles in PainSci’s main library. I blog about many topics as I work on books and permanent articles. There are 1235 posts dating back to 2010.
- Futile non-surgical options » Apr 21, 25
- Fighting a lost battle » Apr 15, 25
- Is chronic pain a lifestyle problem? » Apr 12, 25
- Anticonvulsants break hips 🔈 » Apr 8, 25
- Massage therapy for fibromyalgia (Member Post) 🔈 » Apr 1, 25
- Back pain is mostly immune to treatment (still) » Mar 26, 25
- There will never be a pain-o-meter — and maybe that’s a good thing » Mar 24, 25
- Does sitting cause back pain? Flipping and flopping over the years » Mar 19, 25
- New stats on the prevalence of depression, anxiety with chronic pain » Mar 18, 25
- “A malevolent force”: The profound, bizarre impact of CRPS 🔈 » Mar 11, 25
- A Bizarre Case of Mouth Pain (Member Post) 🔈 » Mar 6, 25
- Contextual effects clarified » Feb 27, 25
- Inflammation is just following (neurological) orders » Feb 27, 25
- If a treatment isn’t specific, it’s probably BS » Feb 22, 25
- Unvalidated childhood emotions do not cause back pain » Feb 18, 25
- STUDY: Real laser therapy no better than a red LED for back pain 🔈 » Feb 14, 25
- Zoom and enhance! Migraine mechanisms revealed by fancy MRI » Feb 9, 25
- Why do so many pain patients say their symptoms were ignored? » Feb 3, 25
- Is Chinese acupuncture research more like propaganda than science? 🔈 » Jan 31, 25
- 6 ways being a sucker for supplements can go wrong » Jan 28, 25
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, like small blog posts about the science — like the recent highlights are listed here. The are roughly 4000 more items in the whole bibliography, ~800 of them more substantively annotated.
- Analgesic effects of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials. Cashin et al., 2025, BMJ Evid Based Med. » added Mar 2025
- Contextual effects in musculoskeletal pain: are we overlooking essential factors? Poulter et al., 2025, Frontiers in Psychology. » added Feb 2025
- A malevolent force: A qualitative exploration of perceptions of changes in bodily function and sensations in complex regional pain syndrome. Waring et al., 2025, J Pain. » added Feb 2025
- Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy as an Adjunctive Therapy for Frozen Shoulder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Zhang et al., 2022, Orthop J Sports Med. » added Feb 2025
- Neurological examination of the peripheral nervous system to diagnose lumbar spinal disc herniation with suspected radiculopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nezari et al., 2013, Spine J. » added Feb 2025
- Trigeminal nerve microstructure is linked with neuroinflammation and brainstem activity in migraine. Tohyama et al., 2025, Brain. » added Feb 2025
- The Effectiveness of Spinal Manipulative Therapy in Treating Spinal Pain Does Not Depend on the Application Procedures: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Nim et al., 2025, J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. » added Jan 2025
- Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture. Leung et al., 2024, JAMA Netw Open. » added Jan 2025
- Assessment of the degree of pelvic tilt within a normal asymptomatic population. Herrington et al., 2011, Man Ther. » added Jan 2025
- Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans. Madden et al., 2017, Pain Med. » added Jan 2025
- Does shockwave therapy lead to better pain and function than sham over 12 weeks in people with insertional Achilles tendinopathy? A randomised controlled trial. Alsulaimani et al., 2024, Clin Rehabil. » added Dec 2024
- The Role of Extracorporeal Shockwave Treatment in Musculoskeletal Disorders. Moya et al., 2018, J Bone Joint Surg Am. » added Dec 2024
- Is Chronic Tendon Pain Caused by Neuropathy? Exciting Breakthroughs may Direct Potential Treatment. Palee et al., 2024, Curr Pain Headache Rep. » added Dec 2024
- 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. Kirwan et al., 2024, Br J Sports Med. » added Nov 2024
- The Effects of Shock Wave Therapy on the Symptoms and Function of Individuals With Dupuytren Disease: A Systematic Review. Yazdani et al., 2024, Arch Phys Med Rehabil. » added Oct 2024
- The effect of progressive and individualised sport-specific training on the prevalence of injury in football and handball student athletes: a randomised controlled trial. Hagum et al., 2023, Front Sports Act Living. » added Oct 2024
- Heavy Slow Resistance Versus Eccentric Training as Treatment for Achilles Tendinopathy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Beyer et al., 2015, Am J Sports Med. » added Oct 2024
- The anti-inflammatory effect of exercise: its role in diabetes and cardiovascular disease control. Pedersen et al., 2006, Essays Biochem. » added Oct 2024
- Impaired hemodynamics of the patella in patients with patellofemoral pain: A case-control study. Ophey et al., 2024, J Exp Orthop. » added Sep 2024
- Pain neuroscience education is not superior to spinal physiology and ergonomics education within a short multidisciplinary rehabilitation program: A randomized controlled trial. Adenis et al., 2024, Musculoskelet Sci Pract. » added Sep 2024
What’s new on this page about new stuff?
Ironically, I’ve actually updated this page quite a few times without logging the change. 😜
2023 — An update to the updates page?! It’s so meta! It’s not going to happen often, but I just finished improving the whole update-logging system in several ways. Most of the upgrades are "under the hood," but there is now much better filtering for the update list, and the foundations have been laid for more improvements in the future.
2016 — Publication.