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 since the early 2000s, and full-time since 2010. Useful new references are added almost daily. I am always working on an endless list of improvements. 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)
- 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
- Get in the Pool for Pain » Jan 2017
- A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia » Jan 2017
- Cramps, Spasms, Tremors & Twitches » Nov 2016
- Science versus Experience in Musculoskeletal Medicine » Nov 2016
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 26 articles in 82 days, breaking down into 24 major updates, 12 medium, 13 minor (use the button below to include/exclude the medium and minor updates). That’s an update every 1.6 days in recent history; there have been 1735 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.
- Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection Work? — Added references to a pair of recent meta-analyses… plus a sidebar about the problems with meta-analysis. 😜 » Jan 25
- Strength Training for Pain & Injury Rehab — Another batch of miscellaneous improvements. » Jan 24
- Save Yourself from Shin Splints! — Expanded, strength training — Added sub-topic: “More ways to go wrong getting strong (especially with shin pain)” » Jan 22
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New section, icing and heating — » Jan 22
- Strength Training for Pain & Injury Rehab — Lots of general editing and modernizing, plus a bunch of new stuff about the “corrective exercise trap,” and idea that was represented here before, but too haphazardly. It’s now much more focused and relevant. » Jan 21
- Save Yourself from Shin Splints! — Science update, hip strength — Expanded on the sub-topic of hip strength, based on three new studies. » Jan 20
- Massage Therapy Side Effects — Added a significant case study of severe injury to the colon from strong abdominal massage, and a story of a woman who was badly injured falling off her massage table. Also edited the intro to make it clear that the severe injuries we can read about are probably outnumbered by unreported/milder ones. » Jan 19
- A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia — Science update. Added brief discussion of (and a reference for) the prevalence of fibromyalgia before multiple sclerosis diagnosis. » Jan 19
- Quite a Stretch — New section, stretching for injury rehab — » Jan 15
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — New sub-topic, oral corticosteroids — Compared and contrasted oral and injected corticosteroids; added some colour/context about anabolic steroids. » Jan 14
- Sensitization in Chronic Pain — Added some useful explanations and definitions of some gnarly jargon, things like “allodynia” and “temporal summation” … which sounds stranger than they are. » Jan 12
- Statistical Significance Abuse — Updated the American Statistical Association’s new position on completely avoiding the use of “statistically significant.” » Jan 8
- Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection Work? — Science update. Added a couple new references and did a little organizing and editing while I was at it. PRP for muscle strain is now clearly a big fat nothing burger. I suspect other indications will follow suit as the evidence quality continues to accumulate. » Jan 7
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — New chapter, a case study about chronic hip pain decisively resolved by unusually intense massage — » Jan 7
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — New chapter, skiing considerations — » Jan 6
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — Added sub-topic, hard and soft knee bracing — Expanded the scope of the section to include soft and hard bracing as well as taping and strapping. » Jan 6
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — New chapter, diagnostic ultrasound — » Jan 5
- Complete Guide to Headaches — New chapter, about the role of alcohol — Alcohol has come up in a variety of ways. There’s a need to reconcile them. » Jan 5
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New sub-topic, oral corticosteroids — Compared and contrasted oral and injected corticosteroids; added some colour/context about anabolic steroids. » Jan 5
- Ugly Bags of Mostly Water — Added a substantive footnote about the cost of the chemical ingredients of a human. » Jan 3
- Does Epsom Salt Work? — Audio version reboot — The audio version of this article has been re-recorded from scratch, including dozens of updates over the last couple years. I’ve also changed the way I produce audio version so that I can easily updated individual chapters in the future. The audio is available on request to visually impaired readers, and as a perk for all eboxed set customers. » Jan 3
- Many Pages — One of the largest ever batches of minor corrections: dozens of typos and other little glitches scattered all over the domain. Nothing all that important on its own, of course, but it definitely makes a difference collectively. My thanks to the many readers who reported errors in 2019! » Dec 29, 19
- A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia — Comprehensive edit. All kinds of little corrections and improvements, collectively significant. » Dec 25
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — Added disclaimer and acknowledgement of reader concerns about the topic of leaky gut syndrome as a cause of systemic inflammation. » Dec 24
- Therapeutic “Touch” Is Pseudoscience — Added a terrific quote from a former energy worker. » Dec 19
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Major upgrade, Botox chapter — More detail, editorial colour, and references. » Dec 19
- Save Yourself from Shin Splints! — Major upgrade, strength training — Completely rewritten and greatly expanded. Previously this chapter was just a brief dismissal of the value of corrective strength training for shin splints — which wasn’t wrong in itself, but it was inadequate, and in particular it neglected the genuinely valuable role that strength training can play in rehab, even if it can’t “fix” anything. » Dec 14
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — New section with much more detail about vagus nerve stimulation and the inflammatory reflex. » Dec 13
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Science update — Added several interesting details about nerve root compression symptom pattern variability, with references. » Dec 13
