Pain science has leaned on a familiar aphorism: Nociception is neither necessary nor sufficient for pain. The phrase typically appears in textbooks, lectures, and research papers, often used to explain why pain can exist without clear tissue damage. But according to pain researchers Asaf Weisman, Dr. Milton Cohen, and Dr.
For decades, fear-avoidance beliefs have played a central role in how clinicians and researchers understand chronic pain. When pain is interpreted as a sign of harm, people may avoid movement or activity, leading to physical deconditioning, emotional distress, and disability. This framework has shaped assessment tools, treatment approaches, and patient
For 50 million Americans living with chronic pain—whether nagging back pain from desk work or the deep ache of fibromyalgia—this uninvited guest controls thoughts, tightens muscles, robs energy and relationships, and turns simple joys like a park walk into dreaded chores. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) offers a way to turn
If you had spent many hours on your phone or computer, you may have heard warnings about forward head posture. Some clinicians and fitness trainers claim on social media that forward head may damage your neck and spine and is the primary cause of migraines. Does scientific evidence support this
A 2025 systematic review published in the European Journal of Physiotherapy reported that pain neuroscience education may reduce chronic neck pain compared with other therapies. Based on seven randomized-controlled trials with a total of 11 interventions and 422 people, the researchers found pain education groups “showed effectiveness” for kinesiophobia, fear
If you have bumped your elbow against a table, you probably have instinctively massaged your elbow to reduce the pain. But why do you feel less pain when you rub it? And speaking of rubbing, why do many people tend to get short-term pain relief after a massage session?
Could being overweight increase the risk of having chronic pain? Some researchers think so. A 2025 study published in The Journal of Pain found that people ages 50 and up with chronic pain have also experienced “greater discrimination than people without pain in a community-based sample.” The researchers wrote that
Nociceptive pain is when your body reacts to stimuli like pressure, chemicals, or heat after the stimuli has reached a threshold before it becomes pain. Neuropathic and nociplastic pain do not depend on these triggers. Neuropathic pain comes from damage to the somatosensory nervous system. Nociplastic pain occurs when there’s
Researchers in a 2024 study of more than 15,300 patients with chronic low back pain found that patients’ pain drawings on a body chart “do not signify psychological distress.” Instead, they find that these drawings are more closely associated with physical symptoms, such as disability, pain duration, and pain intensity.
People in pain are more like to report more frequent perceived discrimination than those without pain, according to a 2022 study published in Pain. (Photo by Mike Jones)A 2022 study of 5,871 people in England found those with pain “are more likely to report discrimination than those without pain, and
Does having perceived discrimination increase the risk of chronic pain? Some researchers think so. Perceived discrimination is a person’s subjective experience of unfair treatment or negative attitudes based on their ethnicity, race, gender, age, body size, disability, and other characteristics. Discrimination is also defined as “process by which a member,
A 2018 systematic review on children and teens with back pain found “no convincing evidence that aspects of schoolbag use increase the risk of back pain in children and adolescents.” Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the study pooled 69 trials with a total of more than 72,600