Opioids are the one of the most prescribed pain-relief for people with low back and neck pain. But new research shows they don’t effectively relieve low back or neck pain and can result in worse pain.

Christina Smith, a 21-year-old witness, says she watched the man stand up and noticed one of his arms dangle unnaturally at his side

Two years ago, we wrote about a stunning (and horrifying) study that explained how patents deeply contributed to the opioid crisis. It described the lengths that drug companies -- including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma -- went through to block any...

A new study provides evidence that regular caffeine consumption is associated with alterations in the processing of pain signals. The preliminary findings were published in the journal Psychopharmacology. “New research suggests that diet can be a useful intervention for decreasing pain sensitivity and helping people manage pain. Caffeine is a commonly consumed by millions of people as part of their regular diets,” said Burel R. Goodin, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and corresponding author of the study.

When you live with chronic pain, choosing when and where to experience pain can be a gift, and an act of control. By Ace Ratcliff.

If you’re like me, you were taught as a child to never swear, or else you’d get soap in your mouth. Which I did, several times in fact throughout childhood (true story). However, despite these very unpleasant events which left a very strong taste in my mouth, the act of getting my tongue scrubbed vigorously with soap by my mother has never stopped me from engaging in healthy amount of swearing as an adult.

Australia is facing a critical public health issue of poorly managed pain. The result is more opioid-related deaths than the road toll.

“The ancient Greek Menander once said: ‘Woman is a pain that never goes away.’ He probably just meant women were trouble, but his words hold a more sinister suggestion: the possibility that being a woman requires being in pain, that pain is the unending glue and prerequisite of female consciousness.” By Leslie Jamison.

Chronic pain sufferers and those taking mental health meds would rather turn to cannabis instead of their prescribed opioid medication, according to a new study. “This study is one of the first to track medical cannabis use under the new system of licensed producers, meaning that all participants had physician authorization to access cannabis in addition to their prescription medicines,” says UBC Assoc. Prof. Zach Walsh, co-author of the study.

As doctors and regulators restrict access to opioid treatments, many patients who genuinely need drugs to manage their pain say they are being left behind. By Bob Tedeschi.

Scientists have identified for the first time the region in the brain responsible for the "placebo effect" in pain relief, when a fake treatment actually results in substantial reduction of pain, according to new research...

It’s inconceivable to most people that this is it—there is no other, underlying condition. The headaches are the condition itself. By Anna Altman.

An injectable, jello-like substance reduces chronic inflammation, and may aid limb transplantations. By Jessa Gamble. (July 22, 2016)

Your feet are more sensitive than you think.

A dream researcher explains how it works. By Jillian Rose-Lim.

Early on a Wednesday morning, I heard an anguished cry—then silence. I rushed into the bedroom and watched my wife, Rachel, stumble from the bathroom, doubled over, hugging herself in pain. “Something’s wrong,” she gasped. This scared me. Rachel’s not the type to sound the alarm over every pinch or twinge. She cut her finger badly once, when we lived in Iowa City, and joked all the way to Mercy Hospital as the rag wrapped around...

The tarantula hawk is actually a kind of solitary wasp, with a sting that causes a fiercely electric pain that could only be described as totally unacceptable.