Chronic Pain

In the first study of its kind, excess abdominal fat has been associated with chronic pain, but the good news is that losing weight that can reduce waistlines could help relieve widespread musculoskeletal conditions and greatly improve quality of life.

New research has found that mindfulness meditation reduces pain by engaging a distinct brain pathway from the pathway activated by a placebo. The standalone analgesic effect that mindfulness produces could be leveraged to help people living with painful conditions.

Two innovative new developments have demonstrated that degraded cartilage can be regrown, first with 'dancing molecules' that target the protein needed for tissue regeneration, secondly with a hybrid biomaterial that stimulates cartilage growth.

In a fascinating discovery, scientists have pinpointed just what happens in our brains when we're expecting pain relief but are unknowingly given a placebo. It reveals just how powerful the mind is in moderating physiological responses such as pain.

For the first time, researchers have shown how a simple walking plan can deliver significant, long-lasting relief from recurring lower back pain. Until now, this common-sense activity has been seen as a something to include in treatment, not focus on.

A new oral analgesic without the health risks associated with existing pain relievers has been proven safe. According to the drug’s developers, it could revolutionize pain management, especially for those with hard-to-treat conditions like nerve pain.

It feels like back pain comes for many of us at some point in our lives, and it’s tricky to treat. A new gene therapy, which repairs damaged discs and reduces pain, has shown promise in mouse tests.

Obstructive sleep apnea hugely impacts health and well-being, but as those with the condition know, treatment is very limited. Now, a new nasal spray has shown promise in alleviating the symptoms of the most common sleep-related breathing disorder.

A drug currently used as a second- or third-line treatment for those with rheumatoid arthritis has shown huge promise as a preventative, stopping the onset of the debilitating and painful disease in 92.8% of at-risk participants after 12 months.

A series of Phase 3 clinical trials into a novel oral, non-opioid painkiller has found that it’s effective in treating acute pain in both surgical and non-surgical settings. The drug's manufacturers plan to seek FDA approval in mid-2024.

Researchers discovered a non-opioid compound that effectively reduced hypersensitivity associated with nerve pain caused by diabetes or chemotherapy drugs, opening the door to a drug to treat the condition for which existing painkillers do little.

Throughout 2023, researchers have looked at pain, especially chronic pain, and its molecular mechanisms, in an effort to find new, targeted ways to effectively resolve the complex condition. We present this year’s top discoveries in pain research.

A study has found that exposure to childhood trauma increases the likelihood of experiencing chronic pain and pain-related disability in adulthood, with the risk increasing significantly after exposure to multiple adverse childhood experiences.

In big news for the millions who suffer from chronic lower back pain due to degraded disks, scientists have made a potentially huge breakthrough in understanding its cause at a microscopic level, paving the way for effective cell therapy to relieve it.

Spread by sandfly bites, the leishmania parasite causes ulcers that for many people are unexpectedly pain-free. For decades scientists have been puzzled by these painless lesions but new research is now homing in on the unusual analgesic mechanisms.