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 227)
- Neurodynamic Stretching » Jun 2021
- The Science of Pain-Killers » May 2021
- Marijuana for Pain » May 2021
- Vaginismus » Mar 2021
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Chronic Pain » Oct 2020
- Reviews of Pain Professions » Aug 2020
- Chronic Pain and Inequality » Jun 2020
- Chronic Pain as a Conditioned Behaviour » May 2020
- “Windows of Opportunity” in Rehab » Mar 2020
- Vibration Therapies, from Massage Guns to Jacuzzis » Mar 2020
- The Role of “Spasm” in Frozen Shoulder » Mar 2020
- Reassurance for Massage Therapists » Feb 2020
- The False Humility of “Facilitating” Healing » Nov 2019
- Vulnerability to Chronic Pain » Jun 2019
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 20 articles & books in 51 days, breaking down into 18 major updates, 18 medium, 14 minor (use the button below to include/exclude the medium and minor updates). That’s one update each day in recent history; there have been 2136 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.
- Complete Guide to Frozen Shoulder — Proofreading — It was time for an annual book tune-up: a few dozen minor errors have been corrected. » Jun 17
- Complete Guide to Frozen Shoulder — Science update — Small but fascinating science update about Ascani et al, exploring a possible link between frozen shoulder and COVID. » Jun 12
- Neurodynamic Stretching — Miscellaneous editing and revision after publication as an independent article. Added artwork and pull quotes. » Jun 10
- Pain is Weird — New section, on limiting pain talk — » Jun 8
- Knee Replacement Surgery Doubts — New section based on Hamilton et al: “Confidence and optimism versus the truth.” » Jun 8
- Pain is Weird — New section — Third of three new or rebooted sections about pain chronification and the types of chronic pain. » Jun 7
- Pain is Weird — New section — Second of three new or rebooted sections about pain chronification and the types of chronic pain. This one particularly fills a gap I have known about for ages, and I’m delighted to finally fill it. » Jun 7
- Pain is Weird — New section — First of three new or rebooted sections about pain chronification and the types of chronic pain. » Jun 7
- Pain is Weird — Major editorial cleanup — Extensive rewriting and reorganization. This page has evolved haphazardly over many years and had turned into more of a collection of overlapping mini-essays and musings than a cohesive article. It has been reorganized quite a bit now, most notably moving a bunch of ideas intended mainly for professionals to a dedicated section at the end. Mind-over-pain tips for patients are now much more clearly listed, and more substantive. There are still some more revisions to come, but the spring cleaning phase is done. » Jun 6
- The Science of Pain-Killers — New section, “One of the best uses of NSAIDs: treating menstrual cramps.” I am embarrassed that this wasn’t in the first version! A major oversight. » Jun 5
- Pain is Weird — More detail — Significantly more detailed “advice for professionals” in the final sections of the article. » Jun 5
- The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain — Improvements — More detail and polish, strain-counterstrain chapter » Jun 5
- Pain is Weird — Revision and expansion — More and better information about one of the most specific, practical pieces of mind-over-pain advice in the article. » Jun 4
- Pain is Weird — New section, “Doubt diagnosis” — A dense new item to the list of mind-over-pain strategies, on the importance of avoiding nocebo by being very skeptical of all theories about how broken/fragile you are. » Jun 4
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Several miscellaneous edits after promoting the rebooted version of this article. Most notably, I added some safety information about curcumin, and a full-blown science update about tart cherry juice for insomnia, but there have been many other minor changes. » Jun 3
- A Rational Guide to Fibromyalgia — Science update — Added two token citations about cannabis for fibromyalgia. “Token” because the evidence barely exists. » Jun 1
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Tied up some loose ends and corrected a bunch of minor errors that crept in during the wave of recent updates. Page is in great shape now, I think. The main thing missing? Some popular supplements! Mostly in the vitamins/minerals category. I will chip away at them over time, of course. » May 31
- Knee Replacement Surgery Doubts — Some editorial polishing and three new images. » May 28
- Knee Replacement Surgery Doubts — Science update and new section: “Total versus partial knee replacement: Is more surgery better? Is less worse?” Also cited more evidence on the role of the anxiety and fear in post-surgical pain. Updated Skou 2015 with data from Skou 2018 and added a full description of that research. Clarified the importance of sham-controlled surgical trials. » May 27
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Many minor improvements to the topics of Glutamine and arginine, branched-chain amino acids, and collagen. » May 25
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Science and citation update on the topic of supplement contamination and adulteration. » May 24
- The Dubious Science of Kinesiology Tape — Minor science update, just piling on with another new negative trial of taping (McManus). » May 24
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — A thorough science update on bromelain — such as it is. More like an update on the lack of science. But the section is much more informative now, even if disappointingly so. » May 23
