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
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The 15 newest featured articles on PainScience.com (out of 235)
- Does pandiculation “reset” muscle tone? » Jan 2023
- The Tibiofibular Joint and Lateral Knee Pain » Feb 2022
- Ozone Therapy for Pain » Dec 2021
- Mind Over Pain » Sep 2021
- What Works for Pain? » Jun 2021
- Counterstimulation » Jun 2021
- Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response » Jun 2021
- 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
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 34 articles & books in 202 days, breaking down into 20 major updates, 22 medium, 20 minor (use the button below to include/exclude the medium and minor updates). That’s an update every 3.2 days in recent history; there have been 2420 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. Go to the complete update archives.
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Revised, specific diagnosis — After several years without much attention, this chapter has finally gotten a variety of improvements. » Feb 6
- Cramps, Spasms, Tremors & Twitches — Upgrades to the relatively new Botox section, including a few more citations, especially about harms and safety. » Jan 31
- Does pandiculation “reset” muscle tone? — Added information about the link between pandiculation, sex, and — another fun new word — “chasmology.” Added a new emphasis that pandiculation isn’t just about stretching, and added a fun cat video, and some reader reports. » Jan 28
- Quite a Stretch — Science update, injury prevention — Identified some non-trivial flaws in a trial that dared to challenge my bias. 😜 » Jan 27
- The Complete Guide to Chronic Tension Headaches — New chapter, green light therapy. » Jan 27
- The Complete Guide to Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome — Reorganization, differential diagnosis — Just a bit of housekeeping: rearranged the content and edited for clarity. » Jan 25
- Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis — Rewritten — Expanded the scope of the section to include dry needling generally, and not just Sconfienza's peculiar version of it. Added some citations. Confirmed that the “Sconfienza protocol” trial remains unpublished (fifteen years later). » Jan 24
- Quite a Stretch — New section, effect on arterial stiffness. » Jan 23
- Quite a Stretch — Added a pop quiz — Fun, right? » Jan 23
- The 3 Basic Types of Pain — Added a footnote about whether it’s okay to call nociceptors “pain fibres.” » Jan 23
- Does pandiculation “reset” muscle tone? — Minor additions and corrections that arose in the aftermath of publication. » Jan 20
- Strength Training for Pain & Injury Rehab — Added a fun sidebar “Train like Gandalf.” » Jan 19
- The Insomnia Guide — Science update. Short new section about the use of anti-depressants for insomnia. » Jan 19
- Quite a Stretch — Science update, injury prevention — Updated and added some citations, including one that challenges my bias (for the first time). » Jan 12
- Quite a Stretch — New section, pandiculation. » Jan 11
- What Works for Pain? — Science update. Beefed up the exercise section with four fresh good-news studies. » Jan 4
- Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis — Refinements, orthotics chapter — Several minor improvements and additions, mostly about foot straps, taping, and heel lifts (as opposed to support), adding up to a solid chapter upgrade. » Jan 3
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Upgraded, movement snacks and general exercise — Added more about the role of general exercise in treating back pain. » Dec 30
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Upgraded, heat/ice chapter — Revised and expanded to include a discussion of Hydrocollators. » Dec 11
- Pain is Weird — New section, The rhythm of throbbing pain. » Dec 6
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Rewritten, scoliosis treatment chapter — Completely rebooted, all new everything about scoliosis treatment. » Nov 23
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Rewritten, scoliosis etiology chapter — Some of the original chapter remains, but mostly I just started over. » Nov 23
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Minor revision, ‘specific’ back pain chapter — Polished and tweaked. Nothing fancy, just good old fashioned editing. » Nov 10
- When to Worry About Low Back Pain — Added an important citation to O’Sullivan about back pain myths to the introduction. » Oct 22
- Zapped! Does TENS work for pain? — Science update for transcranial stim: cited Bilir et al regarding fibromyalgia, and O’Connell regarding back pain. » Oct 18
- Many Pages — At last, footnotes and other “popups” can be dismissed with the ESC key or by clicking outside the popup. This is one of the most overdue “quality of life” feature updates for the salamander’s domain in years. It’s such a small thing! But not actually all that small, considering how many footnotes there are. It is no longer necessary to move the mouse to the popup closure button! Hooray! » Oct 12, 22
- Placebo Power Hype — Added a small section, “Honest placebo: now longer lasting?” » Oct 10