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Minor editing — Minor editing here and there all over the book… but also organizing, planning, and paving the way for more updates. My work here is never done. » Dec 13
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — Major upgrade, hip and thigh pain section — Much clearer and more thorough integration of greater trochanteric pain syndrome. » Dec 9
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Book launch — The headache guide has been free since I first introduced it in the early 2013. Six years and hundreds of hours of development later, it joins my inventory of full-blown books. It’s the second addition in 2019 (after frozen shoulder this summer), after years without any new ones. It is now for sale for $20 USD. All existing boxed set customers will have access automatically — someone who bought a set in 2009 is getting a new book out of that purchase a decade later. » Dec 4
- Complete Guide to Headaches — New chapter, all about treating jaw issues — » Dec 3
- The Trouble with Chairs — Science update, added citation to Akins et al on the effect of mutiple days of laziness on exercise benefits (hint: it’s not good). » Nov 30
- Complete Guide to Headaches — New chapter, the role of the jaw in headache — » Nov 28
- Complete Guide to Headaches — New chapter, Muscle relaxants (Robaxin, Robaxacet, etc), psychoactives, and sedatives — » Nov 23
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — New section, cannabinoids (finally) — » Nov 22
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Minor improvement, functional freezing chapter — Minor but interesting: a couple new paragraphs about joint stiffness as a the non-specific protective mechanism that may be analogous to functional freezing of the shoulder. » Nov 22
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Major update, muscle relaxants — Added a lot more detail, especially about psychoactive “muscle relaxants,” and many new references. » Nov 21
- Healer Syndrome — Added a substantial discussion of the silly idea that a healer isn’t actually doing the heavy lifting, but is merely facilitating self-healing. » Nov 16
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New chapter, Muscle relaxants (Robaxin, Robaxacet, etc), psychoactives, and sedatives — » Nov 16
- Complete Guide to Headaches — New chapter, a case study that blurs the line between tension headache and migraine — » Nov 15
- Organ Health Does Not Depend on Spinal Nerves! — Science update — Discussed acute effects of SMT on the parasympathetic nervous system, and cited Picchiottino et al on the lack of clinically significant effects. » Nov 12
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Expanded, other causes of chronic widespread pain — Added two more sub-topics: psychological amplification and true psychosomatic pain. » Nov 12
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Expanded, other causes of regional pain — Added three sub-topics: specific pain system dysfunction, spatial summation, and claudication. » Nov 12
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Science update, subluxation chapter — Added references to support “arthritis isn’t wear-and-tear.” Substantial additional editing and clarifications throughout the chapter. » Nov 12
- Save Yourself from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome! — Expansion — Previously this chapter was just about massage in general and foam rolling in particular. I’ve widened the scope to address the underlying assumption that there’s a need to “loosen” the quads, and now cover both stretch and massage. » Nov 6
- Get in the Pool for Pain — New section, “Deeper mysteries,” about hard-to-explain effects of immersion on severe chronic pain and fatigue. » Nov 5
- Does Fascia Matter? — New section, a case study of Frank the “adhesion machine” — » Nov 4
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Major upgrade — Much more detailed discussion of spinal manipulative therapy. » Nov 4
The last 20 blog posts
- Getting stronger is corrective » Jan 22, 20
- The year of “finally”! PainScience.com highlights from 2019 » Jan 19, 20
- Personal chronic pain update 2020 » Jan 16, 20
- One kind of muscle memory » Jan 15, 20
- Where’s the criticism? » Jan 11, 20
- I love to tell you I told you so: the U-Dream debacle in my household » Jan 6, 20
- You’re not paranoid if they’re really after you » Dec 24, 19
- Back pain: coping versus treating » Dec 18, 19
- New headache book makes it an even ten » Dec 9, 19
- The power of the NYT, the meaning of “pain is an opinion,” and much ado about nothing » Dec 9, 19
- Quoted in the NYT on the topic of “pain and the mind” » Dec 2, 19
- Muscle relaxants are odd » Nov 26, 19
- Why do joints feel stiff after getting up? » Nov 26, 19
- A nose for pot » Nov 16, 19
- The facile humility of “facilitating” healing » Nov 16, 19
- What if chronic pain is a feature, not a bug? » Nov 12, 19
- The myth of the extremely effective therapist » Nov 9, 19
- Neurosis supplier » Nov 9, 19
- The Strength Athlete interview » Nov 6, 19
- True muscle memory » Nov 6, 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Potential role of the common food additive manufactured citric acid in eliciting significant inflammatory reactions contributing to serious disease states: A series of four case reports. Sweis et al., 2018, Toxicol Rep. » added Jul 2019
- Borrelia burgdorferi peptidoglycan is a persistent antigen in patients with Lyme arthritis. Jutras et al., 2019, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. » added Jul 2019
- Glucose enhances aggrecan expression in chondrocytes via the PKCα/p38-miR141-3p signaling pathway. Wu et al., 2018, J Cell Physiol. » added Jul 2019
- Genome-wide association study of multisite chronic pain in UK Biobank. Johnston et al., 2019, PLoS Genet. » added Jul 2019
- A Systematic Review of Dextrose Prolotherapy for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. Hauser et al., 2016, Clin Med Insights Arthritis Musculoskelet Disord. » added Jun 2019
- A functional substitution in the L-aromatic amino acid decarboxylase enzyme worsens somatic symptoms via a serotonergic pathway. Khoury et al., 2019, Ann Neurol. » added Jun 2019
- Effectiveness of customised foot orthoses for Achilles tendinopathy: a randomised controlled trial. Munteanu et al., 2015, Br J Sports Med. » added Jun 2019
- A randomized controlled trial of exercise and manipulative therapy for cervicogenic headache. Jull et al., 2002, Spine (Phila Pa 1976). » added Jun 2019