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Complete overhaul of everything about ergogenic aids in general, their possible relevance to pain, and creatine as the primary example — still actually effective for muscle fatigue (hooray, something that works!), but probably not for pain. » May 22
- Does Massage Therapy Work? — Edited — Proofreading and minor editorial polish. » May 21
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Rewrote the fish oil section, with significant science updates. » May 19
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Added an adapted version of Peter Brannen’s highly relevant joke about the simplicity of supplementation versus the complexity of metabolic pathways. » May 19
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Revision and science updates for the glucosamine and chondroitin section. I was particularly exasperated by and sassy about these embarrassingly unimpressive supplements. » May 19
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Major reorganization of the article to make it more useful and comprehensive. Added topics, removed others. A variety of other science updates to come. » May 16
- Marijuana for Pain — Greatly expanded information about cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. » May 14
- Massage Therapy Side Effects — New and upgraded citations of case studies of massage dislodging blood clots and causing dangerous pulmonary emboli. There are now six interesting summaries of these alarming stories. » May 10
- Does Massage Increase Circulation? — New and upgraded citations of case studies of massage dislodging blood clots and causing dangerous pulmonary emboli. There are now six interesting summaries of these alarming stories. » May 10
- Marijuana for Pain — I consider most single citation updates to be minor, but this one is a bigger deal: Bebee et al, a decisively negative, well-designed trial of pure CBD for back pain, noteworthy for several reasons. » May 8
- The Complete Guide to Chronic Tension Headaches — Minor polishing — A little editorial polish, and a bit of elaboration about the role of psychotropic effects. » May 8
- Complete Guide to Frozen Shoulder — Minor polishing — A little editorial polish, and a bit of elaboration about the role of psychotropic effects. » May 8
- Vibration Therapies, from Massage Guns to Jacuzzis — A stronger focus on massage guns, and much more detailed analysis of the science of vibration preventing muscle soreness. There’s a new section about whole body vibration. I also elaborated on exactly how vibration might be useful for frozen shoulder. Plus several other minor improvements. » May 7
- Marijuana for Pain — Added a citation about the prevalence of reasons for using cannabis. Added two new short sections: “CBD versus THC for pain,” “So many studies, so little good science.” Added a point about cannabis versus cannabis-based medications. » May 7
- Modality Empires — New section: “What are the alternatives? Academic continuing education.” » May 6
- Marijuana for Pain — Wrote a new intro, expanded on the pain evidence, added a short new section about anxiolytic effects, and a whimsical sidebar about a bizarre headache “caused” by cannabis. » May 4
- Anxiety & Chronic Pain — Some fresh new references about cannabis as an anti-anxiety medication. » May 4
- Quite a Stretch — New section, stretching for cramps — » May 3
- Quite a Stretch — Rebooted — Over the last couple weeks, this article has been upgraded and expanded in many ways. It is now about 33,000 words long, which gives it the dubious distinction of being the first PainSci article to match the length of the shortest PainSci book. Henceforth, I will call this page a “book.” » May 3
- Quite a Stretch — New section, ballistic stretching — » May 2
- Quite a Stretch — Rewritten — Much more and clearer information about other types of stretching, with new references, plus a rewritten explanation of allegedly “advanced” stretching. » May 1
- Quite a Stretch — Science update — Added citations about neck pain, fibromyalgia, headache, runner’s knee. » Apr 30
- Quite a Stretch — Science update — Added two citations to systematic reviews of research on proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. » Apr 30
- Trigger Point Doubts — Just a good round of polish and editing. » Apr 29
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing — Proofreading and editorial polish: corrected about 20 minor errors. » Apr 28
- The Respiration Connection — Proofreading and editorial polish: corrected about 16 minor errors. » Apr 28
- Quite a Stretch — Completely rewritten — A total reboot of my coverage of the topic of sensory tolerance for stretch. » Apr 27
The last 20 blog posts
- Brush your teeth to take better care of your… joints? » Jun 16, 21
- Quackery’s scientific double standard » Jun 13, 21
- A laser limerick: “Lasers in physical therapy are silly” » Jun 11, 21
- “All in your head” isn’t in my vocabulary » Jun 11, 21
- Fear and pessimism predict poor knee surgery outcomes » Jun 11, 21
- Three recent blog highlights + some newsletter notes » Jun 11, 21
- A not-so-surprising lack of evidence » Jun 8, 21
- The disaster of scientific publishing » Jun 8, 21
- Now I will hurt and not work right » Jun 6, 21
- Treating menstrual cramps with pain-killers » Jun 5, 21
- People know surprisingly little about common pain-killers » Jun 4, 21
- A running joke » Jun 1, 21
- Good book deal » Jun 1, 21
- Supplements article rebooted » May 31, 21
- Smells fishy to me » May 30, 21
- “How are you?” » May 30, 21
- Knee replacements are not evidence-based » May 30, 21
- Pain drama » May 30, 21
- Long something! » May 25, 21
- The dark side of quantifying our health » May 25, 21
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.