- The Tyranny of Yoga, Meditation, and Mindfulness — Major revisions and improvements. Over the years, this article had gotten to be a bit muddled and meandering, and it lacked citations for some key points about efficacy/safety. Unacceptable! Some formatting glitches had even crept into it. I had a bunch of fresh yoga science in my head after writing a new yoga chapter for my back pain book — a perfect time to reboot this page. » Oct 9
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Additions, yoga — Restored some selected passages lost in the rewrite (and it’s now one of the longest chapters in the book, maybe the very longest, and longer than most standalone articles on the topic). Turning into a book within a book! » Oct 8
- Pain is Weird — Science update — Added a sidebar about the failure of phantom limb pain as a major example of pain without injury, citing Ilfeld. » Oct 5
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Rewritten, yoga — A complete reboot of my coverage of the topic of yoga for back pain, with much more (and more recent) science. » Oct 5
- Does Posture Matter? — Science update — Added a citation to Having ‘good’ posture doesn’t prevent back pain, and ‘bad’ posture doesn’t cause it. » Oct 4
- Pain is Weird — Editing — And still more minor improvements and clarifications in several sections. » Sep 20
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — Science update — Added a much more detailed explanation of how the sensitivity of muscle has been demonstrated experimentally, based on Graven-Nielsen et al. » Sep 20
- Vibration Therapies, from Massage Guns to Jacuzzis — Added new section, “That bizarre 2021 study of ‘robotic mouse massage.’” » Sep 19
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation — Added new section, “Massaging the inflammation away.” » Sep 19
- 35 Surprising Causes of Pain — Added a new section about cancer in general as a cause of some kinds of seemingly simple musculoskeletal pain. » Sep 2
- Chronic Pain and Inequality — New section: “Disastrously dismissing women’s symptoms.” Plus a science update: Madden on how injured women are more likely to be assaulted by a boyfriend or husband. » Aug 31
- A Deep Dive into Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness — A minor (but particularly interesting) science update: Roman et al on muscle nuclei migrating to sites of microtrauma for repairwork. » Aug 26
- Pain is Weird — Revision — Many changes to acknowledge uncertainties and controversies about the hypothesis that pain can be out of proportion to sensation, or that it can exist without any tissue damage at all. Some new citations. » Aug 22
- Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis — Addition, hall of treatment shame — Added “toe spreaders” to the hall of shame. » Aug 22
- Should You Get A Lube Job for Your Arthritic Knee? — Science update. A huge new review from the British Medical Journal is very “nail in the coffin” for viscosupplementation. » Aug 19
- Does Ultrasound Therapy Work? — Added a sidebar: “Self-serve shockwave therapy? Buyer beware” » Aug 18
- 13 Kinds of Bogus Citations — Added two sections: “Mechanism masturbation” and “Dozens of studies can still be wrong.” » Aug 17
- Many Pages — Improved login UX for PainSci members, enabling “quick login” at paywalls for members-only content around the site, revealing the content in a single step rather than the several steps the old way required. More information and examples. » Aug 16, 22
- Does Posture Matter? — Science update, muscle balance — Cited Guan as a particularly good example of how limited the science of muscle balance is. » Aug 15
- Eccentric Contraction — New section: “Is running downhill healthier than running up, because of braking contractions?” » Aug 13
- Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section, foam rolling — Well, this is rather overdue. » Aug 10
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — New chapter, Pain Reprocessing Therapy — A major addition to the book, months in the making, 1000 words about the most sensational back pain science claim of 2022: that PRT works dramatically better than anything else. » Aug 10
- The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain — New chapter, CBT for back pain — A major addition to the book, months in the making, 1500 words and a dozen new citations, all about “the elephant in the mind-game room.” » Aug 10
The last 20 blog posts
- Stretching Boosts Muscle Strength and Size! » Feb 3, 23
- Therapeutic Botox: Should we paralyze misbehaving muscle? 🔈 » Jan 31, 23
- Is pandiculation really about stretch? And other sexy updates 🔈 » Jan 28, 23
- Does BPS-ified pain treatment work? » Jan 19, 23
- Train like Gandalf » Jan 19, 23
- Is pandiculation powerful? » Jan 13, 23
- In memoriam: Dr. Harriet Hall always asked “who disagrees and why” » Jan 12, 23
- Diagnostic humility » Jan 6, 23
- Do you get any joint pain relief from your workouts? » Jan 4, 23
- Three happy exercise studies for pain patients » Dec 23, 22
- The legend of Boot Nail Guy reconsidered » Dec 20, 22
- BPS-ing badly! How the biopsychosocial model fails pain patients (Member Post) 🔈 » Dec 15, 22
- My back pain book is a sign-up bonus for Physio Network » Dec 12, 22
- Mindfulness backfire » Dec 10, 22
- Epsom salts, osmosis, and sucking » Dec 6, 22
- Yoga for back pain » Dec 2, 22
- Do you need to nose breathe more? 🔈 » Nov 30, 22
- The rhythm of throbbing pain » Nov 28, 22
- Tendons are swell » Nov 16, 22
- 5 reasons running on pavement probably isn’t injurious » Nov 15, 22
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.
