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 238)
- Vulnerability to Chronic Pain » Jun 26, 19
- 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
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 31 articles in 44 days, breaking down into 25 major updates, 12 medium, 13 minor (use the button below to include/exclude the medium and minor updates). That's an update every 0.9 days in recent history; there have been 1642 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 Epsom Salt Work? — Upgraded, the logical limits of any one pain treatment — Just more and clearer information. » Aug 19, 19
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Much more detailed information, and more science, about heel drops and the Alfredson protocol. » Aug 17, 19
- Therapeutic “Touch” Is Pseudoscience — New section, “Matter/energy equivalence and quantum rationalizations.” » Aug 16, 19
- 33 Surprising Causes of Pain — Added minor-but-nice perspective about the “official” major categories of causes of pain. Pie chart included. » Aug 16, 19
- Progressive Training — New section (first update here in ages): “You can recover from practically anything with baby steps… but not everything.” » Aug 16, 19
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — New section, sacroiliac joint dysfunction — » Aug 16, 19
- Popular but Weird & Dangerous Cures — Added drinking bleach, inspired by the FDA’s bizarre warning about it. » Aug 14, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Science update — Added minor but very interesting new citation about the cause of chronic Lyme disease (see Jutras) » Aug 13, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Major revisions underway — This medical factors part of the book is being revised in 2019. It was originally written by a physician collaborator, and I am now taking over, modernizing it until I’m happy to put my own name to it. » Aug 13, 19
- Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! — Minor improvement — Added more detailed explanation of testing popliteal tendon. » Aug 12, 19
- Voltaren® Gel Review — Added small new section: “Remember, exercise is also an anti-inflammatory medication.” » Aug 8, 19
- Repetitive Strain Injuries Tutorial — Added new section: “Exercise is also an anti-inflammatory medication.” » Aug 8, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Book launch — The frozen shoulder guide has been free since I first introduced it in the summer of 2016. Two years and hundreds of hours of development later, I am putting it behind the paywall, the first addition to my inventory of ebooks in many years. It is for sale for $20 USD. All existing boxed set customers will get access automatically — someone who bought a set in 2009 is getting a new book out of that purchase a decade later. » Aug 7, 19
- 13 Kinds of Bogus Citations — New section, “Who cites so badly? Dramatis personae.” The bullshitter, the lightweight, and the bad scientist. » Aug 2, 19
- The Art of Rest — Added new section, “Is there any science about how well resting works, or the best way to do it?” » Aug 1, 19
- Get in the Pool for Pain — Some editing and minor corrections. » Aug 1, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Expanded — Added a fascinating cautionary tale of surgery gone wrong. » Aug 1, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New section, testing for functional limitations — » Aug 1, 19
- Many Pages — Added distinctive styling of on-page links: they are now a nice sage green, like this (links to the top of the page). PainScience.com has a lot of huge articles with dozens or even hundreds of links to sections/chapters. Those links have always looked identical to links to other websites, but they are quite different, they should look different, and now they do! » Aug 1, 19
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — Expanded, surgery chapter — Added much more information about general issues with orthopedic surgeries. Reviewed a popular but terrible surgery — blocking ankle pronation with a screw in the joint! Yikes. » Jul 31, 19
- Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — Minor addition — Added a sub-section about tarsal tunnel syndrome » Jul 31, 19
- Save Yourself from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome! — Minor addition, resting pitfalls — Added a brief discussion of an important principle: exercise is a pain-killer! Sometimes. » Jul 31, 19
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Science update, yoga — A minor science update, long overdue. No change to the bottom line, just more evidence that yoga isn’t exactly curing most people’s back pain. » Jul 31, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New section, aquatic therapy, floatation, Epsom salts — » Jul 31, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New section, about windows of opportunity — » Jul 31, 19
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — Added a couple of particularly interesting (but minor) points about the effect of stress on immunity. Also added a primer on neuroinflammation. » Jul 30, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Edited, the unpredictability of TrP symptoms — Thoroughly edited, and added a disclaimer about “special pleading.” » Jul 30, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Expansion — Added a detailed overview of all the treatment options reviewed in this tutorial. » Jul 30, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New section, Tiger Balm, A535, and friends — » Jul 29, 19
- 33 Surprising Causes of Pain — Added new section about chronic immune activation after infection. » Jul 25, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — New section, reviewing all the most bogus treatments for frozen shoulder. — » Jul 25, 19