- Can Adhesive Capsulitis of the shoulder be a consequence of COVID-19? Case series of 12 patients. Ascani et al., 2021, J Shoulder Elbow Surg. » added Jun 2021
- Patients follow three distinct outcome trajectories following total knee arthroplasty. Hamilton et al., 2021, Bone Joint J. » added Jun 2021
- Aromatherapy for health care: an overview of systematic reviews. Lee et al., 2012, Maturitas. » added May 2021
- No effect of creatine monohydrate supplementation on inflammatory and cartilage degradation biomarkers in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Cornish et al., 2018, Nutr Res. » added May 2021
- Massive pulmonary emboli after legs massage. Jabr et al., 2007, Am J Phys Med Rehabil. » added May 2021
- Massaging the outcome: an unusual presentation of pulmonary embolism. Lim et al., 2009, BMJ Case Rep. » added May 2021
- Leg massage during pregnancy with unrecognized deep vein thrombosis could be life threatening: a case report. Sutham et al., 2020, BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. » added May 2021
- The CANBACK trial: a randomised, controlled clinical trial of oral cannabidiol for people presenting to the emergency department with acute low back pain. Bebee et al., 2021, Med J Aust. » added May 2021
- Benefits of adding stretching to a moderate-intensity aerobic exercise programme in women with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Gómez-Hernández et al., 2020, Clin Rehabil. » added Apr 2021
- The Impact of a Single Stretching Session on Running Performance and Running Economy: A Scoping Review. Konrad et al., 2020, Front Physiol. » added Apr 2021
- Effect of Motor Skill Training in Functional Activities vs Strength and Flexibility Exercise on Function in People With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. van Dillen et al., 2021, JAMA Neurology. » added Apr 2021
- Acupuncture or acupressure for induction of labour. Smith et al., 2017, Cochrane Database Syst Rev. » added Apr 2021
- Electric Stimulation for Pain Relief in Patients with Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Salazar et al., 2017, Pain Physician. » added Mar 2021
- Does computer use affect the incidence of distal arm pain? A one-year prospective study using objective measures of computer use. Mikkelsen et al., 2012, Int Arch Occup Environ Health. » added Mar 2021
- Lateral Epicondylitis and Physical Exposure at Work? A Review of Prospective Studies and Meta-Analysis. Descatha et al., 2016, Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). » added Mar 2021
- Effect of sweet fennel seed extract capsule on knee pain in women with knee osteoarthritis. Alazadeh et al., 2020, Complement Ther Clin Pract. » added Jan 2021
- Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of the upper trapezius muscles - assessment of myofascial trigger points in patients with migraine. Sollmann et al., 2019, J Headache Pain. » added Jan 2021
- Dry Needling Adds No Benefit to the Treatment of Neck Pain: A Sham-Controlled Randomized Clinical Trial With 1-Year Follow-up. Gattie et al., 2021, Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. » added Jan 2021
- Evaluating sensory profiles in nociplastic chronic low back pain: a cross-sectional validation study. Gräper et al., 2020, Physiother Theory Pract. » added Nov 2020
- Association of Therapies With Reduced Pain and Improved Quality of Life in Patients With Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Mascarenhas et al., 2020, JAMA Intern Med. » added Oct 2020
