Not feeling pain might sound like a dream—especially if you live with chronic pain—but pain is one of the body’s most important protective systems. People with congenital insensitivity to pain often break bones, burn themselves, and never know it. Understanding why pain exists reveals just how vital those “ouch” signals really are.

Lingering pain, despite healing, may stem from peripheral sensitization, where nerves become overly sensitive. This can lead to pain from stimuli that typically wouldn't hurt, known as allodynia and hyperalgesia. Strategies for relief include graded movement, stress reduction, adequate sleep, addressing fear, and certain medications, which can help recalibrate the nervous system.

Living with chronic pain can feel like walking through a maze of misinformation. Let’s clear the path by busting three common myths and showing how movement can help you reclaim your life. Myth #1: “If it hurts, you should stop moving.” Reality: Mild discomfort ≠ harm In many chronic pain conditions, peripheral sensitization occurs—your peripheral nerves become overly reactive. This means things that shouldn’t hurt (like a light breeze) can feel painful, and mildly painful things can feel severe.

Neuropathic pain remains a challenging clinical condition due to its resistance to conventional analgesics. The purinergic P2X4 receptor (P2X4R), an A…

Molecular Psychiatry - Next-generation precision medicine for pain

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

The layoffs jeopardize this resource, which has served more than 4,000 labs for about three decades.

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will buy genetic testing firm 23andMe for $256 million through a bankruptcy auction, the companies said Monday.

Researchers in “natural language processing” tried to tame human language. Then came the transformer.

The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually.

Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by Nature.

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies found Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and a dog dead when they preformed a welfare check, a spokesperson said.

Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.

T cells have emerged as sex-dependent orchestrators of pain chronification but the sexually dimorphic mechanisms by which T cells control pain sensitivity is not resolved. Here, we demonstrate an infl...

Joint pain is the primary symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) and the main motivator for patients to seek medical care. OA-related pain significantly restr…

By the age of 41, I had faced multiple chronic pain conditions, including cubital tunnel syndrome, latent tetany, and rhabdomyolysis. These experiences fueled my passion for pain research and inspi…

BlueSky has become a social media platform that many scientists are flocking to after an exodus from X (Xodus). I joined BlueSky in November 2024, like many others, following concerns over changes to privacy policies, misinformation, and the amplification of polarizing views on X. As a pain researcher, I was particularly interested in what people are posting about in pain research since the Xodus, who is posting, and the amount of engagement these posts are receiving.

Why Creating Art Heals