- Complete Guide to Headaches — Added more, secondary headaches chapter — Added jaw pain and eye strain, and also (more significantly) recruited both topics into later chapters in service of other points. » Jul 24, 19
- Achilles Tendinitis Treatment Science — Added section, “Surgical repair of tendon rupture,” and some more specific information about early mobilizations. » Jul 24, 19
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Optimized — A rewrite inspired by recent work on a dedicated article about vulnerability to chronic pain. This chapter is now both shorter and yet actually broader in scope. » Jul 23, 19
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — Science update — Added a citation to Mäntyselkä about the relationship between neck pain and being out of shape. » Jul 23, 19
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — Clarification — Made it clear that frozen shoulder is a particularly strong example of an important phenomenon, the importance of non-specific risk factors in chronic pain. » Jul 23, 19
- Eccentric Contraction — New section, a brief summary of “Eccentric contractions as a treatment for muscle strain.” » Jul 21, 19
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — Editing, muscle flossing chapter — Polish, some more details, and better integration into the book. » Jul 20, 19
- Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! — Editing, strength chapter — Polish, some more details, and better integration into the book. » Jul 20, 19
- Why So “Negative”? — Added four more tips for diplomatic critical analysis. » Jul 19, 19
- 33 Surprising Causes of Pain — Two new sections about mitochondrial disease and neuroinflammation, plus a bunch of editing to integrate those topics with some of the others. Also changed the introduction to emphasize that chronic pain is seriously multifactorial, some critical context previously neglected. » Jul 17, 19
- Pain & Injury Survival Tips — New section, vulnerability — » Jul 17, 19
- Does Fascia Matter? — General edit — Corrected a large batch typos and other minor errors generously compiled by reader M.M. » Jul 15, 19
- Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Major revision, prolotherapy — Thorough science update and much more detail. Prolotherapy has gotten a bit of a revival in the last few years, and it’s persistence in the marketplace justifies more detailed coverage of the topic. Unfortunately, the bottom line hasn’t budged: still not recommended for back pain. » Jul 13, 19
- Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection Work? — General editing and minor updates. Spelled out the relationship to other cell and stem cell therapies much more clearly than before. » Jul 9, 19
- Does Cartilage Regeneration Work? — New section, “Relationship to other cell and stem cell therapies.” » Jul 9, 19
- Salamander and Regeneration Science — New section, “Cells as medicine: the use of regenerative medicine for injuries and chronic pain.” » Jul 9, 19
- Does Craniosacral Therapy Work? — General editing from top to bottom. » Jul 8, 19
- Anxiety & Chronic Pain — Added another pathological cause of anxiety: high somatic awareness caused by hyposerotonemia (see Khoury et al). » Jul 6, 19
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — Improved, introduction to basic trigger point therapy — Extensive editing and improvements throughout all the basic treatment sections. I added many key points and tips while staying within the scope of “basic” (a tricky balance), mining years of writing on this topic for a wide variety of refinements and carefully boiling them down to their essentials. Several ideas I consider obsolete were also removed. The Quick Reference Guide was also updated to match. » Jul 5, 19
The last 20 blog posts
- A new book about frozen shoulder » Aug 10, 19
- Summer 2019 blog pause » Jul 14, 19
- A genetic defect that exaggerates all sensations (including pain) » Jul 8, 19
- Hundreds of old bibliography links fixed » Jun 26, 19
- 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
- That word “placebo” » May 24, 19
- Apostasy fallout » May 24, 19
- The metabolic roots of pain » May 20, 19
- A kooky “scientific” study of massage » 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
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.
- 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 5, 19
- Exercise-induced hypoalgesia: A meta-analysis of exercise dosing for the treatment of chronic pain. Polaski et al., 2019, PLoS One. » added Jul 31, 19
- 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 25, 19
- 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 25, 19
- Glucose enhances aggrecan expression in chondrocytes via the PKCα/p38-miR141-3p signaling pathway. Wu et al., 2018, J Cell Physiol. » added Jul 12, 19
- Genome-wide association study of multisite chronic pain in UK Biobank. Johnston et al., 2019, PLoS Genet. » added Jul 6, 19
- 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 28, 19
- A Systematic Review of Dextrose Prolotherapy for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. Hauser et al., 2016, Clin Med Insights Arthritis Musculoskelet Disord. » added Jun 28, 19
- 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
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): a meta-analysis. Davidson et al., 2001, J Consult Clin Psychol. » added May 22, 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
- Non-specific low back pain. Balagué et al., 2012, Lancet. » added Apr 27, 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