- Injury prevention effects of stretching exercise intervention by physical therapists in male high school soccer players. Azuma et al., 2020, Scand J Med Sci Sports. » added Jan 2023
- Pandiculation: nature's way of maintaining the functional integrity of the myofascial system? Bertolucci et al., 2011, J Bodyw Mov Ther. » added Jan 2023
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Kuyken et al., 2022, Evid Based Ment Health. » added Dec 2022
- Outcomes of Nonsurgical Treatments for Symptomatic Adult Degenerative Scoliosis: A Systematic Review. Schoutens et al., 2020, Pain Med. » added Nov 2022
- Vigorous physical activity, incident heart disease, and cancer: how little is enough? Ahmadi et al., 2022, Eur Heart J. » added Oct 2022
- Effects of open-label placebo on pain, functional disability, and spine mobility in patients with chronic back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Kleine-Borgmann et al., 2019, Pain. » added Oct 2022
- Open-label placebo for chronic low back pain: a 5-year follow-up. Carvalho et al., 2021, Pain. » added Oct 2022
- Effect of statin therapy on muscle symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of large-scale, randomised, double-blind trials. Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' Collaboration et al., 2022, Lancet. » added Sep 2022
- Intimate Partner Violence During Recovery from an Orthopaedic Injury: An Exploratory, Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Cohort Study. Madden et al., 2022, J Bone Joint Surg Am. » added Aug 2022
- Putting the Squeeze on Compression Garments: Current Evidence and Recommendations for Future Research: A Systematic Scoping Review. Weakley et al., 2022, Sports Med. » added Aug 2022
- How to recognize and manage psychosomatic pain in the pediatric emergency department. Cozzi et al., 2021, Ital J Pediatr. » added Aug 2022
- No long-term effects after a three-week open-label placebo treatment for chronic low back pain: a three-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Kleine-Borgmann et al., 2022, Pain. » added Aug 2022
- 'Myths and facts' education is comparable to 'facts only' for recall of back pain information but may improve fear-avoidance beliefs: an embedded randomized trial. Silva et al., 2022, J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. » added Aug 2022
- Association of the "Weekend Warrior" and Other Leisure-time Physical Activity Patterns With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Nationwide Cohort Study. Santos et al., 2022, JAMA Intern Med. » added Jul 2022
- Evaluation of the Forced Inspiratory Suction and Swallow Tool to Stop Hiccups. Alvarez et al., 2021, JAMA Netw Open. » added Jul 2022
- Exercise and education versus saline injections for knee osteoarthritis: a randomised controlled equivalence trial. Bandak et al., 2022, Ann Rheum Dis. » added Jul 2022
- Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body. Sender et al., 2016, PLoS Biol. » added Jun 2022
- The biopsychosocial model is lost in translation: from misrepresentation to an enactive modernization. Cormack et al., 2022, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice. » added May 2022
- Is the placebo powerless? Update of a systematic review with 52 new randomized trials comparing placebo with no treatment. Hróbjartsson et al., 2004, J Intern Med. » added May 2022
- Association between Inter-Limb Asymmetries in Lower-Limb Functional Performance and Sport Injury: A Systematic Review of Prospective Cohort Studies. Guan et al., 2022, J Clin Med. » added May 2022